Competitive Strategy
Practice Questions
Course Introduction
Competitive Strategy explores the frameworks, tools, and analytical techniques that firms use to gain and sustain competitive advantage in various market environments. The course examines the dynamics of industry structure, competitor behavior, and the internal capabilities of organizations through case studies, simulations, and theoretical models. Students will learn to assess the sources of profitability, design effective positioning and differentiation strategies, and anticipate the strategic moves of rivals. Emphasis is placed on applying strategic thinking to real-world business decisions in both domestic and global contexts.
Recommended Textbook
Foundations of Strategy 1st Canadian Edition by Robert M. Grant
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10 Chapters
579 Verified Questions
579 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/2392
Page 2
Chapter 1: The Concept of Stategy
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59 Verified Questions
59 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/47517
Sample Questions
Q1) Corporate strategy is also called business strategy, or competitive strategy.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Select the best answer. Modern business strategy has evolved across time due to A)changes in demographics.
B)changes in laws and demographics.
C)the needs of business.
D)none of the above.
Answer: C
Q3) The approach taken in the textbook primarily assumes that A)CSR is taking over from generating profits as the primary corporate goal.
B)top managers determine the success of a firm by concentrating on short-term profits.
C)the "anglo-saxon" model of shareholder capitalism is the right one.
D)profit making firms are seeking to maximise profits for the owners over the long term.
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Industry Analysis
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58 Verified Questions
58 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Michael Porter's five forces model helps you identify and understand the intensity and levels of competition in an industry.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Value is defined as the difference between the cost of supplying a product or service and the actual price paid by the customer for it, although not all value translates into profit.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) For a manufacturer, access to distribution is a barrier to entry because A)new entrants face a disadvantage from retailers who are reluctant to carry their new products.
B)retailers have limited capacity of distribution to offer to new entrants.
C)retailers are risk-averse.
D)carrying new products induces fixed costs.
Answer: A
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4
Chapter 3: Resources and Capabilities
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64 Verified Questions
64 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/47519
Sample Questions
Q1) The internal environment
A)is the structure inside an industry.
B)has become less important as an explanation of firms' profitability.
C)is how a firm's resources and capabilities are deployed to deliver its business strategy.
D)can safely be left to the HR Department to manage.
Answer: C
Q2) Resources and capabilities can generate higher profits
A)if competition is fierce.
B)if the competitive advantage they generate is sustained for some years.
C)only if governments allow firms to share resources.
D)only where cartels are effectively allowed.
Answer: B
Q3) Resources are ultimately more important than capabilities.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: The Nature and Sources of Competitive
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50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/47520
Sample Questions
Q1) Differentiation is when a firm
A)offers customers something valuable and unique.
B)offers customers something valuable and unique other than a low price.
C)offers customers a uniquely low price.
D)offers customers products with many additional features.
Q2) Cost leadership means a firm must
A)exploit all sources of cost advantage before tailoring the product to each customer.
B)exploit all sources of cost advantage in providing customers with a standardised product.
C)exploit all sources of cost advantage in providing each customer with their minimum requirements.
D)exploit all sources of cost advantage while providing every customer an individual service.
Q3) Competitive advantage can be defined as
A)the difference between a firm's return on assets and its return on sales.
B)a firm's ability to earn a persistently higher profit margin than its rivals.
C)a firm's ability to earn a persistently higher profit rate than its rivals.
D)a firm's ability to outwit its competitors.
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6
Chapter 5: Industry Evolution and Strategic Change
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53 Verified Questions
53 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Is the PC industry in the maturity stage of the life cycle?
A)Yes - growth has started to decline, and shakeout occurred years ago.
B)Yes - emphasis is on production efficiency, and the PC is being commoditised.
C)No - there is still huge growth potential in China, India, Brazil and so on.
D)a and b.
Q2) The key success factor for leading firms in the Growth phase is
A)knowing what competitors are doing - even resorting to espionage.
B)taking business away from rivals.
C)a commission-oriented sales force.
D)being able to scale up volume production and operations effectively and efficiently.
Q3) Two main factors drive industry evolution: demand growth and the production and diffusion of knowledge.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Barriers to change include
A)organizational routines.
B)social and political structures.
C)conformity.
D)a, b, and c.
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Chapter 6: Technology-Based Industries and the Management of Innovation
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67 Verified Questions
67 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/47522
Sample Questions
Q1) The connection between invention and innovation is
A)they are exactly the same.
B)they have nothing in common.
C)innovation is the commercialisation of invention.
D)largely a matter of personal opinion.
Q2) Network externalities are what cause technical standards to appear in industries where the important thing to a customer is how many other customers he is connected to.
A)True
B)False
Q3) An innovation is more likely to diffuse more quickly throughout an industry if it is perceived as worth imitating by competitors.
A)True
B)False
Q4) One huge potential problem with licensing is
A)the licensee may seek to imitate the innovation themselves.
B)the innovator is wholly dependent on the licensee's commitment and effectiveness.
C)the innovator cannot issue another licence.
D)the licensee may be a bad payer.
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Chapter 7: Corporate Stategy
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74 Verified Questions
74 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/47523
Sample Questions
Q1) What is the difference between a firm's geographical scope and its vertical scope?
A)The first describes the regions of the world where the firm is present and the second the stages of the industry value chain which the firm performs itself.
B)The first describes the number of countries and the second the number of horizontal businesses where the firm is present.
C)The two are highly inter-related.
D)It's not always clear what the difference is.
Q2) Backward vertical integration gives a company far more power over the supplier. This is a type of high-powered incentive.
A)True B)False
Q3) There are three types of diversification; related, unrelated, and concentric. A)True B)False
Q4) "How profitable do we want to be?" is the starting-point of corporate strategy. A)True
B)False
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9
Chapter 8: Realizing Stategy
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53 Verified Questions
53 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/47524
Sample Questions
Q1) The main components of financial plans are
A)the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet.
B)the Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow forecast.
C)the capital budget and the operating budget.
D)all of the above.
Q2) A firm's culture could be shown by
A)the way a customer complaint is handled.
B)the firm's profitability.
C)the growth rate of profits.
D)how rapidly its financial results are produced.
Q3) To sum up, strategy in practice may differ from top management's vision
A)but not by much.
B)because staff enact it, and they are influenced by the firm's structure, systems and culture around them.
C)because staff enact it but they are not as experienced as top managers.
D)because top management has failed to explain sufficiently clearly what it wants.
Q4) Hierarchies allow units to work independently of each other.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Global Strategies and the Multinational Corporation
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66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/47525
Sample Questions
Q1) Sheltered industries are protected by their A)perishability.
B)transport difficulties and high transport costs.
C)very small size of operation and lack of scale economies.
D)any of the above.
Q2) Competitive advantage is achieved when a firm
A)achieves higher profit margins than its rivals.
B)matches its strongest resources & capabilities to the key success factors of the industry.
C)achieves the highest asset turnover ratio in the industry.
D)b and c.
Q3) There is no point in making minor changes to a standard product just for the local market.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Competing strategically means
A)defeating the Gauls, Goths, and barbarians.
B)using profits from one country to subsidize a price war in another country.
C)answer b and subtler versions of the same principle.
D)using tactics drawn from military manuals.
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Chapter 10: Corporate Responsibility
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35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Chevron's Partnering for a Better Future program involves investing in strengthening the communities in which it operates because it believes business succeeds when people prosper.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The current macro environment is very sensitive to small movements because of the highly unstable macroeconomic balance.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The original cause of the Great Recession was
A)a tsunami in the Pacific Ocean.
B)the 'Euro' crisis.
C)a financing failure in the US housing market.
D)government borrowing rising out of control.
Q4) Hamel argues that modern business leaders need to be
A)all-wise decision makers and iron-fisted disciplinarians.
B)constitution writers, social architects, and entrepreneurs of meaning.
C)information system architects and social entrepreneurs.
D)IT architects, constitutional experts, and successful entrepreneurs.
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