Competitive Strategy
Solved Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Competitive Strategy delves into the analysis and formulation of strategies that enable firms to achieve and sustain competitive advantage within their industries. The course explores theoretical frameworks such as Porters Five Forces, value chain analysis, and game theory to help students understand the dynamics of competition. Through case studies and real-world examples, students learn to assess competitor behavior, anticipate market shifts, and devise strategic initiatives that respond to changes in technology, regulation, and consumer preferences. The course emphasizes both industry-level and firm-specific strategies, preparing students to make informed strategic decisions in diverse business environments.
Recommended Textbook
Strategic Management Concepts and Cases Competitiveness 12th Edition by Michael A. Hitt
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13 Chapters
1670 Verified Questions
1670 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness
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133 Verified Questions
133 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3850
Sample Questions
Q1) A firm's mission:
A) is a statement of a firm's business in which it intends to compete and the customers it intends to serve.
B) is an internally focused affirmation of the organization's financial, social, and ethical goals.
C) is mainly intended to emotionally inspire employees and other stakeholders.
D) is developed by a firm before the firm develops its vision.
Answer: A
Q2) ______ innovation is a term used to describe how rapidly and consistently new, information-intensive technologies replace older ones.
A) Perpetual
B) Disruptive
C) Global
D) Diffusion
Answer: A
Q3) Resources are considered rare when they have no structural equivalent.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: The External Environment: Opportunities,
Threats, Industry Competition, and Competitor Analysis
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138 Verified Questions
138 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3851
Sample Questions
Q1) The Department of Defense buys aircraft from U.S. companies for national security reasons. This is an example of a ______ barrier to entry.
A) cost disadvantage independent of scale
B) government policy
C) capital requirements
D) product differentiation
Answer: B
Q2) When Google studies the internet user privacy policies of various nations, it is engaged in the forecasting component of the environmental analysis process.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Exit barriers are especially low in the airline industry because aircraft are not particularly specialized and can easily be sold to other airlines, air cargo companies, the military, or even to wealthy individuals who want to own a private jet.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
133 Verified Questions
133 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3852
Sample Questions
Q1) A firm's core competencies, integrated with an understanding of the results of studying the conditions in the external environment, should:
A) guarantee profits.
B) lead to a first-mover advantage.
C) drive the selection of strategies.
D) increase the firm's market share.
Answer: C
Q2) Tangible resources include:
A) assets that are people-dependent, such as know-how.
B) assets that can be observed and quantified.
C) organizational culture.
D) a firm's reputation.
Answer: B
Q3) Capabilities of an organization emerge spontaneously through the interaction of tangible and intangible resources.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Business-Level Strategy
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131 Verified Questions
131 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3853
Sample Questions
Q1) A nationwide chain of pet stores wishes to identify the tradeoffs that its customers are willing to make between low-cost products such as generic pet foods and differentiated features such as pick-up and delivery of pets for grooming. The best technique for this firm to learn this information would be to use:
A) information networks.
B) a flexible manufacturing system.
C) differentiation development planning.
D) Enterprise Resource Planning.
Q2) Every firm uses all levels of strategy: corporate, acquisition and restructuring, international and cooperative.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Effective use of the generic business strategies allows a firm to favorably position itself relative to the five forces.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the advantages of integrating cost leadership and differentiation strategies.
Q5) Describe the risks of a differentiation strategy.
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Chapter 5: Competitive Rivalry and Competitive Dynamics
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107 Verified Questions
107 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is TRUE of Walmart?
A) Walmart has an unusual amount of flexibility for a large firm.
B) Walmart's success is largely due to the fact it has little market commonality with other industry firms.
C) Decision-making responsibility is centered at its Arkansas headquarters, which allows the firm to respond quickly to competitive attacks.
D) Walmart's advantage lies in its ability to "think big."
Q2) What is market commonality? What is resource similarity? How are these concepts combined to identify the level of competition between two firms?
Q3) First movers are:
A) entrepreneurs who lead in the establishment of new industries.
B) firms that are first to exit a declining industry.
C) firms that take an initial competitive action.
D) individuals who move frequently as employment opportunities change in a locale.
Q4) Define competitive actions and responses and explain the two types of competitive actions and responses.
Q5) Define slow-cycle, fast-cycle, and standard cycle markets.
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Chapter 6: Corporate-Level Strategy
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140 Verified Questions
140 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3855
Sample Questions
Q1) The more sharing of resources and activities among businesses, the more ____ is the relatedness of the diversification.
A) linked
B) constrained
C) integrated
D) intense
Q2) GE is an example of a firm that has used internal capital market allocation as a means of creating value even though it competes using a related linked strategy rather than an unrelated diversification strategy.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Economies of scope are cost savings resulting from a firm successfully leveraging, either through sharing or transferring, some of its capabilities and competencies developed in one business to another business.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Differentiate between corporate-level and business-level strategies and give examples of each.
Q5) Describe the primary reasons a firm pursues increased diversification.
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Chapter 7: Merger and Acquisition Strategies
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131 Verified Questions
131 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ___________ may be necessary because acquisitions create a situation in which the newly formed form has duplicate organizational functions such as sales, manufacturing, distribution, and human resource management.
A) Management buyout
B) Leveraged buyout
C) Downsizing
D) Downscoping
Q2) The term "leverage" in leveraged buyouts refers to the:
A) firm's increased concentration on the firm's core competencies.
B) amount of new debt incurred in buying the firm.
C) fact that the employees are purchasing the firm for which they work.
D) process of removing the firm's stock from public trading.
Q3) The lower the barriers to entry, the more likely firms will use acquisition as a means to enter a market.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are the differences between downscoping and downsizing and why are each used?
Q5) Identify and explain the seven reasons firms engage in an acquisition strategy.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
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129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3857
Sample Questions
Q1) The global strategy offers greater opportunities to take innovations developed at the corporate level or in one market and apply them to other markets.
A)True
B)False
Q2) An increase in the value of the U.S. dollar is an example of an economic risk in that it can reduce the value of U.S. multinational firms' international assets and earnings in other countries.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The growing number of global competitors heightens the requirements to keep costs down and there is the desire for more specialized products to meet customer needs. These two pressures make transnational strategies increasingly necessary.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A reason that firms use international strategies is to secure needed resources, especially minerals and energy.
A)True
B)False
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Cooperative Strategy
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the Chapter 9 Mini Case, the cooperation between Fiat and Chrysler to produce a Fiat-designed car in Chrysler's Illinois factory is a(n) _________ alliance because it allows the firms to share resources and capabilities across multiple functions.
A) synergistic
B) opportunistic
C) horizontal
D) diversifying
Q2) Why are alliances in the airline industry unstable?
A) Unstable industries make for unstable alliances.
B) The potential for firms to take opportunistic actions is too widespread.
C) The industry is declining and profits are not sufficient to divide among alliance partners.
D) The alliances require cooperation among firms that must also compete with one another.
Q3) Horizontal business-level strategic alliances have greater probability of creating sustainable competitive advantage than do vertical business-level strategic alliances.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Corporate Governance
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142 Verified Questions
142 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3859
Sample Questions
Q1) ____ is an important influence in Japanese corporate governance structures.
A) Innovation
B) Consensus
C) Competition
D) Individualism
Q2) Institutional owners, despite their size, are usually unable to discipline ineffective top managers and cannot influence a firm's choice of strategies and overall strategic direction.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The market for corporate control may not be as efficient as previously thought as recent findings suggest that those firms targeted for takeover by active corporate raiders are:
A) usually on the verge of bankruptcy.
B) typically under-performing their industry.
C) often performing above their industry averages.
D) always outperforming their industry.
Q4) Describe the market for corporate control and its implications for organizations.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Organizational Structure and Controls
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136 Verified Questions
136 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3860
Sample Questions
Q1) Firms implementing the multidomestic strategy often attempt to isolate themselves from global competitive forces by establishing protected market positions or by competing in industry segments that are most affected by differences among local countries.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Describe the organizational structure associated with a firm that pursues an unrelated diversification strategy.
Q3) A firm pursuing an unrelated diversification strategy will utilize a ______ structure.
A) network
B) cooperative form multidivisional
C) competitive form multidivisional
D) functional
Q4) The three multidivisional structures that are used to implement a diversification strategy are the competitive form, the strategic business unit form, and the integrated form.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss the difference between strategic controls and financial controls.
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Chapter 12: Strategic Leadership
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118 Verified Questions
118 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3861
Sample Questions
Q1) Competitive aggressiveness, proactiveness, risk aversion, innovativeness, and autonomy are the five dimensions characterizing the entrepreneurial mind-set.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The firm of Bergeron has existed for hundreds of years, having made exquisite clocks and watches. In its advertising it refers to clocks the firm made for such past royalty as Marie Antoinette and the Czars of Russia. Employees are constantly reminded of the firm's rich history and its long tradition of excellence of design and execution. Bergeron is motivating its employees through its:
A) core ideology.
B) envisioned future.
C) organizational culture.
D) business strategy.
Q3) Members with substantive expertise in the firm's core functions and businesses aid the effectiveness of the top management team.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Define human capital and its importance to the firm's success.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Strategic Entrepreneurship
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3862
Sample Questions
Q1) Discuss the differences between autonomous strategic behavior and induced strategic behavior.
Q2) An entrepreneurial mind-set, cross-functional product development teams, and shared values/leadership are the three ways that firms implement internal innovations.
A)True
B)False
Q3) ____ exist(s) when there is a need in the market that can be satisfied by new goods or services.
A) Potentiality
B) Market readiness
C) Entrepreneurial opportunities
D) Critical core competencies
Q4) The risks of international entrepreneurship include all the following EXCEPT:
A) unstable foreign currencies.
B) problems with market efficiencies.
C) limitations on market size.
D) strong "buy-domestic" programs.
Q5) What is the importance of international entrepreneurship?
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