Corporate Strategy Exam Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
Corporate Strategy explores the frameworks, analytical tools, and decision-making processes that guide organizations in creating, capturing, and sustaining competitive advantage at the corporate level. The course focuses on issues such as diversification, vertical integration, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, and the management of corporate portfolios. Students will analyze case studies to understand how successful companies align their business units, resources, and operations with their overarching strategic objectives amid a changing global environment. The course aims to develop strategic thinking and leadership skills essential for formulating and implementing strategies that drive long-term value and organizational success.
Recommended Textbook
Strategic Management Text and Cases 6th Edition by Gregory Dess
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Chapter 1: Strategic Management Creating Competitive Advantages
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101 Verified Questions
101 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Wall Street executives have received excessive bonus pay in the past. This concerns which of the following stakeholder groups most directly?
A) government
B) suppliers
C) creditors
D) stockholders
Answer: D
Q2) Strategic management involves the recognition of trade-offs between effectiveness and
A) cost.
B) value.
C) return on investment.
D) efficiency.
Answer: D
Q3) According to Henry Mintzberg, a management scholar, most firms do not realize their original intended strategy.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Analyzing the External Environment of the Firm
Creating Competitive Advantages
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not a correct usage of the SWOT framework?
A) build on its strengths
B) remedy the weaknesses or work around them
C) take advantage of the opportunities presented by the environment
D) protect the firm from environmental weaknesses
Answer: D
Q2) Strategic groups consist of a group of
A) top executives that makes strategies for a company.
B) executives drawn from different companies within an industry that makes decisions on industry standards.
C) firms within an industry that decides to collude rather than compete with each other so that they can increase their profits.
D) firms within an industry that follows similar strategies.
Answer: D
Q3) Ted Turner saw the potential of 24-hour news before anyone else. This is an example of perceptual acuity.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Assessing the Internal Environment of the Firm
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Coca-Cola has developed data analytic technologies to produce orange juice that meets the taste demands of a global customer base. This is an example of using which value chain supportactivity?
A) marketing and sales
B) technology development
C) human resource management
D) procurement
Answer: B
Q2) Comparing your firm with all other firms in your industry assesses ________ performance.
A) excessive
B) consistent
C) relative
D) non-comparable
Answer: C
Q3) Tangible resources are assets that are relatively easy to identify such as financial and physical assets.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Recognizing a Firm's Intellectual Assets Moving
beyond a Firm's Tangible Resources
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112 Verified Questions
112 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Knowledge-based resources tend to be more ________ in nature and therefore they are ________ difficult to protect against loss (i.e., the individual quitting the organization) than other types of capital, such as equipment, machinery, and land.
A) explicit; less
B) explicitly; more
C) tacit; more
D) tacit; less
Q2) Managing a knowledge intensive workforce is very challenging. The best way for a firm to manage its workforce is to
A) retain knowledge workers by increasing rewards.
B) ensure that it pays higher salaries than its rivals.
C) balance efforts in attraction, selection, and retention of top talent.
D) attract the brightest employees and train them often.
Q3) The dangers of email include all of the following except A) spreading of rumors.
B) almost costless.
C) uncontrollable distribution.
D) personal time waster.
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Chapter 5: Business-Level Strategy Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantages
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) An overall low-cost position enables a firm to achieve ________ returns despite strong competition.
A) below average
B) average
C) no
D) above average
Q2) Overall cost leadership is a generic strategy unlike others that does not require a tight set of interrelated tactics.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Research has consistently shown that firms that achieve both cost leadership and differentiation advantages tend to perform
A) at about the same level as firms that achieve either cost or differentiation advantages.
B) about the same as firms that are stuck-in-the-middle.
C) higher than firms that achieve either a cost or a differentiation advantage.
D) lower than firms that achieve differentiation advantages but higher than firms that achieve cost advantages.
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Chapter 6: Corporate-Level Strategy Creating Value through Diversification
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102 Verified Questions
102 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Capital restructuring involves changing the ________ mix.
A) cash
B) human resource
C) debt-equity
D) management
Q2) Casio, a giant electronic products producer, synthesizes it abilities in miniaturization, microprocessor design, material science, and ultrathin precision castings to produce digital watches. It uses the same skills to produce card calculators, digital cameras, and other small electronics. These collective skills are
A) strategic resources.
B) core competencies.
C) shared activities.
D) economies of scope.
Q3) Portfolio management should be considered as the primary basis for formulating corporate-level strategies.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Discuss the three basic means by which a firm can go about achieving synergy and create value for its shareholders.
Chapter 7: International Strategy Creating Value in Global Markets
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107 Verified Questions
107 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ are fees that a multinational receives from a foreign licensee in return for its use of intellectual property (trademark, patent, trade secret, technology).
A) Transfer prices
B) Dividends
C) Royalties
D) Intra-corporate inflows
Q2) Which one of the following is one of the Theodore Levitt assumptions supporting a pure global strategy?
A) Consumers are willing to pay more for specific product features.
B) Customer needs and interests are becoming more dissimilar.
C) MNCs can successfully compete globally by aggressively pricing products at the sacrifice of product features.
D) If the world markets are treated as heterogeneous, substantial economies of scale are easily achieved.
Q3) Trading blocs and free trade zones erode the rise of international expansion.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Entrepreneurial Strategy and Competitive Dynamics
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94 Verified Questions
94 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) One of the ways entrepreneurs achieve success is by using resources more efficiently. This is an example of how entrepreneurs use a(n) ________ strategy.
A) imitative
B) low-cost leader
C) differentiation
D) combination
Q2) Cutting prices or increasing marketing efforts are examples of tactical competitive actions.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When any two firms have both a high degree of market commonality and highly similar resources, a ________ threat is present.
A) weaker competitive
B) successful marketing
C) stronger competitive
D) stronger marketing
Q4) Forbearance is a particularly aggressive type of competitive attack.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Strategic Control and Corporate Governance
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91 Verified Questions
91 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The board of directors is a group that has a ________ duty to ensure that the company is run consistently with ________ interests of the owners, or shareholders of a corporation and that acts as an ________ between the shareholders and management.
A) legal; short-term; intermediary
B) sworn; long-term; advisor
C) fiduciary; long-term; intermediary
D) formal; short-term; advisor
Q2) As firms downsize, a control system based on rewards and culture becomes dysfunctional.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Rule-based controls are least appropriate in organizations with which one of the following characteristics?
A) Environments are stable and predictable.
B) Employees are highly skilled and independent.
C) There is consistency in product and service.
D) The risk of malfeasance is extremely high.
Q4) What is agency theory and what problems is it concerned with resolving?
Q5) When would single-loop control systems be most appropriate?
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Creating Effective Organizational Designs
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Sample Questions
Q1) If a firm outsources some parts of its value chain in order to reduce costs and increase quality and at the same time engages in multiple alliances to penetrate new markets, this is anexample of a firm using a ________ of organizational types.
A) combination
B) boundaryless consortium
C) bounded consortium
D) barrier-free collection
Q2) According to author Jeffrey Pfeffer, the advantages of teams are that employees control themselves, develop more creative solutions to problems, and permit the absorption of administrativetasks previously performed by specialists.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A strategy of related diversification requires a need to reorganize only around product lines. This leads to a divisional structure.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is organizational structure and why is it important?
Q5) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a simple organizational structure.
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Chapter 11: Strategic Leadership Creating a Learning
Organization and an Ethical Organization
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the compliance-based approach to ethics management, the methods used include
A) education, leadership, accountability, decision processes, auditing, and penalties.
B) reduced discretion, training, controls, audits, and penalties.
C) self-governance.
D) conformity with externally imposed standards.
Q2) Three key interdependent strategic leadership activities are: designing the organization, determining its direction, and nurturing a culture dedicated to excellence and ethical behavior.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Former CEO of Check Point Software Technologies, Deborah Triant, says that debating is easy, listening with an open mind is not. She says that the worst thing a leader can do in the decision-making process is to voice an opinion before anyone else can. This is an example of a ________ skill.
A) design
B) organization
C) social
D) motivated
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Chapter 12: Managing Innovation and Fostering Corporate
Entrepreneurship
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93 Verified Questions
93 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Intel uses option contracts for the right to purchase key pieces of equipment at a specific future date. They simulate the likelihood that they will need to purchase a specific piece of equipment and then create the options contracts to reduce risk and potentially save money.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Strategic reasons for undertaking a corporate venture do not include
A) entering into new markets.
B) expanding capabilities by acquiring new knowledge.
C) building the base of corporation resources.
D) reinforcing stakeholder commitment.
Q3) Research indicates that leaders of innovative firms spend 50 percent more time on discovery activities than the leaders of less innovative firms.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Radical innovations are evolutionary applications of novel ideas within existing paradigms.
A)True
B)False
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