Strategic Analysis
Exam Solutions
Course Introduction
Strategic Analysis is a comprehensive course that introduces students to the frameworks and tools necessary for evaluating an organizations internal and external environments. Through the study of industry structures, competitive forces, and value chain dynamics, students learn to identify strategic opportunities and threats, assess organizational capabilities, and craft recommendations for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. The course combines theoretical foundations with real-world case studies, enabling students to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills essential for effective strategic planning and execution in dynamic business landscapes.
Recommended Textbook
Crafting and Executing Strategy Concepts and Cases 20th Edition by Arthur Thompson
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12 Chapters
1261 Verified Questions
1261 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT one of the managerial considerations in determining how to compete successfully?
A) How can a company attract,keep,and please customers?
B) How can a company modify its entire product line to emphasize its internal service attributes?
C) How should a company respond to changing economic and market conditions?
D) How should a company be competitive against rivals?
E) How should a company position itself in the marketplace?
Answer: B
Q2) What factors determine whether a strategy can be called a winning strategy?
Answer: To determine a winning strategy a company needs to ensure the strategy is well matched to industry and competitive conditions,a company's best market opportunities,and other pertinent aspects of the business environment in which the company operates;it should enable a company to achieve a competitive advantage over key rivals that is long-lasting;finally,The mark of a winning strategy is strong company performance.Two kinds of performance indicators tell the most about the caliber of a company's strategy:(1)competitive strength and market standing and (2)profitability and financial strength.
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a diversified company,the strategy-making hierarchy consists of:
A) corporate strategy and a group of business strategies (one for each line of business the corporation has diversified into).
B) corporate or managerial strategy,a set of business strategies,and divisional strategies within each business.
C) business strategies,functional strategies,and operating strategies.
D) corporate strategy,business strategies,functional strategies,and operating strategies.
E) its diversification strategy,its line of business strategies,and its operating strategies.
Answer: D
Q2) Which of the following is NOT an advantage of setting "stretch" objectives?
A) Helping to avoid mediocre results
B) Pushing company personnel to be more inventive and innovative
C) Helping clarify the company's strategic vision and strategic intent
D) Helping a company be more focused and intentional in its actions
E) Spurring exceptional performance and helping build a firewall against contentment with modest performance gains
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Evaluating a Companys External Environment
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Sample Questions
Q1) A rival's strategic moves and countermoves are:
A) indicators for the visualization of strategic mapping techniques.
B) enabled and constrained by the set of capabilities they have at hand.
C) measured by the extent to which they can unveil financial objectives.
D) responses to the broader definition of the industry opportunities.
E) signs of the competitive pressures from the industry.
Answer: B
Q2) In which of the following instances are industry members NOT subject to stronger competitive pressures from substitute products?
A) The costs to buyers of switching over to the substitutes are low.
B) Buyers are dubious about using substitutes.
C) The quality and performance of the substitutes is well-matched to what buyers need to meet their requirements.
D) Buyer brand loyalty is weak.
E) Substitutes are readily available at competitive prices.
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Evaluating a Companys Resources, Capabilities, and Competitiveness
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why do a company's core competencies matter in crafting strategy?
Q2) Which of the following is NOT accurate as concerns the task of identifying the strategic issues and problems that merit front-burner managerial attention?
A) It entails drawing upon the results and conclusions from analyzing the company's external environment.
B) It entails drawing on the results and conclusions from evaluating the company's own resources and competitive position.
C) It entails developing a "worry list" of "how to ," "whether to ," and "what to do about "
D) Identifying the strategic issues and problems that the company faces is the first thing that company managers need to do before starting to analyze the company's internal and external environment.
E) Developing a list of issues and problems that management need to address (and to resolve)should always precede deciding upon a strategy and what actions to take to improve the company's position and prospects.
Q3) Draw a typical company value chain and briefly explain why the proficiency with which a firm performs the activities comprising its value chain matters.
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Chapter 5: The Five Generic Competitive Strategies
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Sample Questions
Q1) A drink manufacturer finds setting up a plant to make its own bottle caps expensive and technically difficult.Which of the following will be most helpful in solving the manufacturer's problem?
A) Outsourcing
B) Achieving economies of scale
C) Lowering input costs
D) Increasing bargaining power
E) Going for a vertical integration with a distributor
Q2) What are the distinctive features of a broad differentiation strategy? Under what circumstances is a broad differentiation strategy appealing?
Q3) Broad differentiation strategies are well-suited for market circumstances where:
A) there are many ways to differentiate the product or service that have value to buyers.
B) most buyers have the same needs and use the product in the same ways.
C) technological changes are slow-paced.
D) barriers to entry are high and suppliers have a low degree of bargaining power.
E) price competition is especially vigorous.
Q4) What are the keys to sustaining a focused low-cost strategy?
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Chapter 6: Strengthening a Companys Competitive Position
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Sample Questions
Q1) Instead of entering into an alliance or partnership,Smith Limited opts to merge with Design Limited.What are the reasons for preferring a merger to an alliance or partnership? Explain the other organizational mechanisms that are also preferable to alliances.
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a typical reason that many outsourcing alliances prove unstable or break apart?
A) Anticipated gains may fail to materialize due to an overly optimistic view of the synergies.
B) Anticipated gains may fail to materialize due to a poor fit in terms of the combination of resources and capabilities.
C) A partner can gain access to a company's proprietary knowledge base,technologies,or trade secrets.
D) The partners may disagree over how to divide the profits gained from joint collaboration.
E) There is a risk of becoming dependent on other companies.
Q3) What are the strategic disadvantages of a backward vertical integration strategy?
Q4) Identify and explain at least two drawbacks to forming a strategic alliance.
Q5) What are the strategic disadvantages of a forward vertical integration strategy?
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Chapter 7: Strategies for Competing in International Markets
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is LIKELY to be viewed as a pro-business government policy from the perspective of companies competing on an international basis?
A) Argentina increases its interest rate on loans to foreign entrants from 15% to 19%.
B) The European Union imposes a 16% tariff on the import of agricultural produce.
C) Australia introduces a permanent employer-sponsored visa program for skilled manpower.
D) Denmark levies a per metric ton carbon tax on electricity.
E) The Chinese government favors partial local ownership of foreign-owned companies.
Q2) Briefly identify the special features of competing in foreign markets.
Q3) When is a global strategy "superior" to a multidomestic strategy?
Q4) Explain why an acquisition is better than a greenfield venture.
Q5) Identify and briefly discuss the key reasons why a company may consider expanding outside its domestic market.
Q6) Discuss in some detail the difference between a multidomestic strategy and a global strategy.Give the pros and cons of each.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Corporate Strategy
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Sample Questions
Q1) When should a business NOT be divested?
A) When the business is worth more to another company than to the parent company
B) When the business is a cash cow
C) When the business provides valuable strategic or resource fits for another company
D) When shareholders would be better served if the company sells the business for a generous premium
E) When the business lacks the cross-boundary presence of shared values and cultural compatibility
Q2) The transaction costs of completing a business agreement or deal of some sort,over and above the price of the deal,can include all of the following EXCEPT:
A) the costs of searching for an attractive target.
B) the costs of evaluating its worth.
C) bargaining costs.
D) the costs of completing the transaction.
E) the premium cost.
Q3) Identify and briefly discuss each of the three tests for determining whether diversification into a new business is likely to build shareholder value.
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Chapter 9: Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility,
Environmental-Sustainability, and Strategy
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Q1) What is meant by integrated social contracts theory? What is its contribution to the debate about ethical standards?
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a particularly sound or valid reason why a company's strategy should be ethical?
A) An unethical strategy reflects badly on the character of the company personnel involved.
B) Senior executives fear public embarrassment if caught doing something perceived as unethical.
C) An ethical strategy is in the self-interest of shareholders,partly because an unethical strategy can damage a company's reputation and partly because unethical behavior can be very costly in terms of fines and penalties.
D) Customers shun companies known for their shady behavior and ethically upstanding company personnel are repulsed by a work environment where unethical behavior is condoned.
E) A strategy that is unethical in whole or in part is morally wrong.
Q3) Define and discuss the programs commonly included under a company's corporate social responsibility strategy.
Q4) What is the case for why business strategies should be ethical?
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Chapter 10: Building an Organization Capable of Good Strategy Execution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most important leadership trait in the strategy execution process is:
A) a strong,confident sense of what to do and how to do it.
B) strong communication skills (both written and verbal)covering motivating intent.
C) strong management skills to ensure a systematic approach to administration.
D) strong organizational skills so as to make actions structured toward results.
E) strong empathy skills when employees run into challenging moments.
Q2) Outsourcing value chain activities has such strategy executing advantages as:
A) less internal bureaucracy,speedier decision making,and quicker responses to changing market conditions.
B) facilitating the empowerment of employees (because there are fewer things to do internally).
C) promoting a total quality management culture.
D) reducing the need to establish a strongly implanted corporate culture.
E) reducing the strategic importance of building valuable core competencies.
Q3) Identify and briefly discuss/explain three components of structuring a company's work effort to promote successful strategy execution.
Q4) What are the advantages of outsourcing non-critical and sometimes even critical value chain activities?
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Chapter 11: Managing Internal Operations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Motivational and incentive compensation practices that aim at winning the commitment of company personnel to good strategy execution typically:
A) use only positive rewards and never involve the use of tension,fear,job insecurity,stress,or anxiety.
B) entail decidedly positive rewards for meeting or beating performance targets,but also impose sufficiently negative consequences when actual performance falls short of the target.
C) aim at creating a no-pressure/no-adverse-consequences work environment.
D) entail paying the highest wages and salaries in the industry for all jobholder positions and also stressing nonmonetary rewards,like cash bonuses for high-performing employees.
E) put top priority on making employees happy and secure in their jobs.
Q2) Name the five broad areas that information systems need to cover and explain the significance of real-time tracking and reporting.
Q3) Give any three nonmonetary examples of motivation and rewards practices that have the capability to foster good strategy execution and explain how they act to produce such a result.
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Chapter 12: Corporate Culture and Leadership
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Sample Questions
Q1) The menu of actions management can take to change problem culture does NOT include which of the following?
A) Making a compelling case for why the company's new strategic direction and culture-remodeling efforts are in the organization's best interests and why company personnel should wholeheartedly join the effort to doing things somewhat differently
B) Replacing senior executives who are strongly identified with the old culture and who may be stonewalling needed organizational and cultural changes
C) Promoting individuals who are known to possess the desired cultural traits,who have stepped forward to advocate the shift to a different culture,and who can serve as role models for the desired cultural behavior
D) Revising policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change
E) Shifting from decentralized to centralized decision-making so as to give senior executives more authority and control in driving the cultural change
Q2) What are the two things involved in the leadership challenge to consistently achieve good strategy execution?
Q3) What are the five traits of unhealthy cultures?
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