Strategic Planning
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Strategic Planning explores the processes and methodologies organizations use to define objectives, assess internal and external environments, and develop comprehensive strategies to achieve long-term goals. The course covers key concepts such as SWOT analysis, competitive advantage, vision and mission statement development, and the integration of strategic management frameworks. Students will learn to analyze complex business environments, formulate actionable plans, and implement strategies that drive organizational growth and sustainability. Case studies and real-world scenarios are utilized to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills relevant to effective strategic leadership.
Recommended Textbook
Strategic Management Concepts and Cases Competitiveness 12th Edition by
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13 Chapters
1670 Verified Questions
1670 Flashcards
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Michael A. Hitt
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) Returns can only be measured in accounting terms such as return on assets, return on equity, or return on sales.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The I/O (industrial organization) model assumes that the uniqueness of a firm's resources and capabilities is the main source of above-average returns.
A)True
B)False Answer: False
Q3) An organization's willingness to tolerate or encourage unethical behavior is a reflection of its core values.
A)True
B)False Answer: True
Q4) Resources are considered rare when they have no structural equivalent.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Page 3
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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) Competitor analysis focuses on:
A) firms with which the company competes directly.
B) firms that produce products that are substitutes.
C) all firms in the industry.
D) companies that might enter the industry.
Answer: A
Q2) The bankruptcy filings by General Motors and Chrysler Corporation during the Great Recession illustrate that firms cannot directly control the general environment's segments.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Monitoring involves the development of a forecast of what might happen at a future point in time.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 4
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133 Verified Questions
133 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/3852
Sample Questions
Q1) To provide a sustainable competitive advantage, a capability must satisfy all of the following criteria EXCEPT:
A) be technologically innovative.
B) be hard for competing firms to duplicate.
C) be without good substitutes.
D) be valuable to customers.
Answer: A
Q2) Firms should never outsource a primary activity because of the danger of the activity being imitated by rivals.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) From a customer's point of view, for an organization's capability to be a core competence it must be:
A) inimitable and unique.
B) valuable and unique.
C) inimitable and nonsubstitutable.
D) valuable and nonsubstitutable.
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Business-Level Strategy
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131 Verified Questions
131 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A flexible manufacturing system is a computer-controlled process used to produce a variety of products in moderate, flexible quantities with minimal manual intervention.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When a firm is able to produce nonstandardized (that is, distinctive) products for customers who value differentiated features more than they value low cost, the firm is successfully implementing:
A) a differentiation strategy.
B) a cost leadership strategy.
C) an integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategy.
D) a single-product strategy.
Q3) How do focused differentiation and focused cost leadership strategies differ from their non-focused counterparts?
Q4) To position itself differently from competitors, a firm must decide to either perform activities differently or to perform different activities.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What are the risks of an integrated cost leadership/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) A strategy's success is determined not only by the firm's initial competitive actions but also by how well it anticipates competitors' responses to them and by how well the firm anticipates and responds to its competitors initial actions.
A)True
B)False
Q2) 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."
Q3) Which industry can be LEAST described as a slow-cycle market?
A) Freight railroads
B) Pharmaceuticals
C) Cell phone provider
D) Private ownership of highways and bridges
Q4) What factors contribute to the likelihood of a response to a competitive action?
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Chapter 6: Corporate-Level Strategy
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140 Verified Questions
140 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When implementing a restructuring strategy, a company would do best by focusing on mature, low-technology businesses rather than high-technology or service businesses.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is a value-reducing reason for diversification?
A) Enhancing the strategic competitiveness of the entire company
B) Expanding the business portfolio in order to diversify managerial employment risk
C) Gaining market power relative to competitors
D) Conforming to antitrust regulation
Q3) What are the two ways that an unrelated diversification strategy can create value?
Q4) A firm uses a corporate-level diversification strategy for a variety of reasons, all of which have to do with ways to create value.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Differentiate between corporate-level and business-level strategies and give examples of each.
Q6) What are the five categories of businesses based on level of 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) United Technologies Corp. (UTC) uses acquisitions of firms such as Otis Elevator Company (elevators, escalators, and moving walkways) and Carrier Corporation (heating and air conditioning systems) as the foundation for implementing its related diversification strategy.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The outcome of downsizing, downscoping, and leveraged buyouts is higher performance.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the final analysis, firms use merger and acquisition strategies to improve their ability to create value for all stakeholders, including stockholders.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A friendly acquisition:
A) raises the price that has to be paid for a firm.
B) enhances the complementarity of the two firms' assets.
C) facilitates the integration of the acquired and acquiring firms.
D) allows joint ventures to be developed.
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Chapter 8: International Strategy
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129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Because there are still several industrial and consumer markets in which only domestic firms compete, many firms do not have to be able to compete internationally.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The chief risks in the international environment are political and cultural.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Both the size and the nature of a country's domestic demand for a particular industry's good or service are important in Porter's determinants of national advantage.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The problems associated with exporting include:
A) merging corporate cultures.
B) a partner's incompatibility.
C) difficulty in negotiating relationships.
D) high transportation costs and the expense of tariffs.
Q5) Discuss the effect of international diversification on a firm's returns.
Q6) Identify and describe the major risks of international diversification.
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Chapter 9: Cooperative Strategy
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A strategic alliance in which the partners own different percentages of the new company they have formed is called a(n):
A) equity strategic alliance.
B) joint venture.
C) nonequity strategic alliance.
D) cooperative arrangement.
Q2) Because of U.S. legal restrictions concerning large foreign acquisitions, American firms can only enter into diversifying alliances with other U.S. firms.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Network cooperative strategies among Silicon Valley firms have been successful, in part, because they are geographically close together.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Firms in slow-cycle markets can use alliances to enter restricted markets or to establish franchises in new markets.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Corporate Governance
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142 Verified Questions
142 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) DDD MetalWorks plans to go public in the next 2 years. In order to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the firm will need to restructure its present Board of Directors, which is made up of a majority outside independent directors to a Board of Directors that is dominated by insiders and related outsiders.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Attitudes toward corporate governance in Japan are affected by the concepts of obligation, family, and consensus.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Corporate governance revolves around the relationship between which two parties?
A) Shareholders and the Board of Directors
B) Shareholders and managers
C) The Board of Directors and managers
D) None of the the above
Q4) Large-block shareholders typically own at least 5 percent of a corporation's issued shares.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Organizational Structure and Controls
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136 Verified Questions
136 Flashcards
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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) After years of negotiating short-term contracts with its suppliers, Icon Images has decided to agree to longer-term contracts. In doing this, Icon Images is hoping to:
A) reduce transaction costs.
B) increase negotiating leverage with suppliers.
C) become less dependent on its suppliers.
D) move toward horizontal alliances with its suppliers.
Q3) The BEST multidivisional structure to use:
A) is the competitive form.
B) is the SBU form.
C) is the cooperative form.
D) depends on the degree of diversification.
Q4) Discuss the difference between strategic controls and financial controls.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Strategic Leadership
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118 Verified Questions
118 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The effective development and management of the firm's ____ may be its only sustainable competitive advantage.
A) capital base
B) human capital
C) technology
D) organizational culture
Q2) Which of the statements about CEO duality is FALSE?
A) CEO duality is associated with high CEO power.
B) CEO duality has been blamed for slow response to change by the organization.
C) CEO duality is relatively rare in the U.S. except in large Fortune 500 firms.
D) If the CEO acts a steward, CEO duality facilitates effective decisions and actions.
Q3) An example of the external labor market is the situation where:
A) an assessment center operated by an external consulting firm evaluates company managers for promotion potential.
B) a new vice president of marketing is hired from a competitor.
C) the senior vice president of finance is promoted to CEO.
D) a vice president of human resources is sent to a university executive MBA program for professional development.
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Chapter 13: Strategic Entrepreneurship
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is one of the barriers to effectiveness when using cross-functional teams to integrate organizational functions?
A) dissension within the top management team
B) informal organizational processes within the firm
C) the firm's strategic orientation
D) organizational politics
Q2) Charles is a customer service representative for a home improvement store. He has creative ideas about how to increase customer satisfaction. Charles's talents will be most likely to be used in a firm that:
A) uses the induced strategic behavior form of internal corporate venturing.
B) uses the autonomous strategic behavior form of internal corporate venturing.
C) makes significant investment in research and development.
D) focuses on an acquisition strategy for gaining innovative ideas.
Q3) Value creation through internal innovation originates with:
A) an entrepreneurial mind-set.
B) cross-product development teams.
C) shared values and entrepreneurial leadership.
D) innovation.
Q4) What is the importance of international entrepreneurship?
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