Strategic Management QUIZ 1 2009

CHAPTER 1
The Nature of Strategic Management

True/False

Introduction

1. The underpinnings of strategic management hinge on managers gaining an understanding of competitors, markets, prices, suppliers, distributors, governments, creditors, shareholders and customers worldwide.


What Is Strategic Management?

2. Optimizing for tomorrow the trends of today is the purpose of strategic management.


3. Resource allocation is included in strategy-formulation activities.


4. The terms strategic management and strategy implementation are synonymous.


5. A vision statement is, in essence, a company’s game plan.


6. Strategy implementation is often considered to be the most difficult stage in the strategic-management process because it requires personal discipline, commitment and sacrifice.


7. The final stage in strategic management is strategy implementation.

8. Strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation activities occur at three hierarchical levels in a large diversified organization: corporate, divisional and functional.


9. One of the fundamental strategy evaluation activities is reviewing external and internal factors that are the bases for current strategies.


10. An objective, logical, systematic approach for making major decisions in an organization is a way to describe the strategic-management process.


11. Strategic management is an attempt to organize qualitative and quantitative information in a way that allows effective decisions to be made under conditions of uncertainty.


12. Analytical and intuitive thinking should complement each other.


13. According to Albert Einstein, “Knowledge is far more important than intuition.”

14. Management by intuition can be defined as operating from the “I’ve-already-made-up-my-mind-don’t-bother- me-with-the-facts mode.”

15. By monitoring external events, companies should be able to identify when change is required.

Key Terms in Strategic Management

16. Anything the firm does especially well compared to rival firms could be considered a competitive advantage.


17. Once a firm acquires a competitive advantage, they are usually able to sustain the competitive advantage for an extended period of time.

18. Although the Internet has increased in popularity, it has actually led to increases in company expenses.

19. Consumer e-commerce is five times greater than business-to-business e-commerce.

20. In order for a firm to achieve sustained competitive advantage, a firm must continually adapt to changes in external trends and events and effectively formulate, implement, and evaluate strategies that capitalize upon those factors.


21. Strategists are usually found in higher levels of management and have considerable authority for decision-making in the firm.


22. The middle manager is the most visible and critical strategic manager.


23. All strategists have similar attitudes, values, ethics and concerns for social responsibility.


24. A vision statement answers the question, “What is our business?,” whereas a mission statement answers, “What do we want to become?”


25. In the last five years, the position of chief strategy officer (CSO) has diminished in comparison to other top management ranks of many organizations.


26. A clear mission statement describes the values and priorities of an organization.


27. Strengths and weaknesses are determined relative to competitors.


28. In a multidivisional firm, objectives should be established for the overall company and not for each division.


29. Objectives should be measurable, quantitative, challenging, realistic, consistent and prioritized.


30. Annual objectives are long-term milestones that organizations must achieve to reach short-term objectives.


31. Annual objectives are especially important in strategy formulation.


32. According to research, a healthier workforce can more effectively and efficiently implement strategies.


The Strategic-Management Model

33. Identifying an organization’s existing vision, mission, objectives and strategies is the final step for the strategic management process.


34. Once an effective strategy is designed, modifications are rarely required.


35. Application of the strategic-management process is typically more formal in larger and well-established organizations.


Benefits of Strategic Management

36. Followed by commitment, understanding is the most important benefit of strategic management.

37. Firms with planning systems more closely resembling strategic-management theory generally exhibit superior long-term financial performance relative to their industry.


38. Low-performing firms typically underestimate their competitor’s strengths and overestimate their own firm’s strengths.


39. According to Greenley, strategic management provides a cooperative, integrated and enthusiastic approach to tackling problems and opportunities.


Why Some Firms Do No Strategic Planning

40. The poor reward structure is one reason managers do not engage in strategic planning.


41. Crises and fires in an organization allow managers the training and time for effective strategic planning.



Pitfalls in Doing Strategic Planning

42. Top managers making many intuitive decisions that conflict with the formal plan is one pitfall managers should avoid in strategic planning.


43. Managers must be very formal in strategic planning because formality induces flexibility and creativity.


Guidelines for Effective Strategic Management

44. An integral part of strategy implementation must be to evaluate the quality of the strategic-management process.


45. Strategic-management must be a self-reflective learning process that familiarizes managers and employees in the organization with key strategic issues and feasible alternatives for resolving those issues.


Business Ethics and Strategic Management

46. Today, managers and employees can be found personally liable if they ignore, conceal, or disregard a pollution problem.

47. Merely having a code of ethics is not sufficient to ensure ethical business behavior.


48. An integral part of the responsibility of all managers is to provide ethical leadership by constant example and demonstration.


Comparing Business and Military Strategy

49. In most situations, business strategy is very different than military strategy.


The Nature of Global Competition

50. International operations can be as simple as exporting a product to a single foreign country.


51. One risk in international operations is that nationalistic factions could seize the operations.


52. All organizations have a strategy from their inception, even if the strategy is informal, unstructured, and sporadic.


53. Nonprofit organizations have less need for strategic management because they are not interested in making a profit.


54. Firms can be more proactive with strategic management.


Multiple Choice

Introduction

55. The term “environment” includes all of the following except:
a. air.
b. water.
c. firms.
d. natural resources.
e. fauna.


56. What is a theme that has become a more important strategic issue due to global warming, bioterrorism, and increased pollution?
a. internal environment
b. measuring performance
c. external environment
d. internal stakeholders
e. monitoring employees


What Is Strategic Management?

57. What can be defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives?
a. Strategy formulation
b. Strategy evaluation
c. Strategy implementation
d. Strategic management
e. Strategic leading


58. ____________ is used to refer to strategic formulation, implementation and evaluation, with ______________ referring only to strategic formulation.
a. Strategic planning; strategic management
b. Strategic planning; strategic processing
c. Strategic management; strategic planning
d. Strategic management; strategic processing
e. Strategic implementation; strategic focus


59. During what stage of strategic management are a firm’s specific internal strengths and weaknesses determined?
a. Formulation
b. Implementation
c. Evaluation
d. Feedback
e. Goal-setting


60. An important activity in __________ is taking corrective action.
a. strategy evaluation
b. strategy implementation
c. strategy formulation
d. strategy leadership
e. all of the above


61. What step in the strategic development process involves mobilizing employees and managers to put strategies into action?
a. Formulating strategy
b. Strategy evaluation
c. Implementing strategy
d. Strategic advantage
e. Competitive advantage


62. What types of skills are especially critical for successful strategy implementation?
a. Interpersonal
b. Marketing
c. Technical
d. Conceptual
e. Thinking


63 Which phase of strategic management is called the action phase?
a. Strategy formulation
b. Strategy implementation
c. Strategy evaluation
d. Allocating resources
e. Measuring performance


64. __________ is not a strategy-implementation activity.
a. Taking corrective actions
b. Establishing annual objectives
c. Devising policies
d. Allocating resources
e. Motivating employees


65. Strategy evaluation is necessary because
a. internal and external factors are constantly changing.
b. the SEC requires strategy evaluation.
c. competitors change their strategies.
d. the IRS requires strategy evaluation.
e. firms have limited resources.

66. Which statement best describes intuition?
a. It represents the marginal factor in decision-making.
b. It represents a minor factor in decision-making integrated with analysis.
c. It should be coupled with analysis in decision-making.
d. It is better than analysis in decision-making.
e. It is management by ignorance.


67. _________ and _________ are external forces transforming business and society today.
a. E-commerce; strategy
b. E-commerce; globalization
c. Strategy; globalization
d. Corporate culture; stakeholders
e. Stakeholders; strategy


68. Anything that a firm does especially well compared to rival firms is referred to as:
a. competitive advantage.
b. comparative advantage.
c. opportunity cost.
d. sustainable advantage.
e. an external opportunity.



69 The one factor that has most significantly impacted the nature and core of buying and selling in nearly all industries has been
a. the Internet.
b. political borders.
c. corporate greed.
d. customer and employee focus.
e. the government.


70. Which individuals are most responsible for the success and failure of an organization?
a. Strategists
b. Financial planners
c. Personnel directors
d. Stakeholders
e. Human resource managers


71. The first step in strategic planning is generally:
a. Developing a vision statement
b. Establishing goals and objectives
c. Making a profit
d. Developing a mission statement
e. Determining opportunities and threats


72. What are enduring statements of purpose that distinguish one business from other similar firms?
a. policies
b. mission statements
c. objectives
d. rules
e. employee conduct guidelines


73. Usually, external opportunities and threats are:
a. uncontrollable by a single organization.
b. controlled by governments.
c. not as important as internal strengths and weaknesses.
d. key functions in strategy implementation.
e. key functions in strategy exploitation.


74. Specific results an organization seeks to achieve in pursuing its basic mission are:
a. strategies
b. rules
c. objectives
d. policies
e. mission


75. Internal __________ are activities in an organization that are performed especially well.
a. opportunities
b. competencies
c. strengths
d. management
e. factors


76. What are the means by which long-term objectives will be achieved?
a. strategies.
b. strengths.
c. weaknesses.
d. policies.
e. opportunities.


77. Long-term objectives should be all of the following except:
a. measurable.
b. continually changing.
c. reasonable.
d. challenging.
e. consistent.


78 __________ can best be described as short-term in nature.
a. Mission statements
b. Tenure
c. Annual objectives
d. Strategies
e. Management


79. In which phase of strategic management are annual objectives especially important?
a. formulation
b. control
c. evaluation
d. implementation
e. management


80. What are guides to decision making?
a. laws
b. rules
c. policies
d. procedures
e. goals


The Strategic-Management Model

81. The strategic-management process
a. occurs once a year.
b. is a sequential process.
c. is a continuous process.
d. applies mostly to companies with sales greater than $100 million.
e. applies mostly to small businesses


82. Which of the following is not included in the strategic management model?
a. Measure and evaluate performance.
b. Perform internal research to identify customers.
c. Establish long-term objectives.
d. Implement strategies.
e. Develop mission and vision statements.


Benefits of Strategic Management

83. Strategic management enables an organization to __________, instead of companies just responding to threats in their business environment.
a. be proactive
b. determine when the threat will subside
c. avoid the threats
d. defeat their competitors
e. foresee into the future


84. The act of strengthening employees’ sense of effectiveness by encouraging and rewarding them to participate in decision-making and exercise initiative and imagination is referred to as:
a. Authoritarianism
b. Proaction
c. Empowerment
d. Transformation
e. Delegation


85. How do line managers become “owners” of the strategy?
a. by attending top manager meetings
b. by gathering information about competitors
c. by involvement in the strategic-management process
d. by becoming a shareholder of the firm
e. by buying off top managers



86. According to research, organizations using strategic management are __________ than those that do not.
a. more profitable
b. more complex
c. less profitable
d. less static
e. less complex


87. According to Greenley, strategic management offers all of these benefits except that
a. it provides an objective view of management problems.
b. it creates a framework for internal communication among personnel.
c. it encourages a favorable attitude toward change.
d. it maximizes the effects of adverse conditions and changes.
e. it gives a degree of discipline and formality to the management of a business.


Why Some Firms Do No Strategic Planning

88. What is not a reason given for poor or no strategic planning in organizations?
a. Wasting of time
b. Being content with success
c. Fire-fighting
d. Poor reward structure
e. Trust of management


Pitfalls in Doing Strategic Planning

89. All of these are pitfalls an organization should avoid in strategic planning except:
a. using plans as a standard for measuring performance.
b. using strategic planning to gain control over decisions and resources.
c. failing to involve key employees in all phases of planning.
d. too hastily moving from mission development to strategy formulation.
e. being so formal in planning that flexibility and creativity are stifled.


90. What is not a pitfall an organization should avoid in strategic planning?
a. Failing to communicate the plan to employees
b. Involving all managers rather than delegating planning to a “planner”
c. Top managers not actively supporting the strategic planning process
d. Doing strategic planning only to satisfy accreditation or regulatory requirements


91. Which of the following statements is false?
a. Open-mindedness is an important guideline for effective strategic management.
b. Strategic management must become a self-perpetuating socialist mechanism.
c. No organization has unlimited resources.
d. Strategic decisions require trade-offs.
e. Strategic management must be a self-reflective learning process.


Business Ethics and Strategic Management

92. Principles of conduct that guide decision-making are known as
a. human rights.
b. the Constitution.
c. business ethics.
d. nonprofit organization policies.
e. social responsibility requirements.


93. A (n) ____________ can provide a basis on which policies can be devised to guide daily decisions and behavior at the work site.
a. list of guidelines
b. policy for safety
c. vision statement
d. code of business ethics
e. annual objective

94. Because they must take the __________ of the firm, strategists’ salaries are high compared to those of other individuals in the organization.
a. moral risks
b. social risks
c. environmental risks
d. societal criticism
e. employee criticism


95. What can be created by ethics training and an ethics culture?
a. Competitive responsibility
b. Competitive advantage
c. Strategic advantage
d. Employee cooperation
e. Comparative advantage


96. Which of these business actions is (are) always considered to be unethical?
a. poor product or service safety
b. using nonunion labor in a union shop
c. dumping flawed products in a foreign market
d. insider trading
e. all of the above



97. A strong __________ heritage underlies the study of strategic management.
a. military
b. government
c. political
d. social
e. cultural


98. Military strategy is based on an assumption of __________, whereas business strategy is based on an assumption of __________.
a. conflict; cooperation
b. conflict; competition
c. cooperation; conflict
d. competition; conflict
e. cooperation; competition



99. The greatest advantage of international operations is:
a. Reduced tariffs and taxes
b. Spreading economic risks over a wider number of markets
c. Access to global technology, culture and business practices
d. Gaining new customers
e. Less-intense competition



100. All of these are potential disadvantages of an international operation except:

a. overestimated weaknesses and underestimated strengths of competitors.
b. differing languages, cultures and value systems.
c. reduced tariffs and taxes.
d. complexity due to a multiple monetary system.
e. all of these are potential disadvantages.