QUESTION

1 The origins of Business Policy & Strategic Management can be retraced to

1930

1911

1879

1938

2 BCG in BCG matrix stands for

Boston Calmette Group

British Consulting Group

Boston Corporate Group

Boston Consulting Group

3 Which of the following is not part of the micro environment?

Technology

Shareholders

Competitors

Public

4 Which of the following is not a part the Macro Environment?

Laws & Policies

Demographics

Suppliers

Social Values
5 Cultural values would be part of which of the following factor in macro environment?

Demographic

Social

Ecological

Natural

6 What does Dog symbolize in BCG matrix?

Introduction

Growth

Maturity

Decline

7 What does Stars symbolize in BCG matrix?

Introduction

Growth

Maturity

Decline

8 What does Question Mark (?) symbolize in BCG matrix?

Remain Diversified

Invest

Stable

Liquidate

9 What do Cash Cows symbolize in BCG matrix?

Remain Diversified

Invest
Stable

Liquidate

10 What does Green symbolize in BCG matrix?

Invest & Expand

Select & Earn

Harvest & Divest

Both a & b

11 What does Yellow symbolize in BCG matrix?

Invest & Expand

Harvest & Divest

Select & Earn

Both a & b

12 What does Red symbolize in BCG matrix?

Invest & Expand

Harvest and Earn

Harvest & Divest

Select & Earn

13 The GE 9 cell model is based on

Industry attractiveness & Business Strength

14 The BCG Matrix is based on

15 In strategic thinking, how long is the long term, approximately?

1 Month to 1 year

2 to 3 years

3 to 5 years

16 Low cost, Differentiation and Focus are examples of

17 The word tactic is most likely to be associated with:

18 In BCG matrix, what is the label of the horizontal axis?

19 In BCG Matrix, what is the label of the Vertical axis?

20 In GE 9 cell matrix, what is the label of the horizontal axis?

21 Another name for GE 9 cell model is

Three colour matrix

Stop light matrix

Corporate strategies Business Strategy Relative Market share Relative Market share Relative Market
share

Read the mission statement

Industry Growth rate & Business strength Industry Growth rate & Business strength

Operational Strategies Corporate strategy Business Strength Business Strength Industry

Attractiveness

Look at what the organization actually does

Industry Attractiveness & Relative market share

Industry Attractiveness & Relative market share

Business Strategies Operational Strategy Industry Growth Rate Industry Growth Rate Industry
Growth Rate Strategic Portfolio Matrix
Read the strategic plan

Industry Growth & Relative market share

Industry Growth rate & Relative market share

More than 5 years Functional Strategies Functional Strategy Market Growth Rate Market Growth
Rate Market Growth Rate Colour light matrix

Ask the CEO

22 To find out what an organization's strategy is, you should:

It provides some property that is It provides the means for renewing It addresses changes in the
external

It guarantees long term survival unique or distinctive competitive advantage environment

23 Which of the following statements is not true when describing a successful strategy?

An external individual or group that is Internal groups or individuals that is An individual or group
with a financial interest in the organization's

able to impose constraints on the able to influence strategic direction of

An individual or group with an

stake in the organization activities and who seeks to

24 In the context of strategic management, stakeholders can be defined as:

25 Which of the following is NOT part of the micro environment?

Competitors

organization

Customers

the organization

Technology Publics

influence them

26 In company’s environment, company’s customers are part of which of the following?

27 Cultural values would be part of which of the following factor in macro environment?

28 In the case where an organization acquires its supplier, this is an example of:

Internal environment

Economic
Horizontal integration

Micro environment

Natural

Forwards vertical integration

Macro environment external environment

Social Ecological

Backwards vertical integration a and b

29 When a firm seeks the

benefits of global integration and local adaptation, it is best described as which type of strategy?

Transnational

Global

Multi-national Global-local

It is a threshold resource It is explicit

30 It is difficult to copy

'Reputation' in the context of an organization's resources can provide competitive advantage

because:

31 A manager that seeks to reach acceptable profit targets as opposed to making as much profit as

possible is making decisions of which type? strategic

It is based on word-of-mouth

Satisfying

Irrational

Optimal

strategy; Strategy selection;

strategy

Appraisal of strengths

and

Satisfactory

32 In strategic thinking, how long is the long term, approximately?

1 to 12 months

1 to 5 years

less than 5 year

More than 5 years

33 What are stages 2, 3 and 4 of the outline strategy process?

Generate implement strategy options;

34 The strategy of TATA Motors would be:

Functional Strategy

35 Growth, retrenchment and

stability are examples of

select

weaknesses; choice of strategic

implementation; strategic control Deliberate strategy; emergent strategy; direction; strategy

implementation realized

strategy

Corporate Strategy Business Strategy both b and c Business Strategies Functional Strategies both a
and c Business Strategy Operational Strategy both a and b

Corporate strategies

36 The word tactic is most likely to be associated with:

Corporate strategy

37 Which of these is not a reason why some firms do not have strategic planning?

Laziness

Competitive leadership

Honest difference of opinion

Poor reward structures

38 Developing a vision and mission, identifying an organization's external opportunities and threats,

and determining internal strengths and weaknesses are all ___________activities.

Strategy formulation
strategy-implementation

long-range planning

short-range planning

39 The _____answers the question "What do we want to become?" whereas_______ answers the
question "What is our business?

"Vision statement; mission statement

Short-term objectives; long-term Objectives;

objectives strategies

Mission; vision

40 What is the recommended length of an effective mission statement?

One page

Less than 200 words

One sentence of 10 to 20 words.

There is no recommendation

41 Which one of these is NOT a part of Porter's competitive forces in industry analysis?

Potential entry of new competitors

Bargaining power of suppliers

Development of substitute products

Threat of substitute products and services

42 ____________is based on the assumption that the future will be just like the past

Delphi forecasts

Econometric models

Linear regression

Scenario forecasts

43 adding new, unrelated products or services for present customers is

Concentric diversification

Horizontal diversification
Conglomerate diversification

Product development

44 Which of the following is not a limitation of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Threats)
analysis?

Organizational strengths may not lead to competitive advantage

SWOT gives a one-shot view of a moving target

SWOT's focus on the external environment is too broad and integrative

SWOT overemphasizes a single dimension of strategy

45 A marketing department that promises delivery quicker than the production department's ability
to produce is an example of

a lack of understanding of the

46 XYZ Corp. is centering on the objective of low-cost, high quality, on-time production by curtailing
idle productive facilities and workers. The XYZ Corp. is taking advantage of a system

47 Which of the following lists is comprised of support activities:

48 Although competitive advantage. Examples include all of the following except:firm infrastructure
is quite frequently viewed only

as overhead expense, it can become a source of

49 The competencies or skills that a firm employs to transform inputs into outputs are:

50 An reputation with its customers and suppliers. Such competitive advantages are based
uponarray of firm resources includes

interpersonal relations among managers in the firm, its culture, and its

51 A company's ability to meet its short-term financial obligations is measured by which of the
following categories?

52 The "balanced scorecard" supplies top managers with a view of the business

The CEO of Lucent Technologies made a lot of mistakes, such as committing errors in assessing the
market and

53 competitive conditions, as well as improperly redesigning the organization into 11 business units.
Such errors led to

performance declines. According to the text, this example illustrates the perspective of leadership

54 The "advance work" in the strategic management process is comprised of

55 Members of an organization's board of directors should, while working to prioritize and fulfill
their responsibilities,

56 The "triple bottom line" approach to corporate accounting, according to the text, includes which
three components

57 As our world increases in complexity, the global environment is increasingly challenging and
competitive. The key to effective globalization is

58 Which of the following lists is the hierarchy of organizational goals in order from least specific to
most specific?

59 An organization's mission, in contrast to its vision, should

60 Vision statements are used to create a higher understanding of the organization's overall
direction and purpose. Vision statements

61 Which of the following would be thought of as part of a firm's general environment?

62 Interest rate increases have a impact on the residential home construction industry and a effect
on industries that produce consumer necessities, such as prescription drugs or basic grocery items

63 An independent group of suppliers, such as farmers, gather to form a cooperative in order to sell
their products to buyers directly, replacing their previous distributor. This is an example of

64 The bargaining power of the supplier is less than that of the buyer when

65 As seen in Porter's Five Forces model, conditions under which a supplier group can be powerful
include all the following except

66 The most extreme rivalry results from

67 Which of the following is an example of the interrelationship between the competitive and
general environments?

68 The value chain is subdivided into two main headings. These are primary activities and:

69 In the value chain, primary activities are:

70 The 'operations' in a passenger airline service would be:

71 One of the strategic decisions relating to the value chain concerns vertical integration. This would
involve:

72 Firm A has decided to use an outside travel firm for making travel arrangements but it is based on
the premises of Firm A. This is an example of:

73 A network of firms providing different parts of a value-chain in the production of a product or

service is known as:

74 A firm outsources many of its value chain activities. Compared to a firm that does everything in-
house this is likely to incur:
75 When a firm promises more than it can actually deliver to win a contract, this is known as:

76 Which of the following outcomes is a potential benefit of outsourcing?

human resource management, customer service, information systems, human resource

management, human resource management, information systems, procurement, and

technology development, and technology development, customer customer service, marketing and

Synergy of the business units

Just-In-Time (JIT)

Need to maintain the reputation of the

company

Last In, First Out (LIFO)

Organizational culture and leadership

First In, First Out (FIFO)

Interrelationships among functional

areas and firm strategies

Highly mechanized

firm infrastructure procurement service, and procurement sales, and operations

marketing and delivery of

Those activities that are all undertaken Directly involved in the production and marketing and
delivery of the product production,

in-house delivery of the product or service or service the product or service

Negotiating and maintaining ongoing relations

with regulatory bodies

Marketing expertise increasing a firm's

revenues and enabling it to enter new

markets

Effective information systems contributing

significantly to a firm's overall cost

leadership strategy
Top management providing a key role in

collaborating with important customers

Getting passengers and baggage

The design of the price structure and

The manufacture of the aircraft from A to B by means of flying in an Selling the tickets to passengers

yield plan aircraft

Tangible resources Physical

Intangible resources Path

Organizational capabilities Social

Reputational resources Tangible

resources

Deciding whether the activity should Deciding whether to share certain

uniqueness dependency complexity Deciding whether to locate operations in Deciding to link all
activities using be performed within the organization activities across different products and the
home country or in a foreign

location Enterprise Resource Planning

or by a different firm markets

liquidity ratios

long-term financial

romantic

Strategy formulation

profitability ratios

detailed and complex

internal mechanism

Strategy implementation

activity ratios

simple and routine

operational
Strategic posturing

Near shleov rienrgageOrfaftsihoo s

ring Insourcing Outsourcing

Franchifsa in s

tgbut N c

oema

rpsrheohre inngsivO e

rchestrating Co-specialization

Higher transaction costs, lower control Higher transaction costs, higher control Lower transaction
costs, higher control Lower transaction costs, lower control

external control

Adverse selection Inverse selection Moral hazard Trust hazard

Strategy analysis

Higher flexibility Higher control Lower transaction costs Better linkages between activities

77 A joint venture can be defined as:

Represent the interests of the

Direct all actions of the CEO

Emphasize the importance of shortterm goals

Represent their own interests

Financial, environmental, and customer

shareholders

78 Substantial changes to the range of offerings or the markets served or both are known as:

Financial, organizational, and psychological Financial, organizational, and customer Financial,

environmental, and social

More people speaking more languages

The flow of capital, people, and information

79 At corporate level, diversification comes about when a firm is involved in two or more:

Governmental regulations The flow of goods

Mission statements, strategic objectives, vision

statements

Mission statements, vision statements, Vision statements, strategic objectives, Vision statements,
mission

strategic objectives mission statements statements, strategic objectives

80 On average, the highest levels of profitability are shown by:

Encompass both the purpose of the

Encompass all the major rules and company as well as the basis of Be shorter in length regulations of
the

Be less detailed

corporate work force competition

Evoke powerful and compelling

Are very specific Set organizational structure

81 Economies of scale are derived from:

82 Which of the following outcomes is NOT an advantage of a completely vertically integrated

business?

Provide specific objectives

increased trade deficit

mental images increased bargaining power of the decreased entry barriers

increased competitive intensity

83 Which of the following might be sources of synergy between two business units?

firm's suppliers

84 Which of the following might NOT be an advantage of increasing the number of countries in
which a clothing firm does business?

positive; negative negative; positive negative; negligible

positive; negligible

85 Which of the following are NOT likely to be sources of relatedness between businesses?

Two firms collaborate together on a One firm licenses its intellectual

Two firms come together to form a third,

Backward integration Threat of substitute products Threat of esnptercyific project property to
another firm Two firms merge together legally separate firm

Forward integration

The buyer's profit margin is low

Cost savings from the supplier's

Differentiation

Threat of backward integration by

Diversification

Relocation

Brand extension

Volume of purchase is low

product are minimal buyers is low

Businesses

Readily available substitute

Markets

Firms with a moderately diverse

Segments

Industries

Firms with a very diverse range of Firms with a diverse range of unrelated

Lack of importance of the buyer to the supplier High differentiation by the supplier Dominance by a
few suppliers Firms focused on just one or two products range of related products and related
products and businesses products and

group

A high level of differentiation

products

Numerous equally balanced

Few competitors, slow industry growth, Numerous equally balanced

businesses businesses

Achieving cheaper unit costs through Increasing the number of markets

Using cheaper raw materials Increasing the breadth of the portfolio

competitors, manufacturing capacity lamcakkoinf gdilfafergreenr tqiautaionnti,thieisgh

fixesderovred

competitors, slow industry growth,

increases only in large increments, low storage costs high fixed or

storage costs exit barriers

Potentially greater control is achieved Potentially greater quality is achieved Lowering of risk is
achieved Lower price of supplies is achieved

A decline in a nation's educational standards

results in a decline in the nation's productivity

Increased awareness of personal

The profits from one can be used to

They have similar customers and use finance the other when its gets into They both have a website
They are both located in the same town the same distribution channels trouble

A country's technological inferiority health leads to lower demand, and

Greater awareness of the environment

results in its enactment of strong tradeExgproesauterer troivdalermy

ianntdhinegaclcuoshtoomlicersrwesituhlts in Making life more difficult for

Peripheral activities

environmental legislation barriers against importation beverages industry

exotic tastes competitors

Increased efficiency Increased access to funding

Support activities Secondary activities Outsourced activities

Directly involved in the production, Those activities that support the

Operating in industries with similar Selling to customers with similar

Similarities in size Similarities in production technologies

success factors demographic characteristics

86 Synergies allow businesses to add value to one another whereas the extent to which the
corporate centre can add value to each of its businesses is called: Relatedness Size Competencies
Vision
87 Learning from trying out new and different things is termed: Absorptive capacity Exploitation
Exploration Economies of scope

profits one would expect to earn on

88 Businesses without a competitive advantage are not likely to earn more than "normal" profits in
the long run. Normal profits are investments that have a similar level of profits received by
corporations in the normal course of business what one would receive on U.S. Treasury securities

profits earned by a corporation on a diversified portfolio of stocks risk

Primary value chain activities that involve the effective layout of receiving dock operations (inbound
logistics) and

89 support value chain activities that include expertise in process engineering (technology
development) characterize differentiation overall cost leadership differentiation focus stuck-in-the-
middle what generic strategy?

it helps a firm to deal with supplier supplier power is increased firms will enjoy high customer
loyalty,

Which of the following is false regarding how a differentiation strategy can help a firm to improve its
competitive by increasing a firm's margins, it avoids

90 position vis à vis Porter's five forces? the need for a low cost position power and reduces buyer
power since because suppliers will be able to thus experiencing less threat from

buyers lack comparable alternatives

91 A narrow market focus is to a differentiation-based strategy as a Growth market is to a

differentiation-based Growth market is to a cost-based

charge higher prices for their inputs substitutes than its competitors

92

93

94

95

96

strategy

The total profits in an industry at all points along the industry's value chain is called the

Profit maximizer

The emphasis on product design is very high,

the intensity of competition is low, and the

market growth rate is low maturity in the

stage of the industry life cycle

In the stage of the industry life cycle,

there are numerous segments, competition is

very intense, and the introduction emphasis on

process design is high

As markets mature There is increasing

emphasis on efficiency

The most probable time to pursue a harvest

strategy is in a situation of High growth

strategy Technological innovation is to a Broadly-defined target market is to a cost

costbased strategy Profit outsourcing leadership strategy Profit pool

Revenue enhancer

growth

introduction

decline

maturity

growth

decline

Costs continue to increase

Application for patents increase

Differentiation opportunities increase

Decline in the market life cycle

Strong competitive advantage

Mergers and acquisitions

97 An 'industry recipe' can be defined as: An competingaccepted pattern of operating and A next
movetactic for anticipating a competitor's The difficult to imitatehidden competences that are A
strategic group

98 Which of the following industries is least likely to follow the conventional life-cycle model?
Software development Coal mining Insurance broking Hairdressing

99 Brandenburger and Nalebuff added a sixth force to Porter's Five Forces. It is known as: The threat
of substitutes The power of complementors Seller power Government regulation

100 An industry characterized by irregular patterns of stability, rapid technological change, high
uncertainty and global Hypercompetitive Hyperactive Atypical Co-optative

competition can be described as: