Reference no: EM13800074

Part 1

1. For the past 28 years, ABC, Inc. has made a significant investment of time, money, and other resources to increase the literacy rate in adult Americans. This represents which of these principles of successful collaborative social initiatives?
A. Weigh government influence.
B. Identify a long-term durable mission.
C. Assemble and value the total package of benefits.
D. Leverage core capabilities.

2. According to stakeholder theory, in a survey of over 2000 directors from over 290 U.S. companies, which of these stakeholders was perceived to be least important?
A. Government
B. Employees
C. Stockholders
D. Society

3. Which law revised and strengthened auditing and account standards?
A. Truth in Lending Act of 1968
B. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
C. Federal Fair Trade Act of 1986
D. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

4. Which of these is true about Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002?
A. The directors and executive officers are required to trade the company's 401(k) plan, profit sharing plan and retirement plan during the blackout period
B. The act requires that the audit committee must be composed entirely of inside officers.
C. Companies are required to extend personal loans to executives and directors.
D. The CEO and CFO must verify every report containing the company's financial statements.

5. A major consequence of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has been the
A. political fallout in congress
B. outsourcing of jobs in lower wage countries
C. super growth in accounting firms in the U.S.
D. reorganizing of the governance structure of American corporations

6. The most critical quality of ethical decision making is
A. economics
B. expeditions
C. objectivity
D. consistency

7. Judging the appropriateness of a particular action based on a goal to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people is what ethics approach?
A. Moral rights approach
B. Social justice approach
C. Business ethics approach
D. Utilitarian approach

8. Judging the appropriateness of a particular action based on equity, fairness, and impartiality in the distribution of rewards and costs among individuals and groups is what ethics approach used by managers?
A. Utilitarian approach
B. Business ethics approach
C. Moral rights approach
D. Social justice approach

9. A broadly framed but enduring statement of a firm's intent is defined as the company
A. vision
B. credo
C. slogan
D. mission

10. This statement of a company's philosophy usually appears within the mission statement and specifies basic beliefs of a firm.
A. Company slogan
B. Company sponsor
C. Company commercial
D. Company creed

11. This statement presents the firm's strategic intent that focuses the energies and resources of the company on achieving a desirable future.
A. Mission statement
B. Values statement
C. Company statement
D. Vision statement

12. The strategic decision makers in the firm are responsible for
A. rewards
B. daily operations
C. the firm's accounting practices
D. the firm's mission

13. The idea that businesses have a duty to serve society as well as the financial interest of stockholders is called
A. going green
B. corporate audit
C. corporate services
D. corporate social responsibility

14. Which of the following strategic decision makers implement the overall strategy?
A. Board of directors
B. Business managers
C. Functional managers
D. Corporate managers

15. Which level of strategy uses a portfolio approach?
A. Business
B. Operational
C. Corporate
D. Functional

16. Of the three levels of strategy that are part of an organizations decision-making hierarchy, which level develops annual objectives and short-term strategies in such areas as production, operations, and research and development, finance and accounting, marketing, and human relations?
A. Corporate
B. Business
C. Management
D. Functional

17. The behavioral consequences of strategic management are similar to those of
A. authoritative decision making
B. centralized decision making
C. autocratic decision making
D. participative decision making

18. What do strategic managers call a flow of information through interrelated stages of analysis toward the achievement of an aim?
A. Strategic control
B. Process
C. Continuous improvement
D. Long-term objective

Part 2

1. A firm's external environment is divided into various subcategories that include
A. remote, social, and operations
B. industry, technology, and internal
C. political, social, and industry
D. remote, industry, and operating

2. When managers consider the general availability of credit, the level of disposable income, and the propensity of people to spend, they are considering what factors?
A. Social factors
B. Business factors
C. Political factors
D. Economic factors

3. This factor considers or provides creative adaptations that can suggest possibilities for new products or for improvements in existing products or in manufacturing and marketing techniques.
A. Industry factor
B. Operations factor
C. Sales factor
D. Technological factor

4. The quasi-science of anticipating environmental and competitive changes and estimating their importance to an organizations operation refers to
A. environmental scanning
B. SWOT analysis
C. business analysis
D. technological forecasting

5. This term refers to the relationships among human beings and other living things and the air, soil, and water that supports them.
A. Society
B. Eco-efficiency
C. Going green
D. Ecology

6. Economies of scale in an industry refers to
A. savings that companies within the industry achieve due to increased volume
B. declining average short run costs per unit
C. improved contractual agreements with suppliers in the near term
D. decreased barriers to entry to new firms attempting to enter the industry

7. This term refers to descriptive characteristics that can be used to differentiate groups of present or potential customers.
A. Psychographics
B. Buyer behaviors
C. Geographics
D. Demographics

8. This information is used to explain or predict some aspect of customer behavior with regard to a product or service. Information such as usage rate, benefits sought, and brand loyalty can provide significant aid in the design of more accurate and profitable strategies.
A. Geographic information
B. Demographic information
C. Psychographic information
D. Buyer behavior

9. Because the quantity, quality, price, and accessibility of financial, human, and material resources are rarely ideal, assessment of suppliers and creditors is critical to an accurate evaluation of which of the firm's external environments?
A. Industry environment
B. Business environment
C. Remote environment
D. Operating environment

10. What Human Resource component within its operating environment is a major element of a firm's ability to satisfy its personnel needs?
A. Employment rates
B. Benefit packages
C. Labor union
D. Reputation

11. A firm's access to needed personnel is affected primarily by four factors that include
A. the firm's size and location, competitive hourly rates, availability of talented people, and its relationship with labor unions
B. the firm's reputation as an employer, national employment rates, community involvement, and overall employee satisfaction
C. the firm's size and location, local employment rates, labor unions to assist with labor needs, and trained potential employees
D. the firm's reputation as an employer, local employment rates, the ready availability of people with the needed skills, and its relationship with labor unions

12. This element of employment or labor represents the workers in their negotiations with employers through the process of collective bargaining.
A. Human Resources
B. Hiring agent
C. Wage & Hours Association
D. Labor unions

13. The environment that is typically subject to much influence by the firm is
A. external
B. industry
C. remote
D. operating

14. Which of these is a determinant of entry, according to Porter?
A. Presence of substitute input
B. Ability to backward integrate
C. Exit barriers
D. Economies of scale

15. Which threat of entry creates a barrier by forcing entrants to spend heavily to overcome customer loyalty?
A. Economies of scale
B. Powerful sellers
C. Powerful buyers
D. Product differentiation

16. This group is considered powerful if it is not obliged to contend with other products for sale to the industry.
A. Buyers
B. Retailers
C. Wholesalers
D. Suppliers

17. This is considered a collection of firms that offer similar products or services that customers perceive to be substitutable for one another..
A. Monopoly
B. Oligopoly
C. Environment
D. Industry

18. This environment in the strategic planning process comprises factors in the competitive situation that affect a firm's success in acquiring needed resources or in profitably marketing its goods and services.
A. Remote environment
B. Industry environment
C. Business environment
D. Operating environment

Part 3

1. The structure of a simple organization
A. limits the owner's(s') control
B. maximizes the owner's(s') control
C. minimizes the owner's(s') control
D. slightly increases the owner's(s') control

2. This structure is one in which a set of relatively autonomous units are governed by a central corporate office but where each operation has its own functional specialists who provide products or services that are different from those of other operations.
A. Divisional organizational structure
B. Matrix organizational structure
C. Functional organizational structure
D. Product-team structure

3. This type of organizational structure combines the advantages of functional specialization with the advantages of product-project specialization.
A. Specialization business
B. Product-team structure
C. Divisional organization
D. Matrix structure

4. Twenty-first-century corporations reflect
A. interdependency
B. the top-down approach
C. structured interaction
D. internal focus

5. Today, global means
A. locating operations in numerous countries
B. selling goods in overseas markets
C. using resources from other markets
D. getting resources and talent from around the globe and selling worldwide

6. This type of organization or structure is one that identifies a set of business capabilities central to high-profitability operations and then builds a virtual organization around those capabilities.
A. Modular organization
B. Agile organization
C. Virtual structure
D. Ambidextrous organization

7. These are arrangements between two or more companies in which they both contribute capabilities, resources, or expertise to a joint undertaking, usually with an identity of its own, with each firm giving up overall control in return for the potential to participate in and benefit from the relationship.
A. Joint ventures
B. Strategic alliances
C. Outsourcing agreements
D. Contractual diversification

8. This is an organization structure most notable for its lack of structure wherein knowledge and getting it to the right place quickly is the key reason for the organization.
A. Modular organization
B. Joint venture
C. Learning organization
D. Ambidextrous organization

9. One of the limitations of the SWOT analysis is that it can be
A. static
B. dynamic
C. simple
D. complex

10. One of the limitations of SWOT analysis is that it can do this to a single strength or element of strategy.
A. Underemphasize
B. Overemphasize
C. Misrepresent
D. Rationalize

11. Value chain analysis takes a
A. process point of view
B. functional point of view
C. horizontal point of view
D. corporate point of view

12. Which of the following is an example of a primary activity in the typical firm?
A. Human resources management
B. Research, technology and systems development
C. General administration
D. Logistics

13. In VCA, which method of cost accounting is preferred?
A. Activity-based cost accounting
B. Value-based cost accounting
C. Traditional cost accounting
D. Financial cost accounting

14. This is an internal analysis technique wherein strategists examine customers' needs, company offerings, and competitors' offerings to more clearly articulate what their company's competitive advantage is and how it differs from those of competitors.
A. Resource-based view
B. Three circles analysis
C. SWOT analysis
D. Value chain analysis

15. The first step of this type of analysis involves a firm determining what their customers value and why they value it.
A. Three circles analysis
B. Value chain analysis
C. Resource-based view
D. SWOT analysis

16. Once a hypothesis about competitive advantage has been developed by a firm through three circles analysis, it should be tested by
A. conducting a value chain analysis
B. asking a panel of experts
C. asking customers
D. asking the Board of Directors

17. This is a method of comparing the way a company performs a specific activity with a competitor, potential competitor, or company doing the same thing.
A. Benchmarking
B. Imitating
C. Value chain analysis
D. Vertical integration

18. Companies committed to this process attempt to isolate and identify where their costs or outcomes are out of line with what they identify as the best practices of competitors or other companies or organizations that undertake similar tasks.
A. Imitating
B. Vertical integration
C. Benchmarking
D. Disaggregating

Part 4

1. Firms that enjoy higher profit margins are using which of Michael Porter's generic strategies?
A. Cost leadership
B. Differentiation
C. Focus
D. Concentrated growth

2. Which of the following companies is a good example of a low-cost leader?
A. Wal-Mart
B. Brooks Brothers
C. Chivas Regal
D. Porsche

3. Firms that follow this type of generic strategy can sometimes have difficulties succeeding without compromising the key attributes of a company's products or services.
A. Focus
B. Differentiation
C. Cost leadership
D. Concentrated growth

4. Which of the following is a generic strategy developed by Michael Porter?
A. Market development
B. Differentiation
C. Liquidation
D. Innovation

5. Striving to create and market unique products for varied customer groups is called
A. cost leadership
B. differentiation
C. focus
D. concentrated growth

6. Which of the following is a value discipline?
A. Operational excellence
B. Cost leadership
C. Concentrated growth
D. Innovation

7. Companies that pursue this value discipline strive to produce a continuous stream of state-of-the-art products and services.
A. Customer intimacy
B. Operational excellence
C. Product leadership
D. Innovation

8. Which of the grand strategies is typically lowest in risk?
A. Horizontal integration
B. Concentrated growth
C. Market development
D. Divestiture

9. The grand strategy in which the firm directs its resources to the profitable growth of a single product, in a single market and with a single technology is termed
A. product development
B. market development
C. concentrated growth
D. vertical integration

10. What is it called when current products are marketed, often with only cosmetic changes, to customers in related market areas?
A. Diversification
B. Concentrated growth
C. Product development
D. Market development

11. The acquisition of one or more businesses operating at the same stage of the production-marketing chain is an example of
A. market development
B. product development
C. innovation
D. horizontal acquisition

12. If a textile producer acquires a shirt manufacturer, this is called
A. vertical horizontal acquisition
B. backward horizontal acquisition
C. backward vertical acquisition
D. forward vertical acquisition

13. For the ABC Company, the Alpha business is in a dominant market share position in a mature market. As per the BCG matrix, Alpha is a
A. star
B. question mark
C. cash cow
D. dog

14. Which matrix makes fine distinctions among business portfolio positions with the inclusion of high/medium/low axes?
A. Industry strength matrix
B. Growth-share matrix
C. Strategic environments matrix
D. Industry attractiveness-business strength matrix

15. Which matrix involves a framework that can help ensure that businesses' strategies are consistent with strategies appropriate to their strategic environment?
A. Strategic choice matrix
B. Growth-share matrix
C. Industry attractiveness-business strength matrix
D. Strategic environments matrix

16. Which of the following represents an operating opportunity to build value or sharing?
A. Shared inbound or outbound shipping and materials handling
B. Shared management know-how
C. Shared after-sales service
D. Shared brand name

17. The most compelling reason companies should diversify can be found in situations when
A. core competencies are not similar
B. core competencies can be leveraged with other products or into other markets
C. management is similar in various businesses
D. cash resources can be leveraged

18. The core competency must represent a major source of value to be a basis for competitive advantage. Furthermore, the core competency
A. must be negotiable
B. must be financial
C. must be diversified
D. must be transferable

Part 5

1. This is concerned with tracking a strategy as it is being implemented, detecting problems or changes in its underlying premises, and making necessary adjustments.
A. Strategy evaluation
B. Strategic implementation
C. Strategic control
D. Strategic decision-making

2. Strategic surveillance must be kept
A. as focused as possible
B. as unfocused as possible
C. as fast as possible
D. internal

3. This, called kaizen in Japanese, is the process of relentlessly trying to find ways to improve and enhance a company's products and processes from design through assembly, sales, and service.
A. CCC21
B. Incremental innovation
C. Continuous improvement
D. Six Sigma

4. CCC21 stands for
A. competitive cost competency in the 21st century
B. construction of cost competitiveness for the 21st century
C. cost chain competition for the 21st century
D. continuous cost competitiveness in the 21st century

5. The DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control) process is relevant to
A. CCC21
B. balanced scorecard
C. strategic matrix analysis
D. Six Sigma

6. This idea factor involves following demographic and other broad trends and trying to develop ideas that may be relevant and useful.
A. Mental invention
B. Trend following
C. Market research
D. Solution spotting

7. While these may under perform established products in mainstream markets, they often offer features or capabilities appreciated by some fringe customer group.
A. Throughput technologies
B. Acquired innovations
C. Disruptive innovations
D. Lagging innovations

8. These are also referred to as crowdsourcing or open innovation.
A. Ideagoras
B. Disruptors
C. Sustainers
D. Golddiggers

9. Short-term objectives are usually
A. completed within 2 months
B. quantitative
C. qualitative
D. set to be completed within 5 years

10. Short-term objectives assist strategy implementation by identifying measurable outcomes of action plans or functional activities, which can make feedback, correction, and evaluation
A. more relevant and acceptable
B. more expensive
C. more difficult
D. more geared toward growth

11. Discussion about and agreement on short-term objectives help raise issues and potential conflicts within an organization that usually
A. need little coordination
B. require additional personnel
C. focus on public relations
D. require organizational coordination

12. Key, routine activities that must be undertaken in each department of the organization are
A. business tactics
B. resource tactics
C. functional tactics
D. corporate tactics

13. In which type of strategy do functional tactics translate into action designed to accomplish specific short-term objectives?
A. Corporate strategy
B. Grand strategy
C. Operational strategy
D. Tactical strategy

14. The effort to familiarize future leaders with the skills important to the company and to develop exceptional leaders among the managers you employ is
A. identifying an action plan
B. education and leadership development
C. developing principles
D. creating passion

15. Organizational culture includes important assumptions shared by members of the organization. These assumptions are often
A. very similar to all other organizations in that industry
B. very obvious to outsiders
C. unstated
D. formalized

16. Power Fund is a long-standing brokerage firm with a great history of high returns and well-managed growth. The managers at Power Fund repeatedly refer to terms like quality, growth, and reliability in the firm's advertisements. This demonstrates managers'
A. dissemination of stories and legends about core values
B. emphasis on key themes or dominant values
C. building time into the organization
D. managing the firm globally

17. These create differences across national boundaries that influence how people interact, read personal cues, and otherwise interrelate socially.
A. Values
B. Religions
C. Social norms
D. Educations

18. A leader's vision should be
A. varied
B. complex
C. simple
D. long