________ in the RBV are defined as the tangible and intangible assets that a firm controls that it can use to conceive and implement its strategies.
Management controls
Capabilities
Resources
Compensation policies
________ are a subset of a firm's resources and are defined as tangible and intangible assets that enable a firm to take full advantage of other resources it controls.
Retained earnings
Human resources
Financial resources
A firm's marketing skills and teamwork as well as its cooperation among managers are examples of
financial resources.
human resources.
physical resources.
capabilities.
The training, experience, judgment, intelligence, relationships and insight of individual managers and workers in a firm are examples of
organizational resources.
Computer hardware and software technology, robots used in manufacturing and automated warehouses are examples of which type of resources?
physical resources
human resources
organizational resources
A firm's formal reporting structure, its formal and informal planning and its controlling and coordinating systems are examples of which type of resources?
financial resources
The VRIO assumption that some of the resource and capability differences among firms may be long lasting because it may be very costly for firms without certain resources and capabilities to develop or acquire them is known as
resource mobility.
resource homogeneity.
resource immobility.
resource heterogeneity.
________ implies that for a given business activity, some firms may be more skilled in accomplishing this activity than other firms.
Resource mobility
Resource homogeneity
Resource immobility
Resource heterogeneity
The theoretical roots of the resource-based view can be traced to research done by
David Ricardo.
Adam Smith.
Oliver Williamson.
Joseph Schumpeter.
Inputs whose quantity of supply is fixed and does not respond to price increases are said to be
elastic in supply.
inelastic in supply.
elastic in demand.
perfectly competitive.
To the extent that a firm's resources and capabilities enhance a firm's competitive position by enabling a firm to exploit its opportunities or neutralize its threats, these resources and capabilities are valuable and are known as
temporary competitive advantages.
sustainable competitive advantages.
core competencies.
strengths.
The set of business activities in which a firm engages to develop, produce, and market its products or services is known as its
value chain.
If in the process of maximizing its performance, a firm engages in activities that pollute the environment, the impact of that pollution is a(n)
capability.
externality.
competitive advantage.
weakness.
ESPN's development of an extensive offering of X-Games coverage that is unmatched by any other sports outlet is an example of which element of the VRIO framework?
organization
imitability
competitive parity
rarity
Most firms have a resource base that is composed primarily of resources and capabilities that are
valuable but not rare.
neither valuable nor rare.
valuable and rare.
rare but not valuable.
Which of the following is not one of the six distinct activities in McKinsey and Company's value chain model?
technology development
product design
manufacturing
inbound logistics
In general, as long as the number of firms that possess a particular valuable resource or capability is less than the number of firms needed to generate perfect competition dynamics in an industry, that resource or capability can be considered ________ and a potential source of competitive advantage.
valuable
rare
inimitable
un-substitutable
If firms that do not possess valuable and rare resources or capabilities face a cost disadvantage in obtaining these resources or capabilities compared to the firms that already possess them, these resources and capabilities are termed
rare.
valuable.
imperfectly imitable.
perfectly imitable.
Firms that possess and exploit costly-to-imitate, rare and valuable resources in choosing and implementing their strategies may enjoy a period of
temporary competitive advantage.
competitive disadvantage.
competitive parity.
sustained competitive advantage.
If a firm's resources and capabilities are costly to imitate because imitating firms may not understand the relationship between the resources and capabilities controlled by a firm and that firm's competitive advantage, this competitive advantage is said to be protected from imitation by
path dependence.
causal ambiguity.
unique historical conditions.
social complexity.
Resources and capabilities, such as interpersonal relations among managers and a firm's culture, that may be costly to imitate because they are beyond the ability of firms to systematically manage and influence are referred to as
socially complex.
causally ambiguous.
path dependent.
the result of unique historical conditions.
According to the research in strategic human resources management,
firms that are able to use human resource practices to develop socially complex human and organizational resources are able to gain competitive advantage over firms that do not engage in these practices.
firms that are able to use human resource practices to develop socially simplistic human and organizational resources are able to gain competitive advantage over firms that do not engage in these practices.
firms that are able to use human resource practices to develop socially complex human and organizational resources gain little advantage over firms that do not engage in these practices.
firms that are able to use human resource practices to develop socially complex human and organizational resources are at a competitive disadvantage when compared to firms that do not engage in these practices.
Which of the following statements regarding patents is accurate?
Patents always increase the costs of imitation.
Patents may decrease, rather than increase, the costs of imitation.
Patents always decrease the costs of imitation.
Patents have no impact on the costs of imitation.
The range of formal and informal mechanisms to ensure that managers are behaving in ways consistent with a firm's strategies are referred to as
formal reporting structures.
organizational charts.
compensation policies.
management control systems.
Which of the following is an example of formal management controls?
a firm's culture
the willingness of employees to monitor each other
budgeting and reporting activities
managerial motivation
Southwest Airlines' strong internal culture that helps ensure that employees act in ways consistent with the company's strategy is an example of a(n)
informal management control.
formal management control.
compensation policy.
formal reporting structure.
Resources that are valuable but not rare can be categorized as
organizational weaknesses.
distinctive competencies.
organizational strengths.
complementary resources and capabilities.
Resources that generate a temporary competitive advantage are
valuable, rare and costly to imitate.
valuable but neither rare nor costly to imitate.
valuable and either rare or costly to imitate.
valuable and rare but not costly to imitate.
If a resource or capability is valuable and rare but not costly to imitate, exploiting this resource will generate a(n)
perfectly competitive environment.
environment characterized by competitive parity.
Resources and capabilities that are valuable, rare, and costly to imitate are best described as
entry barriers.
sustainable distinctive competencies.
If Delta Airlines were to significantly change its fare structure and flight schedule to enhance its competitive position in response to aggressive price cutting by Southwest Airlines, this would be an example of
explicit collusion.
tacit collusion.
competitive dynamics.
a harvest strategy.
Any actions a firm takes that have the effect of reducing the level of rivalry in an industry that also do not require firms in an industry to directly communicate or negotiate with each other can be thought of as
tacit cooperation.
When tacit cooperation has the effect of reducing supply and increasing prices, it is known as
monopolistic competition.
Tacit cooperation is only a viable strategy when
an industry is perfectly competitive.
an industry is heterogeneous with respect to the products it sells and their cost structure.
there is a strong market share leader in the industry.
there are low entry barriers in the industry.
The specific actions a firm takes to implement its strategies are known as
competitive advantages.
objectives.
goals.
tactics.
Which of the following statements regarding the resource-based view is accurate?
Competitively valuable resources and capabilities are controlled only by a firm's general managers.
Only lower level employees need to accept the responsibility of creating, nurturing and exploiting resources and capabilities that can generate competitive advantages for a firm.
Employees should define their jobs in functional terms instead of in competitive and economic terms.
Competitive advantage is too important to remain the sole property of senior management.
Which of the following statements regarding competitive parity and competitive advantage is accurate?
Some firms develop valuable, rare, and costly-to-imitate resources and capabilities in being efficient second movers, that is, in rapidly imitating and improving on the product and technological innovations of other firms.
Firms that benchmark their performance against the performance of successful competitors can expect to develop at least a temporary competitive advantage.
Firms must be first movers to gain competitive advantages.
Even if all a firm does is create value in the same way as its competitors, the firm can expect to earn at least a temporary competitive advantage.
If there is a conflict between the resources a firm controls and that firm's organization, ________ should be changed.
the resources
both
nothing
the organization
A process is said to be ________ when events early in the evolution of a process have significant effects on subsequent events.
causally ambiguous
path dependent
socially complex
path independent
LaserTech's new technology appears to be
If one of LaserTech's rivals were to decide to divest its industrial laser manufacturing business in response to LaserTech's new technology, this would be an example of
a sustainable distinctive competence.
If LaserTech's new technological development were due to proprietary investments the company made when it was first founded twenty years ago, this would be an example of
LaserTech's new technology is an example of
The inability of rivals to develop or acquire technology similar to that of LaserTech is an illustration of
Bates' culture is an example of a(n)
The budgeting and reporting activities that Bates uses are examples of
informal management controls.
formal management controls.
primary value chain activities.
The reward system Bates uses to encourage employees to find ways to reduce costs is an example of a(n)
sustained distinctive competence.
The fact that it would be would be difficult and costly for firms to match Bates' capabilities in the tool industry indicates that these capabilities are
substitutable.
It would be costly for competitors to duplicate Bates due to
path dependence and causal ambiguity.
causal ambiguity and unique historical conditions.
path dependence and unique historical conditions.
causal ambiguity and patents.
