A key characteristic of strategic decisions is that:
they are likely to be concerned with, or affect, the long-term direction of an organisation.
they identify specific areas of strategic interest for the management of an organisation.
they result in better organisational performance.
they are normally definite decisions about the future of the organisation.
Identification of what 'helps managers to focus on the environmental factors that are most important and which must be addressed most urgently'?
PESTEL
Key drivers for change
Scenarios
Five Forces
What is meant by the term 'SBU'?
Strategic board undertaking
Single business unit
Strategic business unit
Service bureau unit
The term ’corporate strategy' concerns strategy and strategic decisions:
At all levels in an organisation.
In certain types of organisations.
Developed by the senior management in an organisation.
In the private sector only.
Which type of lens encourages a detached approach to planning and analysis, valuing hard facts and objectivity?
Variety
Design
Experience
Discourse
Which of the following is NOT a way of overcoming bases of competitive advantage?
Increasing selling power
Imitation
Blocking first-mover advantage
Overcoming barriers to entry
Strategic repositioning
Which of the following is not one of the alternative directions shown on the Ansoff product/market growth matrix?
Diversification
Developing new products
Corporate parenting
Bringing existing products into new markets
It is possible to identify different levels of strategy in an organisation; these are:
Corporate and business unit.
Corporate; strategic business unit; and operational.
Strategic and tactical.
Corporate and functional
What term is used for the 'long-term direction of an organisation'?
Strategy
Goals
Vision
Mission
Which of the following statements accurately relates to the stakeholder model of governance?
Firms generally have a single-tier structure.
Shareholders have a legitimate primacy in relation to the wealth generated by organisations.
All board members are insiders (typically managers of the company).
Boards attempt to consider the wishes of all stakeholders.
What term is used for a situation where early events and decisions establish policy paths that have lasting effects on subsequent events and decisions?
Strategic drift
Path dependency
Cyclical strategy
Historicisation
What term is used for M&A integration in which it is implied that both the acquired firm and the acquiring firm learn the best qualities from the other?
Absorption
Holding
Symbiosis
Preservation
In the context of strategic alliances, what is meant by the term 'collaborative advantage'?
The benefit of creating a new entity that is owned separately by the partners involved
The result of managing alliances better than competitors
The benefits of being part of a network of alliances of which an organisation is a member
The aim of two or more organisations in sharing resources and activities to pursue a strategy
When using PESTEL it is easy to get overwhelmed by a multitude of details. Instead, it is important to step back and identify the:
relevant Five Forces that exist
market segments
complex links between each of the factors
key drivers for change
Which of the following is likely to be a cost of corporate parenting?
Coaching and facilitating
Envisioning
Intervening
Adding management costs
Strategic choices require an understanding of:
The organisational strengths and weaknesses.
The underlying bases for future strategy at business-unit and corporate levels; and the options for developing strategy in terms of directions and methods of development.
The business environment, the competition and the strategic capability of the organisation
The key drivers of change
A film company and a music recording company may choose to combine, believing that the result will be more effective than the sum of the two component parts. What term is used for the benefits?
Consolidation
Synergy
Integeration
Best-in-class benchmarking seeks to assess organisational performance against:
The nearest geographical competitor
the competitor who is ’best inclass’ wherever that may be.
The nearest principal competitor.
The competitor who is the best in the industry
Which of the following definitions explains what is meant by the corporate parent?
The founder of the business
The levels of management above that of business units
The central head office of the organisation
The owner or major shareholder of the corporation
Core competences are the skills and abilities by which resources are deployed through anorganisation’s activities and processes such as to:
Survive using approaches and techniques that others cannot imitate or obtain.
Achieve competitive advantage in ways that others cannot imitate or obtain.
Survive.
Achieve competitive advantage.
Which of the following terms is used for'an organisation that is loosely coordinatedinternationally, but involves dispersion overseas of variousactivities, with goods and services produced locally in each national market’?
Multidomestic
Global
Exporter
Transnational
Who shapes and communicates strategy?
Senior managers
Managers at all levels and specialist strategists
Specialist strategists
Middle and senior managers
What is defined as 'a group of customers who have similar needs that are different from customer needs in other parts of the market'?
Strategic group
Customer grouping
Market segment
Marketisation
Which of the following are the correct axes for stakeholder mapping?
Control/interest
Influence/interest
Power/interest
Process/interest
Which of the following is not a method of strategy development?
Foreign direct investment
Strategic alliances
Mergers and acquisitions
Organic development
What term is used for two or more organisations sharing resources and activities to pursue a strategy?
Acquisition
Alliance
Merger
Organizational get-together
What term is used for something that 'creates substantial growth by offering a new performance trajectory that, even if initially inferior to the performance of existing technologies, has the potential to become markedly superior'?
Sustaining innovation
Disruptive innovation
Platform launch
Positioning option
Which of the following is least likely to be a contextual factor that might swing the balance between moving first to moving second?
Buyer switching costs
Capacity for profit capture
Fast-moving arenas
Complementary assets
The four major players in a particular industry have all recently spent large sums reducing the environmental impact of their factories. What is the probable result of this on the competitive attractiveness of the industry for the players within it?
The industry would be less attractive because costs of entry have increased.
The industry would be more attractive because the bargaining power of suppliers has been reduced.
The industry would be more attractive because costs of entry have increased.
The industry would be less attractive because the threat of substitutes will have increased.
The primary aim of Porter's Five Forces framework is to answer which of the following questions?
What do we know about the various forces?
What influence can be exerted?
Is the industry a good one to compete in or not?
How are competitors differently affected?
In recent decades, technologies in the aerospace industry have become more difficult to master and the products have become more complex. Which of the following best describes how a competitive force has changed as a result in this industry?
Supplier power has decreased.
The threat of entry has reduced.
Buyer power has increased.
Tangible, intellectual capital
Intangible, financial resources
What term is used for an organisation's abilities to renew and recreate its strategic capabilities to meet the needs of a changing environment?
Core competence
Competent substitution
Renewability
Dynamic capabilities
What name is given to the purchase of components and services from the most appropriate suppliers around the world regardless of location?
Multidomestic marketing
International compartmentalisation
The global–local dilemma
Global sourcing
A competitor finds it difficult to identify the basis for an organisation's competitive advantage. What term is used for this situation?
Causal ambiguity
Causal dependency
Interdependent causality
Ambiguous intercausality
The Royal Bank of Scotland's consortium competed with Barclays Bank to acquire the Dutch bank ABN AMRO: the Royal Bank of Scotland won, but the excessive price of '70bn (~$98bn) soon drove the victor into financial collapse and government ownership. What term is used for this situation?
Winner's curse
Excessibility
Hubris
Which of the following best describes a 'deliberate' strategy?
A strategic direction that emerges from a stream of decisions
A strategy that is the product of competitive pressure
An expression of desired strategic direction, intentionally formulated or planned by managers
An expression of desired strategic direction deliberately formulated or planned by managers that is realised in the fullness of time
Which of the following is not a category in the BCG matrix?
Star
Cash cow
Question mark
Ballast
Dog
The QWERTY typewriter layout is an example of which of the following?
Recency bias
Transformational change
What name is given to the process of divulging information to outside bodies when a person believes that their organisation is failing in its corporate social responsibility
Showing enlightened self-interest
Social auditing
Whistle-blowing
Legitimising
What term is used for the process by which innovations spread among users?
Market pull
Entrepreneurism
Diffusion
In the Exploring Strategy Model, what heading is used to cover environment, capability, goals and culture?
Strategic position
Strategy in action
Strategic applicability
Strategic choices
The experience lens suggests that strategies develop:
through the shared assumptions across similar types of organisations within an industry (or organisational field).
through the shared assumptions in the organisation, often thought of as the organisational culture.
through the individual experience of a few top managers or strategic planners.
All of the above
What is defined as ’a group of customers who have similar needs that are different from customer needs in other parts of the market'?
Which of the following is NOT part of Rumelt’s tests of Business Strategy?
Feasible
Consonant
Consistent
Evaluation
Which of the following is NOT an outcome of Hrebiniak & Joyce (1985) environmental determinism framework?
Adaptation by design
Adaptation in situ
Adaptation within constraints
Adaptation by chance
Which one of the following is not part of Bourgeois & Brodwin (1983) strategic implementation perspective on Leadership?
Commander Approach
Change Approach
Demand Approach
Collaborative Approach
One of the following is NOT a condition for achieving Cost Leadership AND Differentiation
Innovation
Competitors stuck in the middle
Cost strongly affected by share / interrelationships
Strategy optimization Strategy optimization
Which of the following is NOT a cost driver?
Economies of scale
Value-added services
Economies of learning
Production techniques
Which of the following is NOT a differentiation driver?
Product features and performance
Intensity of marketing activity
Input cost
Which of the following is NOT An outcome of Dunphy & Stace (1993) contingency based model change management?
Evidential performance
Dictatorial transformation
Forced evolution
Participative evolution
Which of the following is NOT one of Bourgeois and Brodwin’s (1983) approaches to strategy implementation?
Developmental approach
Cultural approach
Crescive approach
Managerial attempt to link emergent and deliberate is often referred to as:
Combinatorial approach
Logical incremantalism
Recombinant techchnology
Emergent-delibrate move
Which of the following is NOT a critique of the linear model of strategy?
Fallacy of prediction
Fallacy of detachment
Fallacy of formalization
Fallacy of value creation
Which of the following is an outcome of the rationality, frictions and inertia associated with the linear model of strategy?
Political support
Creativity failure
New product development
Strategic foresight
The linear model of strategy’s Emphasis on rationalization can lead to all the following except:
Unqualified acceptance and misapplication of techniques for strategic analysis
Professionalization of the planner’s job by making strategy a science
Excessive emphasis on quantification for strategic decisions
Logical incrementalism
Which of the following school of strategy is NOT a prescriptive perspective on strategy?
Configurational School
Design school
Planning school
Positioning school
Which of the following school of strategy is NOT classified as a descriptive perspective on strategy?
Cognitive school
Learning school
Entrepreneurial School
Which of the following is NOT one of the 5Ps of strategy?
Strategy as plan
Strategy as pattern
Strategy as ploy
Strategy as panoptic
According to Barney (1991) resources are likely to provide a competitive advantage when they are Organized, valuable, inimitable and….
Rare
Reified
Expensive
Desirable
Machines, buildings, raw materials, databases, computer systems are examples of…
Human resources
Physical resources
Intellectual resources
Financial resources
Which of the following is NOT a key criteria by which capabilities can be assessed in terms of providing a basis for achieving sustainable competitive advantage?
Valuable
Inimitable
Transferable
Which of the following might lead to the inimitability of a strategic capability?
strategic organizing
Creative forecasting
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a core competence?
Provide distinctive consumer benefit
Can be leveraged and alters boundaries of firms
A critique of the strategy linear model
Hard for competitors to imitate
The section marked XXXXXXXXXX in the figure below represents: ( figure is shown cba to try and put it here)
Scenario planning
Resource based view
Organizational capabilities
Which of the following as argued by Leonard-Barton(1992) inhibit a firm’s ability to access and develop new capabilities?
Core rigidities
Core reductionism
Core competences
Core activities
The more highly developed an organizations capabilities,…..
The narrower the repertoire
The broader the repertoire
The more lasting the repertoire
The more active the repertoire
Which of the following is an approach to developing capabilities?
Strategic alignment
Product sequencing
Proactive marketing
Investing in patents
Which of the following is NOT a step in the framework for analysing resources and capabilities?
Appraise the firm's resources and capabilities
Identify the firm’s resources and capabilities
Explore the linkages between resources and capabilities
Optimize resources and capabilities
In 2016, it emerged that previous research into emissions from diesel engines was flawed and that they were much worse for the environment than other types of engines. For firms associated with the production of diesel engines, this revelation is best described as an ….
Weak signal
Inflection point
Megatrend
Wild card
Due to uncertainty relating to Brexit, the pound is currently quite weak against many other currencies. Which element of PESTEL would this most relate to?
Political
Economic
Social
Technological
The advent of comparison websites for products such as car insurance has had the biggest impact on which element of Porter’s Five Forces framework
Threat of new entrants
Substitutes
Rivalry
Power of buyers
In the “Strategic Capabilities” element of strategic positioning, a good example of causal ambiguity might be ….
Where a car manufacturer has quality problems and it is hard to identify the root cause of the issues
Where an insurer has low customer satisfaction and it is unclear what the reasons are behind it
Where a telecoms company knows it has issues related to the PESTLE model, but is unsure which element is to blame
Where a fashion retailer is successful but it is hard for others to understand how it gains its competitive advantage
Resources differ from competences in that ….
Resources are what we have, competences are what we do well
Resources are what we know, competences are what we would like to do well
Resources are what we have, competences are what we would like to do well
Resources are what we know, competences are what our competitors know
One of the primary activities in Porter’s Value Chain is outbound logistics, which involves ….
Anticipating, identifying, and satisfying customer requirements
Activities that enhance or maintain the value of a product or service
Warehousing and transport of products and services
Transforming inputs into final products and services
KFC’s special mix of eleven herbs and spices may be thought of as being most closely associated with which element of Barney’s VRIO model?
V
R
I
O
1Aldi is a German discount supermarket chains with over 10,000 stores in 20 countries, & an estimated combined turnover of more than €50 billion. Which of Bowman’s routes best describes Aldi’s business approach?
Low price
Hybrid
Differentiation
No frills
Which Generic Strategy best describes Sainsbury’s business approach?
Cost leadership
Cost focus
Differentiation focus
Using the case study, “The IKEA Approach”, which of the following best describes Ikea’s Generic Strategy ….
Cost leadership & focus differentiation
Differentiation & cost focus
Cost leadership & differentiation
Differentiation focus & cost focus
Which of the following is NOT likely to be a benefit of corporate parenting?
Coaching and Facilitating
Bureaucratic complexity
Providing central services
Using the “Virgin – is the brand more than Richard Branson?” case study, which type of corporate parenting role best describes the Virgin Group?
Portfolio manager
Synergy manager
Parental developer
Appeaser
The concept of a “born global” firm is where ….
A small firm internationalises rapidly at an early stage of its development
A firm moves quickly through the various internationalisation modes by rolling out its unique capabilities worldwide
A firm uses a sequential process to gradually increase its commitment to its newly entered overseas markets
A firm relies on its trading partners worldwide rather than its own presence in overseas markets
Which of the four international strategies is most likely to be difficult to implement in practice?
An international strategy
A global strategy
A transnational strategy
A localisation strategy
The Japanese camera industry grew to be world-renowned due to the high expectations of consumers in the home market. Which element of Porter’s Diamond would this relate to?
Firm strategy, structure and rivalry
Factor Conditions
Demand conditions
Related and supporting industries
What is the global/local dilemma?
The extent to which local employees should be recruited or seconded from corporate HQ
The extent to which products/services may be standardised across national boundaries or need to be adapted to suit local needs
The extent to which marketing campaigns are budgeted for in the local or corporate parent’s currency
The extent to which foreign exchange gains or losses arise from international transactions
Apple Inc. is an American technology company that designs & sells consumer electronics, software, & online services, employing 123,000 staff & earning $229 billion in worldwide revenue in 2017. The approach taken by Apple to product development focuses primarily on ….
Achieving first-mover advantage
Achieving cost leadership
Achieving maximum sales
Achieving success through being a “follower”
Garmin & TomTom are well-known brands of stand-alone satellite navigation units for cars. However, the rapid development of equivalent smartphone apps has had a huge impact on their sales. The term given for this type of innovation is ….
Displacement innovation
Dysfunctional innovation
Disjointed innovation
Trial and error in strategy development is most associated with which of the following approaches ….
Political processes
Strategy as continuity
Organisational systems
The common approaches to capability-building exclude
Internal development
Acquiring capabilities through mergers and acquisitions
Accessing capabilities via collaborative partnerships
Buying from the capital market
Accessing capabilities from an external source is to access them via collaborative partnership with suppliers, competitors or other companies having the cutting edge expertise. Which of the following is NOT one of the basic ways to pursue this course of action?
Outsource the function requiring the capabilities to a key supplier or another provider
Collaborate with a firm that has complementary resources and capabilities in a joint venture or strategic alliance
Develop competitive intelligence system and engage in industrial espionage
Engage in a collaborative partnership for the purpose of learning how the partner does things, internalizing its methods and thereby acquiring its capabilities
An organization becomes a prime candidate for diversifying under one of the following circumstances
When it spots opportunities for expanding into industries whose technologies and products complements its present business
When it cannot leverage its collection of resources and capabilities by expanding into businesses where these resources and capabilities are valuable assets
When it does not have a powerful and well-known brand name that can be transferred to products of other business and use as a lever for driving up the sales and profits of such businesses
When diversifying into other businesses does not open up avenues for reducing costs via cross business sharing or transfer of valuable assets.
Which of the following is NOT one of Porter’s three tests for buying or selling off an SBU to improve shareholders value?
Attractiveness test
Better-off text
Cost-of entry
Portfolio entry test
Which of the following is NOT a benefit of the M-Form
Clearly removed executives responsible for the destiny of the organisation from the more routine operation
Benefits of specialisation
Improved organizational culture
Corporate management can measure the performance of business units Individualism and autonomy
All the following is a key indicator of industry attractiveness EXCEPT:
Social, Political, regulatory and environmental factors
Seasonal and cyclical factors
Industry profitability
Business strategy
Which of the following is NOT a strategic option for internationalization, diversification or innovation?
Strategic alliance
Mergers or acquisition
Which of the following is NOT a true about a strategic alliance?
Only two businesses can form a strategic alliance
It is a formal and mutually agreed commercial collaboration between companies
The partners pool, exchange or integrate specific business resources
Businesses involved remain separate, making alliances distinct from mergers and acquisitions
Strategic alliances have become more popular in recent years because of
Increasing development costs and shorter product life-cycle
companies racing to the bottom
Managerial hubris
