Deck 3: Strategy, Resources and Capabilities

Question 1

Whereas Porter concentrates attention externally on markets, advocates of the RBV focus attention:

A) externally on macro-external forces
B) externally on strategic groups
C) internally on organizational capabilities
D) internally on organizational structure

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The RBV focuses on internal factors because:

A) An organization has control over its external factors only.
B) An organization has control over its internal factors only.
C) An organization has control over both internal and external factors.
D) An organization has no control over either internal or external factors.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following are isolating mechanisms identified by Penrose?

A) path dependencies in resource development
B) firm-specific knowledge possessed by managers
C) entrepreneurial vision of managers
D) all of these

Answer 3

D

Question 4

According to the RBV:

A) Resources provide the building blocks for constructing a firm's strategy.
B) Capabilities provide the building blocks for constructing a firm's strategy.
C) Resources and capabilities provide the building blocks for constructing a firm's strategy.
D) Human resources provide the building blocks for constructing a firm's strategy.

Question 5

Capital is one of the basic types of resource identified by the RBV. Which of the following from this list is also a basic type of resource?

A) physical
B) labour
C) financial assets
D) debt

Question 6

Examples of capabilities could be the following:

A) a good track record in research and development
B) a reputation for using only high-quality inputs
C) a reputation for good customer service
D) all of these

Question 7

Which of the following statements is correct?

A) It is more difficult to assess tangible resources than intangible ones.
B) It is more difficult to assess intangible resources than tangible ones.
C) Tangible resources cannot be assessed.
D) Intangible resources cannot be assessed.

Question 8

According to Barney, a firm orientated to a product market strategy is unlikely to generate economic rent for which reason:

A) If there are clear substitutes, then the buyers may choose one of them.
B) Other firms in the market cannot buy the same resources and eliminate any rent-making possibilities.
C) The market for such resources will value the assets to account for the future earnings potential, making the assets very expensive and eliminating the possibility of earning economic rent.
D) Competition is less important than resources and capabilities.

Question 9

The VRIN characteristics stand for:

A) valuable, real, imitable, non-substitutable
B) valuable, rare, industrial, non-substitutable
C) valuable, real, independent, non-substitutable
D) valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, non-substitutable

Question 10

If each of the VRIN conditions is satisfied, then there is the possibility of a resource providing:

A) competitive advantage
B) sustainable competitive advantage
C) new market opportunities
D) more efficient and effective internal procedures

Question 11

Which of the following statements is correct?

A) Capabilities exist in functional areas, such as HR and marketing.
B) Capabilities occur when different functional capabilities are combined and integrated.
C) Any capability is only a source of competitive advantage when it is stronger than those of its immediate competitors.
D) all of these

Question 12

An example of organizational assets is:

A) special manufacturing know-how
B) cheap suppliers
C) money in the pocket
D) the school that senior managers attended

Question 13

Which of these is NOT one of the central factors determining the sustainability of a firm's competitive advantage?

A) durability
B) transparency
C) transferability
D) accessibility

Question 14

Core competencies are ______ (choose all that apply).

A) the glue that keeps teams together
B) the engine for new business development
C) the glue that binds suppliers and customers together
D) the engine for developing new collaborations

Question 15

Which one of the following is NOT a criterion that a core competence must fulfil?

A) The competency must be developed by the senior management of the organization.
B) The competency must provide potential access to a wide variety of markets.
C) The competency must make a significant contribution to an organization achieving its goals.
D) The competency must be difficult to imitate.

Question 16

Which of the following has been put forward as a critique of the RBV?

A) a problematic view of knowledge
B) lacking a theory of a firm
C) a tautological argument
D) all of these

Question 17

Which of the following has been put forward as a critique of the RBV?

A) retrospective analysis not predictive
B) resources are too broad and vague a concept
C) what is inimitable is too hard to define in advance
D) all of these

Question 18

Dynamic capabilities are:

A) the routines of a firm that create competitive advantage
B) the processes of a firm that are able to reconfigure resources to respond to changes in the marketplace
C) the unique resources of a firm that achieve sustainable competitive advantage
D) the dynamic ways that firms use to achieve temporary advantages until competitors imitate them

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT an example of dynamic capabilities?

A) technological know-how
B) intellectual property
C) business process knowledge
D) friendly working environment

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT an example of dynamic capabilities?

A) state-of-the-art machinery
B) customer and business relationships
C) reputation
D) organizational culture and values

Question 21

Mastery of dynamic capabilities is seen as a multistage process, composed of:

A) exploring, seizing, reconfiguring and differentiating
B) sensing, developing, reformulating and disseminating
C) sensing, seizing, reconfiguring and transforming
D) exploring, exploiting, transcending and developing

Question 22

Which of these are determinants of value?

A) innovations
B) human resources and their services
C) unit cost economies/returns to scale
D) all of these

Question 23

Which of the following are types of knowledge for knowledge management?

A) innovative
B) tacit
C) examinable
D) creative

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of tacit knowledge?

A) difficult to express
B) experientially based
C) possessed by the person
D) possessed by the organization/department/team

Question 25

Knowledge management is a managerial practice that seeks to:

A) identify knowledge in an organization
B) leverage knowledge in an organization
C) control and create knowledge in an organization
D) all of these

Question 26

Which of the following factors does knowledge management focus on?

A) credentials of knowledge
B) capacity for aggregation
C) status of knowledge
D) tradition behind knowledge

Question 27

Which of the following is a key means through which knowledge is produced in an organization?

A) socialization
B) intensification
C) randomization
D) psychological analysis

Question 28

Which of the following are potential problems associated with intranets from an employee's perspective?

A) regarded as largely irrelevant
B) overwhelmed with large quantities of data
C) viewed with suspicion
D) all of these

Question 29

Which of the following are potential problems associated with intranets?

A) not clearly linked to operational and strategic goals
B) imposing central solutions
C) being over-centralized
D) all of these

Question 30

The dynamic capabilities approach constitutes a development from which of the following:

A) resource-based view
B) porter's five forces
C) porter's diamond
D) porter's value chain

Question 31

Penrose's work was significant for which of the following:

A) resource-based view
B) generic competitive strategies
C) porter's value chain
D) dynamic capabilities

Question 32

Story-telling methodologies are a means of building a comprehensive understanding of which of the following?

A) the way that dynamic capabilities are developed
B) the knowledge base of an organization
C) how an organization achieves competitive advantage
D) when organizations enjoy economic rents

Question 33

In order to be useful, tacit knowledge must be:

A) coordinated
B) restricted
C) secret
D) codified

Question 34

Co-specialization requires which of the following?

A) management of assets and their development in relation to each other in alliances and collaborations
B) relating strategy to past traditions
C) organizations with a long history in the market
D) organizations operating in dynamic environments

Question 35

Which of the following are managerial implications of the resource based-view?

A) overcoming disadvantages
B) realizing potential
C) self-understanding
D) all of these

Question 36

Sale at ______ represents the point of exchange at which perceived producer value equals consumer value.

A) any price
B) a price which is the maximum that the seller can command
C) a mutually agreed price between seller and buyer
D) bargain basement prices

Question 37

Value ______.

A) resides in a particular product or service
B) is an attribute of a thing.
C) is the amount of profit made on a transaction.
D) is perceived worthiness.

Question 38

Which of the following defines 'value added'?

A) the difference between the (comprehensively accounted) value of a firm's output and the (comprehensively accounted) cost of the firm's inputs
B) the difference between exchange value and surplus value
C) that value which is captured at the point of sale.
D) all of these

Question 39

The value chain ______.

A) creates value by delivering a product or service at a price that affords an organization a profit margin
B) is a form of outsourcing that allows different suppliers to make a profit
C) is a set of contractually tight agreements that chain organizations in relations of dependency
D) all of these