Deck 5: Strategic Management and Corporate Public Affairs.

Question 1

Enterprise-level strategy and societal-level strategy are synonymous.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Public affairs evolved from social activism.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A sustainability report is an effort to measure a firm's overall value creation and to spur integrated thinking.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

One of the reasons that public affairs departments have seen extensive growth over the past three decades is because they have been able to easily measure and document their results.

Question 5

Sustainability reporting is a new but declining concept.

Question 6

Public affairs management focuses on the formalization and institutionalization of corporate public policy.

Question 7

Regarding the four key strategy levels, decisions involving great uncertainty tend to be made at the lower levels.

Question 8

Sustainability reports can be thought of as a planning and control system.

Question 9

To be most effective, a sustainability report should be isolated from other aspects of the strategic management process.

Question 10

There is a growing consensus that ethics should be a central component of strategic management.

Question 11

The steps of the strategic management process are most effective if done sequentially in the order specified in the textbook.

Question 12

The public affairs function is a logical component of the overall strategic management process.

Question 13

Social performance reporting should be isolated from other forms of assessment and reporting.

Question 14

Good publicity is a pro of B Corporation status.

Question 15

Corporate public policy is a firm's posture or position regarding the environmental, social, global, and ethical aspects of stakeholders and corporate functioning.

Question 16

Some management scholars believe that the successful firms of the future will be those that can meet stakeholders' social expectations and investment advisors' financial expectations.

Question 17

Corporate public policy takes place primarily at the corporate level of strategy.

Question 18

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is attempting to overcome one of the major obstacles to the advance of effective sustainability reporting by providing standardized measures for reporting.

Question 19

For the public affairs function to be effective in representing issues affecting business decision making, they should have influence at the middle management level.

Question 20

The sustainability report can be an effective component of a firm's strategic control system.

Question 21

The strategy level that asks what business the firm should be in is the ____ level.

A) enterprise
B) corporate
C) business
D) functional

Question 22

All of the following represent examples of enterprise-level thinking except

A) how a firm responds to a public crisis.
B) the extent to which a firm attempts to identify social issues, analyze them, and integrate them into its strategic management process.
C) the extent to which a firm has established board or senior management committees to grapple with social issues.
D) the extent to which a firm has studied its functional structure and made changes necessary to make its operations more efficient.

Question 23

The enterprise-level strategy may addresses the firm's

A) Obligations to stockholders.
B) Role in society.
C) Implications of cohesion.
D) Competition strategy.

Question 24

The deeply ingrained principles that guide all of a company's actions and decisions are the firm's

A) vision statements.
B) guiding lights.
C) core values.
D) mission statements.

Question 25

Which of the steps in the strategic management process informs all the rest?

A) goal formulation
B) strategy formulation
C) strategic control
D) environmental analysis

Question 26

Which of the following is not one of the steps in the strategic management process?

A) goal formulation
B) strategy implementation
C) problem identification
D) environmental analysis

Question 27

Which of the following is not one of the levels of strategy mentioned in the textbook?

A) enterprise-level
B) department-level
C) corporate-level
D) functional-level

Question 28

____ level strategy attempts to integrate the firm's activities to accomplish its goals.

A) Enterprise
B) Corporate
C) Business
D) Functional

Question 29

Strategic control includes all of the following steps except

A) setting standards.
B) revising budgets.
C) comparing actual performance to standards.
D) taking corrective action.

Question 30

All of the following are used to describe social performance reports except

A) CSR reports
B) Corporate citizenship reports
C) Social audits
D) Sustainability reports

Question 31

____ level strategy seeks to determine how a firm should compete in a given industry.

A) Enterprise
B) Corporate
C) Business
D) Functional

Question 32

The impetus of social sustainability reports has come from

A) Societal and public interest groups expectations
B) Financial investment advisors
C) Marketing firms
D) Domestic companies

Question 33

Corporate-level strategy decisions include all of the following except

A) mergers
B) acquisitions
C) divestitures
D) broad or narrow markets

Question 34

The overarching strategy level that asks what role the firm plays in society and what the firm stands for is the ____ level.

A) enterprise
B) corporate
C) business
D) functional

Question 35

The main idea behind corporate public policy is that

A) a firm must give specific attention to issues in which basic questions of right, wrong, justice, fairness, or public policy reside.
B) a firm must look out for its own best interests.
C) a firm should have a say in setting the political direction of the country.
D) a firm should be able to influence public policy when it can.

Question 36

Which of the following terms does not have the same basic meaning?

A) corporate public policy
B) corporate social policy
C) corporate social performance
D) corporate citizenship

Question 37

A systematic attempt to identify, measure, monitor, and evaluate a firm's performance with respect to its social efforts, goals, and programs is a(n)

A) Triple Bottom Line audit.
B) environmental audit.
C) sustainability report
D) social impact statement.

Question 38

Which of the following terms does not refer to the same thing?

A) social audit
B) social responsibility report
C) integrated reports
D) social impact statement

Question 39

The concept of enterprise-level strategy is the idea that best links

A) ethics to performance.
B) strategy to performance.
C) public policy to performance.
D) ethics to strategy.

Question 40

A social audit can be thought of as

A) the first step in planning
B) a narrow list of activities
C) planning and control system
D) a brief experimentation

Question 41

The chief public affairs officer of the firm should likely be:

A) the Director of Public Relations
B) the Director of Public Affairs
C) the CEO
D) the Director of Community Relations

Question 42

Which is not a step of strategic management?

A) strategy evolution
B) environmental analysis
C) strategic control
D) brand management

Question 43

Which is not a stakeholder group?

A) community stakeholder
B) social activist shareholder
C) family stakeholder
D) employee stakeholder

Question 44

One of the major impediments to the advancement of effective sustainability reporting has been:

A) the low regard in which corporations hold sustainability and reporting.
B) the lack of effective sustainability measures corporations may take.
C) the lack of any standardized measures.
D) All of these choices.

Question 45

Value-based enterprises:

A) avoid entanglement with stakeholders
B) actively seek out stakeholders and work cooperatively with them
C) publish a mission statement of their core values
D) do not engage in public affairs

Question 46

Which of the following is not a reason that the public affairs function grew in stature in the United States?

A) the growing magnitude and impact of government
B) the changing nature of the political system
C) increased pressure to meet quarterly earnings projections
D) the increasing influence of competing interests

Question 47

Which is not a pro of B Corporation status?

A) built in community
B) investor pressure
C) partners with similar values
D) good publicity

Question 48

The growth of Public Affairs in the U.S. has grown for all of these reasons EXCEPT:

A) the growing magnitude and impact of government
B) the static nature of the political system
C) the growing recognition by business that it was being outflanked
D) the need to be more active in politics

Question 49

Which is not a con of B Corporation status?

A) protection from investor pressures
B) lack of oversight
C) investor weariness
D) legal uncertainty and brand erosion

Question 50

Public Affairs activities and functions include all of these EXCEPT:

A) community relations
B) public relations
C) public advertising
D) government affairs

Question 51

Public affairs management encompasses all of the following processes except

A) environmental analysis.
B) issues management.
C) crisis management.
D) political lobbying.

Question 52

Sustainability reports help companies

A) By disrupting their communications systems
B) Managing their finances
C) Isolating their performance
D) With their competitive positions

Question 53

Ceres is a national network of investors, organizations and other public interest groups working with companies to promote:

A) corporate international strategy
B) sustainability
C) strategic management initiatives
D) public affairs departments

Question 54

Planning for the turbulent social/ethical stakeholder environment encompasses each of the following EXCEPT

A) strategic management process
B) strategic affairs analysis
C) integrated social reporting
D) public affairs management

Question 55

Three broad ways corporations intersect with society include each of the following except:

A) generic social issues
B) value chain social impacts
C) strategic social integration
D) social dimensions of competitive context

Question 56

Which of the following activities is a major function in corporate public affairs?

A) government relations
B) issues management
C) public relations
D) consumer affairs

Question 57

The overall management process that strives to identify corporate purpose and to position a firm relative to its market environment is

A) corporate public affairs
B) collaborative / problem-solving strategy
C) strategic management
D) social performance report

Question 58

The management function responsible for monitoring and managing the business environment is

A) corporate public affairs.
B) corporate public relations.
C) corporate social responsibility.
D) corporate social responsiveness.

Question 59

In the future, the public affairs function:

A) will wane in popularity
B) will become a lightning rod
C) will become a bridge between strategic management and corporate social performance
D) None of these choices is correct.

Question 60

Public relations deals with government

A) as one of many concerns
B) as its exclusive focus.
C) primarily through lobbying efforts.
D) primarily through campaign contributions.

Question 61

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions. Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
What is meant by a public affairs strategy?

Question 62

The public affairs function as we know it today was an outgrowth of:

A) the Depression
B) environmental laws.
C) a leading professional trade organization.
D) the social activism begun decades ago.

Question 63

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions. Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
Assume that you manage the public affairs office for a large American financial investment firm. Your company has decided to pay incentive bonuses to individuals for the number and volume of investment exchanges made. Using the knowledge that you have gained so far in this class (i.e., from all chapters and discussions), develop a policy on incentive bonuses for the firm's public affairs office.

Question 64

Focus on management sustainability is attention paid to the firm's triple bottom line, as well as a focus on more external issues, such as the survival and renewal of the overall economic system, social system, and ecosystem.
Explain the relationship of ethics to strategic management.

Question 65

Focus on management sustainability is attention paid to the firm's triple bottom line, as well as a focus on more external issues, such as the survival and renewal of the overall economic system, social system, and ecosystem.
What is a "benefit corporation?" Why do you think such an entity was created?

Question 66

Focus on management sustainability is attention paid to the firm's triple bottom line, as well as a focus on more external issues, such as the survival and renewal of the overall economic system, social system, and ecosystem.
What is a "value shift" and how does it come about?

Question 67

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions. Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
In what do value-based companies believe?

Question 68

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions. Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
Name some issues that businesses encounter daily that involve highly visible public and ethical issues. What happens to these issues in the long term?

Question 69

Provide a short answer to each of these questions. Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Describe how corporate public policy fits into strategic management.

Question 70

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions. Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
Explain Porter and Kramer's perspective that interdependence between business and society takes two forms.

Question 71

Provide a short answer to each of these questions. Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Describe what the text means by "focus on management sustainability."

Question 72

Provide a short answer to each of these questions. Be sure to fully explain your answer.
According the text, the overriding questions that enterprise-level strategy needs to address is, "What do we stand for?" Why is that question considered so important?

Question 73

Provide a short answer to each of these questions. Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Describe some of the types of evidence that a firm displays enterprise-level strategic thinking.

Question 74

Utilize the knowledge you have gained to respond to the following essay questions. Your answers should state your position and use logical arguments and content from this and other chapters in the textbook to support it.
Compare the public affairs office of today with its predecessor from twenty years ago.

Question 75

Focus on management sustainability is attention paid to the firm's triple bottom line, as well as a focus on more external issues, such as the survival and renewal of the overall economic system, social system, and ecosystem.
What does a sustainability report attempt to measure? What is the benefit of integrated reporting?

Question 76

Provide a short answer to each of these questions. Be sure to fully explain your answer.
Name the categories of concerns considered by strategic management. Why should these concerns be part of corporate strategy?

Question 77

Focus on management sustainability is attention paid to the firm's triple bottom line, as well as a focus on more external issues, such as the survival and renewal of the overall economic system, social system, and ecosystem.
Why would a firm elect to perform a sustainability report, when it is not required? What benefits can accrue from a sustainability report?