Question 1

According to the external control view of leadership,which of the following factors would not be considered an external factor that might positively or negatively affect a firm's success?
A)economic downturns
B)governmental legislation
C)outbreak of war
D)company employee morale

Accepted Answer

In the external control view of leadership,external factors are responsible for positively or negatively affecting company success.These external factors often are unanticipated and are not due to the company's leadership.

Question 2

The four key attributes of strategic management include all of the following except
A)including multiple stakeholder interests in decision making.
B)incorporating both short-term and long-term perspectives.
C)recognizing the trade-offs between effectiveness and efficiency.
D)emphasis on the attainment of short-term objectives.

Accepted Answer

The key attributes of strategic management are that it directs the organization toward overall goals and objectives,includes multiple stakeholders in decision making,needs to incorporate short-term and long-term perspectives,and recognizes trade-offs between efficiency and effectiveness.

Question 3

According to Henry Mintzberg,the final realized strategy of a firm is
A)a combination of deliberate and emergent strategies.
B)a combination of deliberate and differentiation strategies.
C)not deliberate.
D)a result of unrealized intended strategy.

Accepted Answer

The final realized strategy of any firm is a combination of deliberate and emergent strategies.

Question 4

In choosing to focus on stakeholders,which of the following will not lead to success for a manager?
A)shareholders and employees
B)employees and suppliers
C)customers and the community at large
D)customers only

Accepted Answer

Stakeholders are those individuals,groups,and organizations that have a stake in the success of the organization,including owners (shareholders in a publicly held corporation),employees,customers,suppliers,the community at large,and so on.Managers will not be successful if they focus on a single stakeholder.

Question 5

The organizational versus the individual rationality perspective suggests that objectives that are
A)good for a functional area are always good for the overall organization.
B)good for the overall organization are always best for a functional area.
C)best for a functional area may not be best for the overall organization.
D)best for one functional area will never be best for all functional areas.

Accepted Answer

Strategic management is directed toward overall organizational goals and objectives.Effort must be directed at what is best for the total organization,not just a single functional area.Some authors have referred to this perspective as organizational versus individual rationality.What might look rational or ideal for one functional area,such as operations,may not be in the best interest of the overall firm.

Question 6

Strategic management involves the recognition of trade-offs between effectiveness and
A)cost.
B)value.
C)return on investment.
D)efficiency.

Accepted Answer

Strategic management involves the recognition of trade-offs between effectiveness and efficiency.Some authors have referred to this as the difference between doing the right thing (effectiveness)and doing things right (efficiency).

Question 7

Management innovations such as total quality,benchmarking,and business process reengineering cannot lead to sustainable competitive advantage because
A)companies that have implemented these techniques have lost money.
B)there is no proof that these techniques work.
C)they cost too much money and effort to implement.
D)every company is trying to implement them.

Accepted Answer

The popular management innovations of the last two decades (total quality,just-in-time,benchmarking,business process reengineering and outsourcing)are all about operational effectiveness.Each of these is important,but none leads to sustainable competitive advantage because everyone is doing them.Strategy is all about being different.

Question 8

Ambidextrous behaviors in individuals illustrate how a dual capacity for ________ can be woven into the fabric of an organization at the individual level.
A)alignment and adaptability
B)alignment and transparency
C)alignment and internal linkages
D)alignment and efficiency

Accepted Answer

A recent study involving 41 business units in 10 multinational companies identified four ambidextrous behaviors in individuals.Such behaviors are the essence of ambidexterity,and they illustrate how a dual capacity for alignment and adaptability can be woven into the fabric of an organization at the individual level.

Question 9

In strategic management,both the short-term and long-term perspectives need to be considered because
A)shareholder value is only measured by short-term returns.
B)shareholders only care about long-term returns.
C)long-term vision precludes the analysis of present operating needs.
D)the creative tension between the two forces managers to develop more successful strategy.

Accepted Answer

Strategic management requires incorporating both short-term and long-term perspectives.Peter Senge,a leading strategic management author,has referred to this need as a creative tension.That is,managers must maintain both a vision for the future of the organization and a focus on its present operating needs.

Question 10

________ may be considered the advance work that must be done in order to effectively formulate and implement strategies.
A)Goal setting
B)Corporate entrepreneurship
C)Strategy analysis
D)Organizational design

Accepted Answer

Strategy analysis may be looked upon as the starting point of the strategic management process.It consists of the advance work that must be done in order to effectively formulate and implement strategies.

Question 11

Ms.Frederica Marchionni became CEO of Land's End in February 2015 when the company showed a 73.8 million-dollar profit.By mid-June of 2016,the company had lost 27.2 million dollars.What went wrong?
A)The new leadership did not understand the corporate culture and image.
B)The marketplace liked the new image.
C)The founder undermined the new CEO in her ability to bring about change.
D)The new goals and objectives were coherent with the company mission statement.

Accepted Answer

Ms.Marchionni's leadership style worked at her previous jobs in Ferrari and Dolce and Gabbana.This style did not meet the outdoorsy,casual clothes feel of the Lands' End customer.She chose to work in New York City with office perks such as private bathrooms,resulting in a misfit with the Land's End culture.

Question 12

The text addresses two perspectives of leadership as well as their implications.These two perspectives are
A)romantic and unromantic.
B)romantic and internal control.
C)external control and unromantic.
D)romantic and external control.

Accepted Answer

The two perspectives of leadership are the romantic and the external control perspectives.

Question 13

Strategy analysis is the starting point of the strategic management process and consists of the
A)analysis only of the vision,mission,and objectives of the firm.
B)analysis of the relevant internal and external environmental factors only.
C)analysis of relevant competitors only.
D)matching of vision,mission,and objectives with the relevant internal and external environmental factors.

Accepted Answer

Strategy analysis may be looked upon as the starting point of the strategic management process.It consists of the advance work that must be done in order to effectively formulate and implement strategies.Many strategies fail because managers may want to formulate and implement strategies without a careful analysis of the overarching goals of the organization and without a thorough analysis of its external and internal environments.

Question 14

Strategy formulation at the business level addresses best how to compete in a given business
A)to attain competitive advantage.
B)to reduce costs.
C)to decrease buyer power.
D)to thwart entry of new rivals.

Accepted Answer

Business-level strategy addresses the issue of how to compete in a given business to attain competitive advantage.

Question 15

A CEO made a lot of mistakes in assessing the market and the competitive conditions and improperly redesigning the organization into numerous business units.Such errors led to significant performance declines.According to the text,this example illustrates the ________ perspective of leadership.
A)external control
B)romantic
C)internal mechanism
D)operational

Accepted Answer

In the romantic view of leadership,the implicit assumption is that the leader is the key force in determining the success (or lack of success)of an organization.This view dominates the popular press in business magazines such as Fortune,BusinessWeek,and Forbes,wherein the CEO is either lauded for the success of the firm or chided for its demise.

Question 16

The innovation paradox implies that consistency in products and services provokes a tension with the need for new products.This results in a conflict between
A)stability and change.
B)structure and culture.
C)rewards and metrics.
D)stability and metrics.

Accepted Answer

The innovation paradox arises when a company must decide if it is to manage for today or tomorrow.A firm's long-term survival requires taking risks and learning from failure in the pursuit of new products and services.However,companies also need consistency in their products and services.Thus there develops a tension between existing products and new ones,between stability and change.

Question 17

The four key attributes of strategic management include the idea that strategy must
A)be directed toward overall organizational goals and objectives.
B)be focused only on long-term objectives.
C)be focused on only one specific area of an organization.
D)focus only on competitor strengths.

Accepted Answer

The key attributes of strategic management are that it directs the organization toward overall goals and objectives,includes multiple stakeholders in decision making,needs to incorporate short-term and long-term perspectives,and recognizes trade-offs between efficiency and effectiveness.

Question 18

Effectiveness is often defined as
A)doing things right.
B)stakeholder satisfaction.
C)doing the right thing.
D)productivity enhancement.

Accepted Answer

Effectiveness is tailoring actions to the needs of an organization rather than wasting effort,or doing the right thing.

Question 19

All the following are ambidextrous behaviors except
A)taking initiative and being alert to opportunities beyond the job description.
B)being cooperative and seeking opportunities to combine personal efforts with that of others.
C)intensely focusing on the responsibilities of one individual and maximizing the output of the department in the organization in which that individual works.
D)being brokers,always looking to build internal linkages.

Accepted Answer

Ambidextrous behaviors include the following: (1)Individuals take time and are alert to opportunities beyond the confines of their own jobs;(2)they are cooperative and seek out opportunities to combine their efforts with others;(3)they are brokers,always looking to build internal networks;and (4)they are multitaskers,who are comfortable wearing more than one hat.

Question 20

According to the text,the strategic management process entails three ongoing processes.They are
A)analyses,actions,and synthesis.
B)analyses,decisions,and actions.
C)analyses,evaluation,and critique.
D)analyses,synthesis,and decisions.

Accepted Answer

The strategic management of an organization entails three ongoing processes: analyses,decisions,and actions.

Quiz 1: Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages

According to the external control view of leadership,which of the following factors would not be considered an external factor that might positively or negatively affect a firm's success?

The four key attributes of strategic management include all of the following except

According to Henry Mintzberg,the final realized strategy of a firm is

In choosing to focus on stakeholders,which of the following will not lead to success for a manager?

The organizational versus the individual rationality perspective suggests that objectives that are

Strategic management involves the recognition of trade-offs between effectiveness and

Management innovations such as total quality,benchmarking,and business process reengineering cannot lead to sustainable competitive advantage because

Ambidextrous behaviors in individuals illustrate how a dual capacity for ________ can be woven into the fabric of an organization at the individual level.

In strategic management,both the short-term and long-term perspectives need to be considered because

________ may be considered the advance work that must be done in order to effectively formulate and implement strategies.

Ms.Frederica Marchionni became CEO of Land's End in February 2015 when the company showed a 73.8 million-dollar profit.By mid-June of 2016,the company had lost 27.2 million dollars.What went wrong?

The text addresses two perspectives of leadership as well as their implications.These two perspectives are

Strategy analysis is the starting point of the strategic management process and consists of the

Strategy formulation at the business level addresses best how to compete in a given business

A CEO made a lot of mistakes in assessing the market and the competitive conditions and improperly redesigning the organization into numerous business units.Such errors led to significant performance declines.According to the text,this example illustrates the ________ perspective of leadership.

The innovation paradox implies that consistency in products and services provokes a tension with the need for new products.This results in a conflict between

The four key attributes of strategic management include the idea that strategy must

Effectiveness is often defined as

All the following are ambidextrous behaviors except

According to the text,the strategic management process entails three ongoing processes.They are