Test bank for strategic management creating competitive advantages 7th edition dess

Incumbent firms may enjoy increased bargaining power because the Internet ___________.. monitoring Supplier power has increased because of the Internet for all of the following reasons

Test Bank for Strategic Management Creating

Competitive Advantages 7th Edition Dess

Multiple Choice Questions

Which of the following would be considered part of a firm's

general environment?

1 A decreased entry barriers

2 B higher unemployment rates

3 C increased bargaining power of the firm's suppliers

4 D increased competitive intensity.

(p 51) In the general environment, many relationships exist

among the various elements General environmental trends can have positive and negative impacts on various industries For example, the aging population might have a impact on the health care

industry and a impact on the baby product industry These are called _ impacts

1 A negative; positive; demographic

2 B positive; negative; technological

3 C negative; positive; sociocultural

4 D positive; negative; demographic

In the Five-Forces model, conditions under which a supplier

group can be powerful include all the following

EXCEPT:

1 A lack of importance of the buyer to the supplier group

2 B high differentiation by the supplier

3 C dominance by a few suppliers

4 D readily available substitute products.

Incumbent firms may enjoy increased bargaining power

because the Internet _

1 A focuses marketing efforts on end users

2 B diminishes the power of many distribution channel intermediaries

3 C increases channel conflict

4 D has reduced the number of wholesalers and distributors

A danger of forecasting discussed in the text is that

_

1 A in most cases, the expense of collecting the necessary data exceeds the benefit

2 B the retrospective nature of forecasting provides little information about the future

3 C managers may view uncertainty as black and white while ignoring important gray areas

4 D it can create legal problems for the firm if regulators discover the company is making forecasts

A supplier group would be most powerful when _

1 A there are many suppliers

2 B there are few substitute products

3 C there is a low differentiation of products supplied

4 D there is a high threat of backward integration by the buyers

All of the following are important elements of the

political/legal segment of the general environment

EXCEPT:

1 A the deregulation of utilities

2 B the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

3 C the increased use of Internet technology

4 D increases in the federally mandated minimum wage

An automobile manufacturer acquires a rental car company

This is an example of _

1 A backward integration

2 B economies of scale

3 C forward integration

4 D product differentiation

PPG Industries, the Pittsburgh-based manufacturer of paints,

coatings, optical products, specialty materials,

chemicals, glass, and fiber glass suffered serious

failures in 1986 and 1987 when it attempted to diversify its offers It used a technique to help it identify

possible future strategies What was it?

1 A crowdsourcing

2 B scenario analysis

3 C competitive intelligence

4 D monitoring

Supplier power has increased because of the Internet for all

of the following reasons EXCEPT:

1 A the growth of new Web-based businesses has created more outlets for

suppliers to sell to

2 B some suppliers have created Web-based purchasing systems that encourage switching

3 C the process of disintermediation makes it possible for some suppliers to reach end users directly

4 D software that links buyers to a supplier's website has created rapid, low-cost order capabilities

Because the Internet lowers barriers to entry in most

industries, it

1 A decreases the threat of new entrants

2 B increases the threat of new entrants

3 C makes it easier to build customer loyalty

4 D increases supplier power

The bargaining power of suppliers increases as

1 A more suppliers enter the market

2 B importance of buyers to supplier group increases

3 C switching costs for buyers decrease

4 D threat of forward integration by suppliers increases

Buyer power will be greater when _

1 A the products purchased are highly differentiated

2 B there are high switching costs

3 C the industry product is very important to the quality of the buyer end products or services

4 D it is concentrated or when a buyer group purchases large volumes relative to seller sales

Emerging sociocultural changes in the environment include

1 A changes in the ethnic composition

2 B the increasing educational attainment of women in the past decade

3 C progressively less disposable income by consumers

4 D changes in the geographic distribution of the population

Which is considered a force in the Five-Forces model?

1 A increased deregulation in an industry

2 B the threat of government intervention

3 C rivalry among competing firms

4 D recent technological innovation

The most intense rivalry results from _

1 A numerous equally balanced competitors, slow industry growth, high fixed or storage costs

2 B few competitors, slow industry growth, lack of differentiation, high fixed or storage costs

3 C numerous equally balanced competitors, manufacturing capacity increases only

in large increments, low exit barriers

4 D a high level of differentiation

Which of the following firms would likely pose the least

competitive threat?

1 A a firm in the same industry and in the same strategic group

2 B a firm that produces substitute goods to your product line

3 C a competitor to your product where a high switching cost exists

4 D a firm in the same industry and in the nearest strategic group looking to join your group

The bargaining power of the buyer is greater than that of the

supplier when

1 A volume of purchase is low

2 B threat of backward integration by buyers is low

3 C cost savings from the supplier's product are minimal

4 D the buyer's profit margin is low

How do infomediaries and consumer information websites

increase the intensity of competitive rivalry?

1 A by shifting customers away from issues of price

2 B by making competitors in cyberspace seem less equally balanced

3 C by consolidating the marketing message that consumers use to make a purchase decision to a few key pieces of information that the selling company has little control over

4 D by highlighting unique selling advantages of a firm

Which of the following is not an example of corporate

competitive analysis?

1 A Banks tracking home loans

2 B Airlines changing hundreds of fares daily in response to competitor tactics

3 C Car manufacturers offering sales incentives based on rival offers

4 D Consumers comparing product offers online

Taking advantage of the increasing penetration of personal

computers in American homes, the Mayo Clinic

transformed itself as a provider of health-related

knowledge and expertise It took advantage of the trends of the _ in the prices of PCs and the presence of PCs in virtually every home in the U.S

1 A soft; increase; increasing

2 B soft; decrease; decreasing

3 C hard; decrease; decreasing

4 D hard; decrease; increasing

Larger numbers of women entering the work force since the

early 1970s is an example of

1 A demographic changes

2 B political and legal environmental changes

3 C sociocultural changes

4 D technological developments

The value net is a game-theoretic approach that

_

1 A extends the value chain analysis

2 B is a way to analyze all the players in a game and analyze how their interactions affect the ability of a firm to generate and appropriate value

3 C helps us to understand the evolution of the five forces over time

4 D uses network analysis to understand the relationships among different

companies

Firms would be most likely to face intense rivalry with

competitors when they _

1 A are in a high growth industry with low fixed costs

2 B are in a protected market

3 C have high fixed costs

4 D have low exit barriers for easy transition to another industry

Product differentiation by incumbents act as an entry barrier

because .

1 A new entrants cannot differentiate their products

2 B incumbents will take legal action if new entrants do not differentiate their

products

3 C new entrants will have to spend heavily to overcome existing customer loyalties

4 D it helps a firm to derive greater economies of scale

(p 60) Exit barriers do not arise from

1 A specialized assets with no alternative use

2 B governmental and social pressures

3 C strategic interrelationships with other business units within the same company

4 D flexible costs of exit

Environmental forecasting does not involve plausible

projections about the of environmental

change

1 A direction

2 B scope

4 D lack of intensity

Two of the key inputs to developing forecasts discussed in

the text are:

1 A environmental scanning and stakeholder identification.

2 B environmental scanning and competitor intelligence.

3 C assessing internal strengths and environmental scanning.

4 D environmental scanning and a SWOT analysis.

Strategic groups consist of

1 A a group of top executives that makes strategies for a company

2 B a group of firms within an industry that follows similar strategies

3 C a group of executives drawn from different companies within an industry that makes decisions on industry standards

4 D a group of firms within an industry that decides to collude rather than compete with each other so that they can increase their profits

New communication technology can impact seemingly

unrelated industries such as the airline industry This would be an example of a

1 A threat of entry

2 B backward integration

3 C forward integration

4 D threat of substitute products

Which of the following would be an entry barrier?

1 A large economies of scale

2 B low switching costs

3 C easy access to raw materials

4 D low capital requirements

Threat of substitute products comes from

1 A other companies in the same industry

2 B foreign companies which can use cheap labor in their countries

3 C firms in other industries that produce products or services that satisfy the same customer need

4 D new companies in the same industry.

Which of the following statements about strategic groups is

FALSE?

1 A Two assumptions are made: (1) no two firms are totally different, (2) no two firms are exactly the same.

2 B Strategic groupings are of little help to a firm in assessing mobility barriers that protect a group from attacks by other groups.

3 C Strategic groups help chart the future directions of firm strategies.

4 D Strategic groups are helpful in thinking through the implications of each industry trend for the group as a whole.

Interest-rate increases have a impact on the

residential home construction industry and a

effect on industries that produce

consumer necessities such as prescription drugs or basic grocery items

1 A positive; negligible

2 B negative; negligible

3 C negative; positive

4 D positive; negative

SWOT analysis is a framework for analyzing the internal and

external environment of a company It consists of

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats According to a SWOT analysis, which of the following

is not an aspect that the strategy of the firm must

follow?

1 A build on its weaknesses

2 B remedy the weaknesses or work around them

3 C take advantage of the opportunities presented by the environment

4 D protect the firm from the threats

Scanning the general environment would identify

information on _.

1 A substitute goods

2 B the aging population and ethnic shifts

3 C customer and firm bargaining power

4 D competitive rivalry

The bargaining power of suppliers is enhanced under the

following market condition:

1 A no threat of forward integration

2 B low differentiation of the supplier products

3 C greater availability of substitute products

4 D dominance by a few suppliers

Gathering competitive intelligence _

1 A is good business practice

2 B is illegal

3 C is considered unethical

4 D minimizes the need to obtain information in the public domain

End users are not

1 A the final consumers in a distribution channel

2 B usually the C in B2C

3 C likely to have greater bargaining power because of the Internet

4 D the first customers in a distribution channel

_ tracks the evolution of environmental trends,

sequences of events, or streams of activities

1 A Environmental scanning

2 B Environmental monitoring

3 C Environmental surveying

4 D Competitive intelligence

In general, the threat of substitutes is heightened because

the Internet

1 A introduces new ways to accomplish the same task

2 B lowers switching costs

3 C lowers barriers to entry

4 D increases output per unit of cost

The threat of new entrants is high when there are _

1 A low economies of scale

2 B high capital requirements

3 C high switching costs

4 D high differentiation among competitors products and services

The aging of the population, changes in ethnic composition,

and effects of the baby boom are

1 A macroeconomic changes

2 B demographic changes

3 C global changes

4 D sociocultural changes

In the value net analysis, complementors are

_

1 A firms that produce substitute products

2 B customers who compliment the company for their good products and services

3 C firms that produce products or services that have a positive impact on the value

of firm products or services

4 D firms that supply critical inputs to a company

True - False Questions

The strategic groups in the worldwide automobile industry

have been very stable and unchanging in recent years

1 True

2 False

Technological innovations can create entirely new industries

and alter the boundaries of industries

1 True

2 False

A soft trend is a projection based on measureable facts,

events, or objects It is something that will happen

1 True

2 False

The more attractive the price/performance ratio of substitute

products, the tighter it constrains the ability of an

industry to charge high prices

1 True

2 False

The Internet heightens the threat of substitutes because it

creates new ways to accomplish the same task

1 True

2 False

Scenario planning is usually concerned with short-term

forecasts

1 True

2 False

The Porter Five-Forces model is designed to help us

understand how social attitudes and cultural values impact U.S businesses

1 True

2 False

Rivalry will be most intense when there is a lack of

differentiation or switching costs.

1 True

2 False

(p 59) The power of suppliers will be enhanced if they are

able to maintain a credible threat of forward

integration

1 True

2 False

The opportunities and threats of a SWOT analysis refer to

the internal conditions of the firm

1 True

2 False

Even with all of the advances in recent years, forecasting is

typically considered more of an art than a science and

it is of little use in generating accurate predictions.

1 True

2 False

Buyer power tends to be higher if suppliers provide

undifferentiated or standard products

1 True

2 False

There is generally a weak relationship between equity

markets (e.g., New York Stock Exchange) and

economic indicators

1 True

2 False

The aging of the population is a hard trend

1 True

2 False

To understand the business environment of a particular firm,

you need to analyze both the general environment and the firm industry and competitive environment

1 True

2 False

Competitor Intelligence (CI) is a tool that can provide

management with early warnings about both threats and opportunities

1 True

2 False

Crowdsourcing is used by companies to develop products

1 True

2 False