Fred r david – strategic management, 13th edition ch04

The internal analysis is critically important in the Arab world as upbringing and socialization may induce executives to overestimate strengths and weaknesses... The process of performin

Name _

TRUE/FALSE Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false

1)

Some companies are equally strong (or weak) in all areas of thier business

1)

_

2)

Objectives and strategies are established with the intention of capitalizing upon external strengths and minimizing weaknesses

2)

_

3)

The internal analysis is critically important in the Arab world as upbringing and socialization may induce executives to overestimate strengths and weaknesses

3)

_

4)

Within large organizations, each division has certain strengths and weaknesses

4)

_

5)

Opportunities are a firm's distinctive competencies that cannot be easily matched or imitated by competitors

5)

_

6)

Building competitive advantages involves taking advantage of distinctive competencies

6)

_

7)

Few successful corporations give considerable attention to both external and internal analysis

7)

_

8)

Generally in the Arab world, the internal capacity to assess external environments and explore their trends

is lacking

8)

_

9)

Senior Arab executives should give priority to internal capacity-building processes and encourage creative rethinking of strategic initiatives and external trends

9)

_

10)

The process of performing an internal assessment, compared to the external assessment, provides more opportunity for participants to understand how their jobs, departments and divisions fit into the whole organization

10)

11)

Unlike the external assessment, the internal assessment does not require gathering and assimilating information about the firm's functional areas

11)

12)

Compared to the external analysis, the process of performing an internal analysis provides more opportunity for participants to understand how their jobs, departments, and divisions fit into the whole organization

12)

13)

An internal audit task force of managers could be charged with determining a specific number (usually 10

to 20) of the most important strengths and weaknesses

Performing an internal assessment requires 14)

A)

gathering, assimilating, and evaluating information about a firm's operations

B)

simply focusing on the operational issues of a firm

C)

inheriting the historical data about a firm's operations

D)

gathering, record-keeping, and safe-guarding information about a firm's operations

TRUE/FALSE Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false

15)

As long as the strategic-management process is overseen by strategists, there is no need for managers and employees from different functional areas to work together to provide ideas or information

15)

16)

Not recognizing and understanding the relationships among functional areas of business can be beneficial

to strategic management

16)

17)

Government and nonprofit enterprises have traditionally placed much emphasis on relationships among the business functions

17)

18)

For strategies to succeed, a coordinated effort among all the functional areas of business is needed

18)

19)

Proponents of the resource-based view argue that external factors are more important than internal factorsfor a firm in achieving and sustaining competitive advantage

19)

20)

The basic premise of the research-based view is that the mix, type, amount and nature of a firm's internal resources should be considered first and foremost in devising strategies that can lead to sustainable competitive advantage

20)

21)

According to RBV theorists, when other firms are unable to duplicate a particular strategy, then the focal firm has a sustainable competitive advantage

21)

22)

Common resources are not valauble to firms 22)

23)

The RBV theorists say if many firms cannot easily obtain or imitate particular resources then those resources will ensure a competitive advantage

23)

24)

If firms cannot easily obtain or imitate particular resources, then those resources will not ensure a competitive advantage to others who do have them

24)

25)

Understanding both external and internal factors and, more importantly, understanding the relationships among them, will be the key to effective strategy formulation

25)

26)

The definition of 'organizational culture' emphasizes only the importance of external factors in making strategic decisions

26)

27)

The subtle, elusive and largely unconscious forces that shape the workplace are captured by the organizational culture

27)

28)

Cultural products include values, beliefs, stories, and language 28)

29)

As culture is remarkably resistant to change, it rarely has any effect on a firm

29)

30)

A ritual is a standardized, detailed set of techniques and behaviors that manage anxieties but seldom produce intended, technical consequences of practical importance

30)

31)

Since most firms in the Arab world are family-run businesses, organizational culture seems to have evolvedrapidly

31)

32)

The culture of family-owned businesses may experience profound changes once the founder has passed away.

32)

33)

An organization's culture compares to an individual's personality in the sense that no two organizations have the same culture and no two individuals have the same personality

33)

34)

An organization's culture has no obligation to support the collective commitment of its people towards a common purpose

34)

35)

The rich culture of Savola has enabled the company to embark on a successful expansion strategy in the Middle East and Central Asia

35)

36)

Even if a firm's culture is not supportive, strategic changes may still be effective or even productive

36)

37)

An organization's culture should infuse individuals with enthusiasm for implementing strategies

37)

38)

In China, business behavior revolves around guanxi, or personal relations 38)

39)

Links between a firm's culture and strategies often determine its success 39)

40)

In recent years, Arab-based corporations have started to operate globally

40)

41)

If the firm's culture is not supportive, strategic changes may be ineffective or even counterproductive 41)

42)

Arab businessmen tend to use first names in interactions 42)

43)

Arabs are mostly inclined toward web-conference meetings 43)

44)

In the Arab society, meetings are often interupted because of the nature of socialization and personalized aspects of business conduct

44)

45)

Unlike Americans, Arabs do not consider exchanging business cards as essential 45)

46)

Arabs, generally, prefer short-term business relationships 46)

47)

Arab managers working in other countries are not required to be attentive to prevailing cultural and business norms

47)

48)

Arab managers are not generally comfortable dealing with bureaucrats and politicians

48)

49)

An assessment of resource capabilities is crucial for the survival and growth of the firm 49)

50)

Managers seek to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses while effectively seizing opportunities andavoiding or neutralize threats

50)

51)

SWOT is the second most common method in evaluating a company's capabilities in the context of a dynamic marketplace

51)

52)

Firms in the Arab world have a longer experience in SWOT analysis than Western corporations 52)

53)

Value chain analysis aims to identify where low-cost advantages or disadvantages exist anywhere along the value chain from raw materials to customer service activities

53)

54)

Value Chain Analysis can enable a firm to better identify its own strengths and weaknesses especially as compared to competitors' Value Chain Analyses

54)

55)

A value chain analysis is not so important for a firm in monitoring whether its prices and costs are competitive

55)

56)

The combined costs of all the various activities in a company's value chain define the firm's cost of doing business

56)

57)

Value chains tend to be similar across different industries and firms

57)

58)

Although a useful step in the strategic management process, value chain analysis can rarely help a firm monitor whether its prices and costs are competitive

58)

59)

More and more companies are using VCA to gain and sustain competitive advantage by being especially efficient and effective along various parts of the value chain

59)

60)

Benchmarking is an analytical tool used to determine whether a firm's value chain activities are competitive compared to rivals

60)

61)

Probably the easiest part of benchmarking, is gaining access to other firms' value chain activities with associated costs

61)

62)

The Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix is a summary step when conducting an internal management audit

strategic-62)

63)

The Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix should include from 20 to 30 key factors 63)

64)

In preparing as IFE matrix, qualitative estimates are usually sufficient

64)

65)

The IFE matrix provides important information for strategy formulation

A firm's strengths that cannot be easily matched or imitated by competitors are called 66)

A)

internal audits

B)

internal properties

C)

external audits

D)

special properties

E)

distinctive competencies 67)

Who should perform an internal analysis? 67)

A)

A team of top-level managers and lower-level employees

B)

A private auditing firm

C)

Managers from different units of the organization

D)

The chief executive officer

E)

The organization's accounting department 68)

exemplifies the complexity of relationships among the functional areas of business 68)

A)

Distribution strategy

B)

Government audit

C)

External audit

D)

Financial ratio analysis

E)

Environmental scanning 69)

The internal resource categories used in the resource-based approach are physical resources, human resources and

69)

A)

financial resources

B)

organizational resources

C)

natural resources

D)

technological resources

E)

shareholder resources 70)

Organizational resources include all of the following except

70)

A)

planning processes

B)

employee training

C)

information systems

D)

firm structure

E)

copyrights 71)

Valuable resources are resources that are either rare, hard to imitate, or 71)

A)

expensive

B)

not easily substitutable

C)

easily substitutable

D)

inexpensive

E)

inefficient 72)

A pattern of behavior developed by an organization as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and to be taught

to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel, is called

72)

A)

dysfunctional behavior

B)

internal audit effect

C)

organizational culture

D)

groupthink

E)

behavior modification 73)

Organizational culture is the product of various factors, including

73)

A)

values, norms and beliefs

B)

government rules and regulations

C)

the founder's aspiration

D)

accumulated experience

E)

all the above 74)

Which of the following characterisitcs of founders does not help to shape corporate culture and its progression?

74)

A)

A founder's perceptions

B)

A founder's aspirations

C)

A founder's decision-making process along with accompanying actions

D)

A founder's delegation of authorities to subordinates 75)

Which of the following is not a cultural product? 75)

A)

Rituals

B) Emotions

C) Symbols

D) Rites

E) Sagas

76)

The standardized, detailed techniques and behaviors that manage anxieties, but seldom produce intended,technical consequences of practical results are called

76)

A)

folktales

B)

values

C)

rituals

D)

rites

E)

metaphors 77)

What are historical narratives describing the unique accomplishments of a group and its leaders, usually inheroic terms?

77)

A)

Folktales

B) Sagas

C) Stories

D) Myths

E) Rites

78)

Life-directing attitudes that serve as behavioral guidelines are called 78)

A)

values

B)

legends

C)

beliefs

D)

metaphors

E)

rites 79)

In Europe, it is generally true that the farther on the continent, the more participatory the management style

79)

A)

south

B) north

C) east

D) west

E) southeast

80)

Ignoring the effect that culture can have on business relationships can result in all of the following except

80)

A)

difficulty accessing company facilities

B) lack of coordination

C)

barriers to communication

D) inability to adapt to changing conditions

81)

Arabs place an exceptionally high priority on whereas many foreigners place more worth on

81)

A)

time; relationships

B)

silence; relationships

C)

silence; time

D)

close personal distance; ample personal distance

E)

relationships; time 82)

To successfully compete in world markets, Arab executives must have a better knowledge of all of following

influencing forces except

82)

A)

cultural forces

B) religious forces

C)

historical forces

D) environmental forces

83)

Which of the following is not true about Arab managers?

83)

A)

Arabs have a tendancy to compromise and are easily persuaded to offer concessions once they feel that their counterparts are willing to reciprocate

B)

Arabs are less inclined to gather detailed information about the subject under negotiation, so will subsequently spend less time than their American counterparts on preparation and planning platforms

C)

As a sign of respect, Arabs tend to stand approximately 1 meter from their counterparts when engaged in business conversations

D)

Arabs may delay scheduled meetings or often reschedule them, because personal matters, often family ones, take priority

84)

Which of the following is not a common method used by managers to assess a company's resource

capabilities and its competitive position?

84)

A)

Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE)

B) Value Chain Analysis (VCA)

C)

PESTLE analysis

D) SWOT Analysis

85)

The practical assessment of company strengths and weaknesses allows managers to answer which of the following questions?

85)

A)

Does the company have the capabilities and essential resources to leap forward?

B)

Can the company meet existing and emerging market needs?

C)

Is the company, relative to its rivals, in a position to compete effectively?

D)

Is theree a fit between our capabilities and existing opportunities and threats?

E)

All the above 86)

All firms in a given industry have a similar value chain, involving which of the following activities?

86)

A)

Building manufacturing facilities

B)

Providingcustomer service

C)

Obtaining raw materials and designing products

D)

Developing cooperative agreements

E)

All the above 87)

Which of the following is not a primary activity in the value chain?

87)

A)

Technological development

B) Logistical activities including marketing

C)

After-sales services

D) The physical creation of the product

88)