Define The Strategic Management Approach Flashcards

Factors such as BidBuy's feedback rating system that are valuable to the company's customers but which are not useful on other online auction sites are examples of customer-switching costs The ___ consists of broad trends in the context in which a firm operates that can have an impace on a firm's strategic choices. general environment Frequent price cutting by firms in an industry, frequent introduction of new products by firms in an industry and intense advertising campaings are indications of high levels of rivalry The most promosing opportunity for a firm in a declining industry is to become a market leader in the pre-shakeout industry The threat of suppliers in the hardwood furniture can best be described as low because there are a large number of suppliers selling an undifferentiated product Buyers tend to have less power when the supplies they purchase are an insignificant portion of the costs of their final products Firms that have either recently begun operations in an industry or that threaten to begin operations in an industry soon are considered to be ___ in the five forces framework. new entrants Rivalry tends to be high when firms are unable to differentiate their products Firms that engage in a long, systematic phased withdrawal from an industry, extracting as much value as possible during the withdrawal period, are following a(n) ____ strategy. harvest ___ is/are the distribution of individuals in a society in terms of age, sex, marital status, income, ethnicity, and other personal attributes that may determine buying patterns. Demographics Industries in which a large number of small or medium-sized firms operate and no small set of firms has dominant market share or creates dominant technologies are called ____ industries. fragmented The threat of rivalry in the hardwood furniture industry can best be described as high because of the numerous firms in the industry and the slow growth rate Most firms have a resource base that is comprosed primarily of resources and capabilities that are valuable but not rare In general, as long as the number of firms that possess a particular valuable resource or capability is less than the number of firms needed to generate the perfect competition dynamics in an industry, that resource or capability can be considered ___ and a potential source of competitive advantage. rare LaserTech's new technology is an example of physical resources. Which of the following is an example of formal management controls? Budgeting and reporting activities Which of the following statements regarding competitive parity and competitive advantage is accurate? Some firms develop valuable, rare, and costly-to-imitate resource and capabilities in being efficient second movers that is, imitating and improving on the product and technical innovations of other firms. The range of formal and informal mechanisms to ensure that managers are behaving in ways consistent with a firm's strategies are referred to as management control systems Inputs whose quantity is fixed and whose demand does not respond to price increases are said to be inelastic in supply If LaserTech's new technological development were due to proprietary investments the company made when it was first founded twenty years ago, this would be an example of path dependence. LaserTech's new technology appears to be valuable, rare and costly to imitate Resources that generate a temporary competitive advantage are valuable and rare but not costly to imitate If firms that do not possess resource or capabilities face a cost disadvantage in obtaining these resources or capabilites compared to the firms that have already possess them, these resources and capabilities are termed imperfectly imitable In Porter's value chain model, which of the following activities would be considered a primary activity? Inbound logistics ___ implies that for a given business activity, some firms may be more skilled in accomplishing this activity than other firms. Resource heterogeneity ___ in the RGV are defined as the tangible and intangible assets that a firm controls that it can use to conceive of and implement its strategies. Resources The fact that it would be difficult and costly for firms to match Bates' capabilities in the tool industry indicates that these capabilities are imperfectly imitable Which of the following statements regarding patents is accurate? Patents may decrease, rather than increase, the costs of imitation. To the extent that a firm's resources and capabilities enhance a firm's competitive position by enabling a firm to exploit its opportunities or neutralize its threats, these resources and capabilities are valuable and are known as sustainable competitive advantages. When tacit cooperation has the effect of reducing supply and increasing prices, it is known as tacit collusion If in the process of maximizing its performance, a firm engages in activities that pollute the environment, the impact of that pollution is a(n) externality Southwest Airlines' strong internal culture that helps ensure that employees act in ways consistent with the company's strategy is an example of a(n) informal management control. It would be costly for competitors to duplicate Bates due to . According to the research in strategic human resources management, firms that are able to use human resource practices to develop socially complex human and organizational resources are able to gain competitve advantage over firms that do not engage in these practices. Firms that posess and exploit costly-to-imitate, rare and valuable resources in choosing and implementing their strategies may enjoy a period of temporary competitive advantage The inability of rivals to develop or acquire technology similar to that of LaserTech is an illustration of . If a firm's resources and capabilities are costly to imitate because imitating firms may not understand the relationship between the resources and capabilities controlled by a firm and that firm's competitive advantage, this competitive advantage is said to be protected from imitation by causal ambiguity. Firms implementing cost-leadership strategies will generally adopt a functional organizational structure Which of the following is less likely to be a rare source of cost advantage? . Sematech is pursuing which strategy? . In ___ structures, employees report to two or more people. matrix Given Sematech's business level strategy, which organizational structure is the most appropriate? . If Sematech were to continue seeking methods to maintain the company's cost-leadership position that would be costly to duplicate, which of the following is most likely to be a basis of cost leadership that would be costly to duplicate? Securing differential access to low-cost productive inputs ___ focus(es) on the relationship between the volume of production and a given point in time and average unit costs, the ___ focus(es) on the relationship between cumulative production and average costs. Economies of scale; learning curve According to the "two-thrids rule," it would cost a firm ___ to build a plant with a capacity of 100,000 units. 100,000 raised to the 2/3 power In order to create a cost advantage, the cost of acquiring low-cost productive inputs must be ___ the cost savings generated by these factors. less than The only person in a functional organization to have a multifunctional perspective is the CEO. The link between volume of production and the cost of building manufacturing operations is particularly important in industries characterized by process manufacturing. Actions that firms take to gain competitive advantage in a single market or industry are known as business-level strategies. Choices that firms make about the kinds of products and services they will sell that impact their relative cost position are known as policy choices. Learning-curve-cost advantages are not restricted to manufacturing. Which of the following statements regarding the learning curve and economies of scale is accurate? Where diseconomies of scale are presumed to exist if a firm gets too large, there is no corresponding increase in costs in the learning-curve model as the cumulative volume of production grows. Which of the following compensation policies is most likely to enhance a firm's ability to pursue a low-cost strategy? Awarding employees bonuses that are equal to 50% of the total cost savings achieved based on employee suggestions and initiatives. Cost-leadership and product-differentiation stratgeis are so widely recognized that they are often called generic business strategies. ___ are any supplies used by a firm in conducting its business activities. Productive inputs ___ are said to exist when the increase in firm size (measured in terms of volume of production) are associated with lower costs (measured in terms of average costs per unit of production). Economies of scale A firm that chooses a ___ focuses on gaining advantages by reducing its cost below all of its competitors. cost-leadership business strategy Coach's agreement with Lexus to produce automobiles with Coach leather interior is an example of co-branding A ___ structure exists when individuals in a firm have two or more bosses simultaneously. matrix By increasing the perceived value of a firm's products or services, a firm will be able to charge a higher price than it would otherwise be able to do. Last flashcard .