A company's strategic vision concerns

Introduction and Overview (Strategic Business Management)

Textbook: book - Strategy Crafting and Executing Strategy: Competitive Advantage

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1. Good strategy and good strategy execution together provide

A. a surefire guarantee for avoiding periods of weak financial performance.

B. the two best signs that a company is a true industry leader.

C. the most trustworthy signs of good management.

D. signs of a company having a superior business model.

2. Which one of the following questions is not something that company managers should consider when choosing to pursue one strategic course or directional path versus another?

A. Is the company stretching its resources too thinly by trying to compete in too many markets or segments, some of which are unprofitable?

B. Do we have a better business model than key rivals?

C. Are changing market and competitive conditions acting to enhance or weaken the company's business outlook?

D. Will our present business generate sufficient growth and profitability in the years ahead to please shareholders?

3. Business strategy, as distinct from corporate strategy, is chiefly concerned with

A. deciding what new businesses to enter, which existing businesses to get out of, and which existing business to remain in.

B. forging actions and approaches to compete successfully in a particular line of business.

C. coordinating the competitive approaches of a company's different business units.

D. making sure the strategic intent of a particular business is in step with the company's overall strategic intent and strategy.

4. Which of the following is not one of the basic reasons that a company's strategy evolves over time?

A. An ongoing need to abandon those strategy features that are no longer working well

B. The need to make regular adjustments in the company's strategic vision so employees don't become bored executing the same strategy month after month

C. The proactive efforts of company managers to fine-tune and improve one or more pieces of the strategy

D. The need to keep strategy in step with changing market conditions and changing customer needs and expectations

5. Which of the following is an integral part of the managerial process of crafting and executing strategy?

A. Setting objectives and using them as yardsticks for measuring the company's performance and progress

B. Deciding how much of the company's resources to employ in the pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage

C. Communicating the company's mission and purpose to all employees

D. Developing a proven business model

6. Which one of the following questions can be used to test the merits of one strategy over another and distinguish a winning strategy from a mediocre or losing strategy?

A. Does the company have low prices in comparison to rivals?

B. How well does the strategy fit the company's situation?

C. How good is the company's business model?

D. Is the company putting too little emphasis on behaving in an ethical and socially responsible manner?

7. What is the difference between a company's mission statement and its strategic vision?

A. A mission statement deals with "where we're headed," whereas a strategic vision provides the critical answer to "how will we get there?"

B. A mission statement deals with what to accomplish on behalf of shareholders, and a strategic vision concerns what to accomplish on behalf of customers.

C. A mission statement typically concerns a company's present business scope, whereas the principal concern of a strategic vision is with the company's long-term direction and future product-market-customer-technology focus.

D. The mission statement is always to make a profit, whereas a strategic vision concerns what business model to employ in striving to make a profit.

8. What separates a powerful strategy from a run-of-the-mill or ineffective strategy is

A. whether it allows the company to maximize shareholder value in the shortest possible time.

B. the proven ability of the strategy to generate maximum profits.

C. the speed with which it helps the company achieve its strategic vision.

D. whether it sets the company apart and produces sustainable competitive advantage over rivals.

9. Excellent execution of an excellent strategy is

A. the best test of managerial excellence and the best recipe for making a company a standout performer.

B. the best test of whether a company enjoys sustainable competitive advantage.

C. a solid indication if whether managers are maximizing profits and looking out for the best interests of shareholders.

D. the best test of whether a company is a "true" industry leader.

10. Corporate strategy for a diversified or multi-business enterprise

A. is orchestrated by senior-corporate executives and focuses on how to create a competitive advantage in each specific line of business that the total enterprise is in.

B. deals chiefly with what the strategic intent of each of its business units should be.

C. concerns how best to allocate resources across the departments of each line of business that the company is in.

D. is orchestrated by senior-corporate executives and center around the kinds of initiatives the company uses to establish business positions in different industries and efforts to boost the combined performance of the business into which the company has diversified.

11. Which of the following is a correct description of the process of crafting a strategy?

A. Doing everything possible (in the way of price, quality, service, warranties, advertising, and so on) to make sure the company's product/service is very clearly differentiated from the offerings of rivals

B. Stitching together a proactive strategy and then adapting it as circumstances surrounding the company's situation change or better options emerge

C. Trying to imitate as much of the market leader's strategy as possible so as not to end up at a competitive disadvantage

D. Developing a five-year strategic plan and then fine-tuning it during the remainder of the plan period; big changes in strategy are thus made only once every five years

12. Which one of the following is not one of the five basic tasks of the strategy-making, strategy-executing process?

A. Setting objectives to convert the strategic vision into specific strategic and financial performance outcomes for the company to achieve

B. Crafting a strategy to achieve the objectives

C. Developing a profitable business model

D. Forming a strategic vision of where the company must head and what its future business make-up will be

13. Which of the following is the purpose of a company's business model?

A. It's management's storyline for how the strategy will result in achieving the targeted strategic objectives.

B. It describes how the business will generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and produce attractive profits and return on investment.

C. It details the ethical and socially responsible nature of the company's strategy.

D. It sets forth the actions and approaches that the company will employ to achieve market leadership.

14. What is one of the important tasks of a well-conceived and well-stated strategic vision?

A. Clearly communicate management's aspirations for the company to stakeholders and help steer the energies of company personnel in a common direction

B. Clearly delineate how the company's business model will be implemented and executed

C. Help create a "balanced scorecard" approach to objective-setting and not stretch the company's resources too thin across different products, technologies, and geographic markets

D. Indicate what kind of sustainable competitive advantage the company will try to create in the course of becoming the industry leader

15. Which of the following statements is true of company objectives?

A. They should be set in a manner that doesn't conflict with the performance targets of lower-level organizational units.

B. They need to be broken down into performance targets for each separate business, product line, functional department, and individual work unit.

C. They're needed only in those areas directly related to a company's short-term and long-term profitability.

D. They're important because they help guide managers in deciding what the company's strategic intent should be.

16. Which one of the following questions is not pertinent to company managers in thinking strategically about their company's directional path and developing a strategic vision?

A. Are changing market and competitive conditions acting to enhance or weaken the company's prospects?

B. Is the outlook for the company promising if it continues with its present product-market-technology-customer focus?

C. What business approaches and operating practices should we consider in trying to implement and execute our business model?

D. What, if any, new customer groups and/or geographic markets should the company get in position to serve?

17. The obligations of an investor-owned company's board of directors in the strategy-making, strategy executing process include which of the following?

A. Overseeing the company's financial accounting and financial-reporting practices, and evaluating the caliber of senior executives' strategy-making/strategy-executing skills

B. Approving the company's operating strategies, functional-area strategies, business strategy, and overall corporate strategy

C. Coming up with compelling strategy proposals of their own to debate against those put forward by top management

D. Taking the lead in formulating the company's strategic plan, then delegating the task of implementing and executing the plan to the company's senior executives

18. A company's strategic vision is concerned with which of the following items?

A. Why the company does certain things in trying to please its customers

B. Management's storyline of how it intends to make a profit with the chosen strategy

C. The company's directional path and future product-market-customer-technology focus

D. What future actions the enterprise will likely undertake to outmaneuver rivals and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage

19. A set of "stretch" financial and strategic objectives

A. is an effective tool for avoiding ho-hum results.

B. helps convert the mission statement into meaningful company values.

C. pushes the company closer to true profit maximization.

D. challenges company personnel to execute the strategy with greater proficiency.

20. A company's strategic plan consists of

A. a vision of where it's headed, a set of performance targets, and a strategy to achieve them.

B. its strategy and management's specific, detailed plans for implementing it.

C. its objectives and its strategy for achieving them.

D. its strategic vision, strategic objectives, strategic intent, and business model.

21. Why should long-run objectives take precedence over short-term objectives?

A. To satisfy shareholder expectations for progress.

B. Focus is placed on improving performance in the near-term.

C. Long-run objectives force the company to consider what to do now to perform better later.

D. Long-run objectives are needed for achieving long-term performance, block focus on short-term results, and put the company in a position to perform better.

22. One of the keys to successful strategy-making is to

A. come up with a business model that enables a company to earn bigger profits per unit sold than rivals.

B. develop a product or service with more innovative performance features than what rivals are offering while providing customers with better after-the-sale service.

C. come up with one or more differentiating strategy elements that act as a magnet to draw customers and yield a lasting competitive edge.

D. charge a lower price than rivals and thereby win sales and market share away from rivals.

23. Which of the following is the best example of a well-stated financial objective?

A. Boost revenues by a percentage greater than the industry average

B. Gradually boost market share from 10% to 15% over the next several years

C. Achieve lower costs than any other industry competitor

D. Increase earnings per share by 15% annually

24. Which of the following examples are characteristics of an effectively worded strategic vision statement?

A. Challenging, competitive, and "set in concrete"

B. Realistic, customer-focused, and market-driven

C. Balanced, responsible, and rational

D. Graphic, directional, and focused

25. Which of the following statements is true of strategy-making?

A. It's first and foremost the function and responsibility of a company's strategic-planning staff.

B. It's more of a collaborative-group effort that involves all managers and sometimes key employees, as opposed to being the function and responsibility of a few high-level executives.

C. It's primarily the responsibility of key executives rather than a task for a company's entire management team.

D. It's first and foremost the function and responsibility of a company's board of directors.