....

'The U.S. Justice Department said on Monday it would appeal a judge's ruling that U.S. Sugar Corp's plans to buy rival Imperial Sugar Co was legal under antitrust law, according to a court filing.'' (Reuters, 2022) What does this illustrate about horizontal integration?

• It is often difficult because of regulatory limitations

• It is often difficult because of cultural differences

• It brings benefits through increased differentiation

• It brings benefits through economies of scale

Apple started to produce its own microchips for its laptops, called the M1 and M2 processors, because it believed it could design better microchips than its suppliers. This illustrates vertical integration because of:

• Capabilities

• Coordination

• Costs

• Control

When smartphones were first introduced, some manufacturers could quickly adopt touchscreen displays by changing suppliers. Other firms with in-house production faced a delay as their display unit first needed to develop touchscreen capability. This is an example of:

• Vertical integration resulting in the loss of focus

• Vertical integration resulting in less flexibility

• Horizontal integration resulting in regulatory issues.

• Horizontal integration resulting in conflicting culture

'Ford partners with GlobalFoundries to increase chip supplies. [...] Officials said the tie-up could eventually result in new chip designs specifically for Ford and an increase in the domestic production and supply of chips for the overall automotive industry.'' (CNBC, 2021) This is an example of:

• Quasi integration through a short-term contract

• Quasi integration through a strategic alliance

• Vertical integration through a joint venture

• Vertical integration through an acquisition

Upon retirement of the cleaner, a company decides to no longer do office cleaning itself but contracts with a professional cleaning company to get regular cleaning. What do we call this practice?

• Restructuring

• Vertical integration

• Outsourcing

• Horizontal integration

Yamaha Corporation produces pianos and other musical instruments, sports equipment, and semiconductor chips. All its divisions are more or less equally large. What corporate strategy is Yamaha pursuing?

• Related diversification

• Unrelated diversification

• Dominant business

• Single business

Apple is active in a variety of different industries like the smartphone industry, the computer industry, and the headphone industry. One of the benefits of this corporate strategy is that Apple uses its expertise in combining hardware and software, and in creating unique designs in each of these industries. How is this manner of creating value through diversification called?

• Through sharing knowledge

• Through spreading capital

• Through stopping competitors

• Through stepping stones

General Electric has decided to split into three different companies. Investopedia (2022) explained how GE's diversification strategy failed because ''it made for an unwieldy mess and siphoned funds from profitable entities toward loss-making ones.'' This illustrates:

• Lack of flexibility

• Empire building and hubris

• Poor incentives and piggy-backing

• Increased coordination costs

Allegheny Technologies is a manufacturer of metals with two business units. One business unit focuses on the core products, basic metals, which the firm produces as efficiently as possible as this is a mature and competitive market where the firm has a significant market share. The positive cashflow from this division is invested in its second division where the firm develops high-end specialty metals. Though the firm's market share in this industry is very small, it is a fast-growing segment with substantial future potential. When managing diversification in this manner, how do we call the unit that focuses on basic metals?

• Star

• Question mark

• Cash cow

• Dog

Dutch electronics company Philips revised its corporate strategy in 2016 through refocusing on medical devices and leaving the lighting industry. The lighting business unit became an independent company listed on the stock market and Philips sold its shares over the next months. This is an example of:

• Divestiture

• Spin-off

• Carve-out

• Liquidation