Corporate Strategy Quiz

Strategy, at its essence, is about

• building profits for short-term success.

• realigning the market to provoke change in rival companies.

• developing lasting success that can support growth and secure the company's future over the long term.

Competitive rivalry will be high if:

• There are a few strong players in the industry

• There is a high degree of differentiation

• The industry is in its infancy

A key characteristic of strategic decisions is:

• They are normally definite decisions about the future of the organization.

• They identify specific areas of strategic interest for the management of an organization.

• They are likely to be concerned with, or affect, the long-term direction of an organization.

A winning strategy must pass the

• ethical standard test, fit test, and performance test.

• fit test, performance test, and competitive advantage test.

• competitive advantage test, profitability test, and revenue generation test.

• cost-advantage test, ethical standard test, and performance test.

• strategy execution test, fit test, and profitability test.

Barriers to entry into an industry are likely to be high if:

• Switching costs are low

• Differentiation is low

• Access to distribution channels is high

• Requirement for economies of scale is high

Porter has designed a framework to help understand why certain countries achieve global competitive advantage in certain industries. It also helps internationalizing firms to make location decisions. The framework is called:

• Porter's Five Forces

• Porter's Generic Strategies

• Porter's Diamond

• Porter's Approach

The most powerful and widely used conceptual tool for diagnosing the principal competitive pressures in a market is

• the five forces framework.

• the driving forces model.

• SWOT analysis.

A potential market opportunity for a company DOES NOT include

• sharply rising buyer demand for the industry's product.

• acquiring rival firms or companies with attractive technological expertise or capabilities.

• expanding into new geographic markets.

• expanding the company's product line to meet a broader range of customer needs.

• increased trade barriers in attractive foreign markets.

You are a strategic consultant to Coffee and Donuts, partners in a local upscale coffee-roasting and retail business. In counseling the partners about how to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, you most likely would advise them to

• allow worthy rivals to match or surpass any element of your current competitive advantage.

• have some distinctive strategic element that draws in customers and produces a competitive edge.

• utilize copycat product offerings or pursue similar approaches as rivals in order to stake out the same market position.

• engage in stealth practices to beat competitors at their own game.

• maintain their business model even at the expense of long-term profits.

Buyer power is high if:

• They have little information

• The buyer requires a high quality product for their own production

• Switching costs are low