Seminar 8 quiz (strategy and globalisation)

Given a scenario where a multinational company is facing a global economic crisis, what strategic considerations should the company prioritize to maintain its competitive advantage?

• Focus solely on cost-cutting measures without considering market expansion.

• Ignore global trends and concentrate only on local operations.

• Develop adaptive strategies that address both global and local challenges, leveraging globalisation to find new opportunities.

• Reduce investment in innovation and research.

A company is experiencing a period of market decline. Which of the following approaches best demonstrates strategic thinking appropriate for this situation?

• Continue with the same business model without any changes.

• Analyze the causes of decline and implement strategies such as diversification, cost leadership, or market repositioning.

• Increase prices to compensate for lost revenue.

• Reduce product quality to save costs.

Analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry by comparing the crises faced by Macau, Hilton Hotels, and Disney. What common strategic challenge did these organizations encounter, and how might they have planned to address it?

• All three organizations faced a significant reduction in revenue and customer engagement, requiring them to implement crisis management strategies such as cost-cutting, temporary closures, or layoffs.

• Only Macau experienced a crisis, while Hilton and Disney continued to operate normally.

• The main challenge was an increase in tourism, leading to overcapacity issues.

• The organizations benefited financially from the pandemic due to increased demand for local tourism.

Given the information about Macau’s casino revenue dropping by 88% and hotel occupancy falling below 15% at the end of February 2020, propose a strategic plan that could help Macau’s tourism industry recover from such a crisis.

• Diversify tourism offerings beyond gaming, implement health and safety protocols, and launch targeted marketing campaigns to attract both domestic and international tourists.

• Increase the number of casinos to attract more tourists.

• Reduce hotel prices to unsustainable levels without any other changes.

• Ignore the crisis and wait for tourists to return naturally.

A company is experiencing a significant decline in performance. As a strategic leader, which combination of decline management strategies would you use to address the situation, and why might these be effective?

• Implement turnaround strategies to restore performance and divestment strategies to shed unprofitable assets.

• Focus only on pre-disaster readiness and ignore current issues.

• Develop only emergency management plans without considering long-term solutions.

• Rely solely on post-disaster evaluation without taking immediate action.

Consider a scenario where a company postpones maintenance tasks during a crisis. What strategic reasoning should guide the company to ensure service quality is not compromised?

• Only perform maintenance when equipment breaks down

• Postpone all maintenance indefinitely

• Carefully select which maintenance tasks can be delayed without affecting essential operations or service quality

• Eliminate the maintenance department entirely

Evaluate the role of government support, such as subsidies, in helping businesses survive a pandemic. What is the strategic benefit of providing subsidies until the end of the crisis?

• It allows businesses to ignore all other crisis management strategies

• It provides temporary financial relief, helping businesses maintain operations and employment until normal conditions return

• It forces businesses to close permanently

• It only benefits large corporations

A company is facing financial difficulties during a crisis. Evaluate the potential long-term impacts of postponing office and systems maintenance as a cost-cutting measure. What risks might this strategy pose compared to purchasing lower-cost office supplies?

• Postponing maintenance may lead to higher repair costs and operational disruptions in the future, while purchasing lower-cost supplies has less risk of long-term negative impact.

• Postponing maintenance will always save more money than any other cost-cutting measure.

• Purchasing lower-cost office supplies is riskier than postponing maintenance.

• Both strategies have the same long-term impact on the company.

During a crisis, a business considers collaborating with local merchants to market to domestic tourists. Analyze how this joint campaign could be strategically more beneficial than focusing solely on foreign tourists or reducing prices.

• Joint campaigns with local merchants can create a stronger local network, increase domestic customer loyalty, and provide mutual support, which may be more sustainable than relying on foreign tourists or price reductions.

• Focusing on foreign tourists is always more effective than local campaigns.

• Reducing prices is the only way to attract more customers during a crisis.

• Marketing to domestic tourists has no strategic advantage over other options.

A hotel is facing a severe economic crisis and must make strategic decisions to ensure its survival. Which combination of human resources practices and governmental assistance would most effectively balance cost reduction and employee welfare?

• Laying off employees and freezing pay rates, while refusing any government subsidies

• Reducing office hours and providing voluntary early retirement, while accepting government subsidies for employees

• Replacing high-tenure employees with new employees, while increasing reliance on outsourced human resources, without seeking tax benefits

• Freezing pay rates and reducing the number of working days, while providing no governmental assistance