Corporate Strategy Flash Card 4
Corporate Strategy Objective Online MCQ Answer for your amity mba bba courses, ignou mba, imt cdl, smu and upes management program. This is important online mcq question answer for various distance learning program.
Q1: Many writers argue that a change in strategy may require a change in culture and style as well as structure. Which of the following is not a reason for this view
Answer: Like structure, culture and style are developed to facilitate implementation of the chosen strategyAnswer
Q2: Which of Hart’s strategy and style options involves a strategy driven by mission and a vision of the future
Answer: SymbolicAnswer
Q3: In Hart’s taxonomy of strategy and style options which of the following is not one of the roles organisational members might play
Answer: LeaderAnswer
Q4: Which of the following is not one of the five main problems associated with putting strategy before structure
Answer: In many cases, a change of style is essential when a fundamental change of strategy is proposedAnswer
Q5: How many elements are there of organisation design
Answer: EightAnswer
Q6: How many types of organisation structure did Mintzberg suggest
Answer: SixAnswer
Q7: The role of headquarters in relation to its subsidiaries can be classified into four main types. Which of the following is not one of those types
Answer: Age-centricAnswer
Q8: Which of the following statements in relation to motivation and staffing is incorrect
Answer: Reward systems can easily be developed to coincide fully with the organisation’s strategic objectivesAnswer
Q9: Turning general strategies into specific implementation plans involves four basic elements. Which of the following is not one of these elements
Answer: Costing of the strategy proposalsAnswer
Q10: What are the two main causes of variation in the nature of implementation programmes
Answer: Uncertainty regarding environmental change and the size of the changeAnswer
Q11: Which of the following criteria would not be useful in determining the type of implementation programme to use
Answer: Do people need time to digest the changes and develop any new skills needed to make the programme work?Answer
Q12: How might the relationship between strategy implementation and development best be characterised on the basis of the empirical research cited in this chapter
Answer: The implementation process is best seen as a series of small steps involving complex feedback and learning, which may result in changes to the strategyAnswer
Q13: What did Hrebiniak and Joyce mean when they said managers display ‘bounded rationality’ in the implementation of strategy
Answer: The cognitive limitations of managers lead them to limit the options they consider and to break implementation down into a series of more easily managed small stepsAnswer
Q14: Whose concept of minimum intervention claims: “In implementing strategy, managers should change only what is necessary and sufficient to produce an enduring solution to the strategic problem being addressed”
Answer: Hrebiniak and JoyceAnswer
Q15: What is meant by the term ‘balanced scorecard’, coined by Kaplan and Norton
Answer: It combines quantitative and qualitative measures of the performance of a strategy and acts as a way of understanding and checking what you have to do throughout the organisation to make your strategy workAnswer
Q16: Which of the following is not one of the four key perspectives (i.e. areas) that make up a balanced scorecard
Answer: A stakeholder perspectiveAnswer
Q17: According to Pettigrew and Whipp, there are three interlinking aspects to strategic change. Which of the following is not one of them
Answer: Leadership aspectsAnswer
Q18: Why is it important to ensure the effective communication of the chosen strategy in large organisations
Answer: To ensure that everyone understands the strategy by reducing ambiguities, clarifying underlying assumptions and judgements and to ensure the parts of the organisation are co-ordinatedAnswer
Q19: Which of the following is not one of the guidelines for managing objectives in fast-changing environments
Answer: Studying the market closely to detect change earlyAnswer
Q20: Which of the following is not a planning style that might be operating in the public or not-for-profit sector
Answer: RationalAnswer
Q21: Who said: “The real purpose of effective planning is not to make plans but to change the … mental models that … decision makers carry in their heads”
Answer: Arie de GuesAnswer
Q22: What was the main reason why formal strategic planning fell into disrepute in the 1980s and 1990s
Answer: In many large organisations it became detached from frontline operations, and was overly bureaucratic and inflexible in responding to changing circumstancesAnswer
Q23: Which of the following is not a way to improve the effectiveness of a strategic control system
Answer: Introduce more reporting procedures to generate dataAnswer
Q24: Which of the following is not one of the three major approaches to implementation
Answer: FinancialAnswer
Q25: There are four key principles behind the balanced scorecard. Which of the following is not one of those principles
Answer: Support of key strategiesAnswer
Q26: Which of the following is not a reason for varying the style of strategic planning
Answer: New low-level employeesAnswer
Q27: Who identified strategic planning, financial control and strategic control as the three most common styles of strategic planning
Answer: Goold and CampbellAnswer
Q28: Which of the following is not one of the main elements of a control system
Answer: The basic process may well cover background assumptions, long-term vision, medium-term plans and short-term plansAnswer
Q29: How might the environment in which an organisation operates affect its structure
Answer: The dynamism of the environment will dictate the degree of flexibility and responsiveness that needs to be achieved in the structure if it is to adapt to changeAnswer
Q30: Which of the items listed below is not one of the nine primary determinants of organisational design
Answer: Staff skillsAnswer
Q31: All but one of the items listed below are disadvantages of the functional organisation structure. Which is the odd one out
Answer: Expensive duplication of functionsAnswer
Q32: Who is credited with developing the multidivisional form of organisation structure
Answer: Alfred SloanAnswer
Q33: Which of the following is not an advantage of the holding company structure
Answer: Close co-ordination where decisions may conflictAnswer
Q34: What two types of innovation are distinguished in this chapter
Answer: Simple and complex innovationAnswer
Q35: In surveying high technology companies in the 1970s and 1980s, Kanter drew a number of conclusions about their structures. Which of the following is not one of these conclusions
Answer: The importance of teamsAnswer
Q36: Which of the following is not one of Mintzberg’s three guidelines for organisation innovation project teams
Answer: Experienced staff who have worked on large numbers of similar projects in the past, either in the current, or related organisationsAnswer
Q37: Which of the points listed below was not proposed by Thompson and Strickland as a general guideline for translating strategy into a viable organisation structure
Answer: Study the structures successful competitors are using as a guide to what works in this industry environmentAnswer
Q38: What type of behaviour should reward systems particularly encourage to aid the implementation of the organisation’s strategy
Answer: Innovation and risk-takingAnswer
Q39: Performance contracts for senior managers link their rewards to achievement of specific milestones in the strategy implementation
Answer: True – CorrectAnswer
Q40: What did Howard Perlmutter mean when he suggested that many corporate headquarters adopt an ethnocentric approach to the management of their overseas subsidiaries
Answer: Culture, style and strategy formulation are decided by the home country with little regard to the host country’s way of doing thingsAnswer
Q41: ‘Geocentric’ means the role of headquarters is diminished with each foreign operation running its own affairs and developing its own strategy so that national cultures will predominate and each country will largely decide its performance objectives within the purpose defined by headquarters
Answer: Wrong – FalseAnswer
Q42: Which of the following is not a characteristic of the public sector administration model
Answer: Supports competitive advantageAnswer
Q43: Which of the following is not a characteristic of the new public management model
Answer: Resource-based analysis in the public sector will include different concepts to those in business strategyAnswer
Q44: Which of the following is not one of the four additional considerations that apply in analysing resources in the public sector
Answer: International competitionAnswer
Q45: Which of the following statements is not relevant to the exploration of the purpose of public and not-for-profit organisations
Answer: Many public sector organisations receive similar objectivesAnswer
Q46: The strategic context of public sector strategy is broader than its counterpart in business strategy. Which of the following is not one of the three mechanisms that can simplify the process
Answer: InnovationAnswer
Q47: Three key international agreements affecting world trade have been the Single European Act, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In what years were these signed
Answer: 1986, 1994 and 1993 respectivelyAnswer
Q48: What is ‘FDI’
Answer: Foreign direct investmentAnswer
Q49: Which of the following is not one of Bartlett and Ghoshal’s three different types of international company activity
Answer: TransnationalAnswer
Q50: What is the C-C-B paradigm
Answer: A model to show how companies and countries bargain with each other to reach an accommodation whereby their different objectives can be metAnswer
Q51: To deliver value added and sustainable competitive advantage, corporate strategy seeks two main opportunities from international expansion. What are they
Answer: Market opportunities and production and resource advantagesAnswer
Q52: Which of the following is not one of the factors that generate competitive advantages for nations, according to Porter’s diamond model
Answer: The role of governmentAnswer
Q53: To which organisation is the theory of limited state intervention generally attributed
Answer: The World BankAnswer
Q54: Which of the following is not a factor leading firms to seek to adapt their products to local markets
Answer: The existence of large economies of scale in productionAnswer
Q55: Which of the following is not a key consideration in developing a global business strategy
Answer: Country of originAnswer
Q56: According to Professor George Yip, there are three stages firms go through in becoming truly global companies. Which of the following is not one of these stages
Answer: Refine the core strategyAnswer
Q57: Which two academics developed a model to show that the choice of international structure depended on whether a firm was seeking to cope with managing across many countries or many diverse product groups
Answer: Stopford and WellsAnswer
Q58: What, according to Christopher Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal, is the key problem facing organisations trying to develop globally
Answer: Developing strategic and organisational flexibilityAnswer
Q59: Which of the following is not a reason for developing external relationships as part of the international expansion effort
Answer: Good public relationsAnswer
Q60: What, according to Tomlinson, is the key to making international joint ventures work
Answer: The partnership nature of the relationshipAnswer
Q61: Which of the following is not a common condition national governments might specify as part of the bargaining process with firms that want to locate within their borders
Answer: Wage parity with home country workersAnswer
Q62: Which of the following is not associated with GATT
Answer: It has reduced global competitionAnswer
Q63: Which of the following does not form part of the case for a local strategy
Answer: Customer demand: essentially the same around the worldAnswer
Q64: Which of the following is not a specific international strategy
Answer: Multi-cultural strategyAnswer
Q65: Which of the following is not a factor that determines the success of an external relationship
Answer: Staff motivationAnswer
Q66: What does a transnational solution to international organisation structure involve
Answer: Dispersed and interdependent subsidiaries that are integrated into a worldwide operationAnswer
Q67: Resources will change as the organisation’s purpose changes. In addition, they will also be influenced by what is happening outside in the environment
Answer: True – CorrectAnswer
Q68: Which of the following is not an internal factor affecting organisational purpose
Answer: Co-operationAnswer
Q69: What, according to Nelson and Winter, is the critical factor constraining an organisation’s ability to develop its resource capabilities
Answer: Organisational routinesAnswer
Q70: The overall result of Scumpter’s view of resource dynamics is that resource configurations develop over time, they are constrained by what has gone before and they require investment if they are to continue
Answer: Wrong – FalseAnswer
Q71: Which of the following is an example of an early-mover advantage
Answer: Building networks of complementorsAnswer
Q72: Which of the following is not one of the ways in which resource advantages can be sustained and protected from imitation
Answer: Entering into exclusive distribution contractsAnswer
Q73: In discussing the dynamics of competitive advantage, who said: “Strategy is as much about competing for tomorrow’s industry as it is about competing within today’s industry structure”
Answer: Gary Hamel and C.K. PrahaladAnswer
Q74: Which strategy guru is famed for his scepticism concerning the possibility of making accurate predictions about environmental change on which to base strategy
Answer: Henry MintzbergAnswer
Q75: Richard Rumelt has given a number of reasons why organisations that can see environmental changes coming still do not react appropriately. Which of the following is not one of them
Answer: Ostrich mentalityAnswer
Q76: What two factors are the principal determinants of the dynamics of fast-moving markets
Answer: The pace and nature of technological innovationAnswer
Q77: Which of the following is not a key strategic issue in fast-moving industries
Answer: The need to headhunt experienced staffAnswer
Q78: Why does competition often intensify in mature markets
Answer: Because to achieve growth firms must take market share from other firms, meaning everyone competes harder just to hand on to existing customersAnswer
Q79: Which of these strategies employed by firms in fragmented markets best describes the strategy of McDonald’s
Answer: Replication of a standardised formulaAnswer
Q80: What is the key issue for firms seeking to devise a survival strategy in a declining market
Answer: Determining the rate of declineAnswer
Q81: In the Key Reading at the end of this chapter, what does Phillip Wickham argue is of increasing value in the mature markets seen in many Western countries
Answer: EntrepreneurshipAnswer
Q82: How many dimensions are there to the dynamics of resource development
Answer: ThreeAnswer
Q83: Which of the following is not one of the three main areas of dynamics in environmental development
Answer: Legal barriersAnswer
Q84: Which of the following statements do not relate to the sunk cost effect
Answer: There are fewer reasons to introduce something newAnswer
Q85: Which of the following statements do not relate to the replacement effect
Answer: Firms that have already committed substantial resources to a specific technology may be reluctant to changeAnswer
Q86: Which of the following is not one of the four phases of entrepreneurial development
Answer: The development of superior relationships with customers and suppliersAnswer
Q87: What do we mean by the term ‘strategic change’
Answer: The proactive management of change to achieve strategic objectivesAnswer
Q88: Which of the following areas is not one of the four key areas that strategic change seeks to influence
Answer: TechnologyAnswer
Q89: Who are the three groups of people Kanter, Stein and Jick (1992) identified as being involved in the change process
Answer: Change strategists, implementers and recipientsAnswer
Q90: Which of the following is not one of the stages in Kurt Lewin’s famous three-stage prescriptive model of change developed in the 1950s
Answer: Melting resistanceAnswer
Q91: What questionable assumptions underpin the prescriptive approach to strategic change
Answer: Change is predictable, sequential and controllable by managementAnswer
Q92: According to Pettigrew and Whipp’s emergent model of change, there are five factors involved in its successful management. Which of the following is not one of them
Answer: Internal assessmentAnswer
Q93: Which of the following is not a criticism that can be levelled at the emergent approach to change
Answer: It underestimates the complexity of managing change and does not allow for the informal aspects of organisationAnswer
Q94: Which of the following is not a key stage in the process of strategic change, according to Beer, Eisenhort and Spector (1990)
Answer: Promote energetic change champions to positions of influenceAnswer
Q95: Which of the following is not a way of overcoming resistance to change
Answer: Bullying and harassing people into towing the lineAnswer
Q96: On the subject of change in organisations, who said: “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things”
Answer: Niccolo MachiavelliAnswer
Q97: Which of the following is not one of the aspects of political activity noted in the text
Answer: BriberyAnswer
Q98: Which of the following is not a key task for those involved in seeking political agreements over strategic change
Answer: Negotiate any necessary ‘side deals’ to get people on sideAnswer
Q99: Which group in an organisation are the key to successful implementation of strategy, according to Charles Baden-Fuller and John Stopford
Answer: Middle managersAnswer
Q100: Which of the following is not one of the three dynamics for strategic change identified by Kanter, stein and Jick
Answer: TechnologyAnswer
