External & External Analysis
Business-Level Strategy & Competitive Advantage
Corporate-Level Strategy
High-Tech Competition
Strategic interaction & Our Class
100
In Porter's five forces framework, which force is affected by possible retaliation by established firms?
Threat of entrants
100
How did Airborne Express compete in the express mail industry characterized with high fixed costs?
Airborne Express substitutes fixed costs with marginal costs.
100
What are the core assets in which Walt Disney Co. leverages among different divisions?
Cartoon characters
100
List one problem that EMI might face if it licenses its CT scanner technology.
Little control; weak bargaining power
100
In the egg catcher exercise, which team did not come up with a successful design?
Sunny, Maureen, and Masha
200
What is structure-conduct-performance framework?
Industry performance is determined by firm behavior, which in turn is driven by the market structure in which the firms compete.
200
In online dating industry, why doesn't network effect lead to a winner-take-all market?
High turnover and low lock-in (low switching costs); Niche strategies can easily emerge
200
List two disadvantages associated with market transactions.
Transaction Costs; Transaction-specific investment (Small numbers); Incomplete contracts.
200
List two industries in which patents are effective in protecting innovation.
Drugs, biotech, medical equipment, chemical industry
200
Among all of the industries analyzed in strategic issue papers, which industry exhibits the highest barriers to entry?
Semiconductor industry (AMD)
300
What are the two assumptions of resource-based view?
Resource Heterogeneity; Resource Immobility
300
According to Michael Porter's paper "What is strategy," what is strategy?
Strategyis about establishing a difference by creating greater value to customers or creating comparable value at a lower cost.
300
Explain winner's curse in M&As.
Winner, the most optimistic bidder, usually over-estimates the true value of the firm and overpays.
300
What is the underlying rationale of videogame console makers' pricing strategy?
Low on hardware and high on software to create a large installed base
300
Find the nash equilibrium of this sequential game.
10,0
400
List three criteria that determine if resources provide a sustainable competitive advantage.
Valuable, rare, costly to imitate, nonsubstitutable
400
According to Michael Porter's paper "What is strategy," why isn't operational effectiveness sufficient to achieve competitive advantage?
Diffusion of best practices: Not rare; Competitive convergence: Race down to identical paths that no one wins
400
What role does the Tata Group center play?
Create an internal labor and capital market; Brand identity in product market
400
Explain direct and indirect network effects in video game industry.
Direct network effects: Benefits arise between members of the same customer groups (e.g. videogame consoles); Indirect network effects: Benefits arise between members of the two or more customer groups (e.g. videogame consoles and game developers)
400
Find the nash equilibrium of this simultaneous game.
10,10
500
How do excess capacity and exit barriers affect the intensity of the competition?
Excess capacity triggers price war, which lowers industry profitability.
500
Strategy involves a set of activities. List two types of fits among activities described in Michael Porter's paper "What is strategy."
Simple consistency between each activity and overall strategy; Activities are reinforcing to each other; Optimization of effort
500
List three potential problems of alliance formation as a result of partners' opportunistic behaviors.
Partner competencies may be misrepresented (Adverse selection); Partner may fail to make available the complementary resources and capabilities that were committed (Moral hazard); One partner may make relation-specific investments while the other partner may not (Holdup)
500
List three factors that affect value appropriation of innovation.
The effectiveness of intellectual property rights; Tacitness and complexity of the technology; Lead time; Complementary resources
500
List three strategies that Dell has done to cope with the unattractive PC industry structure in 1990s.
Low costs mute the effect of fierce rivalry; Target customer is less sensitive to up-front capital costs; Direct contact to build up some customer loyalty; Segment with high barrier of entry
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