Ch 1 What is Strategy
True or False:
Strategy is about making intuitive and random choices under constraints and environmental uncertainty to address challenges and achieve organizational goals.
False
The view that managers should avoid social issues because they lack the expertise to address them reflects a critique from which theory of the firm?
Shareholder theory of the firm
This framework helps businesses analyze political, economic, sociocultural, technological, ecological, and legal factors.
PESTEL analysis
This framework helps firms understand the activities involved in transforming inputs into outputs that create value for customers. It identifies primary and support activities within a business.
Value chain analysis
What was my PhD major?
1. Sociology
2. Environmental Science
3. Business
4. Psychology
3. Business
Which is more important in identifying an effective strategy for the firm — external analysis or internal analysis?
Neither; both are equally essential to effective strategy.
This strategic response to social rules occurs when firms directly defy or violate the rules outright
Corporate Social Irresponsibility
The bargaining power of this group is high in the electric vehicle industry due to the scarcity of materials like lithium.
Suppliers
In Starbucks’ wholesale business, the packaging and delivery of bottled beverages to supermarkets is part of which value chain activity?
Outbound logistics
In which city did I complete my PhD study?
1. Los Angeles
2. New York City (NYC)
3. Boston
4. Philadelphia (Philly)
2. New York City (NYC)
This level of strategy focuses on deciding which business or businesses a firm should compete in.
Corporate-level strategy
T/F: Scope 2 emissions are all indirect greenhouse gases produced in a company’s value chain—both upstream (suppliers) and downstream (customers)—that are not directly controlled or owned by the company.
False --- Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions produced by the generation of energy that a company buys and consumes, such as electricity, steam, heat, or cooling.
True or False:
When industry rivalry is low, companies in this industry are likely to face intense price competition.
False
In Starbucks’ retail business, the delivery of high-quality coffee beans to Starbucks stores is part of this primary activity.
Inbound logistics
In which city was I an exchange student at a university in China?
1. Shanghai
2. Xi'an
3. Beijing
4. Nanjing
3. Beijing
Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods is an example of what type of strategy?
1. Corporate-level strategy
When corporations go beyond making profits and take on roles usually handled by governments or civil society—often because existing institutions can’t or won’t act—this phenomenon is known as what?
Corporate expansionism
Give one example of substitutes in the online streaming service industry.
Social media (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, YouTube)
Messaging apps (e.g., WhatsApp, Discord)
Online gaming platforms with social features (e.g., Twitch)
Traditional entertainment (e.g., TV, movie theaters, live events)
What are the five primary activities in the value chain analysis framework?
Inbound Logistics -> Operations -> Outbound Logistics -> Marketing and Sales -> After-sales Service
1
What corporate-level strategy involves selling off a business unit or division?
Divestiture/divestment
In 2006, this Dutch electronics company voluntarily discontinued incandescent bulb production while simultaneously lobbying the EU to ban them industry-wide. What two strategic responses to social rules did this company combine?
Corporate Social Responsibility (went beyond compliance) and Corporate Political Activity (lobbied to manipulate the rules)
One of the Five Forces reflects the pressure from alternative products or services that could meet customer needs. Which competitive force is this?
Threat of substitutes
(1) Name Starbucks’ current CEO, who previously served as CEO of Chipotle, and
(2) Name one of Starbucks’ Chinese competitors we discussed in class that recently entered the NYC coffee market.
Brian Niccol & Luckin Coffee
In which year was I born?
1. 1989
2. 1990
3. 1991
4. 1992
2. 1990 (Year of the Horse)