Key success factors
$100: Name any one of the 6 Key Success Factors (KSFs).
Customer satisfaction, employee commitment, quality products/services, innovation/creativity, financial performance, distinctive competitive advantage.
$100: What are the 5 components of the Diamond-E framework?
Answer: Management preferences, Organization, Resources, Strategy, Environment.
$100: What does PEST stand for?
Political, Economic, Social, Technological.
$100: What tool helps identify the underlying cause of an issue by asking “why” three times?
The 3 Whys method.
$200: Which KSF is directly measured by indicators like churn rate and Net Promoter Score?
Customer Satisfaction
$200: Which Diamond-E component captures a firm’s culture, capabilities, and structure?
Organization
$200: In Porter’s Five Forces, which force is considered the most powerful and why?
Rivalry among existing competitors, because it directly pressures prices, volumes, and costs.
$200: In case analysis, what are the three qualities of a “good solution”?
Feasible, Complete, Effective.
$300: Explain how poor execution in one KSF (e.g., quality) can negatively impact another KSF.
Poor quality increases defects/returns → lowers customer satisfaction → reduces sales and financial performance.
$300: Why is the principle of alignment/consistency critical in the Diamond-E?
Because internal consistency enables execution, and external alignment ensures the strategy fits environmental opportunities and threats — misalignment lowers performance.
$300: A new government regulation increases barriers to entry in an industry. Which of Porter’s forces does this most directly affect?
Threat of New Entrants (it decreases).
$300: What is the purpose of force field analysis in case work?
To identify enabling and constraining forces that affect solution feasibility and completeness.
$400: A company’s employee turnover suddenly spikes. Which other KSFs are most likely to be threatened, and why?
Customer satisfaction (lower service), quality (errors), and innovation (loss of creative talent) — because employee commitment drives execution across these areas.
$400: Kodak invented the digital camera in 1975 but stuck with film. Which Diamond-E inconsistencies explain this failure?
Management preferences prioritized film; organization and resources were aligned to film, not digital — creating strategy–environment misalignment.
$400: Compare Porter’s Generic Strategies: what are the two axes that define them?
Competitive scope (broad vs narrow) and source of advantage (low cost vs differentiation).
$400: You are asked to differentiate between objectives and decision criteria in a case. How would you explain it?
Objectives = what you want to achieve; Decision criteria = features/standards used to judge whether a solution meets objectives effectively and feasibly.
$500: Identify one KPI for each of the following KSFs: Customer satisfaction, Innovation, and Financial performance.
CS – churn rate/Net Promoter Score; Innovation – # of new products or cycle time; Financial – ROI, revenues, or profit.
$500: Apply the Diamond-E: A firm wants to pursue low-cost leadership. What must its resources and organization look like to support this?
Answer: Resources: financial strength, efficient production, economies of scale; Organization: cost-focused structure, efficiency culture, streamlined operations.
$500: How could a PEST factor (e.g., technological innovation) increase the power of one of Porter’s Five Forces? Give a specific example.
New tech (like AI chatbots) lowers entry barriers → increases Threat of New Entrants; or creates strong Substitutes → reduces profitability.
$500: In the “Nailed It” hardware store case, why can’t the firm compete on price, and what alternative strategy must it pursue?
Because it is too small to buy in bulk (high costs, commoditized products). It must differentiate (e.g., community focus, services, product range).