How you compete within a line of business. What customers to serve, what needs to meet, and how to meet those needs.
100
What does the term "focus" mean in reference to focused strategies?
Narrow by product, customer, and/or geography.
100
What is Corporate Level Strategy?
In what lines of business should we compete. Diversification
100
What is meant by the term "value-neutral" as it pertains to motives for diversification?
Neutralize threats in external environment or to be competitive in the market.
200
What is meant by the term above average returns and what are two different measures to assess whether a firm has above average returns.
Returns in excess of what an investor would expect to make on an investment with a similar level of risk.
Accounting return measures and stock return measures.
200
What is the key factor for competitive advantage for a firm pursuing a Cost Leadership strategy?
Market share/EOS
200
What is the key to competitive advantage for firms pursuing a differentiated strategy?
Brand Loyalty
200
What are the three ways that you add value through Corporate Level Strategy?
(1) Economies of scope
(2) Market Power
(3) Financial Economies
200
What are the two ways that a firm can create financial economies? What type of CL strategy is generally associated with financial economies?
Restructure assets and internal capital allocation; unrelated strategy
300
What are the key environmental changes that have led to hyper competition?
Globalization, rapid technological advances, and the Information Age
300
Is it necessary for a firm with a Cost Leadership to have the lowest cost or the lowest price? Explain.
Cost
300
What are three unique risks to a focused strategy? Use the example of Whole Foods in your explanation.
(1) Broad market competitors see value in the niche.
(2) Firms enter the market and out focus the focuser
(3) Needs of the broad market become more similar to the niche.
300
How do we determine the success of Corporate Level Strategy?
What is the value of the businesses in the corporations portfolio are worth more under the corporations ownership then they would be under other ownership structures.
300
What are the two ways that a firm manages the business units in the corporation to experience economies of scope? Provide examples of each.
What is a disruptive innovation? Provide an example.
A business model or product innovation that redefines industry standards.
400
What does it mean to be stuck-in-the-middle? Provide an example.
Not truly differentiated but also costs are too high to be low cost. Levi, Circuit City
400
Why is a focused cost leadership strategy relatively rare among publicly traded companies?
Need for EOS while narrowing scope.
400
What is the difference between Economies of Scope and Economies of Scale?
Economies of scope are efficiencies due to expanding your breadth of activities. Economies of scale are efficiencies due to increasing the scale with which you perform one activity.
400
What are two managerial or value-reducing motives for corporate level strategy?