Innovation Strategies
________Blank is best described as the transformation of an idea into a new product or process...
A) Lean Manufacturing
B) Invention
C) Direct imitation
D) Bootstrapping
B) Invention
When executives consider business opportunities only where they can leverage their existing competencies and resources
A) related-linked diversification.
B) related-constrained diversification.
C) strategic outsourcing.
D) offshore outsourcing.
B) related-constrained diversification.
Corporate strategy provides answers to which key question?
A) Where should the firm compete?
B) What is the firm’s chain of command?
C) What are the firm’s boundaries?
D) Where are the firm’s boundaries?
A) Where should the firm compete?
A firm that uses a functional structure will typically have efficient top-down and bottom-up communication, but
A) communication may be hampered among the horizontal functions.
B) dual reporting relationships typically blur lines of authority.
C) the top management team may fail in coordinating functional-level employees
D) career paths and professional development are limited.
A) communication may be hampered among the horizontal functions.
A (n) ________Blank is the most common type of strategic alliance because it is easy to initiate and terminate.
A) joint venture
B) non-equity alliance
C) equity alliance
D) real-options perspective
B) non-equity alliance
A patent is a form of
A) electronic payment.
B) permanent monopoly.
C) intellectual property.
D) economic market.
C) intellectual property.
A strategy of________ will be most beneficial for a firm to enhance its overall corporate performance.
A)unrelated level of diversification
B) dominant-business level of diversification
C) single-business level of diversification
D) related diversification
D) related diversification
The starting point of the Build-Borrow-Buy framework is
A) identifying a strategic resource gap that will impede future growth.
B) evaluating the firm’s existing internal resources for relevancy
C) comparing internal transaction costs against external transaction costs.
D) evaluating the alliance partners’ compatibility and commitment.
A) identifying a strategic resource gap that will impede future growth.
A high degree of formalization in an organization is most likely to
A) improve customer service.
B) produce inconsistent results.
C) slow down decision making.
D) increase creativity and innovation.
C) slow down decision making.
Merging with a competitor at the same stage of the industry value chain is best described as __ integration.
A) horizontal
B) taper
C) forward
D) vertical
A) horizontal
Which of the following is a disadvantage faced by first movers in an industry?
A) They will have to find distribution channels and complementary assets.
B) They cannot benefit from learning curve effects like late entrants.
C) They cannot benefit much from network effects.
D) They will have no access to intellectual properties like critical patents.
A) They will have to find distribution channels and complementary assets.
moving ownership of activities upstream in the value chain toward originating inputs (raw material) is
A) Reverse engineering
B) Disruptive innovation
C) Corporate divestiture
D) Backward vertical integration
D) Backward vertical integration
What is the main reason that most mergers and acquisitions negatively affect shareholder value?
A) Companies that resist acquisitions are subject to the “winner’s curse.”
B) The entire market becomes an oligopoly or a monopoly.
C) Promised synergies never take place.
D) Market conditions change too quickly.
C) Promised synergies never take place.
Online shoe retailer Zappos has customer service as its core competency. For example, the company deliberately avoids having its customer service reps follow a detailed script when responding to customer calls and empowers lower-level employees to make decisions and solve problems. Zappos is what type of organization?
A) decentralized
B) centralized
C) formalized
D) specialized
A) decentralized
Customers vital to a firm introducing a new innovation are the________, who are willing to buy early into new technology
A) early adopters
B) laggards
C) early majority
D) late majority
A) early adopters
In a typical industry life cycle, an industry immediately moves to the ________Blank after the introduction stage.
A) maturity stage
B) decline stage
C) shakeout stage
D) growth stage
D) growth stage
The goal of a differentiation strategy is to create a competitive advantage by offering products or services
A) that reconcile the trade-offs between differentiation and low cost.
B) that combine the advantages of the functional-structure variations
C) at a higher perceived value while controlling costs.
D) that reduce the firm’s cost below that of competitors
C) at a higher perceived value while controlling costs.
When does a merger between companies typically occur?
A) when a target firm does not want to be acquired
B) when large, incumbent firms buy startup companies
C) when two firms of comparable size join to form a combined entity
D)when two or more firms enter a temporary vertical strategic alliance
C) when two firms of comparable size join to form a combined entity
A tightly coupled system of strategy and structure is prone to break apart when
A) organizational culture becomes adaptive to change.
B) external and internal shifts put pressure on the system.
C) managers fail to recognize the need for organizational inertia.
D) input and output controls restrict information flow.
B) external and internal shifts put pressure on the system.
The additional costs of doing business in an unfamiliar cultural and economic environment?
A) liability of foreignness.
B) economic embargo.
C) social cost.
D) opportunity cost.
A) liability of foreignness.
Which type of customer appreciates new technology that can add value to their personal lives?
A) first movers
B) late majority
C) early adopters
D) early majority
C) early adopters
Strategic alliances help a firm gain and sustain a competitive advantage when it joins resources and knowledge that are
A) inexpensive to acquire.
B) less differentiated.
C) common in the industry.
D) difficult to imitate.
D) difficult to imitate.
________Blank is a theoretical framework to explain and predict the boundaries of the firm.
A) Horizontal diversification
B) Transaction cost economics
C) Economic investment forecasting
D) Corporate-level strategy
B) Transaction cost economics
15% time at 3M to work on projects of employees choosing and funding ones that look promising can be described as?
A) using the ROWE framework to tap intrinsic employee motivation.
B) using OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to monitor objectives and outcomes.
C) relying on extrinsic motivation.
D) taking advantage of strategy implementation.
A) using the ROWE framework to tap intrinsic employee motivation.
A firm’s inertia can result in which of the following?
A) It can help a firm achieve superior performance.
B) It can increase both internal and external pressures.
C) It can set the stage for the firm’s subsequent failure.
D) It can lead to a far more flexible organizational structure.
C) It can set the stage for the firm’s subsequent failure.