Strategy and External Analysis
Strategy and Internal Analysis
Business Strategy
Corporate Strategy
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Non-Market Strategy
100
Describe the overall relationship between the strength of the five forces and the profit potential of the industry
Inverse (strong forces, low profit potential
100
What does VRIO stand for?
•Valuable.
•Rare.
•Costly to Imitate.
•Organized to capture the value of the resource.
100
Give an example of a firm following a cost leadership strategy and explain how the company implements it (one company example and one implementation example).
Walmart - low product prices, store brand products, aggressive pricing strategy with competitors; M&A of e-commerce overseas to beat amazon etc
100
List and define the three types of diversification using the case of Disney
Product Diversification:
•Increase in variety of products / services.
•Active in several product markets.
Geographic Diversification:
•Increase in variety of markets / geographic regions.
•Regional, national, or international markets.
Product-Market Diversification:
•Product and geographic diversification.
100
The vast majority of innovations in an industry are ________, because they build on a firm’s existing knowledge base and reinforce the existing organizational structure and network relationships.
Incremental
100
What is the role of a firm from a sustainable development/sustainability perspective?
They are fundamental actors within a community and have direct and indirect impact in many sustainability indicators.
200
List the three dimensions of the technology stack
Value is based on the stack:
Technology utility (good itself)
Installed base
Complementary goods
200
List two tangible and two intangible resources and indicate which resources are generally more valuable.
200
The managers at Acme Corporation decided that their firm needed to pursue a different strategy because of overall falling sales and lower performance in a given sector. How can a diversification strategy help this firm?
it can compensate for the declining performance in this sector by having higher performance in another sector
•Seeks to create higher value vs. competitors.
•Offers unique features.
•Charges higher prices.
Unique features that increase value, so that consumers pay a higher price.
200
List four of the five reasons we discussed in class why firms enter into strategic alliances
Strengthen competitive position.
Change industry structure, influence standards. (Lyft partners with GM and Waymo)
Enter new markets.
New products, service, or geographic market (e.g. McDonald’s and Den Fujita to enter Japan)
Hedge against uncertainty.
Real options perspective (staggered investment) (Starbucks and Café Retiro)
Access critical complementary assets.
Marketing, manufacturing, after-sale service. (AgriCapital and Juan Valdez)
Learn new capabilities.
Co-opetition & learning races (Toyota and Tesla)
cost reduction vs. local responsiveness
200
A disruptive innovation leverages ________ technologies, while architectural innovations are based on ________ technologies.
new; existing
200
Describe Warby Parker's CSR tactics and define what tactic this is according to the ones discussed in class.
*Create product/service markets to match community needs
Investment in markets that are otherwise underserved
Innovation of products/services that have both monetary and social value
Build Reputation and legitimacy to become trusted members in the community…why?
Talent attraction/retention/motivation
Others?
300
What differentiates the tech industry from others?
Increasing Returns to Adoption
300
_______ and _________ are the critical assumptions of RBV. What are they again?
Resource Heterogeneity.
•A firm is a unique bundle of resources, capabilities and competencies.
•These bundles differ across firms.
Resource Immobility.
•Resources are “sticky,” and don’t move easily from firm to firm.
•Resources are difficult to replicate.
•Resources can last for a long time.
300
Give two examples of firms successfully using blue ocean strategy discussed in class and explain what drives their success
Give two examples of firms successfully using blue ocean strategy discussed in class and explain what drives their success
300
NoRu Inc. is a publicly traded firm that does not wish to be acquired by FRESHPoP Corporation, a much larger publicly traded firm, who is planning an acquisition of NoRu Inc. This is an example of a
Hostile Takeover
300
Define social entrepreneurship and cite the name of the social entrepreneur discussed in class that coined this concept (Peace Nobel Prize).
Social entrepreneurship describes the pursuit of social goals while creating profitable businesses. Social entrepreneurs evaluate the performance of their ventures not only by financial metrics but also by ecological and social contribution (profits, planet, and people). They use a triple-bottom-line approach to assess performance.
Muhammad Yunus
Former managing director of Grameen Bank
Muhammed Yunnus
300
List the three types of CPA tactics
Financial; informational; constituency
400
Explain industry convergence as a concept and explain briefly how it is happening within media industries
Unrelated industries begin to satisfy the same customer need
•Media Industries: Content going online; Newspapers, magazines, TV, movies, radio, music.
A wide variety of mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, and e-readers, provide a new form of content delivery that has the potential to make print media obsolete.
400
Explain briefly why "best practices" alone or high operational effectiveness alone is not a good strategy
May not be sustainable; How to measure operational eff.; competitors can easily imitate best practices
400
List the four factors/drivers that keep costs low (e.g. that firms need to focus on if they are pursuing cost leadership strategy)
Cost of input factors:
•Raw materials, capital, labor, and IT services.
•Why does location matter?
Economies of scale:
•Decreases in cost per unit as output increases.
Learning-curve effects:
•Less time to produce output with experience.
Experience-curve effects:
•Improvements to technology and production processes.
400
How can diversification destroy value for shareholders and consumers?Strategy at the business level answers this main question and these four sub-questions.
it can compensate for the declining performance in this sector by having higher performance in another sector
400
Name the framework that can be used by entrepreneurs to develop their business model
Business Model Canvas
400
Define "independent expenditures" and list two issues associated with this tactic
Independent expenditures are a CPA functional tactic that are less overt and less traceable, with no disclosure required. Money is given to a third party for campaign donations.
500
List the five stages of the industry life cycle. Which stage is the voice assistant industry in and why?
Start-up; growth; shakeout; maturity; decline
any stage, as long as definition of the stage is correct
500
Describe Peloton's core competency
Create community and belonging
Great content with celebrity trainers
High quality hardware + software
500
How is Shein able to successfully sustain their low cost leadership strategy?
Violation of IP, strong relationship with suppliers, cheap labor and inputs, virtual business, ...
500
This is my favorite fast-food chain. Give the name of the chain and cite one example of local adaptation viewed in class.
McDonalds - germany (mc brezel), brazil (pao de queijo/mc cafe/guarana), thailand (temples, eggs), japan (shrimp burger)
500
ellRing Brands is a manufacturer of educational toys for children. Six months ago, the company’s research and development division came up with an idea for a unique touchscreen device that can be used to introduce children to a number of foreign languages. Three months ago, the company produced a working prototype, and last month the company successfully launched its new device on the commercial market. What should BellRing Brands’s managers prepare for next?
increased competition from imitators
500
What is the name of the sustainability agenda of the United Nations for 2030?
Sustainable Development Goals