Questions and Answers of Strategic Management 5th

Looking three to five years into the future, who do you expect will have a competitive advantage: Apple or Microsoft? Explain.
Despite its initial success, why was JetBlue unable to sustain a blue ocean strategy?
Amazon has surpassed 650,000 employees and was the second publicly traded company in the world to hit $1 trillion market capitalization (just after Apple). The company offers bold new ideas as a
Before you launch into a new project, job, or firm, or even before you make a change in industry in the effort to move forward in your career, always consider the trade-offs that you would and would
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes is contemplating adding international routes, connecting the U.S. East Coast to Europe. Would this additional international expansion put more pressure on JetBlue’s current
How did Netflix use innovation in its business strategy to gain and sustain a competitive advantage? What role did strategy, technology, and business models play? Explain in detail.
Why is competition in internet streaming services heating up? Who is jumping into the fray, and why? How do these companies differ? What do you expect the result of this intensifying competition will
Do you see higher education as a benefit or detriment to becoming a successful entrepreneur? Why?
International expansion appears to be a major growth opportunity for Netflix. Elaborate on the challenges Netflix faces going beyond the U.S. market. Do you think it is a good idea to rapidly expand
What are some of the challenges Netflix is likely to encounter internationally? What can Netflix do to address these? Explain.
While many new firms and industries are using a platform strategy, there are downsides to this approach. Explain two ways in which multi-sided markets may be a disadvantage for firms entering new
As we look at Google, Facebook and Amazon, all three have potentials for a diversification into the realm of facial recognition. What are the potential benefits? Do the chances of consumer
Let’s consider dynamics—has your level of diversification changed over time (say, over the last five years)? Looking toward the future, do you expect your level of diversification to change as
Describe the reasons Lyft entered strategic alliances with GM and Waymo. Are some reasons more important than others? Why or why not? Explain.
GM invested $500 million in Lyft in 2016. What are some possible reasons GM entered an equity alliance with Lyft? Are there any reasons GM would prefer Lyft over Uber as an alliance partner?
Now compare your actual career-related network using a site such as LinkedIn. Are any of your connections linked together? With how many alumni from your university are you linked? These alumni can
In Strategy Highlight 9.2, Kraft is shown to be prone to using hostile takeovers. These acquisitions are completed over the objections of the acquired firm. As noted in the text, mergers and
What are some possible reasons Waymo entered an alliance with Lyft? Are there any reasons Waymo would prefer Lyft over Uber as an alliance partner?
Uber is still a much larger and more valuable firm than Lyft. Uber is also more diversified in that it offers services beyond ride-hailing, which is its core service. Do you think the strategic
Why did Google restructure itself and create Alphabet? What is it hoping to accomplish? For additional insights, see Larry Page’s post announcing the restructuring at https://abc.xyz/.
Do you think the reorganization is beneficial for Alphabet’s moon shots, now housed in their own business unit with profit-and-loss responsibility? Why, or why not? Explain.
Why has Google “failed” to develop other profitable businesses? Is Google’s strategy process of planned emergence to blame? Why or why not? Will Alphabet’s new structure with independent SBUs
Why is it that what is measured is more critical to the control process than how it is measured?
Explain the statement: “The more basic the food chain, the easier it is to control.” Is there any managerial advice on control here? Explain.
Which controls would be more important to Chipotle: feed forward, concurrent, or feedback? Explain. Why is this level of managerial controls necessary?
What is the role of control in management?
What roles do social responsibility and ethical behavior play in ensuring that controls are appropriate and working?
Is controlling employee performance an important responsibility of managers? Discuss.
Should managers focus only on positive feedback? Explain.
Where would you be more comfortable? An organization with a performance review approach more like the Boston Consulting Group or more like Netflix? Make a list of the pros and cons of both approaches
Could Tesla’s controls have been more effective? How? What about its goals? How?
In the text’s first chapter, we introduced the concept of efficiency and effectiveness and how it’s important to managers. Here in this story in the last chapter, we see how efficiency and
Write an executive summary explaining what role information controls and financial controls could have played in this situation. What other controls do you think might have been useful?
What is unconscious (implicit) racial bias? Why is it a problem for organizations?
Discuss what is meant by the term organization design.
Describe the traditional and contemporary views of each of the six key elements of organizational design.
“The boundary less organization has the potential to create a major shift in the way we work.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.
Draw an organization chart of an organization with which you’re familiar (where you work, a student organization to which you belong, your college or university, etc.). Be very careful in showing
It’s stated in the chapter that contemporary organization design should be lean, flexible, and innovative. What are the implications of those requirements?
Evaluate how United Airlines handled each of these incidents. Do you think that United Airlines was within its power to respond the way its employees did? Why or why not?
How would you describe United Airlines’ view of formalization? Do you think it’s appropriate? Explain.
Using information from the chapter about the contingency factors that favor either the mechanistic or the organic model of organizational design, what do you think United Airlines’ organizational
What do you think United Airlines should do in the future? What suggestions or enhancements might you have for its organizational structure?
How do employees’ actions reflect an organization’s stance as far as being responsible and ethical? How might United’s managers encourage employees to be more responsible and ethical, even when
Would you call NASA a learning organization? Why or why not?
In what ways is NASA’s environment complex?
How does complexity affect structural choice?
What role do you think organizational structure plays in an organization’s efficiency and effectiveness? Working together with your assigned group, discuss this.
Describe the six types of diversity found in organizations and how organizations should approach HR activities with a diverse workforce.
How is technology changing how HRM is done?
How does HRM help achieve the goal of having the “the right numbers of the right people in the right place at the right time”?
What is the focus of the training for Starbucks employees? Why is this training important?
Beyond this intensive in-store training, what other things could Starbucks do to create a more sensitive, in-store experience?
What can you learn from this story that will benefit you (a) personally and (b) professionally?
Is implicit bias an ethical/social responsibility issue? Make a decision and defend your position. If so, explain why. If not, why not?
What does this story tell you about the importance of checking a job applicant’s background?
What stakeholders are affected when an executive has inaccuracies in his or her résumé? How might they be affected?
Look at the statistics in the first paragraph of this story. Are you surprised by them? Why or why not?
What can you learn from this story that will help you (a) personally and (b) professionally?
By this point, you should have (hopefully!) a résumé prepared. If not, prepare one using whatever assistance is provided by your school. Once you have your résumé, pair off with a classmate and
What’s the meaning behind the search for the “purple squirrel” in relation to spotting talent? Is this relevant to non-tech companies as well? Discuss.
Do you think that mature tech companies are always going to have a more difficult time attracting tech talent? Explain.
Tech companies are notorious for their lack of women in managerial and executive positions. How does this change what these companies are doing to attract talent? In your assigned group, brainstorm
“To have a successful team, first find a great leader.” What do you think of this statement? Do you agree? Why or why not?
What traits do you think good team players have? Do some research to answer this question and write a short report detailing your findings using a bulleted list format.
Why is it important for managers to know about the stages of group development?
What characteristics do effective teams need?
What challenges are managers of health-care organizations facing?
How would the way health-care organization managers manage be different in a team-based model?
Explain how roles, norms, status systems, and group cohesiveness might influence the success of a team-based model.
What are some reasons you think a team-based model has led to improved patient outcomes and reduced costs?
In the chapter, we brought up the idea of teams sharing too much information. Would this be a more serious ethical issue for teams in health-care organizations? Why or why not?
Do you think a software build team goes through the stages of group development? Why or why not?
The chapter identified the four most common types of work teams. Which do you think probably best describes Microsoft’s software build teams? Explain.
What could other organizations learn about building highperformance work teams from Microsoft’s experiences? Prepare a list of three key points you would use in making a presentation about
Describe Gore’s approach to self-managed teams.
Why is organizational culture so critical to the success of selfmanaged teams?
Would you want to work at W.L. Gore and Associates? Why or why not?
Working in your assigned group, make a list of challenges that organizations with self-managed teams would face. Then, discuss ways that these challenges could be addressed.
Write down three attitudes you have. Identify the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of those attitudes.
Describe the key elements of attribution theory. Discuss how the fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias play a role.
Why might emotional intelligence be important to Google’s engineers?
What is the purpose of this Search Inside Yourself course?
Describe each of the three parts of the SIY course. Which do you think would be the hardest to master? Why?
How has Google made the SIY course appeal to its engineers?
What do you think about a course like this? Would you find it interesting? Why or why not? Can you think of any potential ethics issues that might arise in a course like this? Discuss.
Do satisfied employees provide better customer service? What has been your experience? Do employees that seem happy at work provide better customer service? Discuss.
What personality traits would be most needed for this type of employee-first organizational culture? Discuss.
Why is it important for Virgin to offer a variety of resources to create a supportive work environment?
What kind of questions should Virgin ask in its annual employee engagement survey? Discuss this in your assigned group.
How can an understanding of employee attitudes help Adobe’s managers and leaders be more effective?
Would personality affect an individual’s job satisfaction? If so, how? If not, why not?
Adobe is a tech company and likely has employees from all different age groups. Would Adobe have to change its employee engagement surveys for different generations that might be in its workforce?
In your assigned group, come with arguments supporting (a) why employee engagement surveys are useful and (b) why employee engagement surveys are not useful. Be prepared to “argue” for either.
As a manager, what will you need to know about goal-setting theory as a motivation tool?
What economic and cross-cultural challenges face managers when motivating employees?
What are the three variables in expectancy theory and how do they explain motivation?
Look back at the chapter-opening Management Myth and how it was “debunked.” Evaluate this wage decision in light of that.
Explain each of the employee productivity/motivation concerns. Which of these do you think is most critical? Why?
Choose one of the contemporary motivation theories discussed in the chapter and write a description of it for Mr. Price, explaining how and why it would be a good alternative for employee motivation.

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