Crafting And Executing Strategy Concepts 21st Edition Arthur Thompson, Margaret Peteraf, John Gamble, A. Strickland - Solutions

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4. What would happen to your company’s performance if you and your co-managers stick with the status quo and fail to make any corrective adjustments after each decision round?
3. Following each decision round, do you and your co-managers make corrective adjustments in either your company’s strategy or the way the strategy is being executed? List at least three such adjustments you made in the most recent decision round. What hard evidence (in the form of results
2. What core values would you want to ingrain in your company’s culture? Why?
1. If you were making a speech to company personnel, what would you tell employees about the kind of corporate culture you would like to have at your company?What specific cultural traits would you like your company to exhibit? Explain.
5. Leading the strategy execution process involves staying on top of the situation and monitoring progress, putting constructive pressure on the organization to achieve operating excellence, and initiating corrective actions to improve the execution effort. Using your university’s access to
4. If you were an executive at a company that had a pervasive yet problematic culture, what steps would you take to change it? Using Google Scholar or your university library’s access to EBSCO, LexisNexis, or other databases, search for recent articles in business publications on “culture
3. Illustration Capsule 12.1 discusses Epic’s strategy-supportive corporate culture.What are the standout features of Epic’s corporate culture? How does Epic’s culture contribute to its winning best-in-class awards year after year? How does the company’s culture make Epic a good place to
2. Based on what you learned about REI from answering the previous question, how do you think the company’s culture affects its ability to execute strategy and operate with excellence?
1. Go to the company website for REI (www.rei.com). Click on Stewardship at the bottom of the page, and then click on some of the tabs below to learn more about the company’s culture and values. What are the key features of its culture? Do features of REI’s culture influence the company’s
6. Does your company have opportunities to use incentive compensation techniques?If so, explain your company’s approach to incentive compensation. Is there any hard evidence you can cite that indicates your company’s use of incentive compensation techniques has worked? For example, have your
5. Are you and your co-managers consciously trying to achieve operating excellence?Explain how you are doing this and how you will track the progress you are making.
4. What hard evidence can you cite that indicates your company’s management team is doing a better or worse job of achieving operating excellence and executing strategy than are the management teams at rival companies?
3. Are benchmarking data available in the simulation exercise in which you are participating?If so, do you and your co-managers regularly study the benchmarking data to see how well your company is doing? Do you consider the benchmarking information provided to be valuable? Why or why not? Cite
2. What actions, if any, is your company taking to pursue continuous improvement in how it performs certain value chain activities?
1. Have you and your co-managers allocated ample resources to strategy-critical areas? If so, explain how these investments have contributed to good strategy execution and improved company performance.
6. Illustration Capsule 11.2 provides a sampling of motivational tactics employed by several prominent companies (many of which appear on Fortune’s list of the 100 best companies to work for in America). Discuss how rewards at SAS, Salesforce.com, DPR Construction, and Hilcorp aid in the strategy
5. Company strategies can’t be executed well without a number of support systems to carry on business operations. Using your university’s access to LexisNexis or EBSCO, search for recent articles that discuss how a company has used realtime information systems and control systems to aid the
4. Read some of the recent Six Sigma articles posted at www.isixsigma.com. Prepare a one-page report to your instructor detailing how Six Sigma is being used in two companies and what benefits the companies are reaping as a result. Further, discuss two to three criticisms of, or potential
3. Illustration Capsule 11.1 discusses Charleston Area Medical Center’s use of Six Sigma practices. List three tangible benefits provided by the program. Explain why a commitment to quality control is particularly important in the hospital industry. How can the use of a Six Sigma program help
2. Policies and procedures facilitate strategy execution when they are designed to fit the company’s strategy and objectives. Using your university’s access to LexisNexis or EBSCO, search for recent articles that discuss how a company has revised its policies and procedures to provide better
1. Implementing a new or different strategy calls for new resource allocations. Using your university’s access to LexisNexis or EBSCO, search for recent articles that discuss how a company has revised its pattern of resource allocation and divisional budgets to support new strategic initiatives.
3. What value chain activities are most crucial to good execution of your company’s strategy? Does your company have the ability to outsource any value chain activities?If so, have you and your co-managers opted to engage in outsourcing? Why or why not?
2. What specific actions have you and your co-managers taken to develop core competencies or competitive capabilities that can contribute to good strategy execution and potential competitive advantage? If no actions have been taken, explain your rationale for doing nothing.
1. How would you describe the organization of your company’s top-management team? Is some decision making decentralized and delegated to individual managers?If so, explain how the decentralization works. Or are decisions made more by consensus, with all co-managers having input? What do you see
5. Johnson & Johnson, a multinational health care company responsible for manufacturing medical, pharmaceutical, and consumer goods, has been a leader in promoting a decentralized management structure. Perform an Internet search to gain some background information on the company’s products, value
4. Review Valve Corporation’s company handbook online: www.valvesoftware.com/company/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf. Specifically, focus on Valve’s corporate structure. Valve has hundreds of employees but no managers or bosses at all. Valve’s gaming success hinges on innovative and completely
3. Review Facebook’s Careers page (www.Facebook.com/careers/). The page emphasizes Facebook’s core values and explains how potential employees could fit that mold. Bold and decisive thinking and a commitment to transparency and social connectivity drive the page and the company as a whole. Then
2. Search online to read about Jeff Bezos’s management of his new executives. Specifically, explore Amazon.com’s “S-Team” meetings (management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/16/jeff-bezos-amazon/). Why does Bezos begin meetings of senior executives with 30 minutes of silent reading? How does this
1. The foundation of Nike’s global sports apparel dominance lies in the company’s continual ability to outcompete rivals by aligning its superior design, innovation, and marketing capabilities with outsourced manufacturing. Such a strategy necessitates a complex marriage of innovative product
5. In what ways is your company’s environmental sustainability strategy in the best long-term interest of shareholders? Does it contribute to your company’s competitive advantage or profitability?
4. Is your company striving to conduct its business in an environmentally sustainable manner? What specific additional actions could your company take that would make an even greater contribution to environmental sustainability?
3. If some shareholders complained that you and your co-managers have been spending too little or too much on corporate social responsibility, what would you tell them?
2. In what ways, if any, is your company exercising corporate social responsibility?What are the elements of your company’s CSR strategy? Are there any changes to this strategy that you would suggest?
1. Is your company’s strategy ethical? Why or why not? Is there anything that your company has done or is now doing that could legitimately be considered “shady”by your competitors?
4. Go to www.google.com/green/ and read about the company’s latest initiatives surrounding sustainability. What are Google’s key policies and actions that help it reduce its environmental footprint? How does the company integrate the idea of creating a “better web that’s better for the
3. Based on information provided in Illustration Capsule 9.3, explain how Warby Parker’s CSR strategy has contributed to its success in the marketplace. How are the company’s various stakeholder groups affected by its commitment to social responsibility? How would you evaluate its
2. Prepare a one- to two-page analysis of a recent ethics scandal using your university library’s access to LexisNexis or other Internet resources. Your report should(1) discuss the conditions that gave rise to unethical business strategies and behavior and (2) provide an overview of the costs
1. Widely known as an ethical company, Dell recently committed itself to becoming a more environmentally sustainable business. After reviewing the About Dell section of its website (www.dell.com/learn/us/en/uscorp1/about-dell), prepare a list of 10 specific policies and programs that help the
4. If your company opted to pursue a strategy of unrelated diversification, what industries or product categories could it diversify into that would allow it to capitalize on using its present brand name and corporate image to good advantage in the newly entered businesses or product categories?
3. If your company opted to pursue a strategy of related diversification, what industries or product categories could it diversify into that would allow it to achieve economies of scope? Name at least two or three such industries or product categories, and indicate the specific kinds of cost
2. What specific resources and capabilities does your company possess that would make diversifying into related businesses attractive? Indicate what kinds of strategic-fit benefits could be captured by transferring these resources and competitive capabilities to newly acquired related businesses.
1. In the event that your company has the opportunity to diversify into other products or businesses of your choosing, would you opt to pursue related diversification, unrelated diversification, or a combination of both? Explain why.
3. ITT is a technology-oriented engineering and manufacturing company with the following business divisions and products:• Industrial Process Division—industrial pumps, valves, and monitoring and control systems; aftermarket services for the chemical, oil and gas, mining, pulp and paper, power,
2. Peruse the business group listings for Ingersoll Rand shown below and listed at its website (company.ingersollrand.com/ircorp/en/discover-us/our-globalbrands.html). How would you characterize the company’s corporate strategy—related diversification, unrelated diversification, or a
1. See if you can identify the value chain relationships that make the businesses of the following companies related in competitively relevant ways. In particular, you should consider whether there are cross-business opportunities for (1) transferring skills and technology, (2) combining related
3. Which one of the following best describes the strategic approach your company is taking in trying to compete successfully on an international basis?• Multidomestic or think-local, act-local approach.• Global or think-global, act-global approach.• Transnational or think-global, act-local
2. To what extent, if any, have you and your co-managers adapted your company’s strategy to take geographic differences in import tariffs or import duties into account?
1. To what extent, if any, have you and your co-managers adapted your company’s strategy to take shifting exchange rates into account? In other words, have you undertaken any actions to try to minimize the impact of adverse shifts in exchange rates?
4. Using your university library’s subscription to LexisNexis, EBSCO, or a similar database, identify and discuss three key strategies that Volkswagen is using to compete in China.
3. Assume you are in charge of developing the strategy for an international company selling products in some 50 different countries around the world. One of the issues you face is whether to employ a multidomestic strategy, a global strategy, or a transnational strategy.a. If your company’s
2. Alliances, joint ventures, and mergers with foreign companies are widely used as a means of entering foreign markets. Such arrangements have many purposes, including learning about unfamiliar environments, and the opportunity to access the complementary resources and capabilities of a foreign
1. L’Oréal markets 32 brands of cosmetics, fragrances, and hair care products in 130 countries. The company’s international strategy involves manufacturing these products in 40 plants located around the world. L’Oréal’s international strategy is discussed in its operations section of the
4. Is your company able to engage in outsourcing? If so, what do you see as the pros and cons of outsourcing? Are strategic alliances involved? Explain.
3. Is your company vertically integrated? Explain.
2. Does your company have the option to merge with or acquire other companies? If so, which rival companies would you like to acquire or merge with?
1. Has your company relied more on offensive or defensive strategies to achieve your rank in the industry? What options for being a first mover does your company have? Do any of these first-mover options hold competitive advantage potential?
4. Perform a thought experiment whereby two popular specialty food stores, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, join forces in a strategic alliance in the near future. Conduct some research on the market niches that these food stores operate in to determine whether there might be an opportunity for some
3. Perform an Internet search to identify at least two companies in different industries that have entered into outsourcing agreements with firms with specialized services. In addition, describe what value chain activities the companies have chosen to outsource. Do any of these outsourcing
2. Kaiser Permanente, a standout among managed health care systems, has become a model of how to deliver good health care cost-effectively. Illustration Capsule 6.4 describes how Kaiser Permanente has made vertical integration a central part of its strategy. What value chain segments has Kaiser
1. Live Nation operates music venues, provides management services to music artists, and promotes more than 22,000 live music events annually. The company merged with Ticketmaster and acquired concert and festival promoters in the United States, Australia, and Great Britain. How has the company
6. What is your company’s action plan to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage over rival companies? List at least three (preferably more than three) specific kinds of decision entries on specific decision screens that your company has made or intends to make to win this kind of competitive
5. Which rival companies appear to be employing some type of focused strategy?
4. Which rival companies appear to be employing a best-cost provider strategy?
3. Which rival companies appear to be employing a broad differentiation strategy?
2. Which rival companies appear to be employing a low-cost provider strategy?
1. Which one of the five generic competitive strategies best characterizes your company’s strategic approach to competing successfully?
4. Explore lululemon athletica’s website at info.lululemon.com and see if you can identify at least three ways in which the company seeks to differentiate itself from rival athletic apparel firms. Is there reason to believe that lululemon’s differentiation strategy has been successful in
3. USAA is a Fortune 500 insurance and financial services company with 2014 annual sales exceeding $24 billion. The company was founded in 1922 by 25 Army officers who decided to insure each other’s vehicles and continues to limit its membership to active-duty and retired military members,
2. Illustration Capsule 5.1 discusses Amazon’s low-cost position in the electronic commerce industry. Based on information provided in the capsule, explain how Amazon has built its low-cost advantage in the industry and why a low-cost provider strategy is well suited to the industry.
1. Best Buy is the largest consumer electronics retailer in the United States, with 2015 sales of over $50 billion. The company competes aggressively on price with such rivals as Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and Target, but it is also known by consumers for its first-rate customer service. Best
7. Using the methodology presented in Table 4.4, do a weighted competitive strength assessment for your company and two other companies that you and your co-managers consider to be very close competitors.
6. What are the key elements of your company’s value chain? Refer to Figure 4.3 in developing your answer.
5. Does your company have any core competencies? If so, what are they?
4. What internal strengths and weaknesses does your company have? What external market opportunities for growth and increased profitability exist for your company?What external threats to your company’s future well-being and profitability do you and your co-managers see? What does the preceding
3. What hard evidence can you cite that indicates your company’s strategy is working fairly well (or perhaps not working so well, if your company’s performance is lagging that of rival companies)?
2. On the basis of your company’s latest financial statements and all the other available data regarding your company’s performance that appear in the industry report, list the three measures of financial performance on which your company did best and the three measures on which your
1. Using the formulas in Table 4.1 and the data in your company’s latest financial statements, calculate the following measures of financial performance for your company:a. Operating profit marginb. Total return on total assetsc. Current ratiod. Working capitale. Long-term debt-to-capital ratiof.
4. Using the methodology illustrated in Table 4.3 and your knowledge as an automobile owner, prepare a competitive strength assessment for General Motors and its rivals Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, and Honda. Each of the five automobile manufacturers should be evaluated on the key success factors and
3. Review the information in Illustration Capsule 4.1 concerning Boll & Branch’s average costs of producing and selling a king-size sheet set, and compare this with the representative value chain depicted in Figure 4.3. Then answer the following questions:a. Which of the company’s costs
2. Panera Bread operates more than 1,900 bakery-cafés in more than 45 states and Canada. How many of the four tests of the competitive power of a resource does the store network pass? Using your general knowledge of this industry, perform a SWOT analysis. Explain your answers.
1. Using the financial ratios provided in Table 4.1 and the financial statement information presented below for Costco Wholesale Corporation, calculate the following ratios for Costco for both 2013 and 2014:a. Gross profit marginb. Operating profit marginc. Net profit margind. Times-interest-earned
8. Does your overall assessment of the industry suggest that industry rivals have sufficiently attractive opportunities for growth and profitability? Explain.
7. What do you see as the key factors for being a successful competitor in your industry?List at least three.
6. Draw a strategic group map showing the market positions of the companies in your industry. Which companies do you believe are in the most attractive position on the map? Which companies are the most weakly positioned? Which companies do you believe are likely to try to move to a different
5. Are there any driving forces in the industry in which your company is competing?If so, what impact will these driving forces have? Will they cause competition to be more or less intense? Will they act to boost or squeeze profit margins? List at least two actions your company should consider
4. What are the factors affecting the intensity of rivalry in the industry in which your company is competing? Use Figure 3.4 and the accompanying discussion to help you in pinpointing the specific factors most affecting competitive intensity.Would you characterize the rivalry and jockeying for
3. What are the “weapons of competition” that rival companies in your industry can use to gain sales and market share? See Table 3.2 to help you identify the various competitive factors.
2. Which of the five competitive forces is creating the strongest competitive pressures for your company?
1. Which of the factors listed in Table 3.1 might have the most strategic relevance for your industry?
3. The National Restaurant Association publishes an annual industry fact book that can be found at imis.restaurant.org/store/detail.aspx?id=FOR2016FB. Based on information in the latest report, does it appear that macro-environmental factors and the economic characteristics of the industry will
2. Based on the strategic group map in Illustration Capsule 3.1, which casual dining chains are Applebee’s closest competitors? With which strategic group does California Pizza Kitchen compete the least, according to this map? Why do you think no casual dining chains are positioned in the area
1. Prepare a brief analysis of the organic food industry using the information provided by the Organic Trade Association at www.ota.com and the Organic Report magazine at theorganicreport.com. That is, based on the information provided on these websites, draw a five forces diagram for the organic
3. What are the three to four key elements of your company’s strategy?
2. What are your company’s financial objectives? What are your company’s strategic objectives?
1. Meet with your co-managers and prepare a strategic vision statement for your company. It should be at least one sentence long and no longer than a brief paragraph.When you are finished, check to see if your vision statement meets the conditions for an effectively worded strategic vision set
5. Based on the information provided in Illustration Capsule 2.4, describe the ways in which Volkswagen did not fulfill the requirements of effective corporate governance.In what ways did the board of directors sidestep its obligations to protect shareholder interests? How could Volkswagen better
4. Go to the investor relations website for Walmart (investors.walmartstores.com) and review past presentations Walmart has made during various investor conferences by clicking on the Events option in the navigation bar. Prepare a one- to two-page report that outlines what Walmart has said to
3. American Airlines’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan filed in 2012 involved the company reducing operating expenses by $2 billion while increasing revenues by $1 billion. The company’s strategy to increase revenues included expanding the number of international flights and destinations and
2. Go to the company investor relations websites for Starbucks (investor.starbucks.com), Pfizer (www.pfizer.com/investors), and Salesforce (investor.salesforce.com) to find examples of strategic and financial objectives. List four objectives for each company, and indicate which of these are
1. Using the information in Table 2.1, critique the adequacy and merit of the following vision statements, listing effective elements and shortcomings. Rank the vision statements from best to worst once you complete your evaluation. Vision Statement American Express . We work hard every day to make

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Crafting And Executing Strategy Concepts 21st Edition Arthur Thompson, Margaret Peteraf, John Gamble, A. Strickland - Solutions

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