Questions and Answers of Strategic Management Competitive Advantage

What can be done to promote innovative and adaptability within organizations?
What are the external and internal forces for change?
What is meant by innovative and adaptive organizations?
1. Is there a dollar value that you can assign to the reduction in community-based crime from the participants? What is the value for others in the community?2. What other “social” values can you
1. In your opinion, which three innovation strategies is Apple using?2. As a manager at Apple, what would you need to do to keep the firm adaptable in the future?
Why do many entrepreneurs have problems creating an appropriate work life balance?
How does growth impact an entrepreneurial venture? Why do high-growth firms constantly require cash to support their growth?
How does the role of the entrepreneur change as the venture moves from start-up to operation, to growth and finally to exit?
What role does innovation play in the success of entrepreneurial ventures? What does an organizational culture that supports innovation look like?
What are the two steps performed in the search process? What are the two steps in the execution process? Why is it important to validate the business model before writing a business plan?
What is an entrepreneurial opportunity? How do entrepreneurs locate them?
How do entrepreneurs add value to the economy?
What is the difference between a small business and an entrepreneurial venture?
Can the GLOBE framework presented in this chapter be used to guide managers in a Russian hospital or a government agency in Egypt? Explain
What are the managerial implications of a transnational or borderless organization?
Describe the current status of each of the various international and regional trading alliances.
1. How prevalent might racial profiling be in stores across Canada?2. What might have been the impact of these action on black and other ethnic employees nationally across the Sobeys chain?3. If you
What are important to workplace diversity initiatives?
What are the major trends in the changing populations of Canada and the world?
1. Find a list of Zappos’s corporate values. Pick two of the values, and explain how you think those values would influence the way employees do their work.2. Using the list of corporate values,
What forces influence the specific and the general environments? Describe an effective culture for (a) a relatively stable environment and (b) a dynamic environment. Justify your choices.
What are the characteristics of an ethical culture, an innovative culture, an adaptable culture, a customer-responsive culture and a diversity-supportive culture?
How do employees learn an organization’s culture?
What is the source of an organization’s culture? How does organizational culture continue?
What is the impact of a strong culture on organizations and managers? Can a strong culture be a liability to an organization? Explain
Contrast the actions of managers according to the omnipotent and symbolic views.
1. Describe the culture at the Lipshultz firm.2. What is your sense of how committed Siegel is to the culture?3. How comfortable/uncomfortable would you be working in this environment?4. Would should
How could an organization build an adaptive culture?
Why is an understanding of management important even if you don’t plan to be a manager?
What are the three categories of management roles proposed by Mintzberg? Provide an example of each.
What are the four functions of management? Briefly describe each of them. The management process can be condensed to four functions: planning, organizing, leading and controlling. These processes are
In today’s economic environment, which is more important to organizations— efficiency, effectiveness, or adaptability? Explain your choice.
In February 2017, General Motors CEO Mary T. Barra floated the possibility that the company could exit the large but troubled European market by selling its chronically unprofitable Opel unit to the
Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives, had 2015 revenues of $47 billion. The company
1. What forces in the industry environment might affect Avon’s choice of strategy? And what does an internal analysis tell us about this?2. What business-level strategy should Avon pursue? What
Data on the “competitiveness of nations” can be found at http://www.imd.org/research/publications/wcy/index.cfm. This website provides a ranking on 329 criteria for 59 countries. How might
What is the structure of the beer industry, and how does this affect choice of strategy?The Boston Beer Company, known for its Samuel Adams brand, is the largest craft brewery in the United States,
Is JetBlue’s competitive advantage sustainable?JetBlue was a domestic airline in the United States with a geographically diversified flight schedule that included both short-haul and long-haul
1. How does Apple use strategic management to compete?2. What is leadership’s role in Apple’s strategic implementation?3. What are key forces in the general and industry environments that affect
1. Assess leadership at Procter and Gamble.2. What were the major organizational changes leadership made at P&G, and what challenges does the current leadership face now?3. What intangible
1. What leadership decisions has Samsung made in order to manage its innovation process?2. What competitive strategies did leadership adopt to turn Samsung around? What challenges does Samsung face
How should leadership manage innovation in this industry, and what are Weight Watchers’ options for growth?Weight Watchers International Inc. had been a major player in the weight-loss industry for
1. What entry strategy has Starbucks used internationally? Should Tata Starbucks use a strategy that is modified for the Indian market or should it pursue the same strategy it has in all other
How did Nintendo compete? Could Nintendo sustain a competitive advantage?In 2017 Nintendo launched its newest gaming console, Nintendo Switch, designed to allow users to play on a TV and also
1. What is the role of strategic leadership in a company like Johnson & Johnson?2. How can synergy best be managed at a company such as Johnson & Johnson?Johnson & Johnson (J&J) had
1. What is Dippin’ Dots’ competitive strategy?2. What role did entrepreneurial strategy and the management of innovation play in establishing Dippin’ Dots’ initial competitive
What has leadership done to implement strategy, and what challenges remain?In 2017, Ford Motor Company was facing disruption in the automobile industry and moving in a direction that meant it was
How does Pixar use strategic management? What is Pixar’s competitive strategy, and what is the basis of Pixar’s competitive advantage?Since Pixar launched Toy Story in 1995, it had released 17
1. How has Cirque du Soleil leadership been able to create a new market space in a traditional industry? Is setting a direction, designing the organization, nurturing a culture sufficient to create a
1. How does Emirates compete? What internal resources and assets does Emirates have that may give it a competitive advantage?2. Assess the effectiveness of Emirates’ leadership.Emirates Airline has
1. What makes Kickstarter entrepreneurial, and how is this strategy working for them?2. What is it about the initial strategic analysis process that helps a firm identify a business opportunity? How
How did FreshDirect choose to compete, and what competitive challenges does FreshDirect face now?First launched in July 2001, FreshDirect was a New York City based online grocery store with a state
1. What was GreenWood’s rationale for entering China in 2005? What entry strategy did GreenWood use to enter China? What were the advantages and disadvantages of the China entry decision?2. What
How did Zynga choose to compete and what innovation is left for it to pursue?Zynga, located in San Francisco, California, had become a dominant player in the online gaming field, almost entirely
What are the current forces in the external environment that might affect McDonald’s strategy?McDonald’s had announced on January 28, 2015, that Don Thompson would retire as president and chief
McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s largest fast-food restaurant chain. Using the Internet, evaluate the quality of the corporation in terms of management, the board of directors, and
Where in Caterpillar’s value chain is the firm creating value for its customers?
1. Does Ascena’s corporate strategy seem sound?2. What are key forces in the general and industry environments that affect Ascena’s choice of strategy?3. What internal resources and assets did
1. What corporate strategy should BlackBerry Limited deploy in order to maximize profitability in the years to come?2. What do you think about CEO John Chen’s turnaround strategy options?3. What
How should Jamba Juice manage growth? How should leadership manage innovation in this industry, and is Jamba Juice still entrepreneurial?In 2017, Dave Pace, CEO of Jamba Juice, rang the Nasdaq
What unique responsibilities does United Way have to its stakeholders, and how successful has the organization been with its overall strategy? Is United Way’s mission still viable?In 2017, United
It is not uncommon for firms to undertake corporate downsizing and layoffs. Do you feel that such actions raise ethical considerations? Why or why not?
AT&T is a firm that follows a strategy of related diversification. Evaluate its success (or lack thereof) with regard to how well it has (1) built on core competencies, (2) shared
Research Amazon. How has this firm been able to combine overall cost leadership and differentiation strategies?
Pfizer, a leading health care firm with $59 billion in revenues, is often rated as one of Fortune’s “Most Admired Firms.” It is also considered an excellent place to work and has generated high
What resources, activities, and relationships enable Caterpillar to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage?
What are the important relationships among Caterpillar’s value-chain activities? What are the important interdependencies? For each activity, identify the relationships and interdependencies?
1. Review IKEA’s general environment segments and elements in India. What are the segments in the general environment that relate to IKEA’s situation? 2. Describe IKEA’s intended
1. Describe Siemens’ corporate-level strategy and characterize its level of diversification. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the company’s matrix organizational structure. Does the
1. What was Sam Walton’s original strategic vision for Wal-Mart? How did this enable the company to gain a competitive advantage? 2. How did Wal-Mart continue to strengthen its competitive
To what extent do you think that cognitive biases may have contributed to the global financial crisis that gripped financial markets in 2008–2009? Explain your answer.
Pick the current or a past president of the United States and evaluate his performance against the leadership characteristics discussed in the text. On the basis of this comparison, do you think that
1. Conduct a competitive forces analysis of the U.S. airline industry. What does this analysis tell you about the causes of low profitability in this industry?2. Do you think there are any strategic
1. What resources underlie Verizon’s strong competitive position in the U.S. wireless tele-communications industry? 2. Apply the VRIO framework and describe to what extent these resources can
What are the main differences between a low cost strategy and a differentiation strategy?
1. What is Nordstrom’s segmentation strategy? Who does it serve?2. Using the Porter model, which generic business level strategy is Nordstrom pursuing?Nordstrom is one of American’s most
Why is market segmentation such an important step in the process of formulating a business level strategy?
How can a business-level strategy of(a) Low cost(b) Differentiation offer some protection against competitive forces in a company’s industry?
What is required to transform a business-level strategy from an idea into reality?
What do we mean by the term value innovation? Can you identify a company not discussed in the text that has established a strong competitive position through value innovation?
1. What advantages do traditional newspapers have for entering the online news business?2. How has the U.S. newspaper industry responded to news consumption moving to the web?The U.S. newspaper
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using cloud services for individuals and businesses?2. How does the adoption of cloud services affect the revenues for computer and software makers?
Reread the Opening Case on the emerging standards battles in mobile payments. Which mobile payment system do you think will become dominant?
1. Why do you think that Ford historically made different cars in different regions? What are the advantages of Ford’s historic strategy? What are the drawbacks?2. What global developments forced
1. How does consolidation improve airlines’ revenues? How might it improve their costs?2. Are there any disadvantages to the airlines of consolidating?3. Why do you think Southwest Airlines is (on
1. Why do you think Apotheker so eager to make an acquisition?2. Why do most acquisitions result in paying a premium over the market price? Was the 50% premium for Autonomy reasonable? 3. Was it
What kind of structure best describes the way your (a) Business school(b) University operate? Why is the structure appropriate? Would another structure fit better?
1. Describe as much as you can of the organization architecture at Apple, and specifically, its organization structure, control systems, incentives, product development processes, and culture?2. What
1. Define Amazon’s business-level strategy. Based on the analysis, what changes should Bezos make in his efforts to significantly differentiate the company?2. How does Amazon’s Kindle Fire
1. Define American Express’s overall business-level strategy. Does Bank 2.0 fit into American Express’s overall business-level strategy?2. How does Bank 2.0 stand up against the competitors in
1. Outline the challenges of conducting business in Russia’s oil industry. Why is it strategically important for BP to secure a position in this market? 2. Who are the prominent stakeholders
1. Conduct an industry environment analysis. Is Carlsberg A/S in an attractive industry?2. Identify the reasons for Carlsberg A/S’ mergers and acquisitions (M&As)? What type of the M&A
1. Build a profile of the copper wire industry, and pinpoint Fisk Alloy Wire, Inc.’s distinct position within the industry. What tools did the company use to shape its strategic perspective?2.
1. Invitrogen has been very successful in the past. Explain the reasons why Invitrogen chose acquisitions as its strategy for growth and expansion.2. Are all Invitrogen’s acquisitions successful?
1. Identify Keurig’s business-level strategy. Has the company’s business-level strategy been successful?2. How does Keurig’s strategy stand up against competitive rivalry in the industry?3.
1. Summarize the organizational strengths and core competencies which distinguish KIPP Houston from its competitors. Does the new regional structure advance or interfere with the goals of the
1. Characterize the type and level of diversification strategy employed by Luck Companies. Discuss the commonalities and differences of the company’s various divisions.2. Compare the different
1. Discuss MSO’s corporate governance. Has the company been able to separate the ownership and managerial control?2. Evaluate the effectiveness of MSO’s board of directors. Have the directors
1. Review trends in the general environment that affect the movie exhibition business, and establish whether their effects are helpful or harmful to theater owners.2. Assess the five competitive
1. What factors influenced the company’s decision to enter the heavyweight segment of the motorcycle market in the mid-1990s? Were industry conditions favorable for a new entrant at the time?2. In

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