Questions and Answers of Strategic Management Concepts And Cases

What are organizational solutions to the problems caused by dynamic environments?
What component of the strategy diamond maps most closely to issues related to strategy implementation?
Apply the concepts of strategy formulation and implementation to your college experience. What was your objective in going to college? When did your strategy for achieving this objective emerge? Has
Refer to the opening case on HUI. Assume that, for reasons of estate planning, the owners decided to take the company public through an IPO. What would be the effect on the firm’s strategy and
As part of a corporate restructuring, your analysis helps you conclude that you have rather extensive redundancy in corporate finance and accounting positions. Management concludes that through
Your company acquires another company in China. When you start to transform the organizational structure to that commonly used by your company at home and in other countries, you encounter
In the box entitled “How Would You Do That? 1,” you learned how SAP America responded to performance problems primarily through changes in strategy implementation. Find one or two firms that were
The example of the NUWC in the box entitled “How Would You Do That? 1” demonstrated the strategy mapping process and how to develop a balanced scorecard. Review Exhibits 12 and 13 and generate
How is the entrepreneurial process related to strategy?
What steps are involved in new-venture creation?
What is a business plan?
How do entrepreneurial new-venture creation and corporate new-venture creation differ?
What must organizations do to prepare for an IPO?
What are some of the external causes of organizational failure?
What are some of the internal causes of organizational failure?
What are the stages of a turnaround plan?
How do you know that a turnaround has been successful?
Entrepreneurship starts with an idea. Without being critical or judgmental, brainstorm a set of 10 ideas that could lead to the startup of a new business. Screen your ideas and select those that
This second exercise relates to turnaround and change management.Identify a company that is in dire financial straits.What are the financial symptoms of this distress? Do you think the cause of this
You are the cofounder and president of a new venture, manufacturing products for the recreational market. Five months after launching the business, one of your key suppliers informs you it can no
Your small manufacturing company is in serious financial difficulty.A large order of your products is ready to be delivered to a key customer, when you discover that the product is simply not right.
The box entitled “How Would You Do That? 1” introduced a number of financial tools for predicting a firm’s financial troubles. Pick a public company that has recently announced financial woes
Exhibit 14 presented the successful turnaround of ISH GmbH. Identify another company in the business press that you believe to be in the turnaround process. Based on Exhibit 13, which stages has it
Who are the principals and agents in the modern corporation?How do their interests differ?
How does governance affect firm performance and competitive advantage?
How can large, powerful owners reduce the agency problem?How can they exacerbate the problem?
When are inside directors beneficial to the functioning of the board of directors?
What are the three primary roles played by boards? How do boards carry out these roles?
What is the difference between stock options and restricted stock? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
What is the market for corporate control? What role does it play in solving or exacerbating the agency problem?
What are some primary differences and similarities in governance practices between the United States and other countries?
Prior to class, visit the Web site www.theyrule.net. This site provides a convenient way to map out the interlocking boards of directors of U.S. firms. Develop or pick from the various interlock
Identify a company that is currently subject to an attempted hostile takeover (the Wall Street Journal or various online sources can help you do this quickly).What are the dynamics that are involved
In a business dinner at which a few board members and top executives are attending, you overhear directors mentioning that the CEO’s office has been bugged because they think he is negotiating
You work in the HR department of a large international hightech company. During the annual process of preparing for the closing of year-end books, your manager comes to you and tells you to pull out
Refer back to the box entitled Exhibit 6 which discussed the establishment of executive stock ownership requirements at Dendrite International. Many business press outlets, such as Business Week and
Identify a firm that is looking for a new CEO (or pick one whose CEO you think should be replaced!). Using the box entitled “How Would You Do That? 1” as a model, imagine that a firm is turning
What is meant by international strategy?
Which aspects of the strategy diamond are related to international strategy?
What are the four most important ways a firm’s international strategy can be related to its competitive advantage?
What three foreign-country entry vehicles are emphasized in this chapter?
What is typically the most cost- and time-intensive entry vehicle?
What are characteristics of firms that fit the four international strategy configurations discussed in this chapter?
On what two dimensions do the four international strategy configurations differ?
What does the external perspective tell you about international strategy in dynamic contexts?
What does the resource-and-capabilities-based perspective tell you about international strategy in dynamic contexts?
What role do managers play in effective international strategies, particularly in dynamic contexts?
Why have firms typically followed an international strategy path that started with importing or exporting, followed by alliances, and then FDI? What risks do born-global firms face in trying to do
Are all Internet firms global by definition? What opportunities and barriers does the Internet present to firm internationalization?
You have successfully grown your local pasta company and while traveling in other countries you found that you might be able to produce and sell your product profitably there as well. In exploring
As you learned in the section exploring CAGE, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is a U.S. federal law that makes it illegal for a citizen or corporation of the United States or a person or
Refer to the box entitled “How Would You Do That? 1.” Pick another industry that is of interest to you. What did you identify as your indicator of potential market size? What market performance
Why is it important for you to understand business strategy?
How would you describe/define strategy?
Who is ultimately responsible for a company’s strategy? Who does this individual (or individuals) call on for help in formulating strategy for the firm?
Define business strategy, including the importance of competitive advantage, the four choices that are critical to strategy formulation, and the strategic management process.
Summarize the information that the company’s mission and thorough external and internal analysis provide to guide strategy.
Discuss how strategies are formulated and implemented in order to achieve objectives.
Explain who is responsible for, and who benefits from, good business strategy.
Explain the importance of correctly identifying and choosing a firm’s industries and markets.
Identify and measure the five major forces that shape average firm profitability within industries to evaluate the overall attractiveness of an industry.
Discuss how understanding the five forces that shape industry competition is useful as a starting point for developing strategy.
Discuss situations in which entry into both attractive and unattractive industries follows “new thinking”rather than conventional wisdom.
Identify the factors in the general environment that affect firm and industry profitability.
Identify the steps in the value chain a firm uses to create competitive advantage.
Distinguish among the core concepts of strengths, weaknesses, resources, capabilities, and priorities.
Evaluate the strength and sustainability of internally generated competitive advantages using the VRIO model.
Analyze a company and identify its strengths or weaknesses, resources, capabilities, and priorities using the Company Diamond tool.
Differentiate between economies of scale and scope and describe how both produce cost advantages.
Describe what an experience curve is and how it can be used to make effective business decisions.
Discuss sources of lower input costs and how they provide the basis of a cost advantage strategy.
Explain two changes in a firm’s business model that can enable a cost advantage strategy.
Define product differentiation.
Describe the four major categories or sources of product or service differentiation.
Explain how to find sources of product differentiation.
Discuss how to build the resources and capabilities to differentiate.
What product do you use because of differentiation? What do you buy because it is awesome, rather than because it is the lowest-price alternative? What causes you to have such strong feelings about
In what ways can a company differentiate a product that is a commodity?What is an example of a differentiated product that was previously commoditized?
Harley Davidson gets hired by customers for social and emotional reasons (jobs) that go well beyond the functional characteristics of the motorcycle and its ability to provide transportation or
What is an example of a product class that lost its differentiation?How and why did it happen?
Describe how a corporate strategy differs from a business unit level strategy.
Identify the eight ways in which a company may create value through diversification, and the advantages of each source. Be able to evaluate a diversified company’s ability to create value using one
Use a portfolio management tool to characterize a company’s different business units and to evaluate how well a company manages its portfolio.
Explain how a company would choose whether to diversify by greenfield entry or by acquisition. Explain how a company should decide how tightly to integrate an acquisition into its current business
Look in The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, or other business publication and find a company looking to expand through diversification—either greenfield entry or acquisition. What type of
How do managers claim they will create value through diversification? Using the eight Ss described in the chapter, evaluate how well you believe the company will do in its value creation strategy.
Choose a diversification move that entails acquisition. Using the company diamond from Chapter 3, identify areas where you believe the acquisition can add value for shareholders. Also identify three
Through a friend, mentor, colleague, relative, or recruiter, identify someone who has experienced an acquisition or merger, either as a buyer or seller. Which integration strategy did he or she
Describe the three Cs that represent the primary reasons that firms choose to vertically integrate (make)and perform an activity internally versus outsource(buy) the activity to (from) a supplier.
Describe the two Fs, which examine the potential dangers of vertical integration.
Explain the advantages of outsourcing and the conditions under which it might be advantageous to outsource an activity to an external supplier.
Discuss the actions a manager could take to prevent a subcontractor from becoming a competitor.
What are the strategic objectives of each alliance partner?
Is this a vertical alliance or a horizontal alliance?
What resources and capabilities are brought to the alliance by each partner? In your opinion, which partner seems to bring the more valuable resources?
Which type of alliance is this: contractual, equity, or joint venture?Does the article describe how the partners will split the gains from the alliance? If so, does the split seem reasonable?
How do you think the firms will create value in the alliance? Is value mostly created by combining complementary resources, pooling similar resources, creating entirely new resources, or reducing
Identify a target company that you understand well—either because you have worked for the company or have read a lot about it. To illustrate, let’s assume you select Marriott Corporation, the
Identify three to four other companies in other industries that might be related in some way to the target company’s industry. Gather data about the strategy of each company, using public sources
Contact an executive at a company that performs multiple activities. Ask her to identify at least five activities that she is not sure whether the company should be doing internally or outsourcing to

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