Q&A Hero

Q: Which of these is a basic activity of strategy evaluation? A) Reviewing the underlying bases of current strategies B) Comparing expected results with actual results C) Taking corrective actions D) Choices B and C only E) All of the above

Q: Cornerstones of reengineering are decentralization, reciprocal interdependence and information sharing.

Q: Market development includes introducing present products into new geographic areas.

Q: In the face of a deepening global recession, countries worldwide are resorting to protectionism to safeguard their own industries.

Q: To say U.S. firms are being challenged in the automobile industry is an inaccurate statement.

Q: The U.S. government's OPIC A) offers insurance to offset some risks of doing business internationally. B) provides insurance to eliminate all of the risks of doing business internationally. C) gives informational seminars about the risks associated with doing business internationally. D) requires that paperwork be filed by American companies desiring to do business internationally. E) discourages foreign companies from doing business in the United States.

Q: Increased education and diversity of the workforce at all levels are reasons why the top-down approach should be favored in organizations.

Q: The focus of restructuring is changing the way work is actually carried out.

Q: When the correlation between dollar sales and dollar marketing expenditures has historically been low, market penetration is an appropriate strategy.

Q: Political forecasts can be the most important part of an external audit for firms that depend heavily on government contracts.

Q: Firms, like organisms, must be "adept at adapting" or they will not survive.

Q: Communication between domestic headquarters and overseas operations is often made difficult by A) geographic distance. B) cultural differences. C) variations in business practices. D) national differences. E) all of the above

Q: The strategic management process should be completely open because participation and openness enhance understanding, commitment, and communication within the firm.

Q: Six Sigma is generally equally successful in retail firms and manufacturing firms.

Q: Market penetration, market development, and product development are intensive strategies.

Q: Political, governmental, and legal factors can represent key threats or opportunities for both small and large organizations.

Q: By occasionally monitoring external events, companies should be able to identify when change is required.

Q: Multinational corporations face unique and diverse risks, which include all of the following EXCEPT A) favorable foreign court interpretations of contracts and agreements B) currency losses through exchange rate fluctuations C) social/political disturbances D) import/export restrictions E) tariffs

Q: IFRS standards comprise 25,000 pages, whereas GAAP standards comprise 5,000 pages.

Q: Reengineering does not usually affect the organizational structure or chart, nor does it imply job loss or employee layoffs.

Q: Horizontal integration is an appropriate strategy when the competitors of an organization are doing poorly.

Q: Apartment complexes for the elderly have increased across the United States.

Q: Management by intuition can be defined as operating from the "I've-already-made-up-my-mind-don't-bother- me-with-the-facts mode."

Q: The various opportunities and threats that face multinational corporations are almost limitless, and the number and complexity of these factors ________ the number of products and the number of geographic areas served. A) decrease dramatically with B) drastically increase with C) drop slightly with D) are constant despite E) are unaffected by

Q: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports the change from GAAP to IFRS, saying it will help the U.S. compete in the world economy.

Q: In terms of number of employees, restructuring usually involves increasing the size of the firm.

Q: If a firm's present suppliers are expensive and unreliable in meeting the firm's needs for parts, components, and/or raw materials, the firm should pursue a horizontal integration strategy.

Q: The trend toward an older America is bad news for restaurants, hotels, airlines and home builders.

Q: According to Albert Einstein, "Knowledge is far more important than intuition."

Q: The ________ opportunities and threats that face a multinational corporation are almost limitless. A) social B) cultural C) environmental D) political E) all of the above

Q: Unless the timetable is changed, all companies will be required to use the IFRS procedures in 2011.

Q: Restructuring is also called rightsizing.

Q: A strategy of seeking ownership or increased control of a firm's suppliers is backward integration.

Q: More Americans are moving than staying in place.

Q: Analytical and intuitive thinking should complement each other.

Q: The strategic-management process for multinational firms is ________ for purely domestic firms, and the process is ________ for international firms. A) conceptually the same as; more simple B) conceptually the same as; more complex C) conceptually different than; more simple D) conceptually different than; more complex E) conceptually the same; simplistic

Q: The accounting switch from GAAP to IFRS in the U.S. is going to cost businesses millions of dollars in fees and upgraded software systems and training.

Q: In developing an organizational chart, avoid having a particular person reporting to more than one person above them in the chain of command.

Q: Forward integration strategy is especially effective when the availability of quality distributors is so limited as to offer a competitive advantage to those firms that integrate forward.

Q: In the United States, the population has been moving from the South and West to the Northeast and Midwest.

Q: Strategic management is an attempt to organize qualitative and quantitative information in a way that allows effective decisions to be made under conditions of uncertainty.

Q: Organizations that conduct business operations across national borders are called A) protectionists. B) national firms. C) multinational corporations. D) domestic companies. E) all of the above

Q: Public accounting firms usually avoid strategy-evaluation services.

Q: When developing an organizational chart, it is not wise to recommend a dual title for just one executive.

Q: McDonalds currently owns more than 50 percent of its restaurants.

Q: There are now more American households consisting of married couples with children than of people living alone or with unrelated people.

Q: An objective, logical, systematic approach for making major decisions in an organization is a way to describe the strategic-management process.

Q: In an industry that is, or is rapidly becoming global, the riskiest possible posture is to A) become a global competitor. B) remain a domestic competitor. C) remain a global competitor. D) expand beyond the role of domestic competitor. E) none of the above

Q: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is against the accounting switch from GAAP to IFRS, saying it will cause cross-border commerce to decline.

Q: When developing an organizational chart, the title president should be reserved fo the top executive of the firm.

Q: A growing trend is for franchisers to buy out their part of the business from their franchisees.

Q: By 2075, the United States will have no racial or ethnic majority.

Q: One of the fundamental strategy evaluation activities is reviewing external and internal factors that are the bases for current strategies.

Q: Mass communication and high technology have ________ in diverse cultures worldwide. A) created similar patterns of consumption B) resulted in highly individualized patterns of consumption C) rendered patterns of consumption identical D) had little to no effect on patterns of consumption E) ignored patterns of consumption

Q: A frequently used tool in strategy evaluation is the audit.

Q: Franchising is an effective means of implementing forward integration.

Q: There is a trend of people moving to the West Coast from the Rocky Mountain states for more affordable living.

Q: Strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation activities occur at three hierarchical levels in a large organization: corporate, divisional and functional.

Q: Exports of goods and services from the U.S. were valued at $1.6 trillion in 2009, which accounted for ________ percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. A) 5 B) 11 C) 25 D) 31 E) 51

Q: Identifying both beneficial and unfavorable events that could possibly derail the strategy or strategies is the first step of effective contingency planning.

Q: The most complex of all organizational structures is a matrix structure.

Q: Gaining ownership or increased control over distributors or retailers is called forward integration strategy.

Q: Remaining solely domestic is an increasingly safer strategy for U.S. companies.

Q: The final stage in strategic management is strategy implementation.

Q: An important business activity in Japan is entertaining because it strengthens Wa.

Q: Alternative strategies not selected for implementation should be discarded, as they have a tendency to contaminate the contingency plans.

Q: Because activities are organized according to the way work is actually performed, a divisional structure by process is similar to the matrix structure.

Q: A chief executive officer is located in the divisional level of a large firm.

Q: It is predicted that, by 2025, over 18% of the population in the United States will be 65 years or older.

Q: Strategy implementation is often considered to be the most difficult stage in the strategic-management process because it requires personal discipline, commitment, and sacrifice.

Q: In Mexico, business associates usually entertain each other at their homes.

Q: Contingency plans should be as simple as possible.

Q: With a divisional structure by customer, an organization can effectively cater to the requirements of clearly defined customer groups.

Q: Divestiture is selling all of a company's assets, in parts, for their tangible worth.

Q: The United States is getting older and less white.

Q: A vision statement identifies the scope of a firm's operations in product and market terms.

Q: Mexican workers expect and desire a work environment in which self-expression and initiative are encouraged.

Q: Strategists should try to cover all bases by planning for all possible contingencies.

Q: With a divisional structure, it is possible that competition between divisions may become so intense that it leads to improved sharing of ideas and resources for the common good of the firm.

Q: Horizontal integration is seeking ownership or increased control over competitors.