Q&A Hero

Q: Firms that compete on overall cost leadership are vulnerable if there is an increase in the cost of the inputs on which the advantage is based.

Q: The French automobile maker, Renault, attains competitive advantage by revamping cars to be more cost efficient.

Q: A firm can attain an overall cost leadership position by purchasing media in large blocks and maximizing sales force utilization through territory management.

Q: A firm can attain an overall cost leadership position by using automated technology to reduce scrappage rates.

Q: A firm can attain an overall cost leadership position by increasing the management layers in order to reduce overhead costs.

Q: The experience curve concept suggests that production costs tend to decrease as production increases.

Q: To generate above average returns, a firm following an overall cost leadership position should NOT be concerned with attaining parity or proximity on the basis of differentiation relative to its peers.

Q: A firm striving for cost leadership will typically spend relatively more on product related R&D than on process related R&D.

Q: Concentrating solely on one form of competitive advantage generally leads to the highest possible level of profitability.

Q: The three generic strategies that Michael Porter believes a firm can use to overcome the five forces and achieve competitive advantage include overall price leadership.

Q: The three generic strategies presented by Michael Porter can be shown on two dimensions: competitive advantage and product life cycle.

Q: Address some of the challenges associated with protecting intellectual property.

Q: Discuss how technology has impacted the attraction, training, and retention of professionals. How has technology helped firms to enhance their human capital and social capital?

Q: The painters, Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, had different personalities that resulted in their relative wealth at the time of their death. Van Gogh died penniless; Picasso died with an estate valued at $750 million. Explain this result in terms of social network analysis.

Q: Address some of the potential limitations (or downsides) of social capital.

Q: What are some of the key tradeoffs between closure and bridging relationships in social network theory? What are some implications for career success?

Q: Describe social capital. Where does it come from and how can a firm attempt to build it?

Q: The workforce in the United States will become increasingly diverse over the next few decades. What strategies should firms undergo to take full advantage of this emerging trend?

Q: In an effort to attract and retain top talent, firms provide financial and nonfinancial rewards to their employees. Give examples of each and describe how the incentives you have chosen may impact individual employees.

Q: Explain why going green might help to attract good talent. Give an example of an organization that has had positive talent acquisition and retention as a result of going green.

Q: Discuss the adage hire for attitude, train for skill. What are its implications for the attraction, training, and retention of top talent?

Q: Feedback and 360-evaluation systems are used by organizations to provide performance information to employees. Describe how the 360-evaluation systems are implemented and give an example of how it is used in an actual company.

Q: Effective human capital is a benefit to any organization. What are some challenges firms face when attempting to attract and develop top talent?

Q: What is intellectual capital and what is its effect on the ratio of firm market value to book value?

Q: Which of the following is not an example of an IP-related litigation? A. Apple and HTC sue each other based on patent infringement. B. Apple sues smartphone makers running Android, Google's mobile operating system. C. China is sued by U.S. manufacturers of video games. D. The United States sues to get access to physical plant assets in China.

Q: Dynamic capabilities include all of the following EXCEPT _________________. A. learning and innovating B. becoming more efficient in operational processes C. the ability of an organization to challenge the conventional industry in its industry and market D. continuously adopting new ways of serving the evolving needs of the market

Q: The management of intellectual property involves all of the following EXCEPT _____. A. patents converting explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge C. contracts with confidentiality and noncompete clauses

Q: Mary Stinson was required to take over a project after the entire team left the company. She was able to reconstruct what the team had accomplished through reading e-mails exchanged by the members of the team. This is an example of ___________. A. inefficient use of information management B. using explicit knowledge C. using tacit knowledge D. using replicated knowledge

Q: The creation of knowledge assets is typically characterized by ____________. A. high upfront costs and subsequent high variable costs B. high fixed costs and high variable costs C. high upfront costs and low variable costs D. low upfront costs and high variable costs

Q: The use of information technology (e.g., e-mail) has increased in recent years in many organizations. This has helped to ____________. A. make more effective use of time in every situation B. communicate information efficiently C. restrict social network growth D. create smaller social networks

Q: Which of the following reasons explains why painter Vincent van Gogh died penniless, while painter Pablo Picasso left a $740 million estate upon this death? A. Picasso had a wider range of social connections and bridging relationships. B. Van Gogh had a wider range of social connections. C. Picasso was a solitary node with few connections. D. Van Gogh was a hub who embedded himself in a vast network that stretched across various social lines.

Q: Social capital has many potential benefits. However, according to the text, social capital _________. A. is always beneficial to a firm B. usually restricts the productivity of employees C. may or may not be beneficial to a firm D. always hurts firm performance

Q: Social capital has downsides. Which of the following is a downside? A. High social capital may breed groupthink, that is, a tendency to question shared beliefs. B. Socialization processes is inexpensive. C. Individuals may become more willing to collaborate on joint projects. D. Social capital may both breed groupthink and the socialization processes to create it (orientation, training, etc.) can be expensive.

Q: Advantages of effective social networks for career success include all of the following EXCEPT _____. A. access to private information B. access to diverse skill sets C. greater redundancy in knowledge sources D. greater power

Q: In social network analysis, groups can become too insular and fail to share what they have learned with people outside the group. This is a result of __________. A. bridging relationships B. intellect C. closure D. diverse knowledge

Q: In social network analysis, the importance of ties connecting heterogeneous people that help to ensure a wide range of diversity in information and perspective is known as ___________. A. closure B. bridging relationships C. redundancy D. social supports

Q: Social network analysis is helpful because the configuration of the group member social ties within and outside the group affects the extent to which members connect to individuals who do all of the following EXCEPT ______________. A. convey needed resources B. have the opportunity to exchange information and support C. ensure that everyone has the same perspective on strategic and operational issues D. have the motivation to treat each other in positive ways

Q: Social capital is a source of strength to many firms. Firms leverage their social capital in an effort to create competitive advantages. The social capital of a firm is based on ___________. A. the individual abilities of employees B. the allocation of the financial resources of the firm C. the relationships among the employees of the firm D. the knowledge of an individual

Q: What is a major reason for Nokia to lose its competitive edge in the cell phone business? A. The team consisted of scientists from around the world. B. The team consisted of only Finnish scientists. C. All of the work required diverse skill sets. D. Each scientist worked alone, separate from colleagues.

Q: In an effort to capture key employees from competitors, firms may attract the symbolic leader of a group within a competing firm and hope others will follow. This has been termed _____________. A. the Columbus effect B. knowledge integration C. the Pied Piper effect D. strategically competitive hiring

Q: Human capital and social capital are vital for superior firm performance. If a firm has strong human capital, the firm may exploit this by building social capital. This can be accomplished by _____. A. requiring workers to work independently of each other B. decreasing the interaction of departments within the firm C. structuring the firm with rigid departmental and employee divisions D. encouraging the sharing of ideas between employees in the firm

Q: All of the following are the benefits of diversity in the workforce of a firm except: A. creativity argument B. problem-solving argument C. similarity in perspectives argument D. resource acquisition argument

Q: Many successful firms use internal labor markets. The most important reason for doing this is _____. A. they want to encourage job rotation B. they want to keep highly mobile employees motivated and challenged C. if employees remain in the same department for too long, they would become indispensable D. an employee who moves too much can be identified as unreliable and then eliminated

Q: Generally, employees are most likely to stay with an organization if _____________. A. the employer provides high salaries to technology professionals B. the firm is in a high tech industry C. the organization mission and values align with the employees mission and values D. the mission and values of the organization change often

Q: The least effective way to retain human capital is to _________. A. encourage employee identification with organizational mission and goals B. provide employees with a challenging and stimulating work environment C. require employees to sign agreements that prevent them from working for competitors in the future D. provide employees with financial and nonfinancial rewards and incentives

Q: In order to take advantage of investment in human capital, a firm should ___________. A. rotate workers through functions in the company as quickly as possible B. refrain from training individual employees C. establish practices that will enhance employee retention D. keep employees in the same position forever

Q: Attracting and retaining human capital is a challenge for many firms today. Firms experiencing high turnover should __________. A. focus on increased recruiting B. decrease money spent on human capital C. adopt effective retention strategies D. make their work environment less stimulating

Q: In a 360-degree evaluation and feedback system, which of these does not rate the skills and performance of an individual? A. superiors B. family C. direct reports D. colleagues

Q: Maintaining a competitive workforce is very challenging in the current economy. The role of evaluating human capital, in recent years, has _____. A. remained the same B. decreased C. become less important D. increased

Q: Developing human capital is essential to maintaining a competitive advantage in the current knowledge economy. Efforts and initiatives to develop human capital should be directed ____. A. at top managers B. at human resource departments C. throughout the firm at all levels D. at the employees themselves

Q: ABC, Incorporated desires to have the most qualified people in every position throughout its organization. This is an example of a concern for _________. A. decreasing labor intensive training B. developing social networks C. developing human capital D. leveraging organizational structure

Q: Many companies use referrals by current employees as a source for new hiring and even monetarily reward them because __________________. A. it is less expensive than the fees paid to headhunters B. current employees normally are careful in recommending someone due to their personal credibility C. it is a good test of employee loyalty D. current employees are careful in their recommendations and it is less expensive than the fees paid to headhunters

Q: Firms must compete for top talent. When attracting and selecting employees, firms must strive to select the best fit for both the employee and the firm. In an effort to reduce wasted time and effort in interviewing too many candidates while assuring a good candidate pool, a firm should ____. A. run employment ads in the newspaper B. only let lower level employees interview job candidates C. use a pre-interview quiz D. refrain from hiring by referrals from present employees

Q: Managing a knowledge intensive workforce is very challenging. The best way for a firm to manage its workforce is to __________. A. retain knowledge workers B. balance efforts in the attraction, selection, and retention of top talent C. attract the brightest employees D. ensure that it pays higher salaries than its rivals

Q: The text discusses three areas a firm must be concerned with in order to keep their best and brightest employees from leaving. These include all of the following EXCEPT: A. hiring/selecting B. developing C. sorting/absorbing D. retaining

Q: Today, the loyalty of a knowledge worker to his or her employing firm has __________ compared to his or her loyalty to his or her profession and colleagues. A. increased B. remained the same C. decreased D. no correlation when

Q: New knowledge involves the continual interaction between __________ and __________ knowledge. A. intellectual; pragmatic B. tacit; explicit C. theoretical; practical D. detailed; tacit

Q: Tacit knowledge __________________. A. is the same as explicit knowledge B. can be accessed only with the consent of the employees C. is found mostly at the lower levels of the organization D. can be codified but not reproduced

Q: The network of relationships that individuals have throughout the organization is known as _____. A. human capital B. intellectual capital C. social capital D. tacit knowledge

Q: Creativity and problem solving ability are considered to be part of ____________. A. physical capital B. human capital C. social capital D. emotional capital

Q: Human capital includes ________________. A. the relationships between people B. an individual's capabilities, knowledge, and skills C. the output from assembly line employees D. an improved product

Q: Which of the following firms would you expect to have the highest ratio of market value to book value? A. Apple B. Google C. Southwest Airlines D. Nucor (steel)

Q: According to the text, intellectual capital is the difference between the market value and the book value of a firm. Intellectual capital can be increased by ________________. A. increasing retention of below average workers B. decreasing labor costs C. attracting and retaining knowledgeable workers D. increasing the turnover of employees

Q: In the knowledge economy, if a large portion of company value is in intellectual and human assets, the difference between the market value and book value of the company should ___________ a company with mostly physical and financial assets. A. be equal to B. be larger than C. be smaller than D. not be correlated with

Q: Changes in our economy have forced firms to be more concerned with protecting their ______. A. knowledge workers B. social capital C. intellectual capital D. all of these

Q: As the competitive environment changes, strategic management must focus on different aspects of the organization. Recently, strategic management has moved from focusing on tangible resources to ____. A. fixed capital B. working capital C. intangible resources D. investment capital

Q: The makeup of goods and services in the Gross Domestic Products of developed countries has changed over the last decade. More than 50 percent of the value of GDP of developed countries is based on _____. A. clothing and apparel B. capital accumulation C. knowledge D. financial management

Q: Intellectual property rights are easier to define and protect than property rights for physical assets (e.g., plant and equipment).

Q: Explicit knowledge is generally known to everyone in the firm and is not a critical concern of management.

Q: According to the text, effective e-teams identify group members with a proper balance of technical and interpersonal skills.

Q: (p. 147) Once a knowledge asset (e.g., a software code) is developed and paid for, it can be used many times at very low cost as long as it does not have to be substantially modified each time.

Q: Since electronic teams (e-teams) seldom meet face-to-face, it is NOT important for them to be concerned with how to combine individual contributions effectively.

Q: The use of e-mail can be distracting to employees. Some firms limit the time that employees spend using email.

Q: The role of technology in the recruitment of human capital has lowered individual reliance on the use of social networks.

Q: One potential downside of building social capital in an organization is groupthink. This means everyone in the group thinks on his or her own and comes up with new ideas.

Q: From the individual perspective, social networks deliver three unique advantages: private information, access to diverse skill sets, and power.

Q: Closure, in contrast to bridging relationships, stresses the importance of ties connecting heterogeneous people.

Q: In bridging relationships in social networks, one member is central to the communication flows in a group.

Q: Developing and protecting social capital requires independence, in which individuals must spend most of their time working individually.

Q: (p. 138) Social network analysis can be used to help identify groups or clusters of individuals that comprise the network, individuals who link the clusters, and other network members.