The strategic management process is

a. a set of activities that will assure a sustainable competitive advantage and above-average returns for the firm.

b. a decision-making activity concerned with a firm's internal resources, capabilities, and competencies, independent of the conditions in its external environment.

c. a process directed by top management with input from other stakeholders that seeks to achieve above-average returns for investors through effective use of the organization's resources.

d. the full set of commitments, decisions, and actions required for the firm to achieve above-average returns and strategic competitiveness.

Answer: the full set of commitments, decisions, and actions required for the firm to achieve above-average returns and strategic competitiveness.

In the strategic management process ASP stands for

a. analyses, successes, and purposes.

b. analyses, strategies, and performance.

c. ability, strategies, and purposes.

d. ability, successes, and performance.

Answer: analyses, strategies, and performance.

The firm's _____ provide the foundation for choosing one or more ______ and deciding how to implement them.

a. analyses; strengths

b. abilities; strengths

c. analyses; strategies

d. abilities; strategies

Answer: analyses; strategies

It is important to emphasize that, primarily because they are related to how a firm interacts with its stakeholders, almost all strategic management process decisions have

a. ethical dimensions.

b. local dimensions.

c. political dimensions.

d. global dimensions.

Answer: ethical dimensions.

A company competing in a single product market has

a. one corporate-level strategy.

b. one business-level strategy.

c. one business-level strategy for failure. It should seek to diversify.

d. one business-level strategy and one corporate-level strategy.

Answer: one business-level strategy and one corporate-level strategy.

Strategic leaders, _____ , often work long hours, and their work is filled with ambiguous decision situations.

a. at the top of the organization

b. regardless of their location in the organization

c. in the finance area

d. in the operations area

Answer: regardless of their location in the organization

If McDonald's is considering growing potatoes, the step of the profit pool analysis is the one that

a. defines the pool's boundaries.

b. estimates the pool's overall size.

c. estimates the size of the value-chain activity in the pool.

d. reconciles the calculations.

Answer: estimates the size of the value-chain activity in the pool.

If Southwest Airlines is considering the consequences of videoconferencing on business travel, it is in the profit pool analysis step known as

a. defining the pool's boundaries.

b. estimating the pool's overall size.

c. estimating the size of the value-chain activity in the pool.

d. reconciling the calculations.

Answer: defining the pool's boundaries.

SWOT stands for

a. strategy, wealth, organization, and threats.

b. success, weakness, opportunities, and taxes.

c. strength, wealth, organization, and taxes.

d. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Successful strategic leaders are

a. committed to helping the firm create value for all stakeholder groups.

b. committed to nurturing those around them.

c. decisive.

d. All of these options are correct.

Answer: All of these options are correct.

Strategic delegation helps

a. overload middle managers.

b. executives control strategy implementation.

c. avoid too much managerial hubris.

d. emphasize profit maximization.

Answer: avoid too much managerial hubris.

Organizational culture refers to

a. the social energy that drives, or fails to drive, the organization.

b. the complex set of ideologies, symbols, and core values that are shared throughout the firm.

c. what people do when no one else is looking.

d. All of these options are correct.

Answer: All of these options are correct.

Effective strategic leaders

a. are willing to be brutally honest.

b. focus on strategy formation.

c. focus on strategy implementation.

d. focus on innovation.

Answer: are willing to be brutally honest.

____ should establish a firm's individuality and should be inspiring and relevant to all stakeholders.

a. A strategy

b. A vision

c. A mission

d. A goal

Answer: A mission

William Ackman is a hedge fund manager who owned a large share of J.C. Penney stock. He was also a member of the Penney board. He tried to get the CEO fired, but the board and top management said he breached his boardroom duties when he publicly disclosed information on the CEO search and financial condition of the company. He resigned from the board of directors. This is an example of a contentious relationship between

a. the capital market stakeholders and the organizational stakeholders.

b. the organizational stakeholders and the product market stakeholders.

c. the capital market stakeholders and the product market stakeholders.

d. all the stakeholders.

Answer: the capital market stakeholders and the organizational stakeholders.

Strategic leaders are

a. located only at the executive level.

b. located in different areas and levels.

c. the CEO, COO, and CFO only.

d. located at different levels, but only in the operating area of the organization.

Answer: located in different areas and levels.

____ is an investor's uncertainty about the economic gains or losses that will result from a particular investment.

a. Return

b. Reward

c. Risk

d. Revenue

Answer: Risk

The culmination of the strategic management process is _____

a. performance.

b. strategy implementation.

c. strategy formulation.

d. analysis.

Answer: performance.

____ innovation is a term used to describe how rapidly and consistently new, information-intensive technologies replace older ones.

a. Perpetual

b. Disruptive

c. Global

d. Diffusion

Answer: perpetual

The I/O model is grounded in

a. anthropology.

b. psychology.

c. economics.

d. accounting.

Answer: economics