Strategy
Questions and answers
Chapter 1 Self-Test
1.Good strategy and good strategy execution are the most trustworthy signs of good
management because management is ultimately responsible for a company's
performance and because good execution of a good strategy is the most surefire
recipe [but not a guarantee!] for good company performance.
True
False
2.Financial objectives are important because without acceptable financial performance
an organization cannot have a good strategy nor is it likely to have the resources
required for good strategy execution.
True
False
3.Strategic objectives relate to performance outcomes that improve a company's
competitive strength and market position whereas financial objectives relate to such
performance outcomes as profits, return on investment, cash flow, dividend growth,
and financial strength.
True
False
4.Crafting strategy is an exercise in inside-out strategic thinking.
True
False
5.Crafting strategy is primarily an administrative task whereas implementing strategy is
primarily an entrepreneurial task.
True
False
6.Which of the following are among the five tasks of strategic management?
a. Forming a strategic vision of what the organization's future business
b. Setting objectives
c. Deciding which objectives are high priority and which are low priority
d. Crafting a strategy to achieve the desired outcomes
e. Doing outside-in strategic thinking
f. Implementing and executing the strategy
g. Evaluating performance, reviewing new developments, and initiating corrective adjustments in the
organization's vision, long-term direction objectives, strategy, and/or implementation
7.A strategic vision for a company
a. involves how fast to pursue the chosen strategy and reach the targeted levels of performance.
b. consists of thinking through what it will take to make the chosen strategy work as planned.
c. consists of management's view of the kind of company it is trying to create and its intent to stake out a
specific business position.
d. is pretty much the same thing as a company's strategy.
e. concerns management's view of the company's future business makeup and long-term direction.
8.The objectives that managers set
a. should spell out how fast the strategy is to be implemented.
b. should require organizational stretch and disciplined effort.
c. should include both short-range and long-range performance targets.
d. ought to put more emphasis on achieving short-run performance targets than on long-run performance
targets.
e. indicate the company's intent to stake out a particular business position.
f. should include both financial and strategic performance targets.
9.A company's strategy
a. is a combination of planned actions and o-the-spot adaptive reactions to fresh developing industry and
competitive events.
b. is a company's means of achieving its objectives.
c. is developed primarily at the same time the company is formed and then evolves slowly thereafter.
d. is aimed more at achieving strategic objectives than at achieving financial objectives.
e. tends to change less often and more slowly than either its strategic vision or its performance targets.
f. reflects managerial choices among alternatives and signals organizational commitment to particular products,
markets, competitive approaches, and ways of operating.