Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases 23th edition
A) offers a surefire guarantee for avoiding periods of weak financial performance.
B) is the best sign that a company is a true industry leader.
C) is a more important management function than forming a strategic vision combined with setting objectives.
D) is the clearest indicator of good management.
E) signals that a company has the best business model in a market.
65) The most significant signs of a well-managed company are
A) the eagerness with which executives set stretch financial and strategic objectives and develop an ambitious strategic vision.
B) aggressive pursuit of new opportunities and a willingness to change the company's business model whenever circumstances warrant.
C) good strategy-making combined with good strategy execution.
D) a visionary mission statement and a willingness to pursue offensive strategies rather than defensive strategies.
E) a profitable business model and a balanced scorecard approach to measuring the company's performance.
66) Excellent execution of an excellent strategy is
A) the best test of managerial excellence and the best recipe for making a company a standout performer.
B) a solid indication that managers are maximizing profits and looking out for the best interests of shareholders.
C) the best test of whether a company is a true industry leader.
D) the best evidence that managers have an emerging business model.
E) the best test of whether a company enjoys sustainable competitive advantage.
67) Ben Weprin is founder and CEO of Graduate Hotel, a growing chain of boutique hotels situated near college campuses and designed to cater to the nostalgia and local boosterism that are part of the culture of university towns. (Room keys are imprinted with the names of famous alumni, and public spaces are decorated with historical photos of campus life, vintage art, and other collegiate artifacts.) Mr. Weprin and his company are trying to create a brand that will find year-round business by catering to more than just alumni coming back for once-a-year football weekends or 10-year anniversaries of their graduating classes. What is the major question that Mr. Weprin and his team need to ask about his company's strategy?
A) What must managers do, and do well, to make a company a winner in the marketplace?
B) What can employees do, and do well, to ensure customer satisfaction?
C) What can shareholders do, and do well, to ensure a profitable company?
D) What do customers do, and how to profile customers who buy a company's product and tailor sales strategy around them?
E) What do suppliers do, and how to get supplies at the lowest cost to build a profitable business?
68) A pharmaceutical giant acquires a manufacturer of rare specialty drugs to improve its falling share prices and invests all its wealth into the deal. Due to a deficit, it agrees to do a joint venture for the acquisition and involves a major automobile giant to fund the deal. After a rocky start, the companies now have a strong market position and generate good profits. How would you characterize this company's strategy?