Faculty of Economics
INTERNATIONAL BURCH UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
GRADE :......
MIDTERM EXAM QUESTIONS
Duration: 90 minutes November 9, 2010
Among ten questions written below, choose and answer 5 of them. (10 points per each question)
1) Describe the strategic management process. What does it mean to manage strategically?
2) How are the three types of organizational strategies different?
3) Define stakeholders. Describe some potential organizational stakeholders. Why are stakeholders important?
4) Discuss the major barriers to entry.
5) Compare the general versus the specific environment.
6) Describe the benefits of conducting an external analysis.
7) Define the steps in the identification of distinctive organizational capabilities.
8) Describe some product strategies.
9) Explain the disadvantages of being a first mover organization.
10) Into the boxes write four support and five primary activities of Porter’s Value Chain and give
example for each activities.
11) The following are all features of strategic management except
A) interdisciplinary
B) external focus
C) internal focus
D) future direction
E) All of the answer choices are correct.
12) Types of strategies within organizations include
A) corporate strategies.
B) functional strategies.
C) competitive strategies.
D) All of the answer choices are correct.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
13) Situation analysis allows the organization to examine
A) external factors only.
B) internal factors only.
C) the organization's top management only.
D) both external and internal factors.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
14) The basic activities of strategic management include
A) offense, defense, and control.
B) situation analysis, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation.
C) development, control, and management.
D) ethics, management, and practice.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
15) Which of the following factor(s) is(are) considered to make an organization's resources unique?
A) Durability
B) Imitability
C) Quality
D) Efficiency
E) Effectiveness
16) Experiences, characteristics, and knowledge are all aspects that represent
A) financial resources.
B) intangible resources.
C) human resources.
D) physical resources.
E) structural resources.
17) ______is the process of taking a creative idea and turning it into a product or process that can be used or sold.
A) Technology
B) Innovation
C) Invention
D) Discovery
E) All of the answer choices are correct
18) The ______should elaborate a purpose for the organization.
A) vision
B) competitive strategy
C) mission
D) strategy
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
19) A ______statement is a statement of what specific organizational units do and what they hope to accomplish.
A) vision.
B) strategy.
C) technology.
D) mission.
E) corporate social responsibility.
20) An external analysis enables the organization to examine
A) opportunities and threats.
B) strengths and weaknesses.
C) product substitution and durability.
D) manufacturing and operations.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
21) Which of the following would be examples of sectors that could be found in the specific environment?
A) Demographics
B) Competitors
C) Economics
D) Political/legal
E) All of the answer choices are correct.
22) Which of the following is not one of the five competitive forces?
A) Competition forms substitute products
B) The threat of potential entry
C) The strength of industry forces
D) The bargaining power of buyers
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
23) The Porter five forces model includes all of the following factors except
A) bargaining power of suppliers.
B) threat of new entrants.
C) threat of a decrease in research and development.
D) threat of substitute products.
E) bargaining power of buyers.
24) One of the factors that shapes the definition of exit barriers as factor(s) that keep companies competing in businesses even when those businesses are failing is
A) economic factors.
B) strategic factors.
C) emotional factors.
D) All of the answer choices are correct.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
25) A buyer will have less bargaining power if all of the following factors apply except
A) buyers have limited information.
B) buyers face few switching costs.
C) the products purchased are highly differentiated and unique.
D) buyers do not have the ability to manufacture the products.
E) buyers purchase small volumes of the products.
26) An internal analysis involves an examination of
A) the organization's current vision.
B) the organization's mission.
C) the organization's strategic objectives.
D) the organization's strategies.
E) None of the above answer choices are true.
27) Resources that the organization possesses and capabilities that the organization has developed, both of which can be developed into a sustainable competitive advantage, are known as
A) weaknesses.
B) strengths.
C) opportunities.
D) threats.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
28) Resources that are lacking or deficient and that prevent the organization from developing a sustainable competitive advantage, are known as
A) weaknesses.
B) strengths.
C) opportunities.
D) threats.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
29) The internal audit answers the questions of
A) Do the various functions have the needed resources to perform their assigned work activities?
B) How well do they perform these assigned work activities?
C) What are the organization's primary opportunities and threats?
D) possessing the needed resources and then performing assigned work activities.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
30) Which of the following is one of the basic organizational functions managers should examine during an internal audit?
A) Production-operations
B) Marketing
C) Financial-accounting
D) Information systems
E) All of the answer choices are correct
31) Why is an internal analysis important?
A) It is the only way to identify an organization's strengths and weaknesses.
B) It is needed for making good strategic decisions.
C) It establishes organizational goals.
D) It identifies strengths and weaknesses and it assists in decision making.
E) Answers B and D are correct.
32) Human resource management strategies regarding employee separations include all of the following except
A) downsizing.
B) hiring freezes.
C) organizing for efficiency or innovation.
D) preferential or nonpreferential rehiring process.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
Answer: C
33) Strategy evaluation involves
A) looking at what was done.
B) what was supposed to be done.
C) assessing any variances.
D) trying to determine what happened.
E) All of the answer choices are correct.
34) Which of the following is included under the product functional strategies?
A) Marketing
B) Management
C) Supervision
D) Leadership
E) Control
35) Strategy evaluation at the ______level involves using ______and ______performance measures for each area.
A) functional; quantitative; qualitative
B) marketing; quantitative; qualitative
C) management; financial; quantitative
D) research and development; quantitative; qualitative
E) None of the answer choices is correct.
(25q. x 2 p.)