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Practice MCQ’s

Strategic Management (Brunel University)

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Practice MCQ’s

1.1

Which of the following is defined as being about 'how to compete successfully in particular markets'?
A.
Business-level strategy
B.
Corporate-level strategy
C.
Strategic business unit
D.
Operational strategy

Which of the following shows the desired future state of an organisation?

A.
Mission
B.
Strategy
C.
Vision
D.
Business model

1.2

Which three of the following have the greatest impact on an organisation's strategic position?
A.
Its culture
B.
The need for consolidation
C.
The external environment
D.
Its strategic capability

Match the following terms with their definitions.

Instructions: Use the dropdown menus in the left column, to select the correct category for
each statement in the right column.
Category Statement
Strategic driftStrategic drift A failure to create necessary change in an organisation's strategy.
The structures and systems of control by which
Corporate governanceCorporate governance managers are held accountable for sticking to the
agreed strategic purpose of an organisation.
Concern with the appropriateness of
Corporate social
an organisation's strategic purpose and whether
responsibilityCorporate social responsibility
the managers are sticking to it.

1.3

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When analysing an organisation's strategy, it is important to use a specific strategy lens, e.g. strategy
as design, strategy as experience, strategy as variety or strategy as discourse.
A.
True
B.
False

Which lens views strategy development as the outcome of individual and collective experience of
individuals and their taken-for-granted assumptions?
A.
Experience
B.
Design
C.
Variety
D.
Discourse

Which type of lens encourages a detached approach to planning and analysis, valuing hard facts
and objectivity?
A.
Experience
B.
Design
C.
Variety
D.
Discourse

2.1

Identification of what 'helps managers to focus on the environmental factors that are most important
and which must be addressed most urgently'?
A.
PESTEL
B.
Five Forces
C.
Key drivers for change
D.
Scenarios

Which three of the following concepts are useful for focusing on environmental change but avoiding
too much detail?

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A.
The Five Forces framework
B.
Establishing early warning systems
C.
Inflexion points
D.
Weak signals
E.
Megatrends

2.2

The four major players in a particular industry have all recently spent large sums reducing the
environmental impact of their factories. What is the probable result of this on the competitive
attractiveness of the industry for the players within it?
A.
The industry would be more attractive because the bargaining power of suppliers has been reduced.
B.
The industry would be less attractive because costs of entry have increased.
C.
The industry would be more attractive because costs of entry have increased.
Your answer is correct.
D.
The industry would be less attractive because the threat of substitutes will have increased.

The primary aim of Porter's Five Forces framework is to answer which of the following questions?
A.
Which industries should we enter (or leave)?
B.
What do we know about the various forces?
C.
Is the industry a good one to compete in or not?
D.
What influence can be exerted?
E.
How are competitors differently affected?

In recent decades, technologies in the aerospace industry have become more difficult to master and
the products have become more complex. Which of the following best describes how a competitive
force has changed as a result in this industry?
A.
The threat of substitutes has increased.
B.
The threat of entry has reduced.
C.
Supplier power has decreased.
D.
Competitive rivalry has decreased.
E.
Buyer power has increased.

2.3

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Which three of the following would you classify as scope of activities when identifying a
strategic group?
A.
Product or service quality.
B.
Distribution channels used.
C.
Extent of geographical coverage.
D.
Extent of product (or service) diversity.

Which of the following statements does not apply to strategic groups?

A.
Strong mobility barriers impede imitation.
B.
By identifying the most attractive 'strategic spaces' within an industry, you can draw up a strategic
group map.
C.
They are characterised by 'mobility barriers'
dash–
obstacles to movement from one group to another.
D.
Managers can focus on their direct competitors within their particular strategic group, rather than the
whole industry

What is defined as 'a group of customers who have similar needs that are different from customer
needs in other parts of the market'?
A.
Customer grouping
B.
Strategic group
C.
Market segment
D.
Marketisation

3.1

Category Statement
Threshold The capabilities that the organisation must have to meet the
capabilitiesThreshold capabilities necessary requirements to compete in a given market.
Distinctive or unique capabilities that competitors will find
difficult to imitate
Unique
dash–
resourcesUnique resources
having these enables the organisation to gain competitive
advantage.

Benchmarking can be used to understand how an organisation's strategic capabilities compare with
those of others
dash–typically

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competitors.
A.
False
B.
True

NO 3.2

3.3

What is a strategic gap?

A.
A gap in the supply chain.
B.
A gap in an organisation's product range.
C.
An opportunity in the competitive environment that isn't being fully exploited by competitors.
D.
An opportunity to develop new capabilities.

A SWOT analysis is the best way of summarising an analysis of the business environment.
A.
True
B.
False

Which of the following are the internal factors in the TOWS matrix?
A.
Resources
B.
Strengths
C.
Capabilities
D.
Weaknesses
E.
Opportunities
F.
Competences
G.
Threats
H.
Expectations

The value chain is used to analyse where value is created in an organisation, not where costs are
generated.
A.
False
B.
True

What term is used for 'activities that are directly concerned with the creation or delivery of a product
or service'?
A.

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Value-creating activities
B.
Primary activities
C.
Mapped activities
D.
Support activities

4.1

Category Statement
Core valuesCore values The underlying principles that guide an organisation's strategy.
A statement aims to provide employees and stakeholders with clarity about what
MissionMission
the organisation is fundamentally there to do.
A statement concerned with what the
VisionVision
organisation aspires to be.
ObjectivesObjectives Statements of specific outcomes that are to be achieved.

4.2

Which of the following is not a reason for the increased importance of corporate governance?
A.
Corporate scandals have increased public debate about how different parties in the governance chain
should interact and influence each other.
B.
Increased accountability to wider stakeholder interests has been increasingly advocated.
C.
The separation of ownership and management control of organisations means that most
organisations operate within a hierarchy, or chain, of governance.
D.
The board of an organisation is now legally responsible for the actions of the organisation.

Which of the following are the strengths of the Anglo-Saxon (US, UK etc.) shareholder model
of governance?
A.
Long-term industrial strategy
B.
Better decision making
C.
Short-termism
D.
Consistency between political, economic and administrative goals
E.
Volatile instability
F.
Reduced risk
G.
Increased innovation and entrepreneurship

Corporate social responsibility is concerned with the ways in which an organisation meets the
minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation and corporate governance.
A.
True

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B.
False

4.3

Which of the following are the correct axes for stakeholder mapping?
A.
Power/interest
B.
Control/interest
C.
Influence/interest
D.
Process/interest

5.1

What is the key issue relating to strategic drift?

A.
The environment develops incrementally, while the organisation's strategies change rapidly.
B.
The organisation's strategies develop incrementally, while the environment may change rapidly.
C.
The environment rarely changes.
D.
The organisation's strategies do not change.

Which of the following does

not summarise
one of the key reasons for strategic drift?
A.
Core rigidities
B.
Building on the familiar
C.
Experimentation
D.
Relationships become shackles
E.
Lagged performance effects

The QWERTY typewriter layout is an example of which of the following?

A.
Recency bias
B.
Path dependency
C.
Strategic drift
D.
Transformational change

No 5.2

5.3

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Category Statement
This shows the behavioural, physical and symbolic manifestations of a culture
Cultural
that inform and are informed by the taken-for-granted assumptions, or
webCultural web
paradigm.
The basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members
Organisational of an organisation, which operate unconsciously and define in a
cultureOrganisational culture basic taken-for-granted fashion anorganisation's view of itself
and its environment.
The set of assumptions held relatively in common and taken for
ParadigmParadigm
granted in an organisation.

Which of the following terms is used as a basis for the culture layer that is described in
an organisation's mission or objectives?
A.
Paradigm
B.
Beliefs
C.
Values
D.
Behaviours

6.1

What generic competitive strategy is pursued by IKEA?

A.
Hybrid
B.
Low price
C.
Differentiated
D.
No frills

What is meant by the term 'SBU'?

A.
Service bureau unit
B.
Strategic business unit
C.
Single business unit
D.
Strategic board undertaking

Which of the following are examples of competitive strategies on the strategy clock?
A.
Low price
B.
Focused differentiation

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C.
Alliances
D.
Non-competitive
E.
Market domination
F.
Organic growth
G.
Mergers and acquisitions
H.
Differentiation
I.
Hybrid

Which of the following is not a way of overcoming bases of competitive advantage?

A.
Increasing selling power
B.
Imitation
C.
Blocking first-mover advantage
D.
Strategic repositioning
E.
Overcoming barriers to entry

7.1

Which term best applies to 'development into activities concerned with the inputs into the company's
current business'?
A.
Related diversification
B.
Backward integration
This is the correct answer.
C.
Forward integration
D.
Vertical integration

Which of the following is not one of the alternative directions shown on the Ansoff product/market
growth matrix?
A.
Corporate parenting
B.
Penetrating
C.
Developing new products
D.
Bringing existing products into new markets
E.
Diversification
Which of the following is likely to be a cost of corporate parenting?
A.
Intervening
B.
Adding management costs

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C.
Coaching and facilitating
D.
Envisioning

No 7.2

No 7.3

7.4

Which of the following is not a category in the BCG matrix?

A.
Cash cow
B.
Star
C.
Dog
D.
Question mark
E.
Ballast

Which of the four BCG categories applies to a business that is in decline?

A.
Star
B.
Dog
C.
Question marks
D.
Cash cow

Category Statement
BCG matrixBCG matrix This matrix is used to assess the balance of a portfolio of businesses.
This matrix positions business units according to: (i) how
Directional policy
attractive the relevant market is in which they areoperating;
matrixDirectional policy matrix
and (ii) the competitive strength of the SBU in that market.
This matrix introduces parental fit as an important criterion for
Parenting matrixParenting matrix including businesses in the portfolio. There are two key
dimensions of fit: feel and benefit.

8.1

Which three of the following are key market drivers for internationalisation?
A.
Transferable marketing

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B.
Scale economies
C.
Similar customer needs
D.
Global customers

Category Statement
Market driverMarket driver Similar customer needs

Cost driverCost driver Favourable logistics

Government driverGovernment driver Trade policies
Competitive driverCompetitive driver Competitors' global strategies

Which of the following can best be analysed using Porter's Diamond?

A.
Strategic groups within an industry
B.
Sources of competition within an industry
C.
Determinants of national advantage
D.
Influences in the macro-environment

Which of the following is not one of the terms used by Yip to group drivers?
A.
Competitive drivers
B.
Cost drivers
C.
Market drivers
D.
Government drivers
E.
Ethical drivers

8.2

Which of the following terms is used for 'an organisation that is loosely coordinated internationally, but
involves dispersion overseas of various activities, with goods and services produced locally in each
national market'?

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A.
Global
B.
Transnational
C.
Multidomestic
D.
Exporter

Which of the following statements correctly apply to international strategies in practice?

A.
Large companies may compromise between local and global by opting for regional strategies.
Your answer is correct.
B.
Companies' choices are influenced by changes in the internationalisation drivers.
C.
Companies tend to adopt a single strategy and continue with it until there is a major change in senior
management.
D.
Companies often blend approaches and are located between the four strategies.

Which of the following strategies has a high level of both coordination of activities and configuration
of activities?
A.
Global strategy
B.
Multidomestic strategy
C.
Transnational strategy
D.
Export strategy

9.1

Which type of organisation typically has the greatest opportunity in the early stages of an industry,
competing with new features?
A.
Cash cows
B.
Small new entrants
C.
Large incumbent organisations
D.
Dominant designers

Select the terms that fill in the blanks in the following sentence.
A business model may involve a particular way of selling or diffusing a product or service; in terms of
the value chain, this concerns ______, ______ and ______.
A.
outbound logistics
B.

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procurement
C.
inbound logistics
D.
technology development
E.
operations
F.
marketing and sales
G.
service

What term is used for the process by which innovations spread among users?
A.
Market pull
B.
Entrepreneurism
C.
Diffusion
D.
Disruptive innovation

9.2

What term is used for something that 'creates substantial growth by offering a new performance
trajectory that, even if initially inferior to the performance of existingtechnologies, has the potential to
become markedly superior'?
A.
Disruptive innovation
B.
Platform launch
C.
Positioning option
D.
Sustaining innovation

Which of the following innovation options is most suitable in a situation of high technical uncertainty
and high market uncertainty?
A.
Scouting options
B.
Platform launches
C.
Positioning options
D.
Stepping stones

Which of the following is least likely to be a contextual factor that might swing the balance between
moving first to moving second?
A.
Fast-moving arenas
B.
Complementary assets

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C.
Capacity for profit capture
D.
Buyer switching costs

10.1

Which of the following is not a method of strategy development?

A.
Foreign direct investment
B.
Strategic alliances
C.
Mergers and acquisitions
D.
Organic development

What term is used for two or more organisations sharing resources and activities to pursue
a strategy?
A.
Merger
B.
Acquisition
C.
Alliance

No 11

12.1

Category Statement
Deliberate A strategy which comes about as a result of consideredintentions,
strategyDeliberate strategy typically associated with top management decisions.
A strategy which comes about through everyday routines,
activities and processes in organisations, leading to
Emergent strategyEmergent strategy
decisions that become the long-term direction of an
organisation.
Logical The deliberate development of strategy by
incrementalismLogical incrementalism experimentation and learning from partial commitments.
An explanation of strategy
Resource allocation process left parenthesis RAP right development which considers that
parenthesisResource allocation process (RAP) realised strategies emerge as a
result of the

Which of the following is not a characteristic of logical incrementalism?

A.
Top managers utilise a mix of formal and informal social and political processes to draw together an
emerging pattern of strategies.
B.
Managers try to be sensitive to environmental signals through constant scanning and testing changes
in strategy in small-scale steps.

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C.
Managers have a generalised, rather than a specific, view of where they want the organisation to be.
D.
Managers pursue a structured approach to analysis and thinking about complex strategic problems.

The cultural view of strategy development is that strategies develop as the outcome of processes of
bargaining and negotiation among powerful internal or external interest groups for stakeholders.
A.
True
B.
False

13.1

Which of the following are advantages of a project-based structure?

A.
Good knowledge exchange
B.
Clear accountability and control for clearly specified tasks
C.
Constant break-up of project teams can hinder accumulation of knowledge
D.
Highly flexible
E.
Can be poorly coordinated

Which of the following are disadvantages of a matrix organisation?

A.
Ambiguity
B.
Decision making takes time.
C.
Dual dimensions
D.
High degrees of conflict
E.
Flexible
F.
Integrates knowledge
G.
Unclear job and task responsibilities

13.2

Which of the following are reasons why managers may find it difficult to develop a set of
useful targets?
A.
Some indicators are hard to measure.
B.

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Performance targets tend to focus on the long term.

C.
Performance targets can be written as SMART targets.
D.
Team members tend not to like having targets.

Balanced scorecards have been increasingly used as a way of widening the scope of performance
indicators.
A.
True
B.
False

Which of the following correctly describe a typical balanced scorecard?

A.
It focuses purely on measurable outcomes.
B.
It focuses only on short-term outcomes.
C.
It includes quantitative measures.
D.
It acknowledges the expectations of different stakeholders.
E.
It includes qualitative measures.
F.
It relates assessment of performance to choice of strategy.

No 14.1

14.2

Category Statement
TimeTime Is change needed immediately, or can it be planned over a longer timescale?

ScopeScope How deep, and how broad, must the change be?
It will generally be true that some aspects of the organisation must
PreservationPreservation be preserved, for example the competences or aspects of the
culture.
Do the existing management have the skills to plan and implement
CapabilityCapability
the change?
Does the organisation have the time, finance and other resources to make
CapacityCapacity
the change?
ReadinessReadiness Is there general agreement that change is needed?
14.3

Which of the following are ways that evolutionary change leadership may be achieved?
A.
Crisis stabilisation
B.
Top management changes
C.
Rapid financial restructuring

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D.
Organisational ambidexterity

Which of the following elements apply to forcefield analysis?

A.
It provides a view of what needs to be developed to aid change.
B.
It gives quantitative assessments.
C.
It is not relevant for aspects of change that relate to the organisation's culture.
D.
It identifies forces for and against change.

Which of the following terms is used for 'a wide-ranging change that occurs rapidly'?
A.
Evolution
B.
Reconstruction
C.
Adaptation
D.
Revolution

Which types of change involve a cultural change, but over time?

A.
Adaptation
B.
Reconstruction
C.
Evolution
D.
Revolution

15.1

What sort of participation is likely to be appropriate for urgent issues, involving major
strategic change, e.g. acquisition threats or opportunities?
A.
Limited participation
B.
Open participation
C.
Narrow participation
D.
Broad participation

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