90. Two of the key inputs to developing forecasts discussed in the text are
C. environmental scanning and competitive intelligence.
Three important
... [Show More] processes (scanning, monitoring, and gathering competitive intelligence) are used to develop forecasts.
91. Salemi Industries launched Cell Zone unsuccessfully in 2005 because it did not understand the market demand for its new product. This is an example of
B. environmental scanning.
Analyzing the external environment is a critical step in recognizing and understanding the opportunities and threats that organizations face.
92. Environmental analysis requires continual questioning of all of these assumptions except
D. continual updating of environmental knowledge.
According to Hamel and Prahalad, every manager carries around in his or her head a set of biases, assumptions, and presuppositions about the structure of the relevant industry, about how one makes money in the industry, about who the competition is and is not, about who the customers are and are not, and so on. Environmental analysis requires you to continually question such assumptions.
93. Firms that were successful in the past can fail today because
C. the company strategy is outdated.
The strategy of the firm may be good at one point in time, but it may go astray when the management frame of reference gets out of touch with the realities of the actual business situation. This results when management assumptions, premises, or beliefs are incorrect or when internal inconsistencies among them render the overall theory of the business invalid.
94. Examples of how to improve perceptual acuity include:
C. A CEO meets with direct competitors to analyze current industry trends. The CEOs share their conclusions with their respective companies.
Although many CEOs may complain that the top job is a lonely one, they can't do it effectively by sitting alone in their office. Instead, high-performing CEOs are constantly meeting with people and searching out information.
95. Perceptual acuity requires all of the following except
D. a refusal to consult with others.
The best CEOs are compulsively tuned to the external environment and seem to have a sixth sense that picks up anomalies and detects early warning signals which may represent key threats or opportunities. Although many CEOs may complain that the top job is a lonely one, they cannot do it effectively by sitting alone in their office. Instead, high- performing CEOs are constantly meeting with people and searching out information.
96. Two non-competing global firms meet quarterly to discuss multiple perspectives on world trends. This is an example of how to improve
B. perceptual acuity.
Although many CEOs may complain that the top job is a lonely one, they cannot do it effectively by sitting alone in their office. Instead, high-performing CEOs are constantly meeting with people and searching out information. This helps them improve perceptual acuity.
97. Which of the following is not an input to develop forecasts?
D. stakeholder management
Three important processes (scanning, monitoring, and gathering competitive intelligence) are used to develop forecasts.
98. Boards of directors use outsiders to critique their strategy. This is necessary to improve mostly
B. organizational hierarchy.
To improve perpetual acuity, two companies ask outsiders to critique strategy during their board strategy sessions. Such input typically leads to spirited discussions that provide valued input on the hinge assumptions and options that are under consideration. Once, the focus was on pinpointing the risk inherent in a certain strategy. Now, discussions have led to finding that the company was missing a valuable opportunity.
99. When the management frame of reference gets out of touch with the realities of the actual business situation, what can happen to the firm?
A. The company business strategy no longer works.
A company strategy may be good at one point in time, but it may go astray when the management frame of reference gets out of touch with the realities of the actual business situation. This results when management assumptions, premises, or beliefs are incorrect or when internal inconsistencies among them render the overall theory of the business invalid.
100. Corporate retreats do not
B. guarantee positive consumer response to new products.
According to Ram Charan, an adviser to many Fortune 500 CEOs, improving perceptual acuity is an advantage that one CEO finds from getting together with his critical people for half a day every eight weeks to discuss what is new and what is going on in the world. The setting is informal, and outsiders often attend. The participants look beyond the lens of their industry because some trends that affect one industry may impact others later on.
101. Why must successful managers recognize opportunities and threats in their company external environment?
A. If they miscalculate the market, opportunities will be lost.
Successful managers must recognize opportunities and threats in their company external environment. They must be aware of what is going on outside their company. If they focus exclusively on the efficiency of internal operations, the firm may degenerate into the most efficient producer of buggy whips, typewriters, or carbon paper. But if they miscalculate the market, opportunities will be lost.
102. tracks the evolution of environmental trends, sequences of events, or streams of activities.
B. Environmental monitoring
Environmental monitoring tracks the evolution of environmental trends, sequences of events, or streams of activities. Monitoring enables firms to evaluate how dramatically environmental trends are changing the competitive landscape.
103. Taking advantage of the increasing penetration of personal computers in American homes, the Mayo Clinic transformed itself as a provider of health-related knowledge and expertise. It took advantage of the trends of the
in the prices of PCs and the presence of PCs in virtually every home in the United States.
D. hard; decrease; increasing
A hard trend is a projection based on measurable facts, events, or objects. It is something that will happen. The aging of the population is a hard trend. So is the increasing speed and decreasing cost of computers.
104. Scanning the general environment would identify information on
B. the aging population and ethnic shifts.
Environmental scanning involves surveillance of the external environment of a firm to predict environmental changes and detect changes already under way. This alerts the organization to critical trends and events before changes develop a discernible pattern and before competitors recognize them.
105. Which of the following is not an example of corporate competitive analysis?
D. consumers comparing product offers online
Corporate competitive intelligence is the activity of collecting and interpreting data on competitors, defining and understanding the industry, and identifying competitor strengths and weaknesses in order to avoid surprises by anticipating competitor moves and decreasing response time.
106. Gathering competitive intelligence
A. is good business practice.
Competitive intelligence (CI) helps firms define and understand their industry and identify strengths and weaknesses of rivals. This includes the intelligence gathering associated with collecting data on competitors and interpreting such data.
107. Environmental forecasting does not involve plausible projections about the of environmental change.
D. lack of intensity
Environmental forecasting involves the development of plausible projections about the direction, scope, speed, and intensity of environmental change. Its purpose is to predict change. [Show Less]