1.It is generally agreed that the role of strategy is to:A. Make best use of resourcesB. Achieve competitive advantageCorrect answerC. Make profits for the organizationD. Make the bestproducts and services

2.Kay (1993) sees the strategy of an organization as matching internal capabilities with:A. The industry life cycleB. The external environmentC. Its external relationshipsCorrect answerD. Its customer needs

3.Strategy formulation takes place at two levels. These are:A. Conscious and sub-consciousB. Implicit and explicitC. Corporate and businessCorrect answerD. Business and operational

4.The statement of an organization's aspirations can be found in the organization's:A. Vision statementB. Mission statementC. Strategic objectivesD. Actions

5.Decisions regarding which industries to compete in are the concern of:A. Business level strategyB. Corporate level strategyCorrect answerC. Mergers and acquisitionsD. Functional level strategy

6.At corporate level, the scope of an organization relates to:A. The number of customers servedB. The breadth of the portfolio of SBUsCorrect answerC. The number of SBUsD. The size of the SBUs

7.A decision made at the business level of a firm would be:A. The degree of synergy between the businesses in the portfolioB. Which industries to enterC. How to compete in a given marketD. How to add value to the businesses in the portfolio

8.The purpose of strategy is to provide:A. A set of standards which all employees in an organisation should strive to attain.B. The strategic direction for an organisation in the foreseeable future.C. Direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term, which achieves advantage for an organisation within a changing environment to meet the needs of markets.D. Direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations.

9.An organisation's mission can be defined as:A. The overriding purpose in line with the values or expectations of stakeholders.Correct answerB. The overriding purpose regardless of the values or expectations of stakeholders.C. The organisation's business plan.D. The desired future state of the organisation.

10.The fundamental purpose of an organization's mission statement is to:A. Define the operational structure of the organizationB. Create a good human relations climate in the organizationC. Define the organization's purpose in societyD. Define the functional areas required by the organizationE. Generate good public relations for the organization

11.Which of the following is true regarding Critical Success Factors (CSFs)?A. The list of critical success factors is the same from one organization to another.B. Use of CSFs is one method of determining the country in which to locate a new facility.Correct answerC. The critical success factors must be weighted equally.D. Critical Success Factors are relevant for strategic planning, but not for Global Operations.

12.Which level of strategy impacts the operating staff to the greatest degree during their daily work experiences?A. None of theseB. Corporate StrategyC. Business StrategyD. Functional StrategyCorrect answer

13.The Boston Group Portfolio Matrix is used to assess:A. The size of a portfolio of businessesB. The extent to which the corporate centre can add value to the businessesC. The balance of the portfolio of businessesCorrect answerD. The scope of the portfolio

14.According to Grant, which of the following is the basis of competitive advantage?A. CapabilitiesCorrect answerB. A well-chosen generic strategyC. Having the correct mix of businessesD. Resources

15.The 'transparency' of competitive advantage refers to the extent to which of the following?A. Competitors can identify the reason for the competitive advantageB. Competitors can access the same resources and capabilitiesC. Competitors can copy the resources and capabilitiesD. Competitors can find substitute resources and capabilities

16.Three ways of sustaining competitive advantage are:A. Monopoly, cartel and market sharingB. Price-based strategies, differentiation and diversificationC. Price-based strategies, differentiation and lock-inCorrect answerD. Change, adaptation and efficiency

17.Strategic fit means:A. Creating opportunities by building on resources and competences.B. Having a balanced portfolio which meets customer requirements.C. Tailoring strategies to address forces in the business environment.Correct answerD. Meeting the expectations of stakeholders.

18.Response-based competitive advantage can beA. All of theseB. Flexible responseC. Reliable responseD. Quick response

19.A core competence can be defined as:A. A cluster of attributes that confers competitive advantageCorrect answerB. A cluster of resources that confers competitive advantageC. A unique way of configuring an activityD. Configuration of the value chain

20.Which of the following are the three areas from which the core competences or distinctive capabilities are derived?A. Architecture, innovation and operationB. Architecture, flexibility and reputationC. Infrastructure, innovation and reputationD. Architecture, innovation and reputation

21.The resource-based view is also known as:A. The outside-in approachB. The positioning approachC. The value chain approachD. The inside-out approach

22.Reputation in the context of an organization's resources can provide competitive advantage because:A. It is explicitB. It is difficult to copyCorrect answerC. It is based on word-of-mouthD. It is a threshold resource

23.The VRIO framework serves as a useful operational control technique by helping the organisation to:A. Evaluate capabilities in critical functional areas.Correct answerB. Discover intangible assets lying unutilised within.C. Locate the likely areas of continual improvements.D. Create synergies across different departments.

24.Which of the following questions isnotan integral part of analyzing a company's resources and competitive position?A. Are the company's prices and costs competitive?Correct answerB. What does the company's value chain look like?C. Is the company competitively stronger or weaker than key rivals?D. What are the company's resource strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats?

25.A core competence:A. Holds the potential for being a cornerstone of a company's strategy because it gives a company competitive capability and qualifies as a genuine company strength and resource.B. Nearly always resides in the caliber of the company's assets on its balance sheet rather than in its people and in its intellectual capital; furthermore, balance sheet-related core competencies tend to be competitively more valuable than core competencies grounded in intellectual capital.Correct answerC. Is better suited to helping a company defend against external threats than in pursuing external market opportunities.D. Is usually tied closer to the calibre of the companys manufacturing capability and/or its proprietory technology and know-how.