Exam 2: The External Environment: Opportunities, Threats, Industry Competition, and Competitor Analysis

A manufacturer of washing machines has expanded its plant and has created excess capacity, just as the general economy has taken a downturn. The company is likely to:

Age structure, geographic distribution, income distribution, interest rates, and process innovations are all elements of concern when studying the demographic segment of the general environment.

New entrants to an industry are more likely when:

The large amount of advertising by firms such as Procter & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive is an example of what kind of barrier to entry?

What are high exit barriers and how do they affect the competition within an industry?

The technological segment of environmental analysis includes:

Customer loyalty programs such as airline frequent-flyer miles are an attempt to:

When firms analyze the external environment, they typically have complete and unambiguous data.

Suppliers are powerful when the industry is dominated by a few large companies, no satisfactory substitutes are available, the selling industry is relatively more concentrated than the purchasing industry, or switching costs are high.

Which of the following is NOT an entry barrier to an industry?

As customers come to believe that a firm's product is unique, this allows the firm to:

In analyzing the demographic segment of the general environment, one typically examines all of the following factors EXCEPT:

The observation that China reached automotive production overcapacity in 2015, and has a glut of extra cars, is an aspect of the ______ segment of the general environment.

Although health care reform legislation was passed in the early part of the Obama administration, it continues to be a contentious issue for employers, employees, and politicians because of its increased expenses.  These attitudes about health care reform make up the sociocultural segment of the general environment.

Monitoring involves the development of a forecast of what might happen at a future point in time.

Which of the following is NOT an activity used in the external environmental analysis process?

The highest amount a firm can charge for its products is most directly affected by:

The strengths of the five competitive forces are similar across strategic groups within an industry.