Exam 6: Strategic Management: How Exceptional Managers Realize a Grand Design

Jiffy Lube provides only lubricants,but it provides them to all kinds of people with all kinds of motor vehicles.This is an example of how a strategic position can result from serving the few needs of many customers.

Tom and his family have developed a successful business selling fertilizer to other farmers in his area,consisting of rich,organic compost material.Recently ABC Seed,a national seed company,has been marketing a chemical fertilizer to his customers that is less expensive than Tom's product.ABC's efforts are an example of ___ in Porter's model for industry analysis.

Pedro,CEO of a successful IT company,is constantly reading press releases,ads,and news articles about his competition,and he regularly checks information about new competitive products and visits trade shows to study his competition.Pedro is involved in ____.

In the Porter's model for industry analysis,business-level strategies originate in the three primary competitive forces of the firm's environment: threats of new entrants,bargaining power of suppliers,and threats of substitute products.

Organizational threats are an environmental factor that can hinder an organization's ability to achieve a competitive advantage.

The five steps of (1)establishing the mission and the vision, (2)assessing the current reality, (3)formulating the grand strategy, (4)implementing the strategy,and (5)maintaining strategic control and the feedback loop make up the organizational-management process.

A defensive strategy is a grand strategy that involves reduction in the organization's efforts.

The Johnsons have owned a farm,Johnson Family Holdings Incorporated,for over 150 years.Al Johnson,president of Johnson Family Holdings,purchased a trucking company,shipping products for other farmers and businesses in their area.Later he opened a small store that carries a variety of products,and he even operates a small used auto dealership near the farm.This is an example of unrelated diversification.

ABC Bowling Centers has a policy of opening locations only in small cities,where there are broad needs and many customers.This is one source of strategic positioning.

In the BCG matrix,companies that have high growth and high market share,and are definite keepers are ____.

In the strategic-management process,the final step,maintaining strategic control,is the source of _____.

Explain how strategic management works well for small as well as large organizations.

Organizations use the three types of forecasting to make decisions regarding the future: trend analysis,scenario development,and contingency planning.

Quality Services is an organization that operates several companies that market food products,restaurant equipment,and paper and plastic products,and it even has a division that counsels restaurant owners,helping them become established.Quality Services is involved in a _____ strategy.

An analysis of several studies found that strategic planning was appropriate only for large firms and companies with more than 500 employees,where the improvement in financial performance was also quite large.

Bryan Barry suggests that to keep a strategic plan on track,organizations should ____.

Instructor Services,a technology training company,realizes that with the closing of factories in the area,there will be a large increase in the number of individuals needing computer training to prepare for the workplace.This is an opportunity for Instructor Services.

Define and describe a trend analysis.Give an example.

Often strategy implementation means overcoming resistance by people who feel the plans threaten their influence or livelihood.

The managers of a small bakery decided to do a SWOT analysis to study the strengths and weaknesses within the organization and the external environment so they can better formulate strategies in pursuit of the firm's mission.This defines the benefits of a SWOT analysis.