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

Ben attended a workshop hosted by SCORE,a SBA organization that counsels small-business owners on developing a good vision statement.In that workshop the speakers discussed how an organization's vision needs to describe _____.

Strategy formulation is the process of _____.

Regarding the findings from a SWOT analysis,organizational strengths are ____.

A and B Supply,a small family-owned company,sells high-priced pens,some as expensive as $2,500,to executives in its area.Very few companies have chosen to market this product,and A and B has enjoyed record profits over the last 25 years.A and B Office Supply is an example of a company that would typically not choose not to utilize strategic planning.

Recently Paul,the CEO of Stage Productions,felt the company's strategic plan is getting off track.Immediately he discussed this situation with the other members of the top management team and adjustments were made to correct the situation.To steer a strategic plan back on track,organizations should engage as few employees as possible and make the plan very specific,covering only the needed scenarios for the future.

In a single-product strategy,a company makes and sells only one product within its market,such as a farmer who grows and sells only corn.

Execution consists of questioning and putting issues on the back burner for a period of time to achieve results promised.

Strategic control includes ____.

Summarize how a company would utilize a cost-leadership strategy and a differentiation strategy.Provide an example of a company that uses each type of strategy.

Who are our customers? What are our major products or services? In what geographic areas do we compete? These are all questions that are answered in a good _____.

The Strategic Management Society voted Michael Porter,a Harvard Business School professor,the most influential living economist.

Summarize how a company would utilize two of Porter's four competitive strategies.Give examples of each.

ABC Technology makes and sells only one product,a high-quality processor for mainframe computers,within its market,Silicon Valley,California;ABC utilizes a _____ strategy.

Sandra and her partner are involved in the time-consuming,yet vital process of choosing among different strategies and altering them to best fit the long-term goals of their preschool for the next three years.This process is known as goals formulation.

Delux Technology has a reputation of reliability and winning customer service,building this highly respected name brand over the last 15 years.As a speaker at a business conference,Steve,the CEO of Delux,told his audience that "We have built our reputation by changing little over the last several years,but consistently helping customers with great,caring service and a reliable product." Delux Technology utilizes a ____.

A company's overall ability to execute is a function of effectively executing according to three processes,but Bossidy and Charan proposed that the _____ process is the most important.

Competitive intelligence,SWOT analysis,forecasting,benchmarking,and Porter's five competitive forces are all tools that can be used to gather data and make projections to develop a grand strategy.

A 2013 survey found that among managers,the use of _____ is popular.

The basic assumption with a trend analysis is that the picture of the present can be projected into the future.This is a bad assumption,because even if you have enough historical data,it is unproductive to assume.

Bossidy and Charan suggested that making realism a priority begins with leaders first being cautious and then being realistic only if the situation allows this.