question
A company with a cost-leadership strategy faces significant difficulties when _____________
answer
the focus of competition shifts from price to non-price attributes
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True or False: Formulating a business strategy is a relatively easy task because only a few strategic options are available.
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False
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Which of the following are components of a cost-leadership strategy?
answer
- lowest costs in the industry
- acceptable value
- acceptable value
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Implementing a blue ocean strategy requires making competition irrelevant and creating a new market space, otherwise known as ______.
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value innovation
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Which competitive forces can result in erosion of margins for both differentiation and cost-leadership business strategies?
answer
- power of buyers
- power of suppliers
- threat of entry
- power of suppliers
- threat of entry
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A successful blue ocean strategy requires strategists to reconcile the trade-offs between _______.
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differentiation and cost-leadership
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The concept of a(n) ______ attempts to combine both learning effects and process improvements.
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experience curve
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Which of the following are significant threats to a firm pursuing a cost-leadership strategy?
answer
- replacement by innovative substitutes
- competitors adopting similar business strategies
- value failing below the acceptable threshold
- competitors adopting similar business strategies
- value failing below the acceptable threshold
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True or False: Tesla's high stock market valuation is partly justified by the company's learning curve.
answer
True
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In addition to having the lowest cost, a low-cost leader is likely to have ________.
answer
a large market share
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In terms of productivity, which of the following is true of learning curves?
answer
they go down
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A(n) _______ strategy attempts to increase the perceived value of a product while controlling costs.
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differentiation
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What is one of the benefits of pursuing a differentiation strategy when it comes to the power of suppliers?
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Differentiation provides protection against an increase in input prices
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A struggling retailer seeking to implement a blue ocean strategy is likely to experience difficulty with ______.
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cutting costs and increasing value at the same time
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What must strategic leaders keep in mind if they are going to achieve successful strategic positioning?
answer
to achieve strategic positioning, firms must make important trade-offs
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A firm that manages to avoid competition entirely by offering a product or service that creates an uncontested market space is engaging in _______.
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value innovation
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Why do many firms fail to successfully implement a blue ocean strategy?
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because they end up being "stuck in the middle", unable to increase value and lower costs at the same time
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Business-level strategy addresses which overarching question?
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How should we compete?
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How to compete on a business level is defined by the variables value and cost. Together they define the ______.
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economic value created
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The most significant challenge JetBlue faced in implementing its business strategy was ________.
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reconciling the trade-offs between cutting costs and providing superior service
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The ________ determines whether to pursue a specific narrow part of the market or to go after the broader market.
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scope of competition
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A company's goal-directed plans regarding how to compete for advantage is known as the firm's ______.
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business-level strategy
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A _______ strategy attempts to create products with unique and attractive features in order to increase the price that consumers are willing to pay.
answer
differentiation
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Which two of the following variables can managers primarily manipulate in order to answer the question, "How should we compete?"
answer
- cost
- value
- value
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When pursuing a differentiation strategy, a firm can achieve a competitive advantage by ______.
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ensuring that its economic value exceeds that of its competitors
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An important requirement for increasing economic value creation under a differentiation strategy is to _______.
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control costs
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Economies of ______ are the savings that come from producing two or more different outputs at a lower cost than producing each output individually.
answer
scope
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Whereas the firm's strategic position can be considered either differentiated or cost-focused, the scope of competition is considered _________
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narrow or broad
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What are the three most important value drivers that managers can use to create a competitive advantage?
answer
- customer service
- complements
- product features
- complements
- product features
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By using a differentiation strategy, a firm aims to ______.
answer
add unique features that will increase the perceived value of a product
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Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between value and cost that would suggest that firm A has created a competitive advantage over firm B?
answer
(V-C) A > (V-C) B
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Unique features and attributes that differentiate a product from competitors' offerings allow the firm to _______.
answer
charge premium pricing
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The Ritz-Carlton provides a personalized customer experience based on sophisticated analysis of data gathered about each guest. This focus on ________ allows the hotel to increase its perceived value.
answer
customer service
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A manufacturer of electronic components can use its manufacturing machines to produce many different components such as semiconductors, sensors, and capacitors. In this case, the firm benefits from an economy of _______, reducing overall production costs by finding multiple uses for its components and facilities.
answer
scope
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Value drivers known as ______ add value to a product or service when they are consumed in tandem with the focal product.
answer
complements
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Positive adjustments in product features, customer service, and complements may enable managers to _____.
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improve the firm's strategic position
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A cost leader can achieve a competitive advantage by ______.
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reducing costs below those of competitors while maintaining a similar value
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An auto manufacturer that has access to cheaper labor and raw materials than its rival will have a competitive advantage regarding lower cost of ______ factors.
answer
input
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Which capability is required to create superior product features?
answer
R&D
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Economies of scale are _______.
answer
decreases in cost per unit as output increases
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Which value driver would be the focus of a company that sells products that are similar to competing products and that provides a 60-day guarantee with no questions asked?
answer
customer service
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What is the relationship between fixed costs and economies of scale?
answer
the amount of fixed costs allocated to each unit of output decreases as output increases
question
Bundling of products and services that are consumed in tandem to create value is an example of ______.
answer
complements
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Larger output allows firms to invest in more specialized systems such as _______.
answer
- manufacturing robots
- enterprise resource planning software
- enterprise resource planning software
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The cube-square rule makes it _____ for smaller stores to compete with larger retailers.
answer
harder
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Which of the following are inputs factors?
answer
- labor
- capital
- raw materials
- information technology services
- capital
- raw materials
- information technology services
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In the relationship between per-unit cost and output, the minimum efficient scale ______.
answer
is where the per-unit cost is lowest
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Economies of scale present an opportunity to increase profits because as the number of units within the relevant range increases, fixed costs ________.
answer
stay the same
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Why does the learning curve go down when productivity is considered?
answer
as workers repeatedly engage in an activity, they become more efficient, driving down costs
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Tesla has an 80% learning curve, which means that ______.
answer
per-unit cost drops 20% whenever output doubles
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According to the _________ rule, increasing the surface area (size) of a storage unit or retail facility results in a disproportionate increase in volume (space).
answer
cube square
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The minimum efficient scale indicates the level of output needed to ________ the cost per unit as much as possible.
answer
bring down
question
Baby Buggy Baby sells high-end baby strollers. In an attempt to maintain its competitive advantage, the firm began adding additional features to its strollers. Customers liked these features and sales increased, but the company's profit margins shrank. Which of the following is the likely reason for this?
answer
the firm neglected to control costs
question
A firm's strategic position is determined by the relationship of which two variables?
answer
value creation and cost
question
Which of the following are considered the two generic business-level strategies?
answer
- cost-leadership
- differentiation
- differentiation
question
For a differentiation strategy to strengthen a company's strategic position and boost its competitive advantage, ________.
answer
an increase in value creation must exceed the increase in costs
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Which of the following scenarios would result in strengthening a firm's strategic position?
answer
a firm adds a new product feature that greatly increases the perceived value of the product at a minimal cost to the firm
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The goal of a _____________ strategy is to achieve expenses below those of competitors while maintaining similar value. A firm with this strategy could or could not achieve differentiation parity.
answer
cost leadership
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Which of the following situations would justify the use of manufacturing robots by a producer of packaged foods?
answer
an increase in demand from the market
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If two firms produce very similar products at the same rate of output, and firm A is able to achieve lower per-unit costs than firm B by taking advantage of a new manufacturing technology, firm A is benefiting from
answer
an experience-curve effect based on process innovation
question
A producer of consumer headphones that successfully differentiates its products with a patented noise-canceling technology and celebrity endorsements will enjoy which of the following benefits?
answer
- less intense competition from imitators
- the ability to charge a premium price
- the ability to charge a premium price
question
Products in the affordable "business-casual" clothing market have largely become commoditized, and most retailers have begun to compete mainly on price rather than product features. In this environment, it is impossible for one retailer to gain market share without another losing it. This is an example of a ______ ocean.
answer
red
question
Which of the following are business strategies JetBlue pursued in order to gain a competitive advantage?
answer
differentiation and cost-leadership
question
A firm's strategic profile based on value creation and cost is called its _______.
answer
strategic position
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A _________ strategy aims to create higher value for customers by offering products with unique features but a similar level of costs to those of competing products.
answer
differentiation
question
A firm that increases its output of a given product and experiences a simultaneous decrease in per unit costs is taking advantage of ______.
answer
economies of scale