E3 Strategic Management Questions and Answers

TTT is a partnership that designs a specialist type of construction project for clients. It does not build the construction projects itself. TTT has eight partners who are skilled architects. Each partner works independently on their own projects. The partners rarely meet except to agree how to share out TTT's very significant profits.

 The partners are disappointed that TTT is not growing as fast as it has in the past. Each partner is fully employed on their own projects and none has the time to recruit new architects to TTT. They are frustrated at the lack of leadership in TTT, although none of the partners are willing to take on a more senior role.

Which THREE of the following does TTT need to address?

ZYX is a global hotel chain, employing over 10,000 staff worldwide. ZYX operates a Code of Conduct for all of its staff, which states “Our staff are the most important assets of our business operations. We expect the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct from all staff, who must display the principles of trust, respect, equality, integrity and fairness at all times.”

Which THREE of the following actions could ZYX take to positively influence its staff to work to the ethical and professional principles in its Code of Conduct? (Choose three.)

DDD is a company which publishes paper-based books. In the last 10 years DDD has seen a steady decline in its sales. Last month, one of its major customers, a large chain of high street bookshops announced that it would be closing as a result in declining sales in the paper-based book market. The Board of DDD has therefore announced that in order to survive, it must re-focus the business upon the developement of electronic books, which will require a significant investment in new technology and staff training. However, some staff will be made redundant as part of this process. The Board of DDD has stated that it will reward staff who actively embrace the change process.

Which of the activities below would occur within the 'Unfreeze', 'Change' or 'Refreeze' stage of Lewin's three-stage model?

Company RR operates in the finance sector. It is experiencing increasing delays in approving loan applications, due to customers not promptly returning their signed copy of the application forms back to RR.

RR is now wanting to introduce e-signatures which allow customers to sign the document on their computer and return it back to RR through the Internet. This change will help to simplify the process and ensure that customers obtain their loans quicker.

To achieve this change, RR has established a project and has appointed you as the Project Leader to lead the change.

Select the THREE valid statements in respect of leading change.

The Management Accountant in company PP has been asked by the Finance Director to produce a paper on "Game Theory" for the next Board meeting.

Which of the following is a valid statement?

WXY has been criticised by an activist shareholder for a lack of clarity in its formulation and implementation of strategy.

The activist shareholder states that WXY is confused as to the different levels of strategy and it has pointed to examples of inappropriate levels of management being held responsible for strategies that they do not control

WXY has decided to use the categories, Corporate, Business and Functional to clarify its strategic processes.

Which of the following are Corporate strategies?

Select ALL that apply.

Which of the following statements would encourage an Organization to use Scenario Planning?

Select ALL that apply.

RRR is an insurance company which maintains an extensive database of its customer transactions over the last 10 years. RRR is developing a new product and has carried out a SWOT analysis.

Within which of the following aspects of the SWOT analysis would RRR include its customer database?

GGG is currently undertaking a process of intuitive forecasting. A team of ten people has been selected from all levels of management and from a range of functional departments, to take part in the process. An initial single question of 'How do we improve future customer satisfaction levels for GGG?' has been posed and all members of the team have been asked to present a suggestion. No one is allowed to criticise another person's ideas. This process should give GGG a forum for the expression and discussion of a wide range of ideas.

Which of the following intuitive forecasting techniques is GGG undertaking?

LMN is a fast food manufacturer that makes 'Ready-meals'.

Place the appropriate stage of the Value Chain against each of the activities below:

An organization must acquire suitable hardware and software in order to implement a knowledge management strategy so that knowledge can be stored and communicated.

Which of the following would be appropriate systems to use in a knowledge management strategy? (Choose all that apply.)

Select the MOST appropriate leadership style to manage each change situation outlined below.

Strategy is usually described as having three different levels: namely corporate strategy, business strategy and functional strategy. Which of the following are corporate strategies? Select ALL that apply.

Which THREE of the following issues relate to the Corporate Strategy of an organization? (Choose three.)

Which of the following is NOT one of the main principles contained within the UK Corporate Governance Code?

Which THREE of the following frameworks are used solely to evaluate the external environment of an Organization?

P owns an internet-based business, called GWiz. based in Country G. GWiz sells gifts, cards and flowers for a variety of occasions including birthdays, weddings and many other special events. P sources her products from a variety of partner suppliers located throughout country G. Customers' orders are delivered by third party couriers across the whole country. The GWiz website is hosted and managed by an IT specialist

P is a member of a local small business trade federation and has been asked to make a presentation to its members on her experience of running GWiz as a 'virtual organisation'.

Which of the following statements could P correctly make on the benefits of virtual organisations?

Select ALL that apply.

A Porter states that competitive advantage can be gained by following one of three generic strategies.

Place the appropriate generic strategy against each of the statements below.

Which of the following distinguishes a learning curve effect from a learning Organization?

The concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) reporting expands traditional accountancy reporting systems to consider social and environmental performance, rather than simply financial performance.

Which THREE of the following does the TBL concept suggest should be measured in order to encourage greater business social responsibility?

Data mining is an important part of an Organization's knowledge discovery process.

Effective data mining provides insight and can help unlock previously hidden opportunities.

Which of the following are disadvantages of Data Mining?

Select ALL that apply.

HHH is about to undergo a period of significant change.  HHH intends to draw upon the model suggested by Beer and Nohria, concerning 'Theory E' and 'Theory O'. In which circumstances should HHH use 'Theory O' strategies?

Select ALL that apply.

Corporate political activity can be seen as a proactive attempt by a company to influence government decision-making. In particular, lobbying represents a direct but often private attempt by businesses to influence a government's decision-making.

Which of the following is NOT a legitimate and private form of lobbying?

Company GGG wants to gain competitive advantage and has decided to use data mining.

Which of the following would NOT result from data mining?

QQQ is Country M's largest supermarket with 40% of the market share. In addition it has opened several stores around the world in the last 10 years. One of the reasons for QQQ's success is its loyalty card. The loyalty card is used to gather information about the spending patterns of its customers. Around two billion pieces of information each week are captured and stored in an enormous data warehouse that can be accessed by QQQ and other selected large retail partners.

The information can be used to assess the success of new product launches as well as which demographics of customer are making the purchases. The system also allows QQQ to tailor its special offers to particular segments of the market and to predict the buying behaviour of its customers, which assists QQQ in procurement planning.

Which of the following best describes the activities outlined above for QQQ?

Which of the following did Johnson, Scholes and Whittington identify as success criteria for the evaluation of strategic options?

Select ALL that apply.

'Change-adept' Organizations are those that manage change successfully. Moss-Kanter identified skills required by Organizational leaders which are necessary to lead 'change-adept' Organizations.

Your Organization is undergoing significant change and the appointment of a new CEO is imminent. You have been asked to recommend the key skills for assessing the shortlist of CEO candidates against. 

Which of the following statements are suitable for use as the selection criteria for the new CEO, consistent with the ideas expressed by Moss-Kanter?

Select ALL that apply.

In Johnson, Scholes and Whittington's model of rational strategy which of the following stages appear?

Select ALL that apply.

Lynch developed the performance pyramid to define the links between objectives and performance measures.  Which THREE of the following statements apply to the performance pyramid?

A leading supermarket chain is undertaking environmental scanning as it is concerned that it is becoming uncompetitive and profits have started to fall. The Board is concerned that when the next Annual General Meeting is held, it will need to have a viable strategy to present to its shareholders, in order to prevent shareholders' protests.

In the past the company has been reluctant  to offer an Internet shopping service. However, it now believes that by offering this service and also introducing customer relationship marketing (CRM) this will produce a strategy that will help it to improve its competitiveness.

Which of the following statements apply to CRM?

Select ALL that apply.

A company runs a distribution warehouse. Its information systems constantly monitors inventory levels, with automatic re-order processing occuring with suppliers when inventory items reach a specified level. It operates a robotics system which automatically picks inventory from its location in the warehouse and delivers it to the pick-up area. The company also has a large database of customer information which it uses to analyse buying behavior and sales trends so that it can provide customers with relevant and targeted marketing information.

Which THREE of the following activities of the Value Chain have been affected by the use of IT/ IS?

When FarmCot Foods was founded five years ago, it was a small shop set up by a family of dairy farmers in a disused farm shed, selling their own produce to the local community. The family had decided, at that point in time, to diversify their dairy farming activities into also selling their own milk, cheese and ice cream products. The aim was to increase their revenues, as dairy farming in their home country had been in decline for a number of years.

Since then, the shop has been very successful and has expanded rapidly over the last three years, due largely to a strong growth in tourism in its home country and a shift in consumer demand for locally sourced fresh farm products. FarmCot Foods is now located in a large purpose-built building on the site of the original farm shed and also operates a very popular café, a children's play area and sells a much wider range of products and gifts, which are all sourced from local suppliers.

Which of the following best describes FarmCot Foods approach to strategy development in the last five years?

JJJ is about to undergo a period of rapid and far-reaching change. JJJ's Chief Executive has heard about work published by Beer and Nohria, 'Theory E' and 'Theory O', which identified reasons for business change initiatives failing. Select THREE of the following circumstances where it would be appropriate to use a 'Theory E' approach. 

BB Laundry Company is a community-led franchise initiative, enabling its customers to make use of state-of-the-art washing machines for its customers' domestic laundry needs. Services include self-serve or fully serviced washing and ironing services, provided by on-site volunteer staff.

Its laundry sites are powered with solar or wind power and its washing machines use water-conserving technology Non-toxic soaps and detergents are available, as well as bio-degradable clothes hangers, mend and repair services, combined with community cafes.

Which of the following would be beneficial to BB Laundry Company for external reporting of its key performance outcomes?

Which TWO of the following are economic factors?

According to Porter's Five Forces model, which of the following would be evidence of high buyer power?

Select the label which best defines the periods of decline outlined in the situations presented below.

Which TWO of the following would be measures included within the 'Department and work centres' level of the Performance Pyramid?

Company W manufactures marshmallows for sale to supermarkets across Europe. W follows a logical and formal approach to strategic planning. Which of the following are valid stages of such a rational strategic planning model? Select ALL that apply.