Superior Strategy Execution-Another Path to Competitive Advantage Assignment 1

Chapter 10 Superior Strategy Execution-Another Path to Competitive Advantage   Multiple Choice Questions  1. Once company managers have decided on a strategy, the emphasis turns to  A. converting the strategy into actions and good results. B. empowering employees to revise and reorganize value chain activities to match the strategy. C. establishing policies and procedures that instruct company personnel in the ways and means of executing the strategy. D. developing a detailed implementation plan that sets forth exactly what every department and every manager needs to do to proficiently execute the company's strategy. E. building the core competencies and competitive capabilities needed to execute the strategy.  2. Executing strategy  A. is primarily an operations-driven activity revolving around the management of people and business processes. B. tests a manager's ability to direct organizational change and achieve continuous improvement in operations and business processes. C. tests a manager's ability to create and nurture a strategysupportive culture. D. tests a manager's ability to consistently meet or beat performance targets. E. All of these.  3. Good strategy execution  A. requires a team effort with managers with strategy-executing responsibility and making all employees active participants in the execution process. B. requires getting things done effectively and efÏciently. C. allows companywide performance measures to be met. D. requires middle and lower-level managers to ensure strategy-critical activities are successfully implemented. E. All of these.  4. Which of the following is not among the types of actions and initiatives undertaken by management in the strategy execution process?  A. Building an organization capable of executing the strategy B. Instituting policies and procedures that facilitate rather than impede strategy execution C. Deciding which core competencies and value chain activities to leave as is and which ones to overhaul and improve D. Pushing for continuous improvement in how value chain activities are performed E. Tying rewards directly to the achievement of strategic and financial targets and to good strategy execution  5. The principal managerial actions and initiatives undertaken in the strategy execution process include which of the following?  A. Deciding how much to spend on employee training B. Instituting policies and procedures that facilitate rather than impede effective strategy execution C. Doing an effective job of empowering employees D. Revamping the value chain in a manner calculated to maximize operating efÏciency E. Selecting a capable top management team  6. The principal managerial actions and initiatives undertaken in the strategy execution process include which of the following?  A. Building an organization with the capabilities, people, and structure needed for execution B. Instituting policies and procedures that facilitate rather than impede effective strategy execution C. Allocating ample resources to required activities D. Tying rewards directly to achievement of performance objectives E. All of these  7. The three components of building a capable organization are  A. making periodic changes in the firm's internal organization to keep people from getting into a comfortable rut, instituting a decentralized approach to decision making, and developing the appropriate competencies and capabilities. B. hiring a capable top management team, empowering employees, and establishing a strategy-supportive corporate culture. C. putting a centralized decision-making structure in place, determining who should have responsibility for each value chain activity, and aligning the corporate culture with key policies, procedures, and operating practices. D. stafÏng the organization, building core competencies and competitive capabilities, and structuring the organization and work effort. E. optimizing the number of core competencies and competitive capabilities, making sure that all managers and employees are empowered, and maximizing internal operating efÏciency.  8. Building an organization capable of good strategy execution entails  A. stafÏng the organization, building core competencies and competitive capabilities, and structuring the organization and work effort. B. decentralizing authority for performing strategy-critical value chain activities, establishing at least two distinctive competencies, and hiring talented employees. C. investing heavily in employee training, using an empowered organization design and organization structure in order to maximize labor productivity, and employing effective incentive compensation systems. D. centralizing authority in the hands of a chief strategy implementer so as to create the leadership authority for driving implementation forward at a rapid pace. E. empowering employees, maximizing internal operating efÏciency, and optimizing core competencies.  9. Putting together a capable top management team  A. should take top priority in building competitively valuable core competencies. B. is particularly important when the firm is pursuing unrelated diversification or making a number of new acquisitions in related businesses. C. is important in building an organization capable of proficient strategy execution, but is nearly always less crucial than doing a superior job of training and retraining employees. D. entails filling key managerial slots with people who are good at figuring out what needs to be done and skilled in "making it happen" and delivering good results. E. is particularly essential for executing a strategy to keep a company's costs lower than rivals and become the industry's low-cost leader.  10. The overriding aim in building a management team should be to  A. select people who are committed to decentralizing decision making and empowering employees. B. assemble a critical mass of talented managers who can function as agents of change and further the cause of first-rate strategy execution. C. choose managers experienced in controlling costs and flattening the organization structure. D. select people who have similar management styles, leadership approaches, business philosophies, and personalities. E. choose managers who believe in having a strong corporate culture and deeply ingrained core values.  11. Recruiting and retaining capable employees  A. is usually much more important to good strategy execution than is assembling a capable top management team. B. is important because the quality of an organization's people is always an essential ingredient of successful strategy execution—knowledgeable, engaged employees are a company's best source of creative ideas for the nuts-and-bolts operating improvements that lead to operating excellence. C. is more important during periods of rapid growth than during periods of crisis and attempted turnarounds. D. is an important organization-building element, particularly when it comes to transforming a competence into a core competence or distinctive competence. E. is easily the most critical aspect in building competitively valuable core competencies and capabilities.  12. Which one of the following statements about recruiting and retaining capable employees is true?  A. The quality of an organization's people is always an essential ingredient of successful strategy execution—knowledgeable, engaged employees are a company's best source of creative ideas for the nuts-and-bolts operating improvements that lead to operating excellence. B. Recruiting and retaining capable employees is an essential element of developing a distinctive competence. C. Recruiting and retaining capable employees is closely tied to developing strong information capital capabilities. D. It is very difÏcult for a company to competently execute its strategy and achieve operating excellence without a cadre of young managerial talent committed to staying with the company for at least a decade. E. In many industries, adding to a company's talent base and building intellectual capital is more important than having a good situational fit between the company's strategy and its external environment.  13. Which of the following is generally not among the practices that companies use to staff jobs with the best people they can find?  A. Careful screening and evaluation of job applicants B. Rotating people through jobs that span functional and geographic boundaries C. Weeding out the 20% lowest-performing employees each year D. Striving to retain talented, high-performing employees via promotions, salary increases, and other perks E. Coaching average performers to improve their skills and capabilities  14. Which one of the following is not a means of building and strengthening competitively valuable resources and capabilities?  A. Engaging in experience-building activities such as collaborative efforts in R&D engineering and design. B. Shifting from decentralized to centralized decision making so as to give senior executives more authority and control in driving cultural change. C. Acquiring capabilities through mergers and acquisitions. D. Entering into collaborative partnerships with suppliers, competitors or other companies that possess needed expertise. E. None of these.  15. If management is to match a company's organization structure to its strategy in an effective way, then it is essential  A. that company personnel be empowered to make both strategic decisions and operating decisions. B. for strategy-critical value-chain activities to be the main building blocks on the organization chart. C. that value chain activities be deliberately organized so as to produce maximum strategic fit. D. to define the jobs of company personnel in terms of the functions to be performed rather than in terms of the results to be achieved. E. for the company to be organized around cross-functional teams rather than around functional specialties and functional departments.  16. The rationale for making strategy-critical value chain activities the primary building blocks in a company's organizational chart is based on  A. the much shorter time it takes to build core competencies and competitive capabilities. B. the benefit such an organizational scheme has in reducing costs. C. the benefit such an organizational scheme has in improving the productivity of geographically scattered organizational units. D. the thesis that if activities crucial to strategic success are to have the resources, decision-making influence, and organizational impact they need, they have to be centerpieces in the organizational scheme. E. the benefit such an organizational scheme has in making the empowerment of employees more effective.  17. The primary building blocks within a company's organizational structure  A. are almost always the departments performing such key administrative support functions as finance, accounting, information technology, human resource management, and R&D. B. can include a functional or departmental structure that includes process, geographic, product, or customer groups performing one or more major processing steps along the value chain. C. typically consist of an un-empowered employee department, an empowered employee department, teams of front-line supervisors, teams of middle-level managers and administrators, and the group of top-level executives that comprise the company's "executive suite." D. usually consist of supply chain management, components manufacture, assembly, distribution, and administration. E. usually consist of two divisions—a division charged with performing primary value chain activities and a division charged with performing support activities.  18. Companies engaged in a single line of business utilize an organizational structure that may vary depending upon the strategy-critical activities and can be  A. either a functional (departmental), multidivisional, or matrix organizational structure. B. either a centralized, principal, or critical-path organizational structure. C. either independent, consolidated, or hybrid profit centers. D. hybrid functional organizations with a combination of decentralized and centralized decision making. E. None of these.  19. For decentralized decision making to be successful it is predicated on a belief that  A. top executives should establish a collegial, collaborative culture where decisions are made by general consensus on what to do and when. B. strict enforcement of detailed procedures backed by rigorous managerial oversight is necessary because company personnel cannot be counted on to act wisely or keep costs to a bare-bones level. C. decision-making authority should be pushed down to the lowest organizational level capable of making timely, informed, competent decisions. D. most company personnel have neither the time nor the inclination to direct and properly control the work they are performing and that they lack the knowledge and judgment to make wise decisions about how best to do their work. E. lower-level managers and employees should go up the ladder of command for approval on most all strategic and operating issues of much importance.  20. The chief advantage of a decentralized organizational structure is to  A. put decision-making authority in the hands of those closest and most knowledgeable about the situation. B. make it easy to fix accountability when company performance targets are not met. C. increase productivity on the part of the workforce. D. enhance cross-unit coordination and capture of strategic fits. E. create a collegial, collaborative culture where teamwork is a core value and decisions are made on the basis of consensus.  21. The organizing challenge of a decentralized structure that stresses employee empowerment is  A. how to keep empowered employees from making lots of stupid decisions. B. establishing a collegial, collaborative culture so that decisions can be made by gaining a quick consensus on what to do and when to do it. C. how to avoid de-motivating employees (because empowered employees are expected to take responsibility for their actions and decisions). D. how to exercise adequate control over the actions and decisions of empowered employees so that the business is not put at risk while trying to capture the benefits of empowerment. E. how to convince lower-level managers and employees that they are empowered.  22. In a highly centralized organizational structure,  A. top executive retain authority for most strategic and operating decisions. B. the thesis is that strict enforcement of detailed procedures backed by rigorous managerial oversight is the most reliable way to keep the daily execution of strategy on track. C. tight control from the top makes it easy to fix accountability when things do not go well. D. one of the basic tenets is that most company personnel have neither the time nor the inclination to direct and properly control the work they are performing and, further, that they lack the knowledge and judgment to make wise decisions about how best to do their work. E. All of these.  23. Which one of the following falsely characterizes a centralized organizational structure?  A. Top executives should retain authority over most strategic and operating decisions and keep a tight rein on business-unit heads, department heads, and the managers of key operating units. B. Strict enforcement of detailed procedures backed by rigorous managerial oversight is the most reliable way to keep the daily execution of strategy on track. C. Tight control by the manager in charge makes it easy to fix accountability when things do not go well. D. Most company personnel have neither the time nor the inclination to direct and properly control they work they are performing, and they lack the knowledge and judgment to make wise decisions about how best to do their work. E. A company that draws on the combined intellectual capital of its people can outperform a company that relies on command and control.  24. The disadvantages of a centralized organizational structure include  A. making the organization sluggish in responding to changing conditions. B. a loss of top management control. C. putting too much decision-making authority in the hands of lower-level company personnel. D. making it hard to fix accountability when things do not go well and putting the organization at risk when bad decisions are made. E. impeding cross-unit coordination and capture of strategic fits.  25. A company's ability to marshal adequate resources in support of new strategic initiatives and steer them to the appropriate organizational units is important to the strategy execution process because  A. changes in strategy often require resource reallocation and, therefore, directing the proper amounts of resources to strategy-critical organizational units because they need the proper funding to carry out their part of the strategic plan effectively and efÏciently. B. accurate budgets are the key to exercising tight financial controls over organizational units. C. tight budget control is management's most powerful tool for first-rate strategy execution. D. lean, carefully managed budgets protect the company's financial condition and eliminate wasteful use of cash. E. lean, strictly enforced budgets are management's best and most used means of getting organizational units to exercise fiscal discipline.  26. A change in strategy nearly always entails budget reallocations because  A. revamping the performance of value chain activities can be costly. B. the accompanying policy revisions and compensation incentives tend to require different levels of funding than before. C. organizational units important in the prior strategy but having a lesser role in the new strategy may need downsizing, while units and activities that now have a bigger and more critical strategic role may need more people, new equipment, additional facilities, and above-average increases in their operating budgets. D. empowering employees to carry out the new strategy elements typically requires substantial new funding and budget revisions. E. adopting best practices and pushing for continuous improvement tends to reduce costs and reduce overall resource requirements.  27. Which one of the following is not a benefit of prescribing policies and operating procedures to aid management's task of implementing strategy?  A. Painting a set of white lines that provides boundaries for the independent actions of empowered personnel B. Providing top-down guidance to operating managers, supervisory personnel, and employees regarding how things need to be done C. Promoting the creation of a work climate that facilitates good strategy execution D. Helping build employee commitment to adopting best practices and using the tools of TQM and Six Sigma E. Helping enforce consistency in how particular activities are performed  28. A useful guideline in designing strategy-facilitating policies and operating procedures is  A. to prescribe enough policies to give organizational members clear direction in implementing strategy and to place desirable boundaries on their actions, then empower them to act within these boundaries however they think makes sense. B. that strictly enforced policies work better than loosely enforced policies. C. that more policies/procedures work better than few policies/procedures and that strict enforcement always beats lax enforcement. D. to let individuals act in an empowered and self-directed way, subject only to the constraint that their actions and behavior be ethical and in step with the corporate culture. E. to prescribe enough policies and procedures that little is left to chance in performing value chain activities; employees should have no leeway to do things in a manner that deviates from the company's best practices standard.  29. The backbone of identifying, studying, and implementing best practices is  A. business process reengineering. B. a corporate culture that has a core value of operating excellence. C. benchmarkin g. D. Six Sigma quality control techniques. E. innovative application of TQM techniques. 