Org. Theory and Design: Chapter 8 (True/False)

A strategy is a specific pattern of decisions and actions that managers take to utilize core competences to achieve a competitive advantage and outperform competitors. True or False?

Core competences are skills and abilities in value-creation activities, such as manufacturing, marketing, or R&D, that allow a company to achieve superior efficiency, quality, innovation, or customer responsiveness. True or False?

Functional resources are the skills possessed by an organization's functional personnel. True or False?

It is sufficient that an organization has high-quality functional resources; these resources must also be unique and difficult to imitate. True or False?

Organizational resources include the skills of a company’s top management team, the vision of its founder/CEO, and the possession of valuable and scarce resources. True or False?

Specialized resources and coordination abilities are the sources of an organization's core competences. True or False?

In an international strategy, companies with a wide range of products use a global product group structure.

The product group structure allows a company to achieve superior efficiency and quality, but it is weak when it comes to responsiveness to customers.

A global matrix structure can lower global cost structures and differentiate activities through superior innovation and responsiveness to customers globally.

The product group managers are responsible for organizing all aspects of value creation on a global level.

The main drawback of the global matrix structure is that it does not provide flexibility for managing local issues.

In a transnational strategy, the focus is still on centralized control.

Implementing a global strategy involves locating manufacturing and other value chain activities at global locations to increase efficiency and quality.

The product group structure reduces the transaction costs involved in managing handoffs across countries and world regions.

Companies implementing an international strategy lose the benefits of operating globally.

A company embarking on a global strategy may use a product group structure to decide how best to pursue global strategy and which value-chain activities should be performed where for increased efficiency.

An organization's ability to coordinate its functional and organizational resources creates a competitive advantage. True or False?

Global expansion allows an organization to create value for its stakeholders in three ways. True or False?

Corporate-level strategy is formulated at three organizational levels. True or False?

The responsibility of top-management team is to decide how to position the organization to compete for resources in its environment. True or False?

Functional-level strategy aims to create core competence that gives the organization a competitive disadvantage. True or False?

The strength of a function's core competence depends only on its skills and resources. True or False?

It is very difficult for a competitor to imitate an organization's structure but easy to imitate its culture. True or False?

Business-level strategy focuses on selecting the domain in which an organization can take advantage of its functional-level core competences. True or False?

An organization can only pursue either low-cost or differentiation business-level strategy, not both simultaneously. True or False?

An organization has to change its business-level strategy over time to match changes in its environment. True or False?

A focus strategy refers to diversifying in multiple segments of a market. True or False?

A low-cost strategy is associated with the need for close control of functional activities to monitor and lower the costs of product development. True or False?

An organization's choice of structure is influenced by wider range of products, new customer groups, and pace of new product development.

A functional structure is sufficient for a low-cost organization to coordinate its core competences.

A market or geographical structure is best for an organization that handles different groups of customers.

A product team or matrix structure is suitable when rapid product development and speedy response to competitors are crucial for competitive advantage.

An organization must match its business-level strategy to the organizational structure to create competitive advantage.

Organizations pursuing a low-cost strategy must develop values of economy and frugality.

Cultural values of innovation, quality, excellence, and uniqueness help a differentiator implement its chosen strategy and become a source of competitive strength.

Vertical integration involves an organization taking over and owning its suppliers or distributors.

Related diversification is the entry into a new domain related in some ways to an organization’s core domain.

A multinational structure is generally used when a company pursues a multi-domestic strategy.

Implementing a global strategy generally involves locating manufacturing and other value chain activities at global locations to increase efficiency and quality.

The global matrix structure provides flexibility for managing local issues.