written-exam-gsoc-october-26th-2023-final.pdf

lOMoARcPSD|7864644 Written Exam GSOC October 26th 2023 final Growth Strategies and Organizational Challenges (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) Scannen om te openen op Studeersnel Studee...

lOMoARcPSD|7864644 Written Exam GSOC October 26th 2023 final Growth Strategies and Organizational Challenges (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) Scannen om te openen op Studeersnel Studeersnel wordt niet gesponsord of ondersteund door een hogeschool of universiteit Gedownload door Roos Snels ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|7864644 School of Business and Economics Exam: Growth Strategies & Organiza琀椀onal Challenges Code: E_BA_GSOC Examinator: prof. dr. M.J. Flikkema Co-reader: dr. M. Bahlmann Date: October 26th, 2023 Time: 6.45-9.30 pm Dura琀椀on: 2 hours and 45 minutes Calculator allowed: No Graphical calculator allowed: No Number of ques琀椀ons: 7 Type of ques琀椀ons: Open and mul琀椀ple choice ques琀椀ons Answer in: English Remarks: Credit score: 90 credits counts for a 10 Grades: The grades will be made public on November 9 th, 2023 at the latest. Inspec琀椀on: to be announced via Canvas Number of pages: (6 (including front page)) Good luck! 1 Gedownload door Roos Snels ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|7864644 1. Business planning for 昀椀rm performance (Total: 10 credits) In the 昀椀rst plenary lecture we discussed the impact of business planning on 昀椀rm performance. Brinckmann et al. (2010), wrote “Should entrepreneurs plan or just storm the castle?” in the Journal of Business Venturing (JBV). A. What do the authors of this JBV-ar琀椀cle mean with entrepreneurs ‘storming the castle’? (3 credits) B. The ar琀椀cle by Brinckmann et al. (2010) analyzes speci昀椀c planning-contexts where a planning-based approach creates be琀琀er performance. For which two planning contexts do they 昀椀nd sta琀椀s琀椀cal evidence in their meta- analysis? For which context-hypothesis do the authors not 昀椀nd any sta琀椀s琀椀cal evidence? (5 credits) C. A昀琀er studying the ar琀椀cle by Brinckmann et al. (2010) we can conclude: “Overall, business planning is a value crea琀椀ng ac琀椀vity despite the required resources and [……….] 昀椀rms’ resource constraints.” What has to be 昀椀lled out between the brackets? A. medium sized B. small C. large (2 credits) 2. Interna琀椀onal diversi昀椀ca琀椀on and 昀椀rm performance (Total: 10 credits) In the second plenary lecture of the GS&OC course we discussed the relatedness of interna琀椀onal diversi昀椀ca琀椀on and 昀椀rm performance. A. Which shape describes the relatedness of interna琀椀onal diversi昀椀ca琀椀on and 昀椀rm performance best? Explain also why it has this shape. (1+3 credits). B. Explain which liabili琀椀es a 昀椀rm has to overcome when entering foreign markets? (4 credits). C. Which of the following factors is a moderator of the relatedness between interna琀椀onal diversi昀椀ca琀椀on and 昀椀rm performance? (2 credits): A. volume of intangible assets B. volume of tangible assets C. resource fungibility 2 Gedownload door Roos Snels ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|7864644 3. Innova琀椀on versus imita琀椀on (Total: 13 credits) How to capture value from innova琀椀on, was the key ques琀椀on in the fourth plenary lecture in the GS&OC course. Basically, the challenge for innovators is to make sure that they capture the business poten琀椀al of an innova琀椀on. We learned about the importance of (1) the strength of appropriability regimes and (2) complementary asset posi琀椀ons. A. Explain how the economic rents of an innova琀椀on will be divided over the innovator and the owner of relevant complementary assets for di昀昀erent appropriability regimes (‘weak’ versus ‘strong’) and di昀昀erent distribu琀椀ons of complementary assets (‘freely available’ versus ‘琀椀ghtly held’). (4 credits) B. Explain three di昀昀erent factors that according to James et al. (2013) in their paper “How 昀椀rms capture value from their innova琀椀ons” may determine decision makers’ preference for Intellectual Property Rights over other appropria琀椀on measures. (9 credits) 4. Stakeholder- versus shareholder-oriented growth (Total: 14 credits) In Instrumental Stakeholder Theories, close rela琀椀onships with stakeholders are considered important resources for achieving growth objec琀椀ves. The stakeholder rela琀椀onships are even considered VRIN resources, so when they’re deployed in the right way they’ll contribute to sustainable compe琀椀琀椀ve advantage. A. When are resources considered VRIN according to the Resource Based View on organiza琀椀ons? (4 credits) B. Develop three arguments for the di昀케culty of imita琀椀ng close stakeholder rela琀椀onships. (6 credits) C. Give two reasons why 昀椀rms don’t treat their stakeholders respec琀昀ully although Instrumental Stakeholder Theorists are considering stakeholders important instruments for achieving growth objec琀椀ves (4 credits) 3 Gedownload door Roos Snels ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|7864644 5. Growing with technology enabled self-services or employee provided services (Total: 15 credits) Given the labor market issues many 昀椀rms are currently facing, implemen琀椀ng self-service technologies seems to be an appealing and viable op琀椀on for 昀椀rm growth. The value of technology-based self-service has been explored and analyzed sta琀椀s琀椀cally by Scherer et al. (2015). A. Draw the conceptual model Scherer et al. (2015) propose, with customer reten琀椀on as their dependent variable. Please also explain the conceptual model in your own words. (5 credits) B. Which service theory are the authors proposing to understand the value of self-service? How is value created according to this theory? (2 credits) C. What are the moderators of the rela琀椀onship between the service proposi琀椀on type and the reten琀椀on of customers according to Scherer et al. (2015)? (4 credits) D. What is the overall conclusion of the Scherer et al. (2015) ar琀椀cle and which type of analysis did the authors use to arrive at this conclusion? (4 credits) 6. Related versus unrelated diversi昀椀ca琀椀on (Total: 13 credits) In the plenary lecture about diversi昀椀ca琀椀on we have studied the rela琀椀onship between resource 昀氀exibility and the 昀椀rm-level tendency to invest in related or unrelated diversi昀椀ca琀椀on. A. Describe and explain the shape of the above men琀椀oned rela琀椀onship. (5 credits) B. Why would 昀椀rms owning a lot of Intellectual Property predominantly invest in related and not in unrelated diversi昀椀ca琀椀on? Please use patents and trademarks in your answer. (6 credits) C. Which argument is NOT used in the literature to explain a posi琀椀ve linear rela琀椀onship between the relatedness of a 昀椀rm’s product and service por琀昀olio and its overall 昀椀nancial performance? (2 credits) A. Market power B. Marke琀椀ng synergies C. Increasing coordina琀椀on costs 4 Gedownload door Roos Snels ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|7864644 7. Growing with products or services (Total: 15 credits) In the plenary lecture on growth strategies with either novel products or services, we discussed the Service Opportunity Matrix introduced by Sawhney et al. (2004). Consider the following case of Amazon, posted on October 12 th 2023 in Fortune Magazine: “Amazon is set to do with logistics services what it did with cloud computing—and it may be a $100 billion move” Amazon.com Inc.’s next big thing might be lurking in the expensive supply chain apparatus that’s helped transform its e-commerce business into a juggernaut. The Seattle-based company’s expansion into so-called logistics services — shipping and distribution — could eventually be worth more than $100 billion in revenue, according to Truist Securities analyst Youssef Squali. “By turning its logistics network into a service offering for off-Amazon merchants, we believe the company is turning a major cost center into a profit center,” Squali, a long-time Amazon bull who has had a buy rating on the stock since initiating coverage in 2017, wrote in a research note Wednesday. A. How would Sawhney et al. (2004) name the exploita琀椀on of this growth opportunity and why? (5 credits) B. How would you try to mi琀椀gate the market risks -if any- in this case? Apply insights from the Sawhney ar琀椀cle (5 credits) C. Give an example of how companies try to mi琀椀gate capability, market and 昀椀nancial risks of new service o昀昀erings with speci昀椀c Design Strategies. Apply insights from the Sawhney ar琀椀cle. (5 credits) 5 Gedownload door Roos Snels ([email protected])  lOMoARcPSD|7864644 Relevant literature Brinckmann, J., Grichnik, D., & Kapsa, D. (2010). Should entrepreneurs plan or just storm the castle? A meta-analysis on contextual factors impacting the business planning–performance relationship in small firms. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(1), 24-40. James, S. D., Leiblein, M. J., & Lu, S. (2013). How firms capture value from their innovations. Journal of management, 39(5), 1123-1155. Sawhney, M., Balasubramanian, S., & Krishnan, V. V. (2004). Creating growth with services. MIT Sloan Management Review, 45(2), 34. Scherer, A., Wünderlich, N. V., & Von Wangenheim, F. (2015). The value of self-service. MIS quarterly, 39(1), 177-200. 6 Gedownload door Roos Snels ([email protected])