General Corporate Strategy MCQs

1. Which of the following is a Visit Cost of benchmarking?

2. Which of the following is an example of a retrenchment strategy?

3. With the inherent risk involved, why would a company choose unrelated diversification as a strategy?

4. What are the three varieties of Vertical Integration?

5. What kind of outlook would make organizational stability a prudent action?

6. What activity must come first in the performance management process?

7. Which of the following is not considered a corporate growth strategy?

8. How should a corporation structure itself in order to maximize its abilities to execute a strategy?

9. In 2013, Office Max and Office Depot completed a merger that allowed them to increase operating efficiencies. What is this type of merger known as?

10. According to the product life cycle, which stage do products occupy if they are characterized by slowing growth and lower profits caused by increased competition?

11. What benefit would diversification pose for a company such as BP?

12. What is an example of a growth strategy a firm may pursue?

13. What are two methods of implementing growth strategies?

14. Vertical integration provides what benefit to a firm?

15. In 2014, Google announced that it was selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for roughly $2.91 billion. What is this an example of?

16. What major disadvantage can a firm encounter with related diversification?

17. What is financing derived from the sale of common stock or from retained earnings?

18. Which of the following positioning strategies requires an organization to produce a specialized product or service that is targeted towards a small segment of customers?

19. Which of the following is a potential detriment that vertical integration causes?

20. What legal issue could potentially arise as a result of horizontal integration strategies?

21. Which of the following is not a step to the performance management cycle?

22. What is total quality management (TQM)?

23. True or False? Operational Management focuses on the responses of external market issues.

24. What growth strategy is implemented with the combination of equity and significant amounts of debt, while utilizing the target's assets to pay off said debt?

25. What is the main difference between corporate and business strategy?

26. Which of the following best categorizes individuals or groups who have an interest in the actions of an organizations?

27. What is the term used to describe a statement that oulines what a company does and its reason for existing?

28. Of the following, which is a potential course of action in the event of a catastrophic failure in growth strategies?

29. Which of the following is NOT an example of a corporate social responsibility activity?

30. Which of the following costs of inventory production is associated with storing products until they are to used or sold?

31. Performance benchmarking let's a firm:

32. What role does corporate governance framework play in corporate strategy?

33. How can corporations use executive compensation to focus management decision making on goals that are important to shareholders?

34. What is the term used to describe a broad vision that outlines where a company wants to go?

35. True or False? Corporate strategy deals with industries the firm seeks to compete in.

36. Concentration strategy is when a corporation does what?

37. When diversifying, what must be kept in tact to maintain the survival of the firm?

38. Which of the following best describes the stakeholder approach to social responsibility?

39. Why would a firm use diversification as a strategy?

40. What is organizational stability?

41. What is an example of a long-term consideration of a strategic corporation?

42. What company-wide message is delivered to describe a corporation's reason to exist?

43. An acquisition is the outright purchase of another company. What is a merger?

44. True or False? Benchmarking is comparing a firm's business metrics to the industry's bests.

45. What is an example of a benefit gained from corporate governance framework?

46. Which of the following is a business function of the value chain?

47. What is the process where one company purchases another and absorbs it into its existing operations?

48. True or False? The Business Process Improvement system is an approach to help a company achieve efficient results.

49. Which one of the following are Porter's generic strategies

50. What is the purpose of the poison pill?

51. What is a characteristic of a firm that is ideal for diversification?

52. Why would a corporation choose to focus on related diversification?

53. What is the difference between earnings per share and diluted earnings per share?

54. Developed by Kurt Lewin, the force field analysis helps managers identify the forces that encourage and prevent change in their organizations. According to the force field analysis, how should managers implement change?

55. Why are products identified as 'question marks' in the BCG Matrix challenging for management?

56. What are products that occupy the low market share and low growth quadrant of the BCG Matrix called?

57. According to Michael Porter's five forces, what is the impact of increased buyer power?

58. Which of the following statements best describes corporate strategy?

59. What is corporate governance framework?

60. When growth is vertical, what does this mean for a corporation?

61. Why is performing a gap analysis helpful in the change process?

62. Which of the following is generally considered the first step to implementing results-driven change?

63. What is inventory turnover?

64. Which of the following is not considered to be a level of strategy in an organization?

65. Which of the following is a potential detriment to concentration strategies?

66. Which of the following is true regarding the impact of diversification on an organization's performance?

67. Which error in decision-making typically results when managers have already devoted significant resources to a project but have yet to see financial results?

68. There are two major types of diversification. What are they?

69. What BCG Matrix strategy calls for reducing investment in a product to maximize profits and produce positive cash flows?

70. Which of the following is not a component to managing performance through management by objectives (MBO)?

71. Can a business strategy be interchangeable with a corporate strategy?

72. The Heptalysis Analysis is an early stage business/venture analysis using how many categories?

73. What does the L stand for in the PESTLE Analysis?

74. A firm replacing suppliers is vertically integrating ________________.

75. What method of operation the production of standardized products that can be produced prior to receiving customer orders?

76. When a firm engages in unrelated diversification, what kind of market are they expanding into?

77. Which of the following is a economic value trait?

78. What does it mean to integrate horizontally?

79. True or False? NACIS is a measurement of diversification.

80. What is an example of horizontal integration?

81. What is the term for a strategy where a business seeks to establish a long-term competitive advantage by improving value chain activities that substantially lower costs?

82. Of the following, which would benefit most from corporate strategy?

83. As a consequence of majority accounting scandals in the early 2000's, U.S. corporations have been forced to modify their existing governance structure. Which of the following represents the most significant change to the governance structure of U.S. corporations?

84. Which of the following is not a major perspective of the balanced scorecard?

85. Which of the following is part of John Kay's value chain concept?

86. Allocating capital throughout a diverse portfolio allows corporations to achieve what objective?

87. What does the M stand for in the MOST Business Analysis?

88. Which of the following barriers to change can be overcome by involving affects parties in the change process as closely as possible?

89. How many steps are there in the business process improvement analysis?

90. What is a competitive advantage?

91. What type of strategy attempts to answer the question: "How should we compete against a particular organization?"

92. Which of the following is not a social factor of the PEST analysis?

93. What are the two traits of corporate strategy?

94. When a firm engages in product-market exploration strategies, how is its focus shifting?

95. What duration should a firm undertake to achieve organizational stability?

96. Speed-based strategies focus on allowing the business to meet customer needs more quickly than competitors. Which one is an important activity to implementing a speed-based strategy?

97. What is meant by the practice of 'triangulation' in relation to currency trading?

98. Organizations typically monitor the 'defect rate' of their production processes. What type of measure is this?

99. Which is NOT an element in Porter's 'five forces analysis'?

100. In which planning situations is applying 'game theory' likely to be of least value?

101. What style of change is referred to by the Japanese term 'Kaizen'?

102. Which is NOT a reason for a production manager to benchmark output volumes?

103. i)The local community is relevant as a stakeholder only for public-sector organizations. ii)Investing resources in addressing local environmental concerns need not have an adverse effect on bottom-line performance.

104. Organizations may adopt 'time-based management' to improve efficiency. What does this approach involve?

105. Which would NOT be a sensible course of action if a company found that demand was exceeding supply?

106. Which one would be regarded as stakeholders in a steel mill?

107. Which one is a reason for effecting a merger?

108. Which is NOT a means of valuing a company?

109. Which is the 'R' element of the ADKAR model for individual change management?

110. Which of the following is an/are 'exit barrier/s'?

111. People can react very differently to change in an organization. Which best describe a 'change evangelist'?

112. i)A change 'programme' comprises multiple independent projects. ii)A change 'programme' should incorporate additional elements such as marketing and training.

113. The 'Peter Principle' states that employees are promoted to their 'level of incompetence'. Which of the following are valid approaches to avoiding this conundrum?

114. Which one best describes 'scenario planning' as a planning tool?

115. It is difficult for new companies to break into some markets due to factors like expensive infrastructure being required. What are these termed?

116. i)A Private Finance Initiative (PFI) involves a public-sector organization purchasing services from a private-sector company. ii)PFI contracts tend to be of less than ten years

117. i)All measures should be reported to the senior management. ii)Decisions should be made on the basis of quantitative data alone.

118. What is meant by the term 'lobster trap'?

119. i)Regulatory bodies may block a merger to prevent the creation of a monopoly. ii)Mergers may not involve a cash payment to the target

120. Benefits of monitoring performance?

121. Which relationship between two companies correspond to the 'symbiosis' model of takeover?

122. According to the BCG matrix for portfolio analysis, what should a company do where a product has low market share and low growth rate?

123. i)Recruiters should focus on selecting applicants with the skill set currently required by the employees. ii)A person who has the requisite skills for a position but has not applied is known as a

124. An acquisition is described as a 'leveraged buyout' when:

125. i)Manufacturing-based companies generally hold more stock than service-based ones. ii)Companies should always aim at maintaining a large volume of unused stock to avoid interruptions in production.

126. Due to the time value of money, organizations may seek to cut costs by developing different elements of a new product at the same time rather than consecutively. Which of the following describes this approach?

127. A set of a company's stakeholders (e.g. its creditors) is known as a:

128. What is meant by the term 'learning organization'?

129. Which is NOT a reason for a company to outsource some of its functions to a spin-out company it has created?

130. Preparing for senior staff retirements so that suitably-skilled replacements are ready to take over their roles is known as:

131. Which is the most appropriate level for the 'Quick' ('Acid-test') Ratio?

132. i)Organizations should seek to keep staff turnover as low as possible. ii)Employing staff on fixed-term contracts enables an organization to respond more dynamically to changing requirements.

133. What is meant by the term 'horizontal merger'?

134. One means of measuring the performance of an organization is to calculate its exposure to risk. Which TWO of the following factors should be multiplied to quantify risk?

135. Which is not a potential problem associated with cost-benefit analysis?

136. i)Businesses should focus only on stockholderss' (shareholders') interests. ii)As its owners, stockholders (shareholders) are responsible for the running of a company.

137. How is a company's 'Economic Value Added' (EVA) calculated?

138. The process of identifying the full range of an organization's stakeholders and their respective interests is known as stakeholder _______.

139. Which describe the practice of 'short selling'?

140. What is meant by the term 'ideal vector' in relation to market positioning?

141. Which document encapsulates the desired future state of an organization?

142. Which one is an example of an 'input' measure?

143. What specifically is the purpose of a 'balanced scorecard'?

144. Which is a disadvantage of maintaining a high Cash Asset Ratio (Liquidity Ratio)?

145. Which one is a reason to make use of external consultants?

146. Which is NOT a typical benefit of high staff retention rates?

147. Which is the best definition of the term 'stakeholder'?

148. Which apply to a market that is 'price inelastic'?

149. In which TWO organizations would a 'Theory Y' approach to managing staff be most appropriate?

150. i)'Process' change is best implemented independently of 'people' change. ii)Introducing a change will tend to have a negative short-term impact.

151. A company's duty to consider the wider impact of its operations is known as:

152. Which is NOT a stage in the Kubler-Ross model, which describes the stages of people's reactions to change?

153. A situation where a smaller company takes over a larger one and retains its brand is known as a:

154. What is meant by the term 'zero-profit condition'?

155. A visual means of presenting a suite of performance measures is referred to as a:

156. Which describe the term 'purchasing economies of scale'?

157. Under which parameter would a company be most likely to adopt a 'differentiation' strategy?

158. Demand curves are not typically smooth. Points on the curve that optimize demand and price are known as:

159. i)Fluctuations in a company's share price do not necessarily mirror its overall performance. ii)Introducing more KPIs will make an organization's performance monitoring more effective

160. Because the availability of some types of resources is limited, unit costs may, in the long run, rise as output increases. What is this phenomenon known as?

161. Dividing an organization's objectives into short-term, medium-term and long-term ones and tackling them in that order is known as:

162. Which statements is/are true?

163. Gleicher's 'Formula for Change' is written: D x V x F > R. What does the 'D' stand for?

164. Which best define 'Market Segmentation'?

165. In which issue might a labor union (trade union) be an important stakeholder?

166. Which is the correct expansion of the acronym 'KPI'?

167. Which outcome is NOT typically associated with adopting 'Just-In-Time' principles?

168. Which refer to something that a particular organization does well?

169. Organizations often use a PEST analysis to identify the external factors by which they are affected.What does the 'S' of PEST stand for?

170. Which scenario would NOT encourage a company to re-position itself within its market?

171. Which would be sensible response to the under-utilization of capacity due to lack of demand for products?

172. Brands in a market can be placed on a graph to understand their market positioning. What is this analytical technique known as?