Roll No ___________________ Set-1

DeshBhagat University, MandiGobindgarh

Faculty of Industry Integrated Program
EMBA/MBA/M.Com/MBAHA-4th Sem/Jan-Intake 3rd Sem.
Strategic Management
EMBA-41/M.Com-401/MBA 42/MHA-401MBA_401
Time Allotted: 1 Hrs. Max Marks:
50
Instructions:-
a) Question paper booklet carries 50 Multiple Choice Questions (As per the scheme)
b) Attempt all the questions, each question carries one mark.
c) No negative marking for wrong answer.
d) Each question carries 4 multiple choice answers
e) Only one option to be darkened on OMR Sheet with blue or black pen only, multiple options marked will be
treated as invalid answer.
f) Question booklet to be handed over along with OMR sheet.

1. Strategic management is mainly the responsibility of

(a) Lower management (b) Middle management (c) Top management
(d) All of the above
2. Change in company’s ………. gives rise to problems necessitating a new ……… to be made
(a) structure, strategy (b) strategy, structure (c) structure, structure
(d) strategy, strategy

3. Match the following

Question Correct Answer
a. Retrenchment Strategies 1. Retrenchments – either internally or externally
2. Contraction of activities through elimination of the scope of
b. Divestment Strategies
one or more of its business
c. Turnaround Strategies 3. Involves the sale or liquidation of a portion of a business
(A) a-1, b-2, c-3(B) a-3, b-2, c-1 (C) a-2, b-3, c-1 (D) a-3, b-1, c-2
4. ETOP stands for ________.
(A) environmental threat & opportunity project (B) environmental threat & opportunity profile(C) environmental treaty &
opportunity profile(D) environmental threat & optimum profile
5. Harvest strategy is used for
(A) Dogs (B) Question marks (C) both ‘A’ and ‘B’ (D) none of the above
6. The ________ are distinct little business set up as units in a larger company.
(A) Small business Units (B) Strategic business Units (C) Internal business Units
(D) All of the above
7. _______ should have the ability to develop a vision to see patterns into the future.
(A) Leaders (B) Managers (C) Management (D) Workers
8. Strategic management deals with
(A) Production and quality (B) Profit and loss (C) Business process (D) All of the above
9. Benchmarking is
(A) Historical analysis (B) Competitive analysis (C) Re-engineering (D) All of the above
10. A major part of strategy implementation is
(A) Planning (B) Communication (C) Resource allocation (D) Monitoring
11. These people are charged with the responsibility of continuous screening of performance?
(A) Managers (B) Supervisors (C) Top management (D) Audit committee
12. Three C’s affecting today’s companies are
(A) Customer, Competition, Change (B) Cost, Competition, Change

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(C) Customer, Competition, Cost (D) Customer, Cost, Change
13. Strategic management is concerned with
(A) Short range planning (B) Long range planning (C) Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
(D) None of the above
14. The strategic management process is
a. a set of activities that will assure a temporary advantage and average returns for the firm.
b. a decision-making activity concerned with a firm's internal resources, capabilities, and competencies, independent of
the conditions in its external environment.
c. a process directed by top-management with input from other stakeholders that seeks to achieve above-average returns
for investors through effective use of the organization's resources.
d. the full set of commitments, decisions, and actions required for the firm to achieve above-average returns and strategic
competitiveness.
15. All of the following are assumptions of the resource-based model EXCEPT
a. Each firm is a unique collection of resources and capabilities.
b. The industry's structural characteristics have little impact on a firm's performance over time.
c. Capabilities are highly mobile across firms.
d. Differences in resources and capabilities are the basis of competitive advantage.
16. The resource-based model of the firm argues that
a. all resources have the potential to be the basis of sustained competitive advantage.
b. all capabilities can be a source of sustainable competitive advantage.
c. the key to competitive success is the structure of the industry in which the firm competes.
d. resources and capabilities that are valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and non-substitutable form the basis of a firm's core
competencies.
17. The goal of the organization's ____ is to capture the hearts and minds of employees, challenge them, and evoke their
emotions and dreams.
a. vision b. mission c. culture d. strategy
18. A firm's mission
a. is a statement of a firm's business in which it intends to compete and the customers which it intends to serve.
b. is an internally-focused affirmation of the organization's financial, social, and ethical goals.
c. is mainly intended to emotionally inspire employees and other stakeholders.
d. is developed by a firm before the firm develops its vision.
19. New entrants to an industry are more likely when (i.e., entry barriers are low when...)
a. it is difficult to gain access to distribution channels.
b. economies of scale in the industry are high.
c. product differentiation in the industry is low.
d. capital requirements in the industry are high.
20. ________ is/are the source of a firm's ____, which is/are the source of the firm's ____.
a. Resources, capabilities, core competencies
b. Capabilities, resources, core competencies
c. Capabilities, resources, above average returns
d. Core competencies, resources, competitive advantage
21. Business-level strategies detail commitments and actions taken to provide value to customers and gain competitive
advantage by exploiting core competencies in
a. the selection of industries in which the firm will compete. b. specific product markets.
c. primary value chain activities. d. particular geographic locations.
22. Business-level strategies are concerned specifically with:
a. creating differences between the firm's position and its rivals.
b. selecting the industries in which the firm will compete.
c. how functional areas will be organized within the firm.
d. how a business with multiple physical locations will operate one of those locations.
23. A cost leadership strategy targets the industry's ____ customers.
a. most typical b. poorest c. least educated d. most frugal
24. When the costs of supplies increase in an industry, the low-cost leader

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a. may continue competing with rivals on the basis of product features.
b. will lose customers as a result of price increases.
c. will be unable to absorb higher costs because cost-leaders operate on very narrow profit margins.
d. may be the only firm able to pay the higher prices and continue to earn average or above- average returns.
25.When a product's unique attributes provide value to customers, the firm is implementing
a. a differentiation strategy. b. a cost leadership strategy.
c. an integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategy. d. a single-product strategy.
26.A company pursuing a differentiation or focused differentiation strategy would
a. have highly efficient systems linking suppliers' products with the firm's production processes.
b. use economies of scale.
c. have strong capabilities in basic research.
d. make investments in easy-to-use manufacturing technologies.
27. Competitive rivalry has the most effect on the firm's ____ strategies than the firm's other strategies.
a. business-level b. corporate-level c. acquisition d. international
28. Firms with few competitive resources are more likely
a. to not respond to competitive actions. b. respond quickly to competitive actions.
c. delay responding to competitive actions. d. respond to strategic actions, but not to tactical actions.

29. The risks of a cost leadership strategy include:

a. becoming "stuck in the middle."
b. production and distribution processes becoming obsolete
c. the ability of competing firms to provide similar features in a product.
d. customers deciding the product isn't worth what the firm must charge for it.
30. A firm successfully implementing a differentiation strategy would expect:
a. customers to be sensitive to price increases. b. to charge premium prices.
c. customers to perceive the product as standard. d. to automatically have high levels of power over suppliers.
31. A differentiation strategy provides products that customers perceive as having:
a. acceptable features.
b. features of little value relative to the value provided by the low-cost leader's product.
c. features for which the customer will pay a low price.
d. features that are non-standardized for which they are willing to pay a premium.
32. The differentiation strategy can be effective in controlling the power of rivalry with existing competitors in an industry
because:
a. customers will seek out the lowest cost product.
b. customers of non-differentiated products are sensitive to price increases.
c. customers are loyal to brands that are differentiated in meaningful ways.
d. the differentiation strategy benefits from rivalry.
33. When implementing a focus strategy, the firm seeks:
a. to be the lowest cost producer in an industry.
b. to offer products with unique features for which customers will pay a premium.
c. to avoid being stuck in the middle.
d. to serve the specialized needs of a market segment.
34.The difference between a merger and an acquisition is that
A. A merger involves one company purchasing the assets of another company with cash, whereas an acquisition involves
a company acquiring another company by buying all of the shares of its common stock
B. A merger is a pooling of equals whereas an acquisition involves one company, the acquirer, purchasing and absorbing
the operations of another company, the acquired
C. In a merger the companies retain their original names whereas in an acquisition the name of the company being
acquired is changed to be the name of the acquiring company
35. Porter's Generic strategies comprises of:
a) Cost leadership, differentiation and scope b) Product and Market
c) Integrated approach d) Hyper competition
36. Strengths and weaknesses are important ingredients of:

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a) The industry b) The Organization and the competitors
c) The Market d) The firm
37. The _________ answers the question "What do we want to become?" whereas _________answers the question "What
is our business?"
a) Short term objectives; long term objectives b) Short term plans; long term plans
c) Vision Statement; Mission Statement d) Objectives; Strategie
38. he critical 7 S model was developed and created by reputed consulting firm:
a) Mckinsey b) Bain & Co c) A T Kearney d) Accenture
39. Change in culture, attitude, and mindset calls for:
a) engagement, involvement and motivation of employees
b) Rigorous performance appraisal
c) Performance benchmarking
d) Organization design change
40. Business ethics suggests that business should be run profitably without causing:
a) Unnecessary environmental damage b) Depletion of resources
c) Insider trading d) All of these
41. The difference between strategy formulation and strategy implementation is that:
a) Strategy is developed by Top Management Team and implemented by Managers
b) Strategy is created by a few but implemented by all
c) Strategy is customer centric and implementation is operations centric
d) All of these
42. Which one of the following is not a part of the Critical 7S model
a) Strategy b) Style c) Settings d) Staff
43. The nine-cell industry attractiveness-competitive strength matrix
A. Is useful for helping decide which businesses should have high, average and low priorities in allocating corporate
resources
B. Indicates which businesses are cash hogs and which are cash cows
C. Pinpoints what strategies are most appropriate for businesses positioned in the three top cells of the matrix but is less
clear about the best strategies for businesses positioned in the bottom six cells
44. The most important strategy-making guidance that comes from drawing a 9-cell industry attractiveness-competitive
strength matrix is
A. Which businesses in the portfolio have the most potential for strategic fit and resource fit
B. Why cash cow businesses are more valuable than cash hog businesses
C. That corporate resources should be concentrated on those businesses enjoying both a higher degree of industry
attractiveness and competitive strength and that businesses having low competitive strength in relatively unattractive
industries should be looked at for possible divestiture

45.Strategic alliances:
A.Are the cheapest means of developing new technologies and getting new products to market quickly
B. Are collaborative arrangements where two or more companies join forces to achieve mutually beneficial strategic
outcomes
C. Are a proven means of reducing the costs of performing value chain activities
46.A low-cost leader's basis for competitive advantage is
A. Lower prices than rival firms
B. Using a low cost/low price approach to gain the biggest market share
C. High buyer switching costs
D. Meaningfully lower overall costs than competitors
47. Company attempting to be successful with a broad differentiation strategy has to
A. Study buyer needs and behavior carefully to learn what buyers consider important, what they think has value and what
they are willing to pay for
B. Incorporate more differentiating features into its product/service than rivals
C. Concentrate its differentiating efforts on marketing and advertising (where almost all differentiating features are

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created)
48. A company achieves best-cost provider status by
A. Selling a product with the best cost at the best price
B. Having the best cost (as compared to rivals) for each activity in the industry's value chain
C. Providing buyers with the best attributes at the best cost
D. Incorporating attractive or upscale attributes into its product offering at a lower cost than rivals
49. The two biggest drawbacks or disadvantages of unrelated diversification are
A. Underemphasizing the importance of resource fit and the strong likelihood of diversifying into businesses that top
management does not know all that much about
B. Insufficient cash flows to finance so many different lines of business and a lack of uniformity among the strategies of
the businesses it has diversified into
C. Volatile sales and profits and making the mistake of diversifying into too many cash cow businesses
D. The difficulties of competently managing many different businesses and being without the added source of competitive
advantage that cross-business strategic fit provides
50. The economic environment refers to:
a. the nature and direction of the economy in which a firm competes or may compete.
b. the economic outlook of the world provided by the World Bank.
c. an analysis of how the environmental movement and world economy interact.
d. an analysis of how new environmental regulations will affect our economy.

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 DeshBhagat University, MandiGobindgarh
Faculty of Industry Integrated Program
EMBA/MBA/M.Com/MBAHA-4th Sem/Jan-Intake 3rd Sem.
Strategic Management
EMBA-41/M.Com-401/MBA 42/MHA-401MBA_401

ANSWER KEY: Set 1

Total Questions: 50 Max Marks: 50
1 c 11 d 21 b 31 d 41 d
2 b 12 a 22 a 32 c 42 c
3 c 13 b 23 a 33 d 43 a
4 b 14 d 24 d 34 b 44 c
5 c 15 c 25 a 35 a 45 b
6 b 16 d 26 c 36 b 46 d
7 a 17 a 27 a 37 c 47 a
8 c 18 a 28 c 38 a 48 d
9 b 19 c 29 b 39 d 49 d
10 c 20 a 30 b 40 d 50 a