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Management
th
6 Edition
by Schermerhorn et al.
© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

Management, 6th Edition
Chapter 9
Strategic management
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of the following statements is FALSE?
a. The ultimate goal of any organisation is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

b. A sustainable competitive advantage is one that is difficult for competitors to imitate.
*c. The ultimate goal of any organisation is to achieve competitive advantage.
d. The task of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage can be challenging in any setting.
e. To gain sustainable competitive advantage, an organisation must consistently deal with market and
environmental forces better than its competitors.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Achieving sustainable
competitive advantage is necessary for organisations to either adapt to or create changes in the
environment in which it operates. If competitive advantage is not sustainable over time, their markets
and stakeholders will change without them, and the organisations will quickly shrink and fail.
2. __________ refers to an organisation acquiring or developing an attribute or combination of attributes

that allows it to outperform its rivals.
a. Competitive effectiveness
*b. Competitive advantage
c. Competitive success
d. Rival behaviour
e. Dominating competition
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? These attributes can be
related to resources (fixed plant, capital, intellectual property, human resources, and rare, exclusive or
controlled resources), technology, or innovation.
3. __________ is a pattern in a stream of decisions an organisation takes.
a. Ecological management
b. Problem-solving
c. Objective setting
d. Decision-making
*e. Strategy
© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2017 Chapter 9 Strategic management 2
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Strategy is created when
an organisation makes a series of inter-related and inter-dependent decisions, selecting the most
appropriate decisions from a range of alternatives.
4. A __________ is a plan for using resources consistent with __________.
a. vision; strategic organising

b. budget; leadership behaviour
*c. strategy; strategic intent
d. strategy; legitimate leadership
e. strategy; transformational leadership
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Once an organisation has
chosen to intentionally pursue a certain goal, the strategy it develops must contribute to, progress toward,
and align with the goal.
5. Strategy provides the plan to allocate and organise resources with strategic __________ to focus an
organisation's activities toward a unified and compelling goal.
a. thinking
*b. intent
c. functions
d. plan
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Forming a strategic
intent is the crucial first step in executing organisational strategy. Organisations must intentionally
investigate, select, and implement strategies to survive.
6. Evolving customer demands and conditions in the general operating environment increasingly drive
__________ in contemporary organisations.
a. communications
b. problem-solving
c. objective setting
d. decision-making
*e. strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Recent research is
indicating that customer and consumer power, moderated by economic and social forces, are the primary
driving force organisations respond to when formulating strategy.
7. According to Harvard scholar Michael Porter, the ultimate goal for any business should be ________.
a. maximum market share.

*b. superior profitability.
c. maximum wealth creation.
d. total customer satisfaction.
e. industry domination.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Porter's statement refers
to the willingness for investors to fund a business which will return more profit than if the investor put
their money into an alternative investment that carried a similar level of risk.
8. The essence of __________ is looking ahead, understanding the environment and the organisation,
and effectively positioning the organisation for competitive advantage.
*a. strategic management

b. strategic analysis
c. market analysis
d. environmental scanning
e. portfolio planning
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Executives, leaders, and
managers involved in forming and implementing strategy need to anticipate a vast range of factors and
conditions both internal and external to the organisation in order to shape the organisation's response to
the changing environment.
9. _________ are those returns that exceed what an investor could earn by investing in alternative
opportunities of equivalent risk.
*a. Above-average returns

b. Excessive profits
c. Contribution opportunities
d. Investor profit returns
e. Equivalent risk payoffs
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? When investors consider
where to put their money, they frequently rely on a risk vs reward assessment. If an investment
opportunity offers more reward (profit) for the same level of risk, they are more likely to place their
money there (when compared to alternative investments).
10. Aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing can be considered to operate in a(n)
____________.
a. protected monopoly environment.

b. hypercompetition environment.
c. anti-competitive environment.
d. national environment.
*e. oligopoly environment.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? In an industry where only
a small number of organisations have the power to offer goods and services to customers, an oligopoly
exists.
11. Which one of the following statements does NOT provide an accurate description of the monopoly
environment?
a. It is an environment in which there is only one player and no competition.

b. It is an environment that creates absolute competitive advantage.
c. It is an environment that delivers sustainable and most likely excessive business profit.
d. Alternatives A and B both provide accurate descriptions of the monopoly environment.
*e. Alternatives A, B and C all provide accurate descriptions of the monopoly environment.
f. Alternatives B and C both provide accurate descriptions of the monopoly environment.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Monopoly environments
are uncommon in developed Western economies, as they tend work against the gains competition brings
to society, such as lower prices to consumers, and innovation in products and services.
12. An oligopoly environment can be described an environment:
a. that can sustain long-term competitive advantages within defined market segments.
b. that can reap excessive business profits in the absence of competition within defined market segments.
c. with few players who are more influenced by the actions of their rivals than those of their customers.
d. none of the options listed.
*e. all of the options listed.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? In an industry or market
where only a small number of organisations operate and offering goods and services to customers, and
exercise a large amount of market power an oligopoly exists.
13. The __________ is an environment that contains a few players who do not directly compete against
one another.
a. monopoly environment
b. hypercompetition environment
c. anti-competitive environment
d. dysfunctional environment
*e. oligopoly environment
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? In an industry or market
where only a small number of organisations operate and offering goods and services to customers, and
exercise a large amount of market power an oligopoly exists.
14. Which of the following statements does NOT characterise the environment of hypercompetition?
a. Hypercompetition is direct and intense.

b. There are always winners and losers in hypercompetition.
c. Hypercompetition is fostered by information technology and globalisation.
d. Profits can be attractive but intermittent.
*e. Any competitive advantage that is realised in hypercompetition is relatively permanent.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Competitive advantages
in hypercompetitive environments are quickly copied and mimicked by competitors.
15. The environment in which there are at many organisations who compete directly with each other is
known as a(n):
*a. hypercompetition environment.

b. oligopoly environment.
c. monopoly environment.
d. perfect competition environment.
e. pure competitor environment.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? Hypercompetitive
environments are characterised by competitors mimicking each other's strategies and ideas, constant
innovation and change, and lower prices to customers.
16. Successful strategic management occurs when organisations formulate and implement strategies that
_______.
a. fulfil the organisation's social responsibility objectives.
b. enable employees to be well paid.

c. fit with the organisation's stakeholders and mission.
*d. achieve long-term, sustainable competitive advantage.
e. enable the organisation to make an annual profit.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? For a strategy to be truly
successful, it must be able to deliver a sustainable competitive advantage, which allows the organisation
to deliver superior profitability on an ongoing basis.
17. Which of the following statements about the competitive nature of organisational environments is
CORRECT?
a. The oligopoly environment has only one player and no competition.

*b. The hypercompetition environment has at least several key players who compete directly with each
other.
c. The monopoly environment contains a few players who do not compete directly against one another.
d. None of the options listed.
e. All of the options listed.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.1: What are the foundations of strategic competitiveness? The responses for A and
B define the opposite term.
18. __________ refers to a leader's capability to enthuse people to successfully engage in a process of
continuous change, refinement and implementation of organisational strategies.
*a. Strategic leadership

b. Visionary leadership
c. Change leadership
d. Transformational leadership
e. Transactional leadership
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Strategy is about anticipating and positioning for
change. However, as perfect insight to the future is not possible, it requires a significant degree of
leadership practices and skills to encourage people's participation, energy, and commitment to goals if it
is to be implemented successfully.
19. As part of the strategic management process, strategy formulation involves:
a. identifying the existing mission, objectives and strategies.

b. analysing the industry and external environment as well as organisational resources and capabilities.
c. revising the mission and objectives and selecting new strategies.
*d. all of the options listed.

e. none of the options listed.
f. both A and C.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? The three strategy formulation activities;
identifying corporate objectives, environmental analysis, and selecting strategies (revising objectives if
needed) must be completed before the strategy implementation phase can begin.
20. The major responsibilities of the strategic management process are ___________.
a. strategy implementation.
b. strategic thinking.
c. strategy formulation.
d. both B and C.
*e. both A and B.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Strategic intent supports both strategy
formulation and strategy implementation; both may be broken down to a sequence of steps and
processes which must be completed for the strategic management process to be successful.
21. __________ is the process of allocating resources and putting strategies into action.
a. Action operationalising
*b. Strategy implementation
c. Mission implementation
d. Leadership actualising
e. Goal activation
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Strategy implementation has two major sets of
activities, allocating resources and using organisational assets to execute the strategy, and reviewing and
evaluation the outcomes.
22. Peter Drucker indicates that managers should ask five questions in the process of formulating an
organisation's strategy. Which of the following is NOT one of these questions?
a. Who are our customers?

b. What do our customers consider value?
c. What is our business mission?
d. What have been our results?
*e. Who are our competitors?
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Drucker's questions focus internally on the
organisation, externally on their customers, and the relationship between the two parties.
23. The __________ responsibility of strategic management requires decisions, imposes risks, demands
allocation of resources and requires work.
a. core values assessment

b. environmental scanning
c. management formulation
*d. strategy implementation
e. leadership determination
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? This is Drucker's call to action, where a range of
strategic management tasks must be mastered and executed for the implementation to succeed.
24. The __________ begins with a careful assessment and clarification of organisational mission, values
and objectives.
*a. strategic management process

b. culture formation process
c. organisational planning process
d. strategic evaluation process
e. leadership process
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? From the creation of strategic intent comes the
critical questions which must be satisfied for a strategy to be successful - "What is/are our strategic
mission, goals, and values?"
25. Strategy implementation includes _________________.
a. utilising management systems and practices

b. evaluating results and renewing the strategic management process
c. mobilising resources
d. none of the options listed
*e. all of the options listed
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Strategy implementation has two major sets of
activities, allocating resources and using organisational assets to execute the strategy, and reviewing and
evaluation the outcomes.
26. In enabling the success of strategic management, certain crucial questions need to be asked and
answered. Which of the following is NOT one of these crucial questions?
a. Where do we want to be in the future?

b. How well are we currently doing?
*c. What business are our competitors in?
d. Are things working out as planned?
e. How can we get where we really want to be?
General Feedback:
Learning objective2. The questions are listed in the Manager's notepad 9.1. Option A is not given as a
crucial question.
27. Important strategic management tasks include all of the following EXCEPT ___________
a. assessing current performance in relation to mission and objectives.

b. creating strategic plans to accomplish mission and objectives, and implementing those plans.
c. identifying organisational mission and objectives.
d. implement the strategic plans.
e. evaluating the results, and changing strategic plans or implementation processes as necessary.
*f. providing visionary and inspirational leadership.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? There are five essential sets of tasks to be
mastered for strategic management to be successful; while leadership is useful, it is not essential.
28. The mission of an organisation describes its __________.
a. cultural edge
b. competitive advantage
*c. reason for existence
d. social advantage
e. environmental goals
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? An organisation's mission is the expression of
the role it seeks to play in an economy or society.
29. A good mission statement should incorporate all of the following elements EXCEPT:
a. the location in which the firm intends to operate.

b. the underlying corporate philosophy.
c. the products/services the firm intends to provide.
*d. the firm's competition in the local environment.

e. the customers the firm will serve.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Mission statements are formed to express and an
agreed set of goals and conditions used to align and direct activities towards their achievement.
30. Michael Hammer recommends that an organisation's mission statement should address certain
questions, including which of the following?
a. What are we moving to?

b. What is our dream?
c. What kind of difference do we want to make in the world?
*d. All of the options listed.
e. None of the listed.
f. Only B and C.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Hammer's 'mission questions' serve to focus
attention on the core role the organisation is to play, and set parameters and conditions for the
achievement of that role.
31. As part of the strategic planning process, a __________ is concerned with assessing the interests of
each group of stakeholders as well as the organisation's response to them.
a. corporate culture analysis

b. competitor analysis
c. mission and domain analysis
d. business portfolio planning analysis
*e. strategic constituencies analysis
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Stakeholders' interests need to be examined and
validated to ensure their interests are considered in the strategy formulation process.
32. Which of the following statements accurately describes the benefits associated with strong core
values?
a. Strong core values give character to an organisation.

b. Strong core values back up the mission statement.
c. Strong core values help guide members' behaviour in meaningful and consistent ways.
e. Both A and C.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Strong core values build organisational identity,
with which its members associate, and work to enact and reinforce the organisation's mission.
33. Organisational culture accomplishes all of the following EXCEPT:
a. it shapes the values of managers and other organisation members.

b. it points people in common directions.
*c. it determines the strategy to be pursued.
d. it backs up the mission statement.
e. it helps build institutional identity.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Organisation culture develops inside an
organisation and influences the member's behaviour, values and ethics.
34. __________ direct activities towards key and specific performance results.
a. Marketing objectives
b. Strategic objectives
c. Accounting objectives
d. Resource objectives
*e. Operating objectives
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Operating objectives should have clear links
between the outcome of the particular objective and its contribution toward the mission of the
organisation, and are generally dealt with in a shorter timeframe.
35. According to Peter Drucker, the common operating objectives for organisations may include the
following EXCEPT ____________
a. gaining and holding a specific share of a product market.

b. recruiting and maintaining a high-quality workforce.
c. producing at a net profit in business.
*d. developing a strong culture to effectively mould employees' behaviour.
e. acquiring financial capital and earning positive returns.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Although a strong culture may aid in achieving
operating objectives, Drucker's objectives are primarily concerned with objectives that directly
contribute to organisational health and sustainability.
36. __________ are shorter term targets against which actual performance results can be measured.
a. Financial objectives
b. Strategic objectives
c. Production objectives
*d. Operating objectives
e. Quality objectives
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Operating objectives should have clear links
between the outcome of the particular objective and its contribution toward the mission of the
organisation, and are generally dealt with in a shorter timeframe.
37. Widgets-R-Us manufactures a range of industrial fittings. Operating objectives for the company
might include all of the following EXCEPT ____________
*a. designing an adaptive organisation.

b. producing high-quality goods.
c. using resources well to operate at low cost.
d. making a positive contribution to society.
e. developing new products and/or processes.
General Feedback:
Learning objective2. Although an adaptive organisation may aid in achieving operating objectives,
Drucker's objectives are primarily concerned with objectives that directly contribute to organisational
health and sustainability.
38. A(n) ____________ involves an assessment of organisational strengths and weaknesses as well as
environmental opportunities and threats.
*a. SWOT analysis

b. structural analysis
c. organisational objectives analysis
d. capacity analysis
e. efficiency analysis
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? A SWOT analysis is the systematic evaluation of
an organisation's resources and capabilities, strengths and weaknesses from inside the organisation, and
opportunities and threats from outside.
39. The common operating objectives for organisations might include all of the following EXCEPT
*a. designing an adaptive organisation.
b. producing high-quality goods or services.

c. using resources well to operate at low cost.
d. making a positive contribution to society.
e. developing new products and/or processes.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Although a strong culture may aid in achieving
operating objectives, Drucker's objectives are primarily concerned with objectives that directly
contribute to organisational health and sustainability.
40. In evaluating the organisational resources and capabilities, a major goal is to identify _________
a. operating objectives.
b. core objectives.
*c. core competencies.
d. potential barriers.
e. important external stakeholders.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Core competencies are special strengths that give
an organisation its competitive edge.
41. Core competencies can be found in an organisation's special strengths. Which of the following would
NOT be one of these special organisational strengths?
a. Unique product distribution systems

*b. Favourable governmental regulations
c. Efficient manufacturing technologies
d. Exclusive access to key resources
e. Special knowledge or expertise
General Feedback:
Learning objective2. Favourable government regulations apply to all competitors, and therefore don't
offer a unique advantage to any single firm.
42. __________ refer to special strengths that the organisation has or things the organisation does well
in comparison with competitors.
*a. Core competencies

b. Special characteristics
c. Special capabilities
d. Unique capability strengths
e. Organisational strength factors
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Core competencies are special strengths that give
an organisation its competitive edge.
43. In conducting a SWOT analysis, the examination of organisational strengths should consider all of
the following factors EXCEPT:
a. a skilled workforce.
b. a good market share.
*c. manufacturing bottlenecks.
d. a superior reputation.
e. strong financing.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? A manufacturing bottleneck is a weakness, not a
strength.
44. In conducting a SWOT analysis, issues regarding out-dated facilities, inadequate research and
development, obsolete technologies, weak management and past planning failures would be addressed in
analysing the company's _______
a. strengths.
*b. weaknesses.
c. strategies.
d. threats.
e. opportunities.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Obsolete technology, plant, assets and poor
human resources are all weaknesses.
45. In doing a SWOT analysis, the examination of organisational weaknesses should consider all of the
following factors EXCEPT _________
a. inadequate research and development.

b. obsolete technologies.
c. out-dated facilities.
*d. experienced and competent management.
e. weak management.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Experienced and competent managers are a
valuable strength to an organisation.
46. In a SWOT analysis, industry environmental factors include the organisation's _____________
a. resource suppliers.
b. competitors.
c. customers.
d. A and B
*e. A, B, and C
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Suppliers, competitors and customers all
influence the organisation external environment.
47. Potential opportunities and threats can be in identified in __________ and __________.
a. the internal SWOT analysis; the external SWOT analysis

*b. the macroenvironment; the industry environment
c. the external organisational environment; the internal organisational environment
d. the organisation's mission; culture
e. the organisation's strengths; weaknesses
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Opportunities and threats are always external to
the organisation.
48. In doing a SWOT analysis, the examination of threats within the industry and macroenvironments
should address all of the following elements EXCEPT ________________
*a. abundance of resources.

b. changing market tastes.
c. new competitors.
d. substitute products.
e. new regulations.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? External threats are those which may impact the
organisation from the outside.
49. In conducting a SWOT analysis, a company's __________ can be examined by asking questions
about possible new markets, the growth of existing markets, the emergence of new technologies and the
weaknesses of market rivals.
a. environment
b. weaknesses
c. strategies
d. threats
*e. opportunities
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Opportunities come from outside the
organisation, the result of changes in technology, imperfect competition amongst competitors, new
consumers or new product and service demands.
50. Which of the following is NOT one of the five strategic forces that should be considered in
conducting an industry analysis?
a. Threats of new competitors entering the market

*b. Impact of developments in information technology
c. Intensity of rivalry among firms in the industry
d. Threats of substitute products or services
e. Bargaining power of buyers
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Porter's five forces model is based on the
assumption that market players assess the economic value transactions in terms of the value of exchange
and economic power, and base strategic decisions on the likelihood that suppliers, customers, actual and
new rivals will act from economic self-interest.
51. In conducting a SWOT analysis, a company's __________ should be assessed in terms of new
competitors, possible resource shortages, changing market tastes, substitute products and new
regulations.
a. strengths
b. weaknesses
*c. threats
d. strategies
e. opportunities
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Threats to an organisation are external and
generally outside the organisation's control.
52. From the perspective of Porter's five forces model, a(n) __________ is one with less intense
competition, few threats from new entrants or substitutes and low bargaining power among suppliers and
buyers.
a. unattractive industry
b. competitive industry
*c. attractive industry

d. unsustainable industry
e. noncompetitive industry
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Such an industry is open to a successful firm
establishing a monopoly or oligopoly position, which supports the establishment of a sustainable
competitive advantage.
53. From the perspective of Porter's five forces model, a(n) __________ is one in which intense rivalry
already exists among competitors, there are substantial threats in terms of new competitors and
substitute products, and suppliers and buyers are very powerful in bargaining over prices and quality.
*a. unattractive industry

b. competitive industry
c. attractive industry
d. normal industry
e. noncompetitive industry
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.2: What is strategic management? Porter's five forces model is based on the
assumption that market players assess the economic value transactions in terms of the value of exchange
and economic power, and base strategic decisions on the likelihood that suppliers, customers, actual and
new rivals will act from economic self-interest. An industry such as one described in the question has
intense competition with multiple players, in such a market profits likely to be low. This is typical of an
environment of hypercompetition described on page 229.
54. __________ focuses on the strategic question: In what industries and markets should we compete?
a. Capital strategy
b. Competitive strategy
c. Environmental strategy
*d. Corporate strategy
e. Business strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? Corporate strategy is the top
strategic decision level and defines the organisation's central purpose and domain of operation.
55. Which of the following lists correctly identifies the different levels of strategy that can exist in a
business?
a. National strategy, regional strategy and local strategy

b. Growth strategy, retrenchment strategy and stability strategy
*c. Corporate strategy, business strategy and functional strategy

d. Top-level strategy, middle-level strategy and lower level strategy
e. Corporate strategy, divisional strategy and work group strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? The three levels of strategy
are inter-related. Each level of an organisation has their own strategic contribution to the firm's success.
Each level has their own role to play in achieving the firm's strategic objectives.
56. A __________ strategy involves growth through expansion within the same business area.
a. diversification
b. horizontal diversification
*c. concentration
d. vertical integration
e. unrelated diversification
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? Concentration strategies
work by focussing a firm's attention locally or regionally, creating greater presence amongst consumers
in a particular marketplace.
57. __________ answers the question: How can we best use resources to implement our business
strategy?
a. Operating strategy
*b. Functional strategy
c. Regional strategy
d. Corporate strategy
e. Business strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? The functional strategic level
supports both business and corporate strategic levels by performing the functional activities and roles of
an organisation in a focused manner that aligns with and meets the needs of the organisation achieving
their objectives.
58. A __________ strategy involves growth through the acquisition of, or investment in, new and
sometimes different business areas.
*a. diversification
b. related diversification
c. concentration
d. vertical integration
e. unrelated diversification
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? When a firm chooses a
diversity strategy, they may choose to acquire or develop a business in a related area (such as a car
manufacturer introducing a line of trucks) or an unrelated area (such a supermarket selling home
insurance).
59. __________ involves growth by acquiring new businesses or entering business areas that are
different from what the organisation already does.
a. Related diversification
*b. Unrelated diversification
c. Supply chain management
d. Vertical integration
e. Backward integration
General Feedback:
insurance).
60. __________ involves growth by acquiring new businesses or entering business areas that are related
to what the organisation already does.
*a. Related diversification

b. Unrelated diversification
c. Concentration
d. Vertical integration
e. Forward integration
General Feedback:
insurance).
61. Diversification through __________ occurs when a business seeks added value creation by acquiring
suppliers or distributors.
a. related diversification
b. cash cows
c. concentration
*d. vertical integration

e. divestiture
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? Vertical integration provides
an advantage to a firm by securing exclusive rights to critical supply chain inputs, and giving them more
control over the cost, timing and quality of goods and services delivered in the supply chain.
62. Which description of retrenchment is INCORRECT?
a. Restructuring is a less extreme form of retrenchment.

*b. Supply chain integration involves implementing changes in the scale and/or mix of operations in
order to gain efficiency and improve performance.
c. Liquidation is the most extreme form of retrenchment.
d. Restructuring by divestiture involves selling off parts of the organisation to refocus on core
competencies, cut costs and improve operating efficiency.
e. Restructuring is sometimes accomplished through downsizing.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? Implementing changes in the
scale and/or mix of operations in order to gain efficiency and improve performance is restructuring.
63. A __________ is used where changes in the scale and/or mix of operations are implemented in order
to gain efficiency and improve performance.
a. related diversification strategy

b. retrenchment
*c. restructuring strategy
d. all of the options listed
e. integration strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? Restructuring aims to
reallocate and reorganise existing resources into a modified or new organisational structure to ensure
resources are utilised with maximum efficiency and effectiveness in order to achieve corporate strategic
goals.
64. Strategic alliances include which of the following possibilities?
a. A firm contracting to purchase important services from another organisation

b. The development of preferred supplier relationships guarantee a smooth and timely flow of quality
materials among alliance partners.
c. Firms joining together for sales and distribution of products or services
e. None of the options listed.

f. Both A and C.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? Strategic alliances take many
forms, however the goal of whichever form it takes is the optimisation of benefit to all parties.
65. __________ occur(s) when two or more organisations join together in partnership to pursue an area
of mutual interest.
a. Horizontal integration
*b. Strategic alliances
c. Vertical integration
d. Organisational collusion
e. Strategic contracts
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? Cooperative strategies
between organisations to form strategic alliances allow all involved parties to maximise their
contribution to the alliance by maximising their areas of special skills and capabilities.
66. __________ involve the use of information technology and the Internet to link organisations
vertically with members of their supply chains.
a. B2C strategies
b. C2B strategies
*c. B2B strategies
d. O2O strategies
e. S2B strategies
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? B2B (business to business)
strategies exploit the rapid and accurate transfer of information between supply chain stakeholders in
order to facilitate each stakeholder has the information required to operate at maximum efficiency.
67. A(n) __________ is the strategic use of the Internet to gain competitive advantage.
a. focused differentiation strategy

*b. e-business strategy
c. growth strategy
d. contemporary strategy
e. supply chain strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.3: What types of strategies are used by organisations? E-business strategies are no
longer simply supplying goods and services through online 'shops'; supply chain management, HR,
accounting, marketing and communications, and data management are all functions facilitated online in
contemporary business.
68. Which one of the following statements does NOT accurately describe an aspect of Michael Porter's
generic strategies model?
a. Sources of competitive advantage reflect whether the advantage is sought through lower price or
product uniqueness.
b. The market scope and source of competitive advantage variables combine to generate four generic
strategies that an organisation can pursue in seeking to gain a strategic advantage.
c. Market scope measures the breadth or narrowness of the target market.
d. Porter's generic strategies focus on business-level strategy formulation.
*e. Porter's generic strategies include stars, cash cows, dogs and question marks.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Porter's generic strategies are formed by a
combination of 'market scope' and 'competitive advantage source' factors in specific configurations.
Stars, cash cows, etc. are features of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix.
69. The major opportunities for developing competitive advantage have traditionally included all of the
following EXCEPT:
*a. social progress.

b. barriers to entry.
c. cost and quality.
d. knowledge and timing.
e. financial resources.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Cost/quality, knowledge/timing, entry barriers,
and financial resources are all areas over which a firm has a reasonable degree of influence. No firm has
significant influence over social progress.
70. Organisations pursuing a __________ seek a competitive advantage by directing the organisation's
resources and attention towards distinguishing its products from those of the competition.
a. cost leadership strategy

*b. differentiation strategy
c. focused differentiation strategy
d. emergent strategy
e. focused cost leadership strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Differentiation strategies seek to place a product,
service, brand or firm in a category which is clearly distinguished from its rivals.
71. Michael Porter's generic strategies model identifies four fundamental strategies. Which of the
following correctly describes these strategies?
a. Stars, cash cows, dogs and question marks.

b. Growth, differentiation, incremental and emergent.
c. Introduction, growth, maturity and decline.
d. Growth, retrenchment, vertical integration and stability.
*e. Differentiation, cost leadership, focused differentiation and focused cost leadership.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Porter's generic strategies are formed by a
combination of 'market scope' and 'competitive advantage source' factors in specific configurations. By
locating a strategy at a point in the array created by the vertical 'Market scope' axis and the horizontal
'Source of competitive advantage' axis, the four generic strategies of differentiation, cost leadership,
focused differentiation and focused cost leadership are formed.
72. Organisations pursuing a __________ seek a competitive advantage by concentrating on one special
market segment and trying to offer customers in that segment a unique product.
a. cost leadership strategy

*b. focused differentiation strategy
c. differentiation strategy
d. emergent strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Focused differentiation strategies seek to not
only distinguish the product from its rivals, but to create a uniquely distinguished product for a specific
market segment.
73. Understanding product life cycles and __________ is an important business skill.
*a. adjusting strategy accordingly

b. minimising their impact
c. managing the growth curve
d. none of the options listed
e. all of the options listed
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Product life cycles must be monitored and
managed in order to maximise a firm's success. Managers must be able predict and account for the
introduction, growth, maturity and decline of products in the marketplace and have a continuous
schedule of replacement products available to replace the previous product as it enters its decline phase.
74. Organisations pursuing a __________ seek a competitive advantage by directing the organisation's
resources and attention towards minimising costs to operate more efficiently than the competition.
*a. cost leadership strategy

b. focused differentiation strategy
c. differentiation strategy
d. emergent supply cost strategy
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Cost leadership strategies operate to reduce costs
at every stage of the production and distribution processes in order to increase profit margins for the firm.
This may be passed on to consumers, or may be retained as greater profit by the firm.
75. ABC Industries has recently launched a new product. Which of the following strategies would be
most appropriate at this stage of ABC's life cycle?
*a. Significant investment in advertising and market research.

b. Emphasis on gaining production efficiencies.
c. Defender or analyser strategies.
d. All of the options listed are accurate.
e. Both B and C are accurate.
General Feedback:
Learning objective4. At the introduction stage, investment is best applied to establishing the product in
the market place and establishing a user base. Once established, future strategies can include customer
retention, repeat business, and cost efficiencies.
76. Which statement accurately describes the goal of portfolio planning?
*a. To help managers strategically invest scarce organisational resources among competing business
opportunities
b. To help managers determine the best way to beat the competition
c. To help managers decide on corporate-level strategy in multibusiness or multiproduct situations
d. To help managers identify a firm's market share relative to its competitors
e. To help managers maximise stock market awareness of their business
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Portfolio planning is a strategic task that seeks to
ensure that the best value is gained from a firm's investment. A firm may have many business
opportunities that they can exploit, however they have a responsibility to plan for and select
opportunities that maximise returns from scarce resources.
77. Which of the following statements provides an accurate description of the strategies that should be
used at different stages of the product life cycle?
*a. Products in the introduction and growth stages lend themselves to differentiation and prospector
strategies, and require investments in advertising and market research to establish a market presence and
build a customer base.
b. In the decline stage, the strategic emphasis shifts towards keeping customers and gaining production
efficiencies through focus and/or cost leadership strategies.
c. During maturity, defender or analyser strategies may appear as strategic planners seek ways to extend
product life.
d. All of the options listed are accurate.
e. B and C are accurate.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? At the introduction stage, investment is best
applied to establishing the product in the marketplace and establishing a user base. Once established,
future strategies can include customer retention, repeat business, and cost efficiencies.
78. In the BCG matrix, a 'star' refers to an organisation or subunit that has:
a. a low market share in a low-growth market.

b. a moderate market share in a moderate-growth market.
c. a low market share in a high-growth market.
d. a high market share in a low-growth market.
*e. a high market share in a high-growth market.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? In order to gain maximum return from
investment using the BCG model, firms need to direct their resources to products where there is a
significant growth in the size of the whole market, and room to expand their share of that market. Such a
product or business unit is termed a 'star' in the BCG matrix.
79. The BCG portfolio planning model uses an analysis of __________ and __________ to identify
business opportunities and appropriate business strategies.
a. product alternatives; forecasted profitability

b. market growth rate; costs of operation
c. investment alternatives; rates of return
d. market share; customer needs
*e. market growth rate; market share
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? In order to gain maximum return from
investment using the BCG model, firms need to direct their resources to products where there is a
significant growth in the size of the whole market, and room to expand their share of that market.
80. According to the BCG matrix, a 'question mark' refers to an organisation or subunit that has:

b. a moderate market share in a high-growth market.
*c. a low market share in a high-growth market.
d. a low market share in a low-growth market.
e. a high market share in a moderate-growth market.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? 'Question mark' units are usually dealt with one
of two ways - either investing resources into gaining more market share, or retiring/retrenching the unit.
81. A 'cash cow', as the term is used by the Boston Consulting Group, refers to an organisation or
subunit that has:

b. a moderate market share in a moderate-growth market.
c. a low market share in a high-growth market.
*d. a high market share in a low-growth market.
e. a high market share in a high-growth market.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? A 'cash cow' has already reached the zenith of its
growth, and the market it is in is either stagnant or growing very slowly. In portfolio planning this unit's
role is to provide stable cash incomes. Strategically, managers will typically seek to reduce this unit's
costs and retain customers as long as possible.
82. The __________ is an alternative portfolio planning approach that uses the planning dimensions of
business strength and industry attractiveness.
a. Miles and Snow adaptive model

*b. GE Business Screen
c. Incrementalism screen
d. Michael Porter Screen
e. BCG Screen
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? The GE business screen analyses both the
industry in which a business unit operates (for size, growth, capital requirements) and the
strength/weakness of the particular business unit. The resulting information allows managers to make
the decision to grow, maintain, or sell the business unit.
83. The Miles and Snow adaptive model emphasises that organisations should pursue strategies that:
a. give the organisation cost leadership or product/service differentiation.

b. minimise the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation.
c. consider the organisation's market share and growth position.
*d. are congruent with the nature of their external environments.
e. allow an organisation to make decisions incrementally.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? The Miles and Snow adaptive model gives
primacy to conditions in the external environment, acknowledging that some firms can be quite
profitable by exploiting external environmental attributes.
84. Which of the following statements does NOT accurately describe the GE Business Screen?
a. Business strengths reflect market share, technological advantage, product quality, operating costs and
price competitiveness.
b. Industry attractiveness reflects market size and growth, capital requirements and competitive intensity.
c. It uses the planning dimensions of business strength and industry attractiveness.
*d. Combining the business strength and industry attractiveness variables yields a nine-cell matrix that
identifies business units as 'stars', 'question marks', 'cash cows' or 'dogs'.
e. Both business strength and industry attractiveness are categorised as low, medium and high.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Stars, question marks, cash cows and dogs are
all names used in the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix.
85. In the Miles and Snow adaptive framework, an organisation is following a(n) __________ strategy
when it pursues innovation and new opportunities in the face of risk and with prospects for growth.
a. analyser
b. reactor
*c. prospector
d. turnaround
e. defender
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Prospector strategies are typically suited to
developing and dynamic environments, often giving successful firms 'first-mover-advantage'.
86. In the Miles and Snow adaptive framework, an organisation is following a(n) __________ strategy
when it avoids change by emphasising existing products and current market share without seeking
growth.
a. analyser
b. focus
c. prospector
d. turnaround
*e. defender
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? The defender strategy seeks to maintain market
share and cash flow, and is most suitable for stable markets and products.
87. __________ is the view that strategies take shape, change and develop over time as modest and
gradual adjustments result from managers' learning and experience.
*a. Incrementalism
b. Rapid adaptation
c. Portfolio management
d. Primary optimisation
e. Strategic planning
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Incrementalism is typically associated with the
change and learning that occurs as a result of a manager's trial and error processes.
88. An organisation is following a(n) __________ strategy when it simply responds to competitive
pressures in order to survive.
a. analyser
b. focus
c. prospector
*d. reactor
e. defender
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Reactor strategies are those of a last resort, and
are usually forced upon firms externally, such as by financiers, large and powerful clients, and
government regulation.
89. __________ develop(s) progressively over time as managers make 'streams' of decisions while they
learn from and respond to work situations.
a. Incrementalism
*b. Emergent strategies
c. Strategic opportunism
d. The managerial learning curve
e. Incremental strategies
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.4: How are strategies formulated? Emergent strategies can be described as being
greater than the sum of their parts, they are the product of a stream of decisions over a period time,
interconnected with stakeholders, internal and external environments, and acknowledges the role of the
manager's continually emerging competence.
90. Successful strategies share several essential features. Which of the following is NOT one of these
essential features?
a. Every strategy requires supporting structures, well-designed tasks and workflows, and the right people.
b. Every strategy requires leaders who can energise people and build performance commitments.
c. The entire organisation and all of its resources must be mobilised in support of the strategies.
*d. Every strategy requires leaders who are willing to take risks on behalf of the organisation.
e. Every strategy requires leaders who can use teams and teamwork to the best advantage.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.5: What are current issues in strategy implementation? Strategy is about
anticipating and positioning for change. However, as perfect insight to the future is not possible, it
requires a degree of managed risk to be truly successful. Leaders who can tolerate risk and lead
organisations into new areas and new understandings are essential for strategy to be implemented
successfully.
91. Current issues in the proper implementation of strategy include:
a. re-emphasis on excellence in all management systems and practices.

b. the importance of strategic leadership.
c. the responsibilities of corporate governance.
*d. All of the options listed
e. A and C.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.5: What are current issues in strategy implementation? Implementation of strategy
requires a combination of management tasks and procedures, correct application of corporate
governance, and leadership at all levels of the organisation.
92. Senior managers at ACME Corporation do not currently have a formal role in company strategic
planning. Instead they rely on the planning department to perform all strategic planning tasks. This is a:
*a. failure of process.

b. failure of management foresight.
c. failure of substance.
d. failure of strategic leadership.
e. failure of corporate governance.
General Feedback:
Learning objective5. Strategy process failures occur when one or more components are under-weighted
or inadequately attended to. In this case, it is possible that the planning department did not canvas all
three levels of strategy in forming their ideas, and considered only the functional and business level
strategies.
93. Paying inadequate attention to the analysis of mission and purpose, core values and corporate culture,
organisational strengths and weaknesses, and environmental opportunities and threats constitutes a
strategic planning pitfall known as:
a. failures of process.
b. failures of management foresight.
*c. failures of substance.
d. failures of strategic leadership.
e. failures of corporate governance.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.5: What are current issues in strategy implementation? This term refers to the lack
of substantial effort, thought, consolation and analysis which undermines the formation and execution of
strategies. Many strategic efforts have been bought undone by facile or incompetent planning and
execution. A common occurrence is forming strategies with a pre-determined outcome in mind, where a
manager seeks to justify their pre-conceived ideas and plans.
94. Today's organisations are experiencing new pressures from boards of directors and other major
stakeholder representatives. The pressures from these groups focus on
a. shareholder control.
*b. corporate governance.
c. governmental interference.
d. corporate management.
e. corporate mandates.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.5: What are current issues in strategy implementation? Corporate governance refers
to the performance and control of executive and senior executive staff.
95. Poor handling of the ways in which various aspects of strategic planning are accomplished constitute
a strategic planning pitfall known as:
*a. failures of process.

b. failures of management foresight.
c. failures of substance.
d. failures of strategic leadership.
e. failures of corporate governance.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.5: What are current issues in strategy implementation? Strategy process failures
occur when one or more components are under-weighted or inadequately attended to.
96. __________ is the system of control and performance monitoring of top management that is
maintained by boards of directors and other major stakeholder representatives.
a. Stakeholder oversight
b. Top management oversight
*c. Corporate governance
d. Corporate performance review
e. Corporate performance auditing
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.5: What are current issues in strategy implementation? Corporate governance refers
to the performance and control of executive and senior executive staff.
97. Which of the following is not one of the critical tasks of strategic leadership?
a. Create a sense of urgency by not allowing the organisation and its members to grow slow and
complacent.
b. Ensure that top management understands the strategy so that they can direct their subordinates in
carrying it out.
c. Be a guardian of tradeoffs by ensuring that the organisation's resources are allocated in ways
consistent with the strategy.
d. Be a great communicator by keeping the message simple and focused on the firm's strategic priorities.
*e. Evaluate and record progress toward the goal using E-strategy tools.
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.5: What are current issues in strategy implementation? This so-called 'soft side' of
strategy is often the most difficult to achieve, encouraging, influencing, and developing staff at all levels
of the organisation align with and work to the organisation's strategies, while at the same time having to
manage the by-products of strategy - divestment and retirement of divisions or units.
98. In corporate governance, controversies often arise over the roles of ________ and ________.
a. internal customers; external customers

b. customers; suppliers
c. managers; non-management employees
*d. inside directors; outside directors
e. stakeholders; shareholders
General Feedback:
Learning objective 9.5: What are current issues in strategy implementation? Inside directors and outside
directors often have divergent interests in an organisation. Inside directors are frequently senior
executives who need to balance off their day to day executive responsibilities and their directorial duties.
Outside directors have no executive responsibility. Inside directors are in the position of needing to self-
regulate their interests as both executives and directors, where outside directors only have that interest to
be accountable for.
Short Answer Questions
99. What is a SWOT analysis? Discuss the types of issues and questions that should be dealt with when
conducting a SWOT analysis.
Correct Answer:
A SWOT analysis involves an assessment of organisational (internal) strengths and weaknesses as well
as environmental (external) opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis begins with a systematic
evaluation of the organisations' resources and capabilities. A major goal is to identify core competencies
in the form of special strengths that the organisation has or where it does exceptionally well in
comparison with competitors. Similarly, organisations must also analyse the weaknesses against the
competitors. In relation to understanding the opportunities and threats facing the organisation, it is
relevant to note that the more stable and predictable the environment, the more likely that a good
strategy can be implemented with success for a longer period of time. But when the environment is
composed of many dynamic elements that create uncertainties, more flexible strategies that change with
time are needed.
100. Explain the importance of creating sustainable strategic competitiveness.
Correct Answer:
One of the main goals of every business is predictable financial performance, especially if the business
is publicly held. Shareholders will quickly de-value share prices if they feel uncertain about cashflow,
growth, and long-term security of their capital. Similarly, staff and other stakeholders will begin to feel
uncertain for the same reasons, and may withdraw their support and commitment to the organisation.
Organisations need to work towards sustainable competitiveness, where they form, implement, evaluate
and refine strategies which ensure their continuing survival and performance. One major consideration is
the ever-changing internal and external environment businesses operate in. If businesses don't anticipate
future conditions and form strategies accordingly, what is a competitive advantage for them now will
almost certainly not be an advantage at all in the future.
101. Compare and contrast the basic variables contained in Porter's generic strategies model and the
BCG matrix. Also explain the recommendations for strategy formulation that each model provides.
Correct Answer:
According to Porter, business level strategic decisions are driven by two basic factors: market scope and
source of competitive advantage. The four competitive positions that were illustrated by Porter are
differentiation (offers products that are unique and different from the competitors), cost leadership
(seeks to operate with lower costs than competitors), focussed differentiation (offers a unique product to
a special market segment) and focussed cost leadership (seeks the lowest costs of operations within a
special market segment). Differentiation strategy seeks competitive advantage through uniqueness. The
organisations should develop goods and services that are clearly different from those made available by
the competition. Organisations pursuing a cost leadership strategy will need to improve the operating
efficiencies of production, distribution and other organisational systems. The objective is to have lower
costs than competitors and achieve higher profits.
BCG Matrix ties strategy formulation to an analysis of business opportunities according to industry or
market growth rate and market share. There are four possible business conditions, which are being
associated with a strategic implication: stars - high market share, high growth business; cash cows - high
market share, low growth businesses; question marks - low market share, high growth business; and
dogs - low market share and low growth businesses. The preferred strategy for stars is growth and
further resource investments. The preferred strategy for promising question marks is also growth
strategy while others are candidates for restructuring or divestiture. Students will need to compare and
contrast these two frameworks according to what was illustrated above.
102. Compare and contrast the different strategies for growth and diversification. Explain the conditions
and circumstances in which each of them is best suited.
Correct Answer:
Organisations pursue growth strategies to increase in size and expand its current operations. One
approach to growth is through concentration, where expansion is within the same business area. Another
approach to growth is through diversification, where expansion takes place through the acquisitions of,
or investment in, new and sometimes different business areas. A related diversification involves growth
by acquiring new businesses or entering business areas that are related to what the organisation already
does. Unrelated diversification involves growth by acquiring businesses or entering business areas that
are different to what the organisation already does. Diversification can also take the form of vertical
integration, where a business seeks added value creation by acquiring suppliers (backward integration)
or distributors (forward integration).
A retrenchment strategy involves reducing the scale of current operations. The most extreme
retrenchment strategy is liquidation, when operations cease due to the complete sale of assets or the
declaration of bankruptcy. A less extreme strategy of retrenchment is to go through a restructuring
process, which changes the scale and/or mix of operations to gain efficiency and improve performance.
Restructuring is sometimes accomplished by downsizing which decreases the size of operations with the
intent to become more streamlines. Restructuring by divesture involves selling off parts of the
organisation to refocus on core competencies, cut costs and improve operating efficiency.
103. Some researchers claim that product life cycles are shortening. Think of one product or service that
fits into the introduction, growth, maturity, and decline stages of the product life cycle. Estimate the
length in years of the life cycle of each product.
Correct Answer:
The pace of change is increasing in developed societies, consequently the consumers are demanding
improvements and changes to existing products more frequently. Most students will be able to name a
technology product which is in the introduction phase (such as a new social media site), growth phase
(tablets and e-readers), maturity phase (laptop computers) and decline phase (desktop computers).
104. Explain how strategic leadership can be carried out in an organisation?
Correct Answer:
Strategic leadership enthuses people to continuously change, refine and improve strategies and their
implementation. Porter argues that the managing director or the CEO of an organisation has to be the
chief strategist who has to be the guardian of trade-offs. It is the leader's job to make sure that the
organisation's resources are allocated in ways consistent with the strategy. A strategic leader also needs
to create a sense of urgency, not allowing the organisation and its members to grow slow and
complacent. A strategic leader needs to make sure that everyone understands the strategy, as otherwise
the daily tasks and contributions of people lose context and purpose. A strategic leader also needs to be a
teacher and be a great communicator. Finally, top management of an organisation must work up to the
full potential in order to bring the full advantages of teamwork to strategic leadership.
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CHAPTER X.
CAMPAIGN OF KHALID IN IRAC.
A.H. XII. A.D. 633.
Chaldæa and the south of Syria belong,

as well by nature as by population, to Collision with border tribes
Arabia. The tribes inhabiting that region, led to conflict with Roman
and Persian empires.
partly heathen, at the time we write of, but
chiefly Christian, formed an integral portion of the Arab race. As
these resisted the Moslem columns engaged on the frontier, they
were eventually supported by their respective sovereigns—the
western tribes by the Byzantine empire, and the eastern by Persia.
Thus through them the struggle spread, and soon brought Islam face
to face in mortal conflict with the two great Powers of the east and
west.
The sources of our history, being purely
Arabian, throw little light on the condition of History of Byzantine and
the provinces to which the scene will now Persian campaigns
dependent exclusively on
be transferred. With the Roman empire, Arabian sources.
the Arabs of the peninsula had never at
any time much acquaintance or concern, and the Byzantine annals
of Syria are suddenly quenched by the Saracenic cataclysm. A few
brief lines is all we have from them of the momentous events on
which we are about to enter. Of the Eastern empire, succeeding as
the Arabs did to the Sassanide dynasty, they naturally had a greater
interest in the antecedents; and we have, through their historians,
glimpses of the anarchy that now prevailed in Persia. But even this
is, at the best, fragmentary and imperfect.
It is enough, for our present purpose, to know that in neither of
the two great powers had the nerve and virtue of early days
survived. Luxury, oppression, religious
strife, and military disaster had undermined Roman and Persian empires
at Mahomet’s death.
their strength and impaired their vigour.
The Roman empire, extinguished in the west by barbarian hordes,
existed only in the provinces governed by the Byzantine capital.
Between the Kaiser and the Chosroes war had long prevailed; and
Syria or Mesopotamia had been the prize now of one, now of the
other. By the last turn of fortune, Heraclius, in a brilliant campaign
directed from the Black Sea, had routed the Persians on the field of
Nineveh, and marched triumphantly to the very gates of Ctesiphon
(Medâin). The Chosroes, with eighteen of
his sons, was put to death by Siroes, who a.h. VI. a.d. 627.
enjoyed but a few months the fruit of his
parricidal crime; and ‘in the space of four years, the royal title was
assumed by nine candidates, who disputed, with the sword or
dagger, the fragments of an exhausted monarchy.’[96] Such was the
condition of Persia, its court imbecile and anarchy rampant, at the
time when Abu Bekr was engaged in his struggle with the apostate
tribes. Nevertheless, the Arabian armies met with a fiercer and more
protracted opposition on the Persian than on the Syrian side. And
the reason is that Islam aimed its blow at the very heart of Persia.
Constantinople might remain, with Syria gone, ignobly safe. But if the
Arabs gained Irâc, Ctesiphon must fall into their hands.
Among the chiefs who aided Alâ in the
reoccupation of Bahrein, Mothanna has Mothanna attacks the border
tribes of Irâc.
been named.[97] Advancing up the shore of
the Persian Gulf, he reduced Catîf, and carried his victorious army
into the delta of the Euphrates. ‘Who is this Mothanna?’ asked Abu
Bekr, as tidings of his success kept reaching Medîna; ‘and to what
tribe doth he belong?’ Learning that he was of the Beni Bekr ibn
Wâil, he gave him a commission to carry forward his arms, fighting in
the ways of the Lord.[98] The service was just such as the Arabs
loved; and Mothanna’s column was soon swelled to 8,000 men. But
opposition gathered in front. The Christian and heathen tribes were
roused; and Abu Bekr, anticipating a struggle strongly backed by
other forces in their rear, resolved that (Khâlid being now at leisure)
‘the Sword of the Lord’ should be unsheathed there.
It was now the beginning of the twelfth year of the Hegira.
Rebellion had been put down in the centre of Arabia, and the
southern tribes were also in fair way to
pacification. It was Abu Bekr’s policy to Abu Bekr sends troops under
turn the victorious arms of the restless Khâlid and Iyâdh towards
Irâc. a.h. XII. March, a.d.
Arabs to similar work elsewhere. He 633.
therefore despatched two armies to the
northern frontier. One of these, under command of Khâlid, joined by
Mothanna, was to march on Obolla near the mouth of the Euphrates,
and thence, driving the enemy up its western shore, to work its way
towards Hîra, the capital of Irâc. Iyâdh, at the head of the other, was
directed to Dûmat al Jendal, which had cast off its allegiance; and
thence to pass also on to Hîra. Whichever of the two first reached
and captured that city was to be in command of the country.[99]
The progress of Iyâdh was hampered
by his enemy, and he was long detained in Khâlid joins Mothanna in
the Jôf, or country about Dûma. Khâlid met Irâc.
with no such obstacle. His army, like Mothanna’s, was swelled on its
march from Yemâma to Irâc by large bodies of Bedouins. These
were of the greater service as his numbers had been thinned not
only by the carnage at Yemâma, but also by the free permission,
which, after their long and arduous campaign, the Caliph had given
the army, of furlough to their homes. Nevertheless, the expedition
was so popular that when Khâlid, after a flying visit to the Caliph at
Medîna, rejoined his camp as it neared the mouth of the Euphrates,
he found himself at the head of 10,000 men; and this besides the
8,000 of Mothanna, who hastened loyally to place himself under the
great leader’s command.
The country on which they had now
entered was, in some of its features, The Syrian desert and
familiar to the invading army, but in others Mesopotamia.
new and strange. From the head of the Persian Gulf to the Dead Sea
there stretches right across the peninsula a stony wilderness,
trackless and waterless. As you advance north, nature relaxes its
severity; the plain, still a desert, is at certain seasons clothed with
verdure, bright with flowers and instinct with the song of birds and
hum of insect life. Such is the pasture-land which for several
hundred miles extends from Damascus to the Tigris. Still further
north, the desert features gradually disappear, and, about the
latitude of Mosul, are blended with the hills and fields of Asia Minor.
Athwart this vast plain, from Aleppo to Babylon, runs the river
Euphrates, and the far east is bounded by the Tigris flowing under
the mountain ranges of Persia. Between the two rivers lies the
Jezîra, or ‘Island,’ of Mesopotamia, full of patriarchal memories. Over
this great waste there roamed (as still roam) Bedouin tribes with their
flocks and herds. The greater part of these Arabs had for centuries
professed the Christian religion. Those on the Syrian side, as the
Beni Ghassân of Bostra, owed allegiance to the Roman Empire;
while on the east, like the Lakhmites of Hîra, they were dependent
upon Persia.[100] But nomad life tends to fickleness of attachment
and laxity of faith; and, not infrequently, affinity with their brethren of
Arabia, and the lust of plunder, led these northern Arabs, deserting
now their ancient allies and their ancestral faith, to cast in their lot
with the invading columns.
The lower Euphrates—Irâc Araby[101]—
is in striking contrast with the region just Chaldæa and the delta of the
Euphrates. Irâc Araby.
described. The two great rivers of
Mesopotamia, while yet more than 500 miles above the sea, draw
close to one another. Below this point, the land, naturally rich, is
easily supplied with water, and when irrigated is exuberantly fertile.
Instead of joining where they approach, the two rivers still keep
apart, and for two or three hundred miles, running parallel, inclose
what was the memorable plain of Dura. The country (as now) was
covered with long hillocks and mounds, the remains of an ancient
network of irrigation,[102] and also strewed with fragments of brick
and pottery, remnants of the dim ages of antiquity. At the time of
which we write, the face of the land was not, as it is for the most part
now, a barren waste, but richly cultivated and irrigated by canals. On
the Tigris, a little below the point of its drawing near the Euphrates,
was Medâin, ‘the twin city’ (combining the sites of both Seleucia and
Ctesiphon), at this time the capital of Persia. Fifty miles to the south
of it a series of shapeless mounds, looking down on the ‘great river’
Euphrates, marked the site of ancient Babylon, and from their
summit, still to the south, might be descried the Birs Nimrûd (or
‘Tower of Babel’) rearing its weird head on the horizon of the verdant
plain. Some thirty miles yet further south lay Hîra, the capital of the
Lakhmites and of the Arab tribes around. It stood (like its successor
Kûfa) upon the Bâdacla, a branch which issues from the right bank
of the Euphrates by a channel in the live rock, sixteen miles above
Babylon, cut by the hand of man, but of unknown antiquity.[103]
Sweeping to the west of the parent river, the rival stream, in its
southward course, feeds many marshes, and especially the great
lake called the ‘Sea of Najaf; after a wide circuit it rejoins the
Euphrates above its junction with the Tigris. There was in olden
times another branch still further to the west, the Khandac, or
‘Trench of Sapor,’ which intended as a bar to Bedouin incursions,
and, taking a yet wider circuit, fell into the Euphrates near Obolla, at
the head of the Persian Gulf. This is now dry, but originally it carried
a stream which, like the other, helped materially to widen the green
belt continually narrowed and pressed in upon by the dry and sandy
desert beyond. The lower delta again has features of its own. It is
subject to tidal flow for fifty miles above the junction of the two rivers.
Alluvial, low, and watered with ease, it is covered with a sea of corn,
and has, not without reason, been called ‘the garden of the world.’
Besides the familiar palm, the country abounded with the fig,
mulberry, and pomegranate. But the climate was close and
oppressive; the fens and marshes, always liable to inundation, were
aggravated by the neglect of dams and sluices in those days of
anarchy;[104] and the Arab, used to the sandy steppes of the
peninsula, gazed wonderingly at the luxuriant growth of reeds and
rushes, and at buffalos driven by the pestiferous insects to hide their
unwieldy bodies beneath the water, their heads alone appearing, or
splashing lazily through the shallow waste of endless lagoons. All
Chaldæa, from the estuary upwards, was cultivated, as now, by
Fellaheen, or Arab peasantry, and these were lorded over by
Dihcâns, or collectors commissioned by the Persian Court.[105] Such
was the magnificent province lying between the desert and the
mountain range of Persia, the cradle of civilisation and the arts,
which attracted the first crusade of the Moslem arms.
The Satrap of the delta was Hormuz, a
Persian prince, who (we are told), ‘fighting Khâlid advances on the
the tribes of Arabia by land, and the delta, and summons
Hormuz.
Indians by sea, guarded thus the portals of
the Empire.’ But he was hateful to his Arab subjects, and his name
for tyranny had become a byword. To him, as master of the tribes
gathering in his front, Khâlid addressed a letter in the haughty type of
Moslem summons. ‘Accept the faith and thou art safe, or else pay
tribute, thou and thy people; which thing if thou refusest, thou shalt
have thyself to blame. A people is already upon thee, loving death,
even as thou lovest life.’ Then he ordered an advance. Mothanna led
the first column; Adi, son of Hâtim (the famous chieftain of the Beni
Tay), the second. Khâlid brought up the rear; all three converging
upon Hafîr, a station on the Persian frontier by the desert border.[106]
Startled by the strange summons,
Hormuz informed the king, and set out to Khâlid routs the army of the
meet the invader with an army, the wings Persians. Battle of Chains.
of which were commanded by princes of the royal house. He
marched in haste, thinking to have an easy victory over the untrained
tribes of the desert; and reaching first the encamping ground, took
possession of the springs. Khâlid, coming up, bade his force alight,
and at once unload their burdens. ‘Then,’
said he, ‘let us fight for the water forthwith; Moharram, a.h. XII. March,
by my life! the springs shall be for the a.d. 633.
braver of the two.’ Thereupon Hormuz challenged Khâlid to single
combat, and, though he treacherously posted an ambuscade, was in
the encounter slain. The Moslems then rushed forward, and with
great slaughter put the enemy to flight, and pursued them to the
banks of the Euphrates. The Arabs had now a foretaste of the spoils
of Persia. The share of each horseman was one thousand dirhems,
besides great store of arms.[107] The jewelled tiara of Hormuz,
symbol of his rank, and valued at a hundred thousand pieces, was
sent to the Caliph with the royal Fifth.[108] An elephant taken in the
field was marched as part of the prize to Medîna; but having been
paraded about the town, much to the wonder of the admiring
citizens, was sent back as unsuitable to the place.[109] The action
was called ‘the Battle of the Chains,’ for we are told that a portion of
the Persian army was bound together to prevent its giving way.[110]
The defeated army fled towards the
capital, and Mothanna with his horse ‘The Lady’s Castle.’
hastened after them. Crossing the
Euphrates, he came upon a fortress called ‘The Lady’s Castle,’ held
by a Persian princess. Leaving his brother Moänna to besiege her,
he advanced to a second fort defended by the husband. This he took
by storm, and put the garrison to the sword; which, when the lady
heard of, she embraced Islam, and, forgetting her Persian lord,
readily gave her hand to Mothanna’s brother.
The ardour of Mothanna was near to
causing a disaster. When Hormuz’ Persians again defeated at
Madzâr.
message reached Medâin, the King
despatched Cârin, another prince of the first rank, to reinforce him.
Midway he was met by remnants of the defeated army, which, with
the two princes, were retreating to Medâin.[111] Here their flight was
stayed, and they rallied at Madzâr, on the southern bank of the great
canal, or branch of the Tigris which runs athwart the peninsula to the
Euphrates. Cârin, thus strengthened, resolved on giving battle to
Mothanna, who in his adventurous pursuit had reached thus far.
Khâlid, apprised of the check, hastened to relieve his lieutenant, and
arrived just in time. The field was fiercely contested; Cârin and both
princes lost their lives, and a prodigious number of the enemy was
either slain or drowned; the remainder escaped in boats.[112] The
deep channel stopped farther advance; but the spoil of the enemy’s
camp again was very great. Khâlid, encamped on the bank of the
canal, scoured the country on either hand, killing all the people fit for
war, and taking their women captive. But the Fellaheen, or unwarlike
peasants, he left unharmed.
The court was now thoroughly aroused. Arab invaders, they
began to say, were best met by Arabs who knew their tactics; and so
the king raised a great levy of the Beni Bekr and other loyal clans,
under a famous warrior of their own. He
also summoned Bahmân, a veteran Battle of Walaja. Safar, a.h.
XII. April, a.d. 633.
general, from the provinces, to command
the imperial troops. The combined army, in imposing force,
encamped at Walaja, on the farther side of the Euphrates. Leaving a
detachment to guard his conquests in the lower delta, Khâlid
advanced with the remainder of his army to meet the enemy. The
battle was long and obstinate, but was won by the tactics of the
Moslem leader, who, when the enemy were exhausted, surprised
them by two ambuscades in their rear. The discomfiture was
complete. The Persians fled, and with them the Bedouins, but not
until several of them had been taken prisoner. Flushed with success
and delighted with the bounty spread around, Khâlid called his
troops together and addressed them in these stirring words: ‘Ye see
the riches of the land. Its paths drop
fatness and plenty, so that food is Khâlid’s oration on gaining the
scattered about, even as stones are in victory.
Arabia. Were it but as a provision for this present life, and no holy
war to wage, it were worth our while to fight for these fair fields and
banish care and penury for ever.’[113] Khâlid here struck a chord at
which every Bedouin heart leapt for joy. Now, also, the cunning
device of the Corân, with respect to the other sex, began to tell.
Persian ladies, both maids and matrons, ‘taken captive by the right
hand,’ were forthwith, without stint of number, lawful to the
conquerors’ embrace; and, in the enjoyment of this privilege, they
were nothing loth to execute upon the heathen ‘the judgment
written.’ Thus religious fanaticism was kindled by martial ardour, and
both riveted by incentives irresistible to the Arab—fight and foray, the
spoil of war, and captive charms.[114]
The cup had but just touched their lips,
and many a chance might yet dash it from Battle of Allîs. Safar, a.h. XII.
their hand. The great family of the Beni May, a.d. 633.
Bekr ibn Wâil were divided in the struggle, part holding with Khâlid
and part with the Persian court. The bitter feeling between the
Bedouins of Mesopotamia and the levies of Mothanna was
aggravated by defeat and captivity. Smarting under the injury, the
Christian tribes roused their nomad brethren on both banks of the
Euphrates, and urged the Court of Persia to revenge. Just then,
Ardshir the king fell sick, and Bahmân was detained at court[115]; but
he sent an army across the peninsula to join the Bedouins, who,
from every side, were flocking to Allîs, on the south of the Euphrates,
half way between Hîra and Obolla. News of this great rising forced
Khâlid to fall back hastily, and recross the river. Then leaving a
strong detachment at Hafîr to secure his rear, he boldly turned to
meet the enemy. The Arab tribes first rushed to the attack, and
Khâlid slew their leader. Then the Persians advanced, and the
Moslems were hard pressed as they had never been before. The
battle was fiercely contested, and the issue at one time so doubtful
as to make Khâlid vow to the Lord that if he got the victory, the blood
of His foes should flow in a river. At last the Persians, unable to
withstand his impetuous generalship, broke and fled. To fulfil his
savage oath, it was proclaimed by Khâlid that no fugitive should be
slain, but that all must be brought alive into the camp. For two days
the country was scoured by the Moslem horse, and a great multitude
of prisoners gathered. Then the butchery
commenced in the dry bed of a canal, but The ‘River of Blood’.
the earth drank up the blood. Company
after company was beheaded, and still the gory flux remained. At
last, on the advice of an Arab chief, Khâlid had a flood-gate opened
above, and the crimson tide redeemed his vow. There were flour-
mills upon the spot, and Tabari tells us, with apparent satisfaction,
that for three days, corn for the whole army was ground by the
reddened flood. The memory of the deed was handed down in the
name of the ‘River of Blood,’ by which thereafter this stream of
infamous memory was called.[116]
When the battle was over, the army
found ready spread in the camp of the The Persian supper on the
enemy a sumptuous repast, to which the field of battle.
Persians, when surprised by Khâlid, were about to sit down. It was a
novel experience for the simple Arabs, who handled the white fritters
with childish delight, and devoured rich pancakes and other
delicacies of an eastern table with avidity. Khâlid ate his supper
leaning on the body of a stalwart hero, ‘the equal of a thousand
warriors,’ whom, in single combat, he had but just cut down.’
Tidings of the victory, with a choice
portion of the spoil, a welcome earnest of Abu Bekr delighted at the
the royal Fifth to follow, were at once victory.
despatched to Abu Bekr. The messenger, himself a brave warrior (for
the duty was an honourable one) described the heat and progress of
the battle, the feats and prowess of the more distinguished heroes,
the multitude of the captives (the butchery, no doubt, as well) and the
riches of the spoil. The Caliph, overjoyed at his glowing tale,
bestowed upon the envoy, in token of his royal favour, a beautiful
damsel from amongst the captive maidens he had carried with him.
[117]
For the moment the spirit of the enemy,

both Bedouin and Persian, was broken; but The principality of Hîra.
the former had proved so troublesome,
and occupied a position in the desert pastures from which they could
so materially annoy his flank and rear and his communications with
Arabia, that Khâlid resolved on reducing the whole tract west of the
Euphrates occupied by the Bedouins, with its capital city of Hîra. The
last of the Lakhmite dynasty, which had long ruled over Hîra, died in
prison at the Persian Court five and twenty years before; and he was
replaced by a favourite, Iyâs ibn Cabîsa, from the Beni Tay. A few
years after, a Persian army, with their allies from Hîra, was signally
defeated by the Beni Bekr ibn Wâil on the field of Dzu Câr; and from
the year 614 a.d. the city was governed by a Marzabân, or Persian
Satrap. Partly from its interests being akin to those of the Christian
tribes of Mesopotamia, partly from its being a dependency of Persia,
the influence of Hîra was little felt in Arabia proper. But recent events
had shown that even the Beni Bekr might combine with the border
capital to resist the invader. To prevent the recurrence of such a
danger, Khâlid now directed his steps to Hîra.[118]
With this view he advanced rapidly up
the western bank of the Euphrates, and Amghîsia sacked.
surprised Amghîsia, a town on the same
channel as Hîra, and its rival in size and wealth.[119] The inhabitants,
without resisting, fled, and the booty was so rich that each horseman
took 1,500 dirhems. When the Fifth reached Medîna, Abu Bekr was
overwhelmed at the sight; ‘O ye Coreish,’ he exclaimed in ecstasy,
‘verily your lion, the lion of Islam, hath leapt upon the lion of Persia,
and spoiled him of his prey. Surely the womb is exhausted. Woman
shall no more bear a second Khâlid!’
Finding boats at Amghîsia, Khâlid
embarked his infantry and baggage, and Hîra besieged, capitulates.
was tracking up the Bâdacla to Hîra, when
the flotilla grounded suddenly. Azâdzuba, the Satrap of Hîra, had
sent his son to lay open the irrigating escapes, and hence the dried-
up channel and bewilderment of the Moslems.[120] Apprised by the
boatmen of the cause, Khâlid hastened with a flying squadron to the
canal-head, slew the Satrap’s son, and, having closed the sluices,
enabled the boats again to ascend. Then the army, having
disembarked and taken possession of the beautiful palaces of
Khawarnac and Najaf, the summer residence of the princes of Hîra,
encamped before the city walls.[121] The Satrap, just then receiving
intelligence of the king’s decease, and stunned by the death of his
own son, fled across the river. The city was called upon to surrender,
but, defended as it was by four citadels, resisted. The ramparts were
manned, and the besiegers kept at bay by a continuous discharge of
missiles. But a monastery and cloisters lay without; and the monks
and clergy, exposed to the fury of the besiegers, induced the citizens
to capitulate. The chief men agreed to the terms demanded, which
were embodied in a treaty. Then they brought gifts, which Khâlid
accepted, and despatched, with tidings of the surrender, to Medîna.
Abu Bekr ratified the treaty and accepted the presents, but desired
that their value should be deducted from the tribute.
The men of Hîra bound themselves to
pay a heavy tribute yearly, to which all Terms of treaty with Hîra.
classes, saving religious mendicants,
should be assessed. The Moslems, on their part, engaged to protect
the city from attack. The treaty did not stand long, but it is interesting
as being the first concluded with a principality without the peninsula.
[122] One strange condition was insisted on. The beauty of Kerâmat,
sister of a leading citizen, had been long proverbial, and Showeil,
one of Khâlid’s soldiers, laid claim to her on the ground that
Mahomet, hearing him extol her charms, had promised (so the story
runs) that when Hîra was captured, she should be his bride. Though
now well stricken in years, Khâlid insisted that Showeil should have
her. The thing was grievous to the lady’s household, but she took it
lightly. ‘Care not for it,’ she said; ‘what will he do with an old woman
like me? The fool saw me in my youth, and hath forgotten that youth
remaineth not for ever.’ Showeil soon found out that it was even so,
and was glad to name a ransom, which she paid at once, and then
departed to her people.[123]
The occupation of Hîra was the first
definite step in the outward movement of Hîra, though occupied by
Islam. Here Khâlid fixed his head-quarters, Khâlid, remains Christian.
a.h. XII. a.d. 633.
and remained for about a year. It was, in
fact, the earliest Moslem capital beyond the limits of Arabia. The
administration was left with the heads of the native municipality, who,
together with the surrounding population, were, if not friendly, at the
least neutral. Khâlid, indeed, expected that, being of Arab descent,
and themselves long ruled by a native dynasty, the citizens of Hîra
would actively have joined his cause. Adi, grandson of the poet of
that name, was one of the deputation which concluded the peace.
‘Tell me,’ said Khâlid rallying him, ‘whether ye be of Persian blood?’
‘Judge by our speech: doth that betray ignoble birth?’ ‘True,’
answered Khâlid; ‘then why do ye not join our faith, and cast in your
lot with us?’ ‘Nay,’ answered the Christian, ‘that we shall never do;
the faith of our fathers we shall not abjure, but shall pay tribute unto
you.’ ‘Beshrew the fools!’ cried Khâlid; ‘Unbelief is as the trackless
desert, and he that treadeth it the silliest of mankind. Here two
guides are offered, an Arab and a Stranger; and of the two they
choose the Stranger!’ The flux and reflux of Roman invasion had, no
doubt, loosened their faith in Persia; but the court of Medâin was
near at hand, and, though in the last stage of senility, sufficiently
strong to command the allegiance of a small dependency like Hîra.
The permanence of Arab conquest, too, was yet uncertain; the love
of their ancestral faith was still predominant; and so the city chose to
remain as tributary. And several centuries later we find the
inhabitants of the neighbourhood in considerable numbers still
attached to the Christian faith.[124]
Public prayer, outward symbol of the
dominant faith, was now established; and Public prayer established.
the citizens might hear the cry of the ‘The Service of Victory.’
Muedzzin, as, five times a day, beginning with the earliest dawn, the
call to prayer resounded from the adjacent camp. Khâlid celebrated
his success in a special Service of victory. The occasion was
memorable. Clothed in a loose flowing robe girt about the neck, he
turned, when the prayers were over, to the assembly, and thus
extolled their bravery: ‘In the field of Mûta (where he had himself
rallied the dispersed army) nine swords were broken in my hand.[125]
But I met not there any foe to match those ye have encountered
here; and of these none more valiant than the men of Allîs.’ It is,
however, open to remark that the early campaign in Irâc is
surrounded by tradition with a special halo; for the loss here on the
Moslem side was not great, and, judged by this unerring test, the
fighting could hardly compare with that of many a well-contested field
in the Prophet’s time.[126]
While the city of Hîra was left in the
immediate hands of its chief men, Summary administration set
summary rule was set up over the adjacent up in the conquered
province.
country. The Dihcâns—great landholders
and imperial tax-gatherers—had been waiting upon fortune. Seeing
now that, while the Court was inactive, Khâlid carried everything
before him, many began to tender submission and enter into
engagements with the conqueror for payment of the revenue. Abu
Bekr had, in his wisdom, strenuously enjoined that the Fellaheen, or
occupiers of the soil, should be maintained in possession, and their
rights scrupulously respected. The Persian demand remained
unchanged on these, with the addition only of a light poll-tax. In other
respects, terms were granted corresponding with those given to
Hîra. Holding their ancestral faith, the people became Zimmies, or
protected dependents. Khâlid undertook to defend them, and they on
their part pledged allegiance and bound themselves to give notice if
danger threatened.[127] Garrisons were quartered in a few
commanding places and the troops were organised into five
moveable columns. By these the country was kept in check. In this
manner Khâlid held all to the south of the Euphrates, and also the
lower delta, stretching from Hîra eastward across the Great River to
the banks of the lower Tigris. Throughout this region none were
secure from rapine but such as had entered into engagements. Fifty
days’ grace was allowed to bring in the revenue, and, till it was paid,
hostages were kept; a formal discharge was given on payment.[128]
The tribute, as well as the booty, was distributed among the army ‘for
the strengthening of the same.’
Persia was meanwhile hopelessly
distracted. The massacre by Siroes and Persia paralysed by internal
his jealous successors, of the male trouble.
progeny near the throne, had been so ruthless and complete that no
heir of the royal blood could anywhere be found, and a rapid
succession of feeble claimants was set up by the princesses left to
form the court. Thus paralysed, the Persians could do little more
than protect the capital by holding in force the Nahr Shîr, an
intervening stream that flowed down the peninsula.[129] This line was
threatened by Mothanna; but Abu Bekr gave stringent orders that no
advance should be made upon Medâin till all was secure behind. No
tidings, moreover, had as yet been
received from Iyâdh at Dûma, with whom a.h. XII. a.d. 633.
(as before explained)[130] co-operation was
imperative. Khâlid fretted at remaining thus inactive, ‘playing,’ as he
called it, ‘for so many months the woman’s part.’ But he curbed his
ardour, and contented himself with inditing two letters, in an
imperious tone, one to ‘the Princes of Persia,’ the other to ‘the
Satraps and the people.’ Towards the north and west, however, he
employed his time more actively.
Persian detachments were posted in
Mesopotamia and the outskirts of the Khâlid takes Anbâr. Autumn,
desert at Anbâr, Ain Tamar, and other a.d. 633;
places, within easy distance of Hîra, and against these Khâlid now
directed his steps. Leaving Cacâa, a warrior of the Beni Temîm, in
command at Hîra, he laid siege to Anbâr, a fortress on the left bank
of the Euphrates, some eighty miles above Babylon. The garrison,
though galled by the Moslem archery, were secure behind their
strong walls and the deep fosse by which it was surrounded, until
Khâlid, by a stratagem, stormed an entrance. He slew the old and
worn-out camels of his force, and casting their carcases into the
ditch, thus forced his way across. The
Persian governor sued for terms, and was and Ain Tamar.
allowed to retire.[131] Anbâr and the richly-
irrigated neighbourhood of Felûgia[132] thus secured, Khâlid went on
to Ain Tamar, on the desert border, three days west of Anbâr. The
Persian governor Mihrân had there, besides the imperial troops, a
great following of nomad tribes, and among these the Beni Taghlib,
who (a strange coincidence) were under command of Ackka,
Hodzeil, and other chiefs, the captains of the prophetess Sajâh when
she invaded Yemâma.[133] These, advancing to the attack, assailed
Khâlid as he approached the citadel; but he repulsed them easily,
taking Ackka prisoner with his own hand. Mihrân, seeing the rout
from the ramparts, fled, and left the garrison and the fugitives to
defend themselves as best they could. Refused terms and reduced
to straits, they surrendered at discretion.
Khâlid, angry at the persistent opposition Khâlid’s severity.
of the Mesopotamian tribes, and also at his
loss in the field (for though the victory was easy, a Companion of
note and a Citizen of Medîna were among the slain), was betrayed
into an unwise severity which embittered the Christian Bedouins
against him.[134] Ackka was beheaded in front of the city walls; the
garrison was then led forth, every adult male put to death, and the
women, with the children, made over to the soldiers or sold into
slavery. In a cloister, hard by the church, were forty youths, who, in
their terror, barred the door upon the enemy. When their retreat was
forced open, they gave themselves up,
declaring that they were students, Forty Christian students taken
receiving there instruction in the Gospel. captive.
Their lives were spared, and, being of a superior class, they were
distributed among the leaders. It is hard to record the fate of these
youthful scholars snatched from the Nestorian Church to be brought
up as captives in the Moslem faith. But the fate, though sad, could
hardly have been singular in the rough and sanguinary tide of
Saracen invasion. Special prominence has, no doubt, been given to
it here because Sirîn, one of the youths, became the father of
Mohammed, the famous Moslem doctor of Bussora, and Noseir,
another, the father of Mûsa, the not less famous conqueror of Spain.
[135]
While these events transpired in Irâc,

Iyâdh, who ought long since to have joined Iyâdh hindered at Dûma.
Khâlid, was battling unsuccessfully against
his foes at Dûma. The Caliph, becoming anxious, sent Welîd ibn
Ocba (who had been deputed by Khâlid to Medîna in charge of royal
booty) to assist him.[136] The enemy had got possession of the
roads, and Iyâdh could make no head against them. ‘Counsel,’ said
Welîd, as he found him in this predicament, ‘is ofttimes better than
numbers: send a courier for Khâlid.’ The message reached just after
the fall of Ain Tamar; and Khâlid, with no enemy to detain him in the
field, replied in martial verse:
Wait but a moment, my friend,
And a legion shall appear;
Cohort upon cohort following
With glittering sword and spear.
Starting at once with the flower of his force, he crossed the

intervening desert, and made good his word.[137]
He was not a day too soon. Okeidar
and Judi, the chiefs of Dûma, were Dûma stormed by Khâlid,
supported by the Beni Kelb, a tribe which Rajah,
633.
a.h. XII. October, a.d.
pastured its flocks in the neighbourhood,

and also by the Beni Bahra, from the desert west of the Euphrates;
and now the Beni Ghassân were pouring down from the north, under
Jabala, the Christian prince of Bostra.[138] The position of Iyâdh,
thus beset, had been growing day by day more critical. The advent
of Khâlid changed the scene at once. His very name was a tower of
strength. Okeidar had already felt his prowess, having several years
before been taken by him a prisoner to Mahomet at Medîna. Hearing
now that his old enemy was advancing from the east, he was much
afraid; and, failing to persuade his comrades to offer terms, he
hastened forward by himself, with the view of surrendering; but
Khâlid, being apprised of his approach, sent out to take him prisoner,
and he was instantly beheaded.[139] Then, instructing Iyâdh to
engage the Syrian troops on the farther side of Dûma, Khâlid himself
attacked the enemy on the nearer, and utterly routed them, taking
prisoner Judi and the Kelbite leader. The discomfited troops fled
back in confusion to the fort, and when that was full, the gates were
closed. Iyâdh was also on his side victorious, but Jabala effected his
escape to Syria. Then the sword was drawn against the helpless
crowd hemmed in between the two forces. The Beni Kelb were
spared; for Acra, a Bedouin chief, had (much to Khâlid’s displeasure)
given them quarter as a confederate tribe[140]; but Judi was
beheaded, and all the rank and file that vainly struggled round the
city walls. Even to those within, the ramparts were of small avail; the
gate was battered down, and the crowded inmates put
promiscuously to the sword. The women were sold to the highest
bidder; and the most beautiful, the unfortunate Judi’s daughter,
bought by Khâlid for his harem. Thus solacing himself for a little
while at Dûma, the conqueror sent Acra with the main body back to
Hîra. There they were received with outward demonstrations of joy;
for the citizens, with timbrels, music, and cymbals, went forth,
headed by Cacâa, to meet the returning army.[141]
But all was not going on smoothly in
Mesopotamia. The absence of Khâlid and Various expeditions in Irâc.
great part of his force encouraged the Shâban,a.d. 633.
a.h. XII. November,
Persians and their Arab allies—specially

the Beni Taghlib, smarting under the execution of Ackka—to resume
offensive operations. Cacâa, though on the alert, was able, with the
diminished means at his disposal, to do no more than guard the
frontier and protect Anbâr from a threatened inroad. At this news,
Khâlid hastened back; and, having installed Iyâdh in the government
of Hîra, despatched Cacâa across the Euphrates against the
Persians, while he himself appointed a rendezvous at Ain Tamar to
attack the Arabs, for he had vowed that he would visit the Beni
Taghlib in their homes, and crush the viper in its nest. In
Mesopotamia the Persians were routed and their leaders killed; while
on the western border a series of brilliant and well-planned night
attacks succeeded again and again in surprising the Arabs as they
slept secure in their desert homes, where they were cut to pieces,
and their families carried away into dishonour and captivity. Thus
Khâlid fulfilled his vow. Multitudes of women, many of noble birth,
were distributed among the army. A portion of these, with a rich
booty, were sent to Medîna; and one, the daughter of Bodeir, chief of
the Beni Taghlib, killed in the slaughter, was purchased by Aly, and
bore him a son and daughter.[142] For the time, the Bedouin
confederacy was dispersed.
Driving thus the enemy before him,
Khâlid came upon the Euphrates, and, Battle of Firâdh; Persians,
crossing it, reached Firâdh, so far Romans, and Bedouins
defeated. Dzul Cáda 15, a.h.
advanced as to touch the frontier, within XII. Jan. 21, a.d. 634.
sight of a Roman post. There he rested his
army on the river bank during the fast of Ramadhan, and for some
weeks after.[143] The Syrian garrison on the western shore, uneasy
at the prolonged and threatening encampment, made common
cause with the neighbouring Persian outposts, and, joined as well
from the desert by Bedouin horse, advanced an imposing force to
the river. They challenged Khâlid to cross and give them battle. But
the wary general bade them rather cross over to his side, which they
did. A long and severe conflict ensued. The Moslems were
victorious, and the cavalry pursuing the fugitives, cut to pieces an
incredible multitude.[144]
For the moment opposition was
crushed both on the part of the Bedouins Khâlid’s incognito pilgrimage.
and the Persian troops. Khâlid would Dzul Hijj, a.h. XII. February,
a.d. 634.
willingly have attacked Medâin, but the
cautious policy of Abu Bekr withheld him. Besides the districts
secured by treaty with the great landlords of the lower delta, Khâlid
had now extended his rule on both sides of the Euphrates above
Anbâr, and no enemy was anywhere in sight.[145] Things seeming
thus to be quiet, Khâlid formed the singular resolve—the sacred
month having now come round—of making the pilgrimage incognito,
unknown even to his royal master. So, having recruited his army for
ten days on the well-fought field of Firâdh, he gave orders to march
slowly and by easy stages back to Hîra. Then, making as though he
remained behind to bring up the rear-guard, he set out secretly with
a small escort on his pious errand. Without a guide, he traversed the
devious desert route with marvellous sagacity and speed. Having
accomplished the rites of pilgrimage, he retraced his steps with like
despatch, and entered Hîra just as the rear-guard from Firâdh was
marching in. So well had he kept his secret, that the army thought he
had been all the while at Firâdh, and had been journeying slowly
back. Even Abu Bekr, who himself presided at the pilgrimage, was
unaware of the presence of his great general. When, after some
time, the surreptitious visit came to his knowledge, he was much
displeased. But the action which he took in consequence belongs to
the succeeding year.[146]

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Management Asia-Pacific 6th Edition

Samson Test Bank

© John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

a. The ultimate goal of any organisation is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

2. __________ refers to an organisation acquiring or developing an attribute or combination of attributes

3. __________ is a pattern in a stream of decisions an organisation takes.

4. A __________ is a plan for using resources consistent with __________.

a. vision; strategic organising

a. maximum market share.

*a. strategic management

*a. Above-average returns

a. protected monopoly environment.

a. It is an environment in which there is only one player and no competition.

12. An oligopoly environment can be described an environment:

a. Hypercompetition is direct and intense.

*a. hypercompetition environment.

a. fulfil the organisation's social responsibility objectives.

b. enable employees to be well paid.

a. The oligopoly environment has only one player and no competition.

*a. Strategic leadership

19. As part of the strategic management process, strategy formulation involves:

a. identifying the existing mission, objectives and strategies.

*d. all of the options listed.

a. Who are our customers?

a. core values assessment

*a. strategic management process

25. Strategy implementation includes _________________.

a. utilising management systems and practices

a. Where do we want to be in the future?

a. assessing current performance in relation to mission and objectives.

28. The mission of an organisation describes its __________.

a. the location in which the firm intends to operate.

*d. the firm's competition in the local environment.

a. What are we moving to?

a. corporate culture analysis

a. Strong core values give character to an organisation.

33. Organisational culture accomplishes all of the following EXCEPT:

a. it shapes the values of managers and other organisation members.

a. gaining and holding a specific share of a product market.

*a. designing an adaptive organisation.

*a. SWOT analysis

*a. designing an adaptive organisation.

b. producing high-quality goods or services.

a. Unique product distribution systems

*a. Core competencies

a. inadequate research and development.

a. the internal SWOT analysis; the external SWOT analysis

*a. abundance of resources.

a. Threats of new competitors entering the market

*c. attractive industry

*a. unattractive industry

a. National strategy, regional strategy and local strategy

*c. Corporate strategy, business strategy and functional strategy

*a. Related diversification

*d. vertical integration

62. Which description of retrenchment is INCORRECT?

a. Restructuring is a less extreme form of retrenchment.

a. related diversification strategy

64. Strategic alliances include which of the following possibilities?

a. A firm contracting to purchase important services from another organisation

e. None of the options listed.

4. A is a plan for using resources consistent with .