Spring 2012 Examination

Strategic Management Level 3 (BIM, AEF, MET)

Answer any three questions.

Where appropriate, you may draw on the cases from the seminars to support your discussion.

1. Drawing on Dunphy and Stace (1993) and Walton (1985) evaluate the approaches that
Jack Welch used to implement a strategic re-orientation at GE.

2. Critically evaluate the criteria in the resource-based view of the firm that could lead to
sustainable competitive advantage. Discuss what sorts of competencies and capabilities
are most likely to lead to such an advantage.

3. Compare and contrast Henderson and Clark’s (1990) and Christensen and
Rosenbloom’s (1995) explanations of why firms fail to adapt to technology innovation.

4. Discuss the concept of fit developed in Porter’s (1996) ‘What is Strategy?’ paper with
respect to Wal-Mart’s efforts to maintain its low cost strategy.

5. According to the article by Goold and Luchs (1993) diversification is a difficult

strategy for firms to implement effectively. Evaluate the four approaches to corporate
strategy, as presented by either Porter (1988) or Johnson and Scholes (2002), and
suggest the conditions under which each might be effective.

6. Why are technology standards important to strategy? Drawing on theory, explain how a
firm might ensure that its technology standard becomes the industry standard.

7. Drawing on appropriate theory, evaluate the co-operative strategy used by Mercedes in

the development of the SMART car.

8. Drawing on the two Honda case studies and relevant theory, evaluate deliberate and
emergent approaches to the strategy process.