MCQ's

[Danny Kellogg]

Michael Porter developed and presented, "The Five Forces that Shape
Industry Competition". Each of the following are one of Porter's five
forces EXCEPT:

A) Rivalry among existing competitors
B) Buying Power of Buyers
C) Threat of New Entrants
---D) Government Involvement in Industry
E) Threat of Substitute Products of Services

A company is in an industry where a new entrant's free offerings are
becoming a cause for concern. In assessing the threat of the "free"
competition, there are 4 classifications with related actions. Which
of the following is NOT one of the classifications of the threat:

A) Business Model Threat - change business model
---B) Discounted threat - acquire the new entrant
C) Minor Threat - monitor the situation
D) Immediate Threat - launch free product immediately
E) Delayed Threat - coexist or delay launch of free product

A true competitive advantage can only be termed as such if it serves
as a barrier to entry. Which of the following advantages is an entry
barrier?

---a. Economies of Scale
b. Market share
c. Brand power
d. Price levels
e. Commodity goods
According to the article, “Funding Growth in the Age of Austerity”,
there are five imperative ratios for improving innovation efficiency.
Which of the following is NOT one of those ratios?
a. Raise the ratio of radical innovation to incremental innovation
b. Raise the ratio of learning over investment in innovation
projects
c. Raise the ratio of externally sourced innovation to internally
sourced innovation
---d. Raise the ratio of disruptive innovation over sustainable
innovation
e. Raise the ratio of commitment over the number of key innovative
priorities


As the business environment changes around the demands of technology
and transparency, sustainable competitive advantage no longer arises
from positioning or resources. Instead, it is established from all of
the following organizational capabilities EXCEPT:

---A) The ability to bypass barriers to entry in new markets
B) The ability to motivate employees and partners
C) The ability to experiment rapidly and frequently
D) The ability to read and act on signals of change
E) The ability to manage complex, interconnected systems of
stakeholders

A company's ability to successfully wage a standards war depends on
the ownership of 7 key assets. Each of the following is one of the 7
key assets EXCEPT:

A) Ability to innovate
B) Intellectual property rights
C) Brand name and reputation
---D) Advanced supply chain management
E) Strength in complements

[Michael Meador]

In regards to new ventures it is important to first identify and
prioritize risks and then seek out experiments to resolve them. With
the experiments it is important to think of the following factors
EXCEPT:
A. Limit the duration: it is often better to get something into
the market quickly, learn from it, and move on to the next phase of
development.
B. Test one thing at a time: experiments should be simple and
focus on resolving uncertainties one by one.
C. Apply the lessons learned: experiments are meant to redirect a
venture, not to confirm your initial ideas were correct.
D. Be willing to turn off experiments: understand that some
ventures are simply not going to work.
-----E. Continually add more resources: Don’t limit the results
of your experiment by not implementing enough resources.

In order for big businesses to become an adaptable competitor they
should address the following EXCEPT:
A. Look at the mavericks: look at what new players are doing and
strategize ways to insure your company against this new competition.
B. Examine multiple alternatives and increase the clock speed: look
for multiple alternatives while increasing the cycle time of decision
making.
C. Put an initiative on every risk: every uncertainty should have an
initiative aimed to resolve a specific problem/issue.
D. Identify and address the uncertainties: look for the unknowns that
could significantly impact the company rather than just a single
business forecast.
-----E. Mimic your competitors: capitalize on your competitors
innovations

An MSP (Multisided Platform) Strategy as described in "What's Your
Google Strategy" has the following benefits except:

A. Helps avoid commodization.

-----B. Allows you to capture the latest trend.

C. Reduces search and transaction costs.

D. Allows access to new markets.

E. Benefits both small and large companies.

In order to be most successful when thinking about innovation, it is
important to think about all of the following ideas EXCEPT:
A. Free your innovators: look at everyone within your company
-----B. Mimic your competitors: capitalize on your competitors
innovations
C. Experiment: low cost “tests” help assess the innovations
D. Look outside and get radical: access outside resources and
with radical ideas yield the biggest payoffs
E. Stick with it: consistency is key

From the article “Competing Against Free” one important tactic is to
measure the threat of competitors that are offering their products for
“free” and then to develop a strategy.
Once you have established a threat which of the following is NOT a
strong strategy to respond?
A). Up-sell – initially offer a free basic offering to gain widespread
use and then charge for a premium version.
-----B). Pyramid – offer three levels based on product features and
price: one basic free, second is with most features, and third is
premium with all features available.
C). Charge Third Parties- provide free product to users and then
charge a third party for access to them.
D). Bundle – Offer a free product or service with a paid offering.
E). Cross-sell – sell other products that are not directly tied to the
free product.

[slanew...@yahoo.com]

Which of the following is not a method manager’s use to successfully
harness disruptive
innovation?
A. Develop a new market that values the attributes of the disruptive
innovation
B. Find the right customers who want or need the innovation which can
further boost demand
C. Run trial and error tests to let the innovation fail early and
inexpensively in order to make
improvements
D. Find an independent smaller organization to work on the project who
will benefit and value growth in a small
market
***E. Remain free from the mainstream corporations and do not use any
of their resources


Which of the following is not a criterion of radical innovation?
A) It changes the industry orthodoxies or dogmas that have been
unchallenged
B) It changes the basis of a company's competitive
advantage
C) It changes the cost structure of an industry or company
D) It changes the customer's expectations and behavior towards a
company or industry
***E)It changes the risk level for the amount of uncertainty and costs
involved


Which of the following is not a reason why there is currently little
management
innovation?
A) Many executives are uncertain that bold management innovation ideas
are, in fact, feasible
***B) Management makes daring selections of problems and are essential
to resolve within a company
C) Management believes that only certain types of problems like
efficiency, cost-cutting, and re-engineering are solvable
D) Innovation is not a key expectation included in a manager’s job
description
E) Management is concerned that the laws of human nature will
constrain the viable options needed to organize efforts for innovation


Which of the following is NOT an example of a company using one of the
business model patterns?
A)Vodafone unbundling its business to focus on customer relationships
by outsourcing the operation and maintenance of its network
B) Google created a multi-sided platform between advertisers, search
engine users and third parties showing Google
ads
C) Flickr offering a free-of-charge photo service with a premium
package available for purchase that offers increased storage
space
***D) Lego appealing to the mass market by dramatically expanding its
product line with user-designed assembly
kits
E) Proctor and Gamble collaborating with outside partners to increase
their R&D productivity to make drugs more accessible in poor countries

[Samantha Duffy]

In the article “Competing against Free” after an existing company
realizes that the new entrant into a market is offering free product
that will be a threat to their company, the existing company can add
any of these strategies to their product except:

**A Offer a free trial period for a new product
B Sell other products that are not directly tied to the free
product.
C Provide a free product to users and then charge a third party for
access to them.
D Offer a free product or service with a paid offering.
E. Introduce a free basic offering to gain widespread use and then

charge for a premium version.

Cognitively distant opportunities are perceived to be the best
opportunities however they are the hardest to achieve because all the
following except:

A. It is near impossible for individuals involved in a company to
control their thoughts
B. Managers misinterpret the difference between a cognitively
different opportunity and a cognitively close opportunity
C. External stakeholders can influence a manager to opt out of the
cognitively different opportunity too quickly, because external
stakeholders can control the media of a company
D. Internal and external parties make their own biases and
associations to new ideas automatically
**E. Associative thinking has little research for managers to learn
from and use

The question came from the article “The New Psychology of
Leadership”



There are specific challenges a company must overcome in order to be
resilient. All are resilient challenges except:

A. The Cognitive Challenge: Must be willing to accept what is
changing and how those changes affect current success.
B. The Strategic Challenge: Willing to continually come up with many
new ideas to replace current struggling ideas.
**C. The Turbulent Challenge: Being willing to be patient and not be
become the first mover with new products and programs.
D. The Political Challenge: Management must allow resources, from
struggling products and services, to be reallocated to new ones
E. The Ideological Challenge: Companies need look beyond the
operational perfection and flawless execution of old products.

The Quest for Resilience page 54


The traditional way of sustainable competitive advantage has been
quickly replace by the globalization, new technology and more
transparency. In order for a company to maintain sustainable
competitive advantage in the new business world, businesses must adapt
all of the following except:

A. Read and act on signals continuously
B. Ability to experiment without jeopardizing the company
C. Think beyond its own boundaries and manage complex multicompany
systems
D. Adaption and mobility
**E. Achieving the largest market share in any industry

Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage pages 137-140


Beating the odds of a new venture only if a company manages their
experiments on new ideas efficiently, all of the following are ways to
manage and experiment except:

A. Limit the duration of the experiment
**B. Address all of the uncertainties
C. Be willing to stop an experiment
D. Test one factor at time
E. Apply the lesson learned

Beating the Odds when you Launch a New Venture pg 97-98

[Sean]

All of the following "proper" managerial decisions ultimately drive
the demise of corporations from industry leadership, EXPECT;

a.) Aggressively expanding to acheive the larger profit margins found
at higher end products.
b.) Focusing heavily on the improvement of processes and values.
c.) Building a heavily structured organization to fully support upward
migration.
d.) Maintaining flexibility while allowing timely disruptive
technology opportuinites to drive upward movement.*
e.) Relying on strictly budgeted resource allocation to develop new
technologies.

* d.) Is the correct answer because it encompasses the commitment to
reap profits at the lower end of the scale, thus fighting the "vacuum
effect", while still attacking the higher markets in a coordinated and
sustainable manner.

"The Innovator's Dilemma" pages; 105, 108, 113, 193, and 249.
Firms must consider all of the following regarding disruptive
technologies except;

a.) Is the firms culture one that can handle the development of a
disruptive technology?
b.) Is the firm agile enough to delve into the new market?
c.) Can subsidiary firms be more effective at penetrating opportunity
markets?
d.) Is the firm outpacing the market in achieving higher profit
margins?*
e.) Is the resource allocation process flexible enough to
substantially commit to promising emerging technologies?

* d.) Is the correct answer. It is correct because all of the other
answers warrent legitament consideration for structuring a company to
address and embrace new opportunities.

Information from the "Innovators Dilemma" pages; 191, 221, 236, 240,
248, & 249.
All of the following are indicative characteristics of the S-curve
except:
a.) Once established, firms progress through adopting sustaining
improvements.
b.) Once atop the S-curve, arguably firms are best suited for
adjusting to sustaining innovations.
c.) Disruptive changes pose the largest threat to established
companies.
d.) Disruptive changes target such small markets they need not be a
concern. *
e.) Small niches can open new markets with proper acceptance.

*The correct answer is d. All other statements reflect true statements
in regards to firms and their status in the S-curve.

Information from "The Innovator's Dilemma" chapter 1, Why companies
can fail and chapter 2, Managing disruptive technological change.
Pages; preface xxxiv, 10, 50 and 52.
MCQ-3) Multisided Platforms (MSP) offer new opportunities to achieve
new strategic positions that are "different, unique, and distant from
the status quo". All of the following "psychological management of
thoughts" are essential to attaining new areas and or protecting them
from MSP undermining, except?
a.) Selling employees on committing to the new product.
b.) Selective process of choosing MSP's (none-multiple) and MSP
services.
c.) Fostering a belief of success for the new idea among third
parties.
d.) Securing the largest MSP agreement possible to increase the market
for new idea. *
e.) Reserving certain rights and contractual details of the venture in
the MSP agreement.
d.), Is incorrect because it leaves your new strategy vulnerable to
leveraged takeover, imitation, or diluted market value.
Information from "The New Psychology of Leadership Strategy" pages;
120,121,123,125 and "What's Your Google Strategy" pages; 76-81.
All of the following prohibit exploiting new opportunities under the
current scheme of management philosophies, except:

a.) Managements devotion to pre-formed conceptions regarding
operational practices and linear management developed from typical
educational curriculum.
b.) Employee diversification allowed by management to function as a
catalyst for practice acceleration to transcend current static
management models.*
c.) Managements desire to unify employees towards a common purpose
discourages new ideas.
d.) Hiring employees who are expected to function together their
personal ideas to change managements position on operations.
e.) Typical professional experiences that reinforce current practices
to obtain optimal efficiency thus stifling imagination.
* The correct answer is b.) because it contradicts the basis that
similar educational experiences and backgrounds will induce optimal
performance amongst employees. In fact, the concept of diversification
brings together employees whose strengths can compliment one another's
in achieving current goals while allowing freedom and transparency to
realize new directions and innovations. Basis for concepts from Future
of Management.

[chad russell]

Hamel's Hierarchy of Human Capabilities includes all of the following
EXCEPT?

a. Initiative: Do more w/o being asked
b. Obedience: Do as told, Follow the rules
c. Diligence: Stay focused, task completion
d. Creativity: Do better with less
e. Lead: Be a leader not a follower ****** This is the answer******


All of the following are examples of targeted experiments, designed to
pinpoint a "deal-killer" or "path-dependent risk" EXCEPT?

A. Using crash test dummies to test the efficacy of new safety
features for vehicles.
B. Running clinical trials on rodents for things such as artificial
sweeteners, for the purpose of testing side effects before releasing
the product.
C. Conducting market research to figure out the demand for satellite
broadcasting technology in developing countries, which will be
dependent upon customers being able to access the broadcasts through
low cost radio receivers. ********* C is the Answer*******
D. Running tests on battery life before launching a new portable
device.
E. Testing bandwidth and connectivity concerns before launching an
online learning program at various locations across the country.

[Pavan Patel]

1) According to Pitney Bowes, when corporations decide to acquire
other businesses, it is best to acquire businesses outside of your
general industry (no substantial link to the type of work your company
does or the types of products it deals in) to diversify because...

A) Diversification reduces default risk in the event your industry
experiences a contraction.
B) Diversification allows you to be in multiple markets and thus
increases your total customer base.
C******) Companies should acquire industry adjacent companies (not
diversify) because research has shown these acquisitions perform
better since the acquiring company already has knowledge within the
field.
D) Companies should acquire industry adjacent companies (not
diversify) because diversification in industries always ends in
default of the newly acquired company due to inexperience in the
field.
E) Research has shown it doesn't matter whether corporations acquire
adjacent or diversified companies as long as the company they acquire
is profitable beforehand.

The New Psychology of Strategic Leadership: The prevalence of
Associative Thinking by managers and strategists, making sense of the
world by comparing unfamiliar things with those we've already
experienced and classified into our long-term memory, include all
EXCEPT:

A) Because associations are fundamental to human cognition, managers
who use associative thinking in the work of innovation and strategy
can gain a difficult-to-imitate advantage that allows them to go
"outside the box" much easier.
B) Whereas deductive reasoning is extremely information-thirsty,
associative thinking requires only that the strategist identify a few
parallels between two situations, allowing managers to adapt quicker
to new or changing situations.
C) By using an analogy to bring previously distant ideas (ex. “bank”
and “super- market”) into relationship with each other, managers are
able to see opportunities invisible to their competitors.
D******) Relative to other methods (Deductive Reasoning, Logical
Reasoning, etc.), associative thinking and processes are always a more
powerful basis for identifying distant opportunities, regardless of
the amount of factors such as familiarity and information.
E) People cannot simply decide to think differently than how they have
in the past in order to "think outside the box", they needs tools that
bring a new dimension of psychological insight to the strategist’s
role. Associated Thinking has been found to be a powerful tool in this
sense.


Funding Growth In An Age of Austerity: To boost innovation efficiency
one must adjust all but which of the following:
A) Raise the ratio of innovators to the total number of employees.
B) Raise the ratio of radical innovation to incremental innovation.
C) Raise the ratio of externally sourced innovation to internally
sourced innovation.
D) Raise the ratio of learning over investment in innovation projects.
E*****) Raise the ratio of fixed assets to employees.

Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage: Globalization, new
technologies, and greater transparency have combined to create a
business environment in which a company's abilitity to adapt to change
a favorable competitive advantage. A company can achieve this through
mastery of all EXCEPT which of the following abilities:
A) The ability to read and act on signals of change.
B) The ability to experiment rapidly and frequently, not only with
products and services, but also with business models, processes, and
strategies.
C) The ability to manage complex and internconnected systems of
mutiple stakeholders.
D) The ability to motivate employees and partners.
E******) The ability to expand presence in global markets and decrease
presence in domestic markets.
The Art of Standards Wars: Based on the compatability of your
technology with that of your rivals standards wars fall into all
except which of following types:
A) Rival Evolutions
B) Evolution versus Revolution
C) Revolution versus Evolution
D) Rival Revolutions
E******) Evolution versus Evolution

[James Paris]

All of the following are ways to make money using "Free" EXCEPT:
A. Using advertising to pay for the cost of business
B. Inviting a third party into the deal to subsidize the cost of
business
C. Offer a short period of free service built into a standard contract
D. Offer services as loss leaders and let income come from other
business units
E. Make basic product free while using paid version (used by few) to
pay for business


All of the following are examples of multi sided platforms except:

A) Amazon
B) E-bay
C) Craigslist
D) match.com
E) iTunes

Which of the following is not a concept from The case for open
services innovation: the commodity trap

A) Think of your business as a service business
B) Co-Creation
C) Open Innovation
D) Transforming Business Models
E) Observing competitors and following them