MCQ's and feedback MCQs

[Andrea Nunez]

Beating the Odds When Launching a New Venture: Which guideline is
IRRELEVANT?
a. Limit the duration—perfection of a venture is sometimes the enemy
of the good
*b. Inject generous capital—more money into experiment increases
venture success
c. Test one thing at a time—focus on resolving uncertainty one by one
d. Apply the lessons learned—experiments should redirect a venture
rather than confirm initial ideas
e. Be willing to turn off experiments—if deal killer exist cut off
experiment and move to next venture

Standards Wars: Which is NOT true?
a. Before going to "war", assemble broad support from consumers and
suppliers
b. Use preemption as a critical tactic during the "war"
c. Manage consumer expectations
*d. If you fall behind, no point in seeking advantage
e. Once you've won the war, never rest easy

Innovator’s Dilemma: Which of the following principles is INCORRECT?
a. Customers greatly influence the patterns of resource allocation in
well-run companies.
b. Failure is often an intrinsic step towards success.
*c. Small markets bear opportunities to solve and fuel the growth
needs of large companies.
d. Organizations have capabilities that exist independently of the
capabilities of the people who work for them.
e. The supply of technology and innovation may surpass market demand.

3/4
You work for a new company with many ideas for products. You know you
must test these products before selling them to the market. In order
to efficiently expire meant with each idea you should do all of the
following EXCEPT:

A. Give all the time necessary to test each product thoroughly

B. Test one product at a time

C. Have the ability to stop an experiment

D. Learn and actually apply what you learn to help redirect the
product

E. Limit your time on each product

*Correct answer is A


Innovator’s Dilemma: Which of the following principles is INCORRECT?
a. Customers greatly influence the patterns of resource allocation in
well-run companies.
b. Failure is often an intrinsic step towards success.
*c. Small markets bear opportunities to solve and fuel the growth
needs of large companies.
d. Organizations have capabilities that exist independently of the
capabilities of the people who work for them.
e. The supply of technology and innovation may surpass market demand.

Funding Growth in an Age of Austerity: Which question is IRRELEVANT?
a. Will the idea change customer expectations and behaviors?
b. Will the idea change the basis of industry competition?
c. Will the idea change industry economics?
*d. Will the idea require enough funding for R&D?
e. Will the idea surprise both competitors and customers?

Growth in an Age of Austerity: Which ratio is INCORRECT? Raising the
ratio of…
*a. Total number of employees to innovators
b. Radical innovation to incremental innovation
c. Externally sourced innovation to internally sourced innovation
d. Learning over investment of innovation projects
e. Commitment over the number of key innovation priorities

Adaptability - The New Competitive Advantage: The following
capabilities foster rapid adaptation, EXCEPT:
a. The ability to create a flexible, diverse, and autonomous
organization
*b. The ability to counter competitor strategies by employing new
competencies
c. The ability to conduct frequent experiments on ideas more
efficiently than rivals
d The ability to detect and quickly act on signals of external changes
e. The ability to manage codependent, dynamic business systems

Adaptability - The New Competitive Advantage: All of the following
statements are correct, EXCEPT:
a. Companies that succeed are nimble and able to react quickly to
change
b. Creative experimentation is a vital tool in corporate success
c. A company can generate success by utilizing it networks of partners
and suppliers to innovate
d. Sensitivity analysis across a variety of uncertainties is a better
way to evaluate risk than one larger model
*e. Departmental silos are often the best way to promote efficiency
and therefore innovation

4/3
As a leader in a very successful firm, according to Clayton
Christensen’s The Innovators Dilemma, you should be able to recognize
a disruptive innovation if the innovation fits all of the following
characteristics EXCEPT:

A. The innovation is opening to a new/emerging or insignificant market
that your existing market customers do not fit
B. Are not in the form of a drastic improvement to the existing
processes
C. The innovation is cheap and quick
D. The innovation is showing results of lower margins and
profitability
E. The innovation targeted toward the most profitable consumers in
your existing market

*Correct Answer is E

Competition Demystified: Which is NOT an example of competitive
advantage?
a. Supply advantages due to superior production technology or
privileged access to resources
*b. Growth due to M&A’s and by taking some of the share from new
markets
c. Demand advantages (e.g., due to customer loyalty or high switching
costs)
d. Customer captivity because of habits or cost of searching for other
products
e. Economies of scale by spreading fixed costs over a larger quantity
of items sold

Competition Demystified: When evaluating a firm’s strategy, which is
INCORRECT?
a. Focus on the three competitive advantages—supply, demand, economies
of scale
b. Operational efficiency is almost always an important consideration
*c. Competitive advantages are often self-sustaining; once you’ve got
it, it is yours
d. Cooperation between competitors can be mutually beneficial
e. Companies must protect their core strengths and advantage

What's Your Google Strategy: Which is NOT a potential consequence of
multisided platforms?
a. Lowered transaction costs
b. Increased competition
c. Lessened control over customers
*d. Decreased customer reach
e. Increased difficulty differentiating the firm from competitors

Business Model Generation: Which is NOT an epicenter or a driver of
business model innovations?
a. Resource-driven innovations originate from inside our
infrastructures or partnerships
b. Offer-driven innovations create new value propositions that affect
other business functions
c. Customer-driven innovations originate from customer's needs (e.g.,
increased convenience)
d. Finance-driven innovations originate from new revenue streams and
pricing mechanisms, or reduced costs
*e. Supply-driven innovations originate from resources that are highly
generic

Innovator’s Dilemma: Which of the following principles is INCORRECT?
a. Customers greatly influence the patterns of resource allocation in
well-run companies.
b. Failure is often an intrinsic step towards success.
*c. Small markets bear opportunities to solve and fuel the growth
needs of large companies.
d. Organizations have capabilities that exist independently of the
capabilities of the people who work for them.
e. The supply of technology and innovation may surpass market demand.



Funding Growth in an Age of Austerity: Which ratio would NOT boost
innovation?
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 internally sourced innovation to externally
sourced innovation
D) Raise the ratio of learning over investment in innovation projects
E) Raise the ratio of commitment over the number of key innovation
priorities

Quest for Resilience: A firm is resilient if it addresses the
following challenges, EXCEPT:
a. Cognitive challenge: being free of denial, nostalgia, and arrogance
b. Strategic challenge: ability to create compelling alternatives to
old strategies
c. Financial challenge: have enough cash to carry the business through
economic hard times
d. Political challenge: divert funds from legacy products to support
breakout experiments
e. Ideological challenge: ability to question the doctrine of
optimization


Innovator's Dilemma: Which principle of Disruptive Innovation is
INCORRECT?
A) Companies depend on customers and investors for resources
B) Small markets don't solve the growth needs of large companies
C) Markets that don't exist can't be analyzed
D) Being first to market makes all the difference
E) The supply of innovation (e.g., technology) may not equal market
demand

Competing Against Free: When a free product offering enters the
marketplace, incumbents should apply any of the following strategies
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.

Finding Your Core: Which of these is NOT an example of a successful
adjacency move?
a. Expanding the strengths of the core business: a ballet slipper
company begins to produce and sell many other kinds of dance shoes
b. Migrating into new geographic adjacencies: a bank starts expanding
by buying out smaller banks in neighboring regions
*c. Revamping current product offerings: a newspaper company
refurbishes the look of its newspaper
d. Shifting from product to service offerings: a local bakery begins
to offer baking lessons and catering services
e. Adding a new product line: a financial advisor adds insurance and
securities to the investment options available to his clients

Competing Against Free: When free product offerings pose a threat to
your business, you should do all of the following EXCEPT:
a. Advance technical know-how
b. Make significant financial investments
c. Improve distribution and marketing channels
d. Assess and capitalize on market knowledge
*e. Start offering competing free products immediately


Blue Ocean: The following are true EXCEPT:
1) Incumbents create Blue Oceans usually within their core business
2) It is the pursuit of differentiation and low cost happens at the
same time
3) Successful Blue Oceans tend to attract customers in large volumes
4) A large R&D budgets is a key to the creation of a Blue Ocean
5) In most cases a Blue Ocean is created from within a Red Ocean


Wisdom of Crowds: Which of the following does NOT characterize wise
crowds?
A. Intelligence: A crowd made of particularly smart individuals
B. Diversity: Each person has private information and opinion.
C. Independence: People's opinions aren't determined by the opinions
of those around them.
D. Decentralization: People are able to specialize and draw on local
knowledge.
E. Aggregation: A mechanism exists for turning private judgments into
a collective decision.


Rules to Acquire By: Which of the following is INCORRECT:
A. A platform acquisition is far riskier than a bolt-on acquisition
B. Making an adjacent move is more effective than a broad
diversification
C. Business unit sponsor (not a corp. development group), should
oversee the entire acquisition process from beginning to end
D. It's a better strategic move to make one large acquisition, as
opposed to many smaller ones
E. Diversification into a non-related area often reduces shareholder
value


Porter 5 Forces should be 6 Forces: Which is the 6th Force?
a) Bargaining power of suppliers
b) Rivalry among existing competitors
c) Bargaining power of buyers
d) Threat of products or services complements
e) Threat of products or services substitutes