A company's strategic vision |
delineates management's aspirations for the business, providing a panoramic view of "where we are going" and a convincing rationale for why this makes good business sense for the company |
A set of "stretch" financial and strategic objectives |
helps a company avoid ho-hum results |
operating strategies concern |
the relatively narrow strategic initiatives and approaches for managing key operating unites (plant distribution centers, geographic units) and strategically significant operating tasks (quality control, advertising campaigns, the management of specific brands, supply chain-related activites, and website sales and operations) |
a company's overall strategy |
is really a collection of strategic initiatives and actions devised by managers (and sometimes key employees) up and down the whole organizational hiearchy |
which of the following are key tasks in the strategy-making, strategy-executing process? |
Developing a strategic vision, mission and core values, setting objectives and crafting a strategy to achieve the objectives and move the company along the strategic course management has charted |
which of the following is the best example of a well-stated strategic objective |
withing 2 years, achieve costs per unit sold that are 10% below the current industry average of $4.75 per unit |
business strategy, as distinct from corporate strategy, is |
focused on forging actions and approaches to compete successfully and perform well in one specific line of business |
masterful strategies come from |
doing things differently from competitors where it counts--out-innovating them, being more efficient being more imaginative, adapting faster--rather than running with the herd |
A company that pursues and achieves strategic objectives |
is frequently better able to improve its future financial performance (because of the stronger market standing and greater competitive vitality that flow from the achievement of well-chosen strategic objectives) |
A company exhibits strategic intent when |
it relentlessly pursues an ambitious strategic objective, concentrating the full force of its resources and competitive actions on achieving that objective |
Effectively communicating the strategic vision to company personnel is important because |
if company personnel do not understand or accept the rationale for heading in the direction top management has charted, they are prone to resist or be indifferent to the changes management wants to make |
Which one of the following questions is not something company managers should consider in thinking strategically about their company's directional path and developing a strategic vision |
what business approaches and operating practices should we consider in trying to implement and execute out business model |
which of the following are characteristics of an effectively-worded strategic vision statement? |
achievable, profitable, and differentiated |
The primary roles/obligations of a company's board of directors in the strategy-making, strategy-executing process include |
critically appraising the company's direction, strategy, and business approaches and evaluating the caliber of senior strategy-making and strategy-executing skills |
Managerial jobs with strategy-making responsibility |
typically extend throughout the managerial ranks and exist in every part of a company--its business units, operating divisions, functional departments, manufacturing plants, and sales districts) indeed the more that a company's operations cut across different products, industries, and geographical areas, the more the headquarter executives have little option but to delegate considerable strategy-making authority to down-the-line managers in charge of particular organizational units |
which of the following is not among the principal managerial tasks associated with implementing executing a company's strategy? |
pushing employees to work hard, do their very best and meet or beat the established performance target-employees that fall short on these criteria must be quickly weeded out |
a company's strategic plan |
lays out its future direction, business purpose, performance targets and strategy--in other words, a strategic vision+mission+a set of objectives+a strategy = a strategic plan |
which one of the following approaches to objective-setting should definitely be avoided? |
setting unspecific targets like maximize profits, reduce costs, become more efficient, or increase revenues |
The difference between a company's mission statement and the concept of a strategic vision is that |
the strategic vision portrays a company's future (where we are going) where as a company's mission typically describes its present business and purpose (who are are, what we do, why we are here) |
A company's values relate to such things as |
fair treatment, honor and integrity, ethical behavior, innovativeness, teamwork, accountability, a passion for top-notch quality or superior customer service, social responsibility and community citizenship |