Week 1

1. ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ is a term associated with _________ - Business Strategies

2. The subject ‘Strategy’ derives its origin from the world of _________ - Warfare

3. A firm’s Vision statement describes - What the firm wants to be

4. A firm’s SMART goals means - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and

Timebound goals

5. The four steps of strategic management process are - Environmental Scanning,

Strategy Formulation, Strategy Implementation & Strategy Evaluation

6. PESTEL is a framework used by firms to carry out external analysis. PESTEL

means - Political, Economical, Social, Technological and Legal

7. ___________ is famous for superior economic performance - Southwest

Airlines

8. ____________ is an economic measure of competitive advantage - Earning a

return in excess of the cost of capital

9. Mintzberg’s 5 Ps of strategy include - Plan, Ploy, Pattern, Position and

Perspective

10. SWOT stands for - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Week 2
1. The ________ is the theoretical lens through which internal analysis can be
conducted. - Resource Based View (RBV).

2. Competitive advantage typically stems from several __________ bundled

together. - resources & capabilities

3. Extreme (X) Games, a valuable & rare capability, helped __________ to achieve
a temporary competitive advantage. - Entertainment and Sports Programming
Network (ESPN)

4. The term VRIO comes from the words _________. - value, rarity, imitability &

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 organization

5. Harley-Davidson’s styles may be easily imitated, but its _________ cannot be

easily imitated. - reputation

6. The sources of costly imitation of resources and capabilities of a firm are

___________. - patents, social complexity, causal ambiguity and unique
historical conditions

7. Two factors responsible for Southwest airlines sustained competitive advantage

are ________. - operational choices and people management

8. Tacit co-operation is a viable strategy only when the industry is an _________. -

oligopoly

9. The primary activities of value chain are _____________. - inbound logistics,

operations, outbound logistics, marketing & sales and after-sales services

10. The secondary activities of value chain are __________. - procurement,

technological development, human resource management and infrastructure

Week 3
1. IKEA targets young furniture buyers who want’s _________ at a very low cost. -
style

2. The three types of strategic fit are __________. - first order fit, second order fit
and third order fit

3. Rising interest rates is an example of ________ factor of general external

environment. - economic climate

4. According to ________ model, the market environment has a direct short term
impact on the market structure. - SCP

5. Select one out of the four undermentioned, which is not considered for industry
analysis. - Inbound Logistics (Other options are - Bargaining Power of Buyers,
Threat of New Entrants & Bargaining Power of Suppliers)

6. Along with Michael Porter’s five forces model, the sixth force which is used
nowadays to carry out industry competitive analysis is __________. - the
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 power of complements

7. Large number of small firms is a characteristic of _________. - fragmented

industry structure

8. Fragmented, emerging, mature and __________ are the four generic industry
structures. - declining

9. _________ is a tool for business analysis of the external environment (political,

economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental and legal factors). -
PESTEL

10. NAFTA is a trade agreement signed by __________. - USA, Canada & Mexico

Week 4
1. The three levels of strategy are ________. - corporate, business and functional

2. Tesla has entered into lithium mining for battery production for their electric
vehicles. This is an example of __________ strategy. - backward integration

3. Porter’s generic strategies are ___________. - cost leadership, differentiation

and focus

4. Business models typically have two fundamental considerations. They are

___________. - value proposition and target market

5. Like Southwest airlines, _______ is an example of a successful cost leadership

airline. -Ryanair

6. The ability of a firm to create more economic value than its competitors can be
defined as __________. - cost leadership

7. Productive inputs include _____________. - labor, capital, land and raw

materials

8. Human resource policies have helped Southwest airlines in creating

__________. - path dependencies

9. The three organizational structures for effectively implementing cost leadership

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 strategy are _________. - simple, functional and multi-divisional

10. A small family owned store is an example of _________ organizational

structure. - simple

Week 5
1. _________ plays a critical role in an effective product differentiation strategy. -
Advertising

2. The existence of product differentiation is always a matter of consumer

__________. - perception

3. Product differentiation can produce value for firms by neutralizing the

environmental ______ and exploiting the environmental opportunities. - threats

4. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes is an example of product differentiation through branding

in a ________ industry. - fragmented

5. ___________ are sources of costs of imitation. - Historical uniqueness, causal

ambiguity and social complexity

6. A _________ market is a narrow segment of a total market. - niche

7. __________ is an example of a soft drink catering to a niche market. - Diet

Coke

8. The Value Net Model is a ________ model. - business

9. The value net identifies four types of players that every company faces. They are
________. - suppliers, competitors, complementors and customers

10. The four broad categories of tactics used by firms are _________. - offensive,
defensive, anticipatory and engagement

Week 6
1. ________ is about creating & capturing uncontested market space thereby
making the competition irrelevant. - Blue Ocean Strategy

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 2. One company’s gain is achieved at another company’s loss. This is known as
_________. - zero-sum game

3. Stitch Fix has differentiated itself through __________. - personalization and

element of surprise

4. Blue ocean strategy formulation risks are __________. - search risks, planning
risks, scale risks and business model risks

5. Blue ocean strategy principles to address strategy execution risks are

_________. - overcoming organizational hurdles and building execution into
strategy

6. Blue ocean strategy provides a systematic approach in making the competition

_______. - irrelevant

7. Value innovation is a simultaneous pursuit of ___________. - differentiation

and low cost

8. __________ is the bridge that links technology innovation to commercially

compelling new markets. - Value innovation

9. __________ is the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost, creating

a leap in value for both buyers and the company. - Value innovation

10. __________ is a framework which can be used by companies to test the

commercial viability of the new blue ocean strategy idea. - Blue ocean index

Week 7
1. Portfolio strategy is a component of _________. - corporate level strategy

2. _________ is also a form of retrenchment strategy. - Turnaround

3. Generally, the small or mid-size firms catering to the needs of a niche market,
which are limited in scope, rely on a _________ strategy. - no change

4. _______ are three types of stability strategies. - No change, profit and pause

5. Lowering of prices is ___________ strategy. - market penetration

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 6. A firm selling their current product in an unexplored market is __________
strategy. - market development

7. Firms implement a corporate __________ when it operates in multiple industry

or markets simultaneously. - diversification strategy

8. _______ has a core competency in designing high performance engines. -

Honda

9. The organizational structure form needed for diversification is ________. - M-

Form

10. ________ defines its divisions with reference to the geographic scope of each
business. - Nestle

Week 8
1. ________ is one of the broad integration strategies. - Vertical integration

2. Acquisition of Compaq by Hewlett Packard in 2002 is an example of

__________. - horizontal integration

3. _________ economies are those economies that are created by integrating a

market transaction into the boundaries of the firm. - Value chain

4. Transaction specific investments, make parties to an exchange vulnerable to

opportunism and _________ integration solves this vulnerability problem. -
vertical

5. Vertical integration can be used to overcome the threat of _________. -

opportunism

6. In the pharmaceutical industry, basic research and development (R&D)

capabilities are very ________ to develop. - difficult

7. Reducing the threat of opportunism can be seen as a ________ approach to

vertical integration. - defensive

8. Leveraging the focal firm’s capabilities is a _________ approach to vertical

integration. - proactive

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 9. A firm must have the appropriate infrastructure – organizational structure,
management controls, and _________ to successfully implement a vertical
integration strategy. - compensation policies

10. _________ is one of the key management control processes. - Budgets

Week 9
1. When a company agrees with the competitor brand to perform business
operations together and compete with each other simultaneously, it is then
called expansion through ____________. - cooperation

2. The business deal between Tata Motors and Marcopolo of Brazil is an example
of _________. - joint venture

3. In 2016, Dow bought out Corning, making Dow Corning a 100% Dow subsidiary.
Prior to 2016, Dow Corning was a ________ between The Dow Chemical
Company and Corning Incorporated. - joint venture

4. In a nonequity alliance, where firms allow each other to use its brand name to
sell products is called ________. - licensing agreements

5. _________ are characterized by increasing return of scale. - Network industries

6. _________ exist, when two or more firms in an industry, coordinate their

strategic choices to reduce competition in that industry. - Collusion

7. __________ is an incentive to cheat on a strategic alliance. - Holdup

8. One of the reasons for the abandoned strategic alliance between Disney and
Pixar is _________. - moral hazard

9. What makes a strategic alliance rare is the __________ to form the alliance and
the type of resources that partners pool to form the alliance. - motivation

10. The strategic alliance between Johnson & Johnson and Merck is an __________
alliance. - inimitable and rare

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Week 10
1. A _______ agreement can be defined as “an agreement where two or more
firms hold equity capital in a venture over which has some degree or control.” -
joint venture

2. Most of the strategic alliances created in mining bauxite takes the form of
________. - joint ventures

3. __________, coordination and trust are important determinants of a strategic

alliance’s success. - Commitment

4. Pecuniary economies relate to __________. - market power

5. In market extension merger & acquisition (related M&A), firms go looking for
complementary ________. - markets

6. Research has shown that no value is created for ________ firms in a merger and
acquisition. - acquiring

7. ________ is a form of self-delusion in which managers convince themselves of

their superior skills in the face of clear evidence to the contrary (managers
believe they can beat the odds). - Managerial hubris

8. In a merger & acquisition, ________ include any of the variety of actions that a
target firm’s managers can take to make the acquisition prohibitively
expensive. - poison pills

9. In merger & acquisition, __________ is a compensation arrangement between a

firm and its senior management. - Golden parachute

10. The Federal Trade Commission of _________ is charged with the responsibility
of evaluating competitive implications of proposed strategic mergers &
acquisitions. - United States of America

Week 11
1. In a merger & acquisition, the target firm managerial responses that have the effect of
reducing the value of target firms include ______. - greenmail, standstill agreements
and poison pills

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 2. In a merger & acquisition, the saying “the hunted becomes the hunter” stands for
_______. - pac man defense

3. ________ model is also known as “Theory of Comparative Advantage of Nations”. -

Porter diamond

4. The _______ is a very good example of “Firm Structure, Strategy & Rivalry” component
of Porter Diamond model. - Japanese automobile industry

5. _________ is an example of a “Basic Factor Condition” component of Porter Diamond

model. - Climate

6. _________ is an example of an “Advanced Factor Condition” component of Porter

Diamond model. - Telecommunications

7. In order to have a basis for international strategy, and to attract new customers,
product or services must address the ______ , wants and preferences of customers in
foreign markets as well. - needs

8. Gaining access to low cost __________ is perhaps one of the most traditional reasons
why firms began international operations. - raw materials

9. Nestle is a ______ food company. - Swiss

10. In expansion through internationalization, ________ can turn a loosing investment into
a profitable investment and vice-versa. - currency fluctuation

Week 12
1. A firm that has operations in more than one country is known as a ________. -
multinational corporation

2. Global, multi-domestic, international and _______ are strategies for expansion through
internationalization. - transnational

3. _______ strategy is a process through which you cut down all those products and
services that aren’t profiting your business to achieve financial stability. - Retrenchment

4. ________ is one of the indicators that mandate a firm to adopt divestment strategy. -
Legal pressures

5. The irretrievable closing down of the business of a company is known as __________. -

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 liquidation

6. _________ is one of the indicators that necessitate a firm to adopt liquidation

strategy. - Poor management

7. The three types of liquidation strategy are creditors voluntary liquidation, members
voluntary liquidation and ________. - Compulsory liquidation

8. The _______ strategy means making the use of other grand strategies simultaneously. -
combination

9. _________ may be said to consist of securing resources, organizing these resources and
directing the use of these resources within and outside the organization. - Strategy
implementation

10. _________ to change can be considered the single greatest threat to successful strategy
implementation. - Resistance

Week 13
1. ________ is a strategic decision-making tool to analyze the different options for
expansion available to a business. - Ansoff Matrix

2. ________ is one of the possible growth strategies as per Ansoff matrix. - Market
Development

3. As per Ansoff Matrix, selling existing products in new markets is __________ strategy. -
market development

4. As per Ansoff Matrix, ________ is a high-risk growth strategy. - diversification

5. According to ________ technique, businesses or products are classified as low or high

performers depending upon their market growth rate and relative market share. - BCG
Matrix

6. _________ is also known as Growth Share matrix. - BCG Matrix

7. The ‘Question Marks’ quadrant of BCG matrix is an indication of ____________. - High

market growth, Low market share

8. GE 9 Cell Matrix is also known as _________. - GE McKinsey Matrix

9. _________ is a strategy tool that offers a systematic approach for the multi business

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 enterprises to prioritize their investments among the various business units. - GE 9 Cell
Matrix

10. In using GE 9 Cell Matrix, each business is appraised in terms of dimensions, market
attractiveness and __________. business strength

Week 14
1. _________ is a tool that analyzes firm’s organizational design by looking at 7 key
internal elements. - McKinsey 7 S Model

2. McKinsey 7 S Model comprises of Structure, Strategy, Systems, Skills, Style, Staff and
_______. - shared values

3. As per McKinsey 7 S Model, _______ are the processes and procedures of the company
which reveals businesses daily activities and how decisions are made. - systems

4. ________ are the core of McKinsey’s 7 S Model. They are norms and standards that
guide employee behavior and company actions and thus are the foundation of every
organization. - Shared values

5. _________ is a valuable tool when organizational design is at question. - McKinsey 7 S

Model

6. ________ is a tool used in strategy implementation process. - Balanced Scorecard

7. The _______ , suggest examination of an organization from different perspectives apart

from just the financial traditional measures. - Balanced Scorecard

8. The Balanced Scorecard consist of organizational capacity/learning, internal processes,

customer and ________. - financial

9. Balanced Scorecard was introduced by _________. - Robert Kaplan and David Norton

10. _______ map gives directions, shows pathways and helps to achieve objectives. -
Strategy

Week 15
1. ________ is also known as product market expansion grid. - Ansoff Matrix

2. As per Ansoff Matrix, ________ is a medium-risk growth strategy. - product

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 development

3. BCG is the abbreviation for _________. - Boston Consulting Group

4. The more profitable the industry is the more _________ it becomes. - attractive

5. ________ indicates how hard or easy it will be for a company to compete in the market
and earn profits. - Industry attractiveness

6. _________ can effectively implement the McKinsey 7 S model using a top-bottom

approach. - Change agents

7. ________ is a tool used in strategy implementation process. - Strategy Map

8. The __________ component of Balanced Scorecard, views human capital, the

infrastructure, the technology, culture and other capacities that are key for
breakthrough performances within the organization. - organizational capacity/learning

9. Over the years, Balanced Scorecard has evolved from ‘performance measurement
system’ to ‘performance management system’ to ___________. - strategy
management system

10. One of the most powerful elements in the Balanced Scorecard methodology is
_________. - strategy map

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