MZUMBE UNIVERSITY

MBEYA CAMPUS COLLEGE

Governance and Professional Ethics

ACC 324 Questions

Strategic Management

1. What are the characteristics of a firm that is successfully pursuing a costleadership strategy?

2. Briefly explain how economy, customers, suppliers, distributors, shareholders’ expectation, and
technology affect businesses environment.

3. Explain why the concept of competitive advantage is central to the study of strategic management

4. Porter argues that, to be successful, the company must achieve one of the generic competitive
strategies. It is difficult to move between narrow-target strategy and broad-target strategy. Otherwise,
the company is “stuck in the middle” of the competitive market place. Use HP and DEL as case study
explicates the concept of stuck in the middle.

5. Define and give examples of joint venture, retrenchment, divestiture andliquidation.

6. A business may sometimes scapegoat interim profit maximization for enduring profit boosting.
Explain when.

7. Explain why the concept of competitive advantage is central to the study of strategic management

8. Briefly describe the three generic strategies – overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus

9. Distinguish between long-range planning and strategic planning .Provide examples to illustrate your
point.

10. Identify the pitfalls in strategic planning for which management should watch out, then pick any five and
discuss, in detail, the strategic implications of this risk.
11. Compare and contrast vision statements with mission statements. Describe why a mission statement is
so important in the strategic-management process.
12. Identify and discuss 10 external forces that must be examined in formulating strategies: economic,
social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, governmental, legal, technological, and
competitive. Give examples of each.
13. Explain Porter's Five Forces Model and its relevance in formulating strategies. For each competitive
force, discuss one condition that is likely to increase the threat of that force.
14. Explain how to develop and use a Competitive Profile Matrix.
15. Identify the five basic functions of management, and describe each function with an emphasis on their
relevance in formulating strategies.
16. The textbook lists eleven types of strategies. Describe and give examples of each.
 17. Discuss, in detail, the SWOT Matrix. Describe each component of the matrix and discuss its strategic
implication. Discuss the use of the SWOT Matrix in strategic analysis.
18. Question Eleven
a) Write short notes on the following
i. Auditor’s Liability
ii. Audit Expectation Gap
iii. Ethical Dilemma
iv. Teologists
b) The auditors have no direct statutory responsibility to detect and reporting fraud, error and other
irregularities but the ISA suggest that “audit procedures should be designed to give an auditor a
reasonable chance of detecting any material misstatement .The standard goes on to suggest how the
auditor should approach the design of the audit work through adequate planning.

Required:
What are the techniques an auditor should use to minimize potential claims/litigations?
19. Liabilities to the state are likely to be “fixed in terms of penalties whereas the liabilities to the clients or third
parties have been proven to be open –ended.
Required: Provide short notes on the following
i. Auditors Criminal liability
ii. Auditors Civil liability
iii. Liability under professional Misconduct.
20. Civil liability differs from criminal liability in that violations of tort or contract terms do not subject the
responsible party to punishment for a crime, although civil liability can also include punitive monetary damages
or other forms of court enforcement.
Required: what are the conditions to be met for a civil liability to exist?
21. Write short notes on the following
a. Auditors responsibility in detecting errors and frauds
b. Auditor’s role on confidentiality
c. Auditor’s primary responsibility.
d. Performance gap
e. Knowledge gap
f. Liability gap.