Questions are based on the relevant chapters in Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 9th ed., Robert M. Grant. Discuss in your teams and answer the following questions.

1. Strategic fit refers to:

a. The need for a firm's strategy to be consistent with its vision, mission, and culture

b. The consistency of a firm's strategy with its external and internal environments

c. The need for a firm's strategy to be unique

d. The need for a firm's strategy to fit the needs of all its stakeholders, not just shareholders

2. The primary distinction between corporate strategy and business strategy is:

a. Corporate strategy is the responsibility of the CEO, business strategy is formulated by the heads of business units

b. Corporate strategy is concerned with where the firm competes; business strategy is concerned with how it competes in particular markets

c. Corporate strategy is concerned with establishing competitive advantage; business strategy with strategy implementation in individual businesses

d. Corporate strategy is concerned with the long-term performance of the firm; business strategy with resource deployment.

3. The profits earned by firms in an industry are determined by:

a. The intensity of competition among the firms within the industry

b. How much customers value the products supplied by the industry

c. The extent to which the industry is protected by barriers to entry

d. The value of the product for customers, the intensity of competition, and the relative bargaining powers of producers, their suppliers and their buyers

4. To obtain a license to drive a 'black cab' taxi in London requires passing a rigorous test of the driver's knowledge of London's streets and buildings involving 2 to 4 years of study. This rigorous test influences the profitability of London taxi industry:

a. Negatively, because of the debts that future taxi drivers accumulate during their training

b. Negatively, because it encourages native Londoners, who are already familiar with the city, to enter the industry

c. Positively, because they restrict entry to the industry

d. Positively, because taxi drivers are able to achieve economies of scale

5. Strategic group analysis is useful for:

a. Identifying 'blue ocean' opportunities

b. Understanding the strategic positioning of firms within an industry and thereby identifying direct competitors

c. Identifying the strategies that are most conducive to profitability within an industry

d. Identifying which strategic niches in an industry are least saturated and therefore have the greatest profit potential

6. Key success factors are:

a. Factors that allow rivals to undermine a firm's competitive advantage

b. The sources of competitive advantage within an industry

c. The forces of competition that are most influential in determining industry profitability

d. The generic strategy that is most closely aligned with customer preferences

7. The key premise of the resource-based view of firm is:

a. The boundaries of a firm are determined by the firm's resources

b. The resources of a firm are the foundation for its capabilities

c. Resources and capabilities are the principal basis for firm strategy and the primary source of profitability

d. Market-based factors are an important source of firm profitability

8. When a company has weaknesses relative to competitors among strategically important resources and capabilities, the appropriate strategic response is to:

a. Invest heavy in order to upgrade weaknesses

b. Diversify in order to find new areas of business where these resources and capabilities are unimportant to competitive advantage

c. Outsource those activities where third parties can offer superior capabilities while positioning the business to reduce vulnerabilities to remaining weaknesses

d. Employ management consultants to seek a solution.

9. According to Porter, cost leadership and differentiation are:

a. What leads a firm to be 'stuck in the middle'

b. Two names for the same fundamental strategy

c. Distinct generic competitive strategies

d. Strategies that can be pursued simultaneously

10. The concept of 'blue oceans' refer to:

a. Radical innovation

b. The potential offered by uncontested market spaces

c. The campaign to reduce pollution in the world's oceans

d. Cost reduction through offshoring production

11. When Amazon.com founded Amazon Studios to create content for its Amazon Prime video streaming service, this represented:

a. Forward integration

b. Backward integration

c. A marketing initiative

d. Outsourcing

12. The key difference between economies of scale and economies of scope:

a. Economies of scale relate to manufacturing activities; economies of scope relate to a wide range of functions

b. Economies of scale relate to expanding the output of a single product; economies of scope relate to expansion across multiple products

c. These are British and American terms for the same concept, and therefore there is no difference

d. Scale economies are relevant to business strategy; economies of scope to corporate strategy.

13. Which of the following is not an example of economies of scope from diversification?

a. Samsung Group applying its Samsung brand name across a wide range of products

b. Royal Dutch Shell engaging in forest development in order to offset some of the carbon dioxide produced by its petroleum business

c. Amazon using its server capacity to enter cloud computing and web hosting

d. Fuji Film applying its thin-film, coatings, and polymer technologies not only to photographic film, but also to cosmetics.

14. Strategic relatedness (as distinct from operational relatedness) in diversification refers to:

a. The ability to use different marketing strategies that fit with different countries

b. The ability to sell similar products

c. The ability to apply similar strategies, resource allocation procedures, and control systems across the businesses

d. The ability to maximize the allocation of financial resources across the businesses

15. The axes of the BCG and GE/McKinsey portfolio planning matrices act as proxies for two key strategic variables:

a. Market share and market growth

b. Competitive advantage and market growth

c. Competitive advantage and market attractiveness

d. Individual business unit performance and potential for synergy.

16. Many retailers that have been outstandingly successful in their home markets have experienced much poorer performance when they have entered overseas markets (Examples include: Tesco, Marks & Spencer, and Body Shop). This reflects:

a. The lack of efficiency benefits from international scope in retailing

b. The lack of scale economies in retailing

c. Limited opportunities for exploiting learning benefits in retailing (e.g. by transferring best practices)

d. The lack of efficiency benefits from international scope combined with the need for national differentiation.

17. McDonald's introduction of a greater number of local products on its menus points to:

a. The tendency for global products to lose their appeal

b. The versatility of the McDonald's business system

c. The potential and need for localized adaptation within the multinational enterprise to be a source of competitiveness

d. Growing competition in the fast food industry as the McDonald's system is increasingly imitated by local rivals.

18. Strategic alliances frequently play an important role in a firm's internationalization strategy because:

a. Alliances offer a means of sharing the high risks involved in international expansion

b. Internationalizing firms often lack the local knowledge and access to distribution channels that a local partner can provide

c. Alliances offer greater security than a wholly-owned subsidiary

d. Alliances offer greater flexibility than alternative internationalization modes.

19. Most of the biggest mergers and acquisitions since 2000 have been horizontal, i.e. between companies in the same industry. This reflects the fact that:

a. Antitrust authorities have been more concerned with vertical than horizontal mergers and acquisitions

b. By showing that diversification does not offer significant risk-spreading benefits, modern financial theory has undermined the attractions of diversifying mergers and acquisitions

c. Horizontal mergers and acquisitions offer the greatest potential for value creation through cost reduction and moderating competition

d. CEOs favor horizontal mergers and acquisitions because of their desire to eliminate rivals.

20. The Balanced Scorecard is a technique of performance management that establishes and monitors four dimensions of performance:

a. Financial, strategic, operational, and ethical performance

b. Financial, customer, internal, and learning/innovation performance

c. Profit, sales, productivity, and asset management performance

d. Shareholder, customer, employee, supplier, and social performance

Need answers for this with short explanation for each answer.