MGT/498 Week 1

Everything listed Below for Week 1 is included in purchase!! 

1. MGT/498 Week 1 Discussion – Vision Statements (Includes 2 DQs for Fortune 500 companies)
2. MGT/498 Week 1 Practice Quiz: Ch. 1, What is Strategy
3. MGT/498 Week 1 Practice Quiz: Ch. 3, External Analysis
4. MGT/498 Week 1 Practice Quiz: Ch. 4, Internal Analysis
5. MGT/498 Week 1 Apply: Summative Assessment: Part 1 Strategic Management Journal (Alphabet)
6. BONUS TUTORIAL INCLUDED - Part 1 Strategic Management Journal (Caterpillar)

MGT/498 Week 1 Discussion: Vision Statements

Includes Two A+ Responses for Two Fortune 500 Companies!

Identify an organization of your choice from the Fortune 500 list and locate its vision statement.

Review this week’s University Library resources before responding to this discussion.

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: 

• What is the importance of the vision statement? 
• Does it seem relevant in today’s environment or is it outdated? Explain your reasoning.
• What improvements would you recommend for the vision statement?

MGT/498 Week 1 Apply: Summative Assessment: Part 1, Strategic Management Journal (Alphabet, Inc.)

A+ Work!

The intention of the strategic management project is to provide you with practical experience with the elements of strategic management. The project is spread across each week of this course. Weeks 1-4 allow you to evaluate the strategic planning elements of Alphabet, Inc., Google’s parent company, through documentation in the strategic management research journal.  In Week 5, you will demonstrate your understanding of strategic management and quality improvement when you create a presentation to Alphabet’s leadership team. 
For the purposes of the strategic management project, you will operate as if you are a new hire at Alphabet’s headquarters in the role of assistant strategic development analyst. The job description reads as follows: 

• Maintain a strategic management research journal in which you: 
• Assess Alphabet’s corporate data, competitors, and associated business information. 
• Analyze background information to include previous and current strategic management of Alphabet. 
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of strategic management of Alphabet based on your analyses and provide information in a presentation to Alphabet’s leadership. 
• Recommend strategic management actions to ensure future success in a presentation to Alphabet’s leadership team. 

Assignment Preparation
Review the Alphabet resources provided by the University Library and the terms and concepts discussed this week.

Assignment Deliverable
Write a 525- to 875-word response to the following prompts as your journal entry: 
Justify the guiding principles required for preparing effective statements that describe the mission, vision, and the core values of an organization. In other words, please explain what the key elements are for an effective vision statement, an effective mission statement, and an effective values statement.

Compare whether Alphabet’s mission, vision, and core values conform to the guiding principles you justified in your response to prompt #1 and support organizational strategic planning principles.

Assess Alphabet’s current competitive advantages and disadvantages by considering its business partners, allies, and general operations. To do this, research some of Alphabet’s strengths and weaknesses, then use data to compare these attributes against the same attributes of some of Alphabet’s competitors to show how they create competitive advantages and disadvantages for Alphabet.
Format your references according to APA guidelines.
Submit your assessment.

MGT/498 Week 1 Practice Quiz: Chapter 1, What is Strategy (Correct Answers Included)

1. The field of management that focuses on attaining competitive advantage by combining analysis, formulation, and implementation is known as ______.
2. Burger Bomb is a new hamburger restaurant. In order to compete successfully against its many competitors, Burger Bomb has decided to focus on quality and an interesting, unique menu that uses locally sourced, organic ingredients. This is known as Burger Bomb's ______.
3. Effective guiding policy is supported by and stays consistent through the use of ______.
4. When a firm implements a strategy that leads to superior performance relative to other companies in the same industry, it is said to have achieved ______.
5. A competitive advantage that lasts for a long period of time is said to be ______.
6. What is the overall purpose of strategic management?
7. Which of the following are the relationships that a firm has with stakeholders?
8. Strategy is ______.
9. A firm's attempts to manage the web of relationships between internal and external stakeholders in order to create value is known as ______.
10. What must a firm do after diagnosing its specific competitive challenge?
11. Which of the following is a tool that managers can use to address the needs of stakeholders while maintaining a competitive advantage?
12. Burger Bomb has been outperforming other burger restaurants in recent years. This indicates that Burger Bomb has which of the following?
13. A stakeholder has ______ when its needs are within the bounds of the law or are otherwise relevant to the firm.
14. Which of the following questions are part of the five steps in stakeholder impact analysis?
15. The groups or individuals who can impact or be impacted by a firm's actions are known as ______.
16. In the ______ step of a stakeholder impact analysis, firms identify those stakeholders that currently have, or potentially can have, a material effect on the company.
17. Which of the following are aims of stakeholder strategy? (Select all that apply.)
18. Which framework helps firms to identify their economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic obligations to society?
19. Stakeholder impact analysis is a _____-step process that allows managers to better understand and address stakeholders' needs.
20. Which of the following elements of the pyramid of corporate social responsibilities are result from a society’s expectations toward business? (Check all that apply.)
21. Which of the following are the three important stakeholder attributes managers must pay particular attention to during stakeholder impact analysis? (Check all that apply.)
22. Which of the following statements regarding tasks in the AFI strategy framework is true?
23. Place the five steps of the stakeholder impact analysis in order, with the first step at the top.
24. Which of the following topics should be considered during the analysis phase of the AFI framework?
25. When identifying stakeholders, a firm should focus on those stakeholders that ______.
26. The concept, or framework, of corporate social  ___________ guides firms in identifying and addressing their economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic obligations to society.
27. To which types of organizations can we apply the principles of strategic management?
28. Match the element of the pyramid of corporate social responsibility (on the left) with its explanation (on the right).
29. What is the first step in the AFI strategy framework?
30. In the external analysis phase of the AFI strategy framework, managers should ask,
31. In the ______ step of a stakeholder impact analysis, firms identify those stakeholders that currently have, or potentially can have, a material effect on the company.
32. In a nutshell, strategy is the art and science of ______.
33. Which of the following elements of the pyramid of corporate social responsibility are required by society and shareholders? (Check all that apply.)

MGT/498 Week 1 Practice Quiz: Chapter 3, External Analysis (Correct Answers Included)

1.  Which of the following statements about Airbnb is correct?
2. Managers have ______ direct influence over external forces in the firm's general environment than those in the firm's task environment.
3. In the PESTEL model, political factors are those that relate to ______.
4. Which of the following are examples of economic factors in the firm's general environment? (Check all that apply.)
5. Growth rates, interest rates, and levels of employment would be considered ______ factors in a firm's general environment.
6. Which of the following are examples of economic factors in the firm's general environment? (Check all that apply.)
7. Which of the following are examples of sociocultural factors?
8. Which of the following innovative ideas helped Airbnb develop a successful business in the peer-to-peer rental space?
9. An example of a recent innovation in process technology is ______.
10. When managers understand the forces in the external environment, they are better able to ______.
11. The relationship between the natural environment and business organizations can best be described as ______.
12. ______ factors result from the processes and actions of government bodies that influence the decisions and behavior of firms.
13. Which of the following are factors in a firm's legal environment? (Check all that apply.)
14. Growth rates, interest rates, and levels of employment would be considered ______ factors in a firm's general environment.
15. An industry analysis provides which of the following?
16. Sociocultural factors are constantly in flux and also differ across groups.
17. According to Michael Porter, the profit potential of an industry is ______.
18. The external forces called technological factors ______.
19. The risk that potential competitors will enter the industry is known as the ______.
20. Global warming would be an example of ________ factor in a firm's external environment.
21. Which of the following are ways that powerful suppliers are a threat to firms?
22. Which of the following statements about legal factors as an external force is true?
23. Production costs can increase when ______.
24. A group of companies that deal with more or less the same set of suppliers and buyers make up ______.
25. The _______ is the idea that products or services available from outside the given industry will come close to meeting the needs of current customers.
26. Michael Porter developed the five forces model to help firms do which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
27. The pressure of rivalry increases when which of the following forces increase in intensity? (Check all that apply.)
28. When a new firm enters an industry, which of the following often occur? (Check all that apply.)
29. Which of the following contribute to consumer buying power?
30. When suppliers can demand higher prices for their inputs or reduce the quality of the input factor delivered, they demonstrate that they are ______.
31. Many drivers find a GPS navigation system useful. Because installing a GPS system in an automobile adds value to the vehicle, the system functions as ______.
32. Which of the following are ways in which the power of buyers affects producers?
33. Which of the following are approaches for answering the question "How to enter?" when a firm is considering entering an industry? (Check all that apply.)
34. The threat of ______ is one of the five forces and can be exemplified by the threat that videoconferencing presents to business travel.
35. Which of the following statements about industry dynamics is true?
36. Which of the following tend to result from strong competitive rivalry?
37. A _________ group is a set of companies within a specific industry that seek to achieve competitive advantage in similar ways.
38. Which of the following reduces profit margins for air carriers?
39. A company is a complementor to your company if ______.
40. Which of the following are important strategic dimensions in mapping strategic groups? (Check all that apply.)
41. Which of the following are essential questions that strategic leaders need to consider to increase the probability of entering an industry successfully? (Check all that apply.)
42. Industry-specific factors known as ______ separate one strategic group from another.
43. Firms have a tendency to change the industry structure in their favor, making it more __ through horizontal mergers and acquisitions, since this tends to be more profitable than a fragmented one.
44. Place the three frameworks used in industry analysis in the order they should be used, with the first at the top.
45. Along which of the following dimensions do strategic groups differ from one another? (Check all that apply.)
46. What are the three aspects of mapping strategic groups?
47. In the airline industry, the ______________ of offering international routes restricts movement between hub-and-spoke and point-to-point airlines.
48. In addition to the static nature of the PESTEL, Porter's five forces, and strategic group mapping frameworks, what is their other shortcoming?

MGT/498 Week 1 Practice Quiz: Chapter 4, Internal Analysis (Correct Answers Included)

1. Which of the following best describes the core competency of the Five Guys Burgers and Fries company?
2. Core competencies of a business are generated by the interaction of ______.
3. A core competency can help a company achieve which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
4. Unlike capabilities, resources can be both ______.
5. The resource-based view classifies all resources as ______.
6. Which of the following were resources and capabilities that helped Five Guys gain a competitive advantage and develop into a successful restaurant chain? (Check all that apply.)
7. Resource ______ and resource ______ are the key assumptions behind the resource-based model of the firm.
8. What do the best firms in an industry seek to identify and manage on an ongoing basis as sources to respond to their external environment? (Check all that apply.)
9. The ______ is a theoretical model that explains and predicts what resource attributes underpin competitive advantage. It identifies which types of resources are key to firm performance. 
10. A(n) ______ is a unique strength, embedded deep within a firm, that is critical to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage.
11. Intellectual property protection and social complexity are examples of __________ mechanisms, which help a firm sustain a competitive advantage.
12. ______ are any assets that a firm can draw on when formulating and implementing a strategy.
13. _________ describes a process in which the options one faces in the current situation are limited
14. The resource-based model views resources as ______.
15. A firm's attempts to shorten the length of time a process takes, may lead to disappointing outcomes because of ______.
16. According to the resource-based model, a firm is assumed to be a unique bundle of resources, capabilities, and competencies.
17. Cowgirl Boots, inexpensive leather boots for women, are selling at record-high numbers. The CEO of the company, however, cannot figure out why. Was it caused by the company's recent advertisement campaign or the newly reduced price of the boots or some other unknown factor? Based on this information, what concept describes the CEO's confusion regarding Cowgirl Boots' recent success?
18. The VRIO framework is used to evaluate a firm's resources. VRIO is an acronym for which of the following?
19. For a firm to sustain any competitive advantage over time, the fit between its internal strengths and external environment needs to be ______.
20. Which of the following is not considered an isolating mechanism?
21. _________ suggests that sometimes even random events may have a large impacts on an outcome.
22. __________ are the firm's current level of intangible resources.
23. "Time compression diseconomies" refers to the concept that ______.
24. The value chain describes ______ of a firm.
25. __________ describes a situation where the cause and effect of a phenomenon are not readily apparent.
26. Enterprise Machinists is always improving upon its core competencies by training its machinists constantly so that they are equipped to deal with technological changes and advancements. Based on this information, this is an example of which concept?
27. What are the characteristics of a strategic activity system as it applies to firms? (Check all that apply.)
28. Strategic fit ______ the likelihood that a firm is able to gain a competitive advantage.
29. How are intangible resource stocks acquired?
30. Identify the framework that allows managers to synthesize insights obtained from internal and external analysis.
31. The ______ describes the internal activities a firm engages in when transforming inputs into outputs.
32. If the problem with a business strategy results in causal ambiguity, managers will ______.
33. A firm's network of interconnected activities is referred to a strategic activity system because activities that are interconnected are very difficult for competitors to copy effectively.
34. Strategic leaders use internal and external analyses in tandem to create a customized fit between a company's ______.
35. In performing a SWOT analysis to generate insights from external and internal analysis, internal strengths and weaknesses can be determined by applying ______ and external strengths can be evaluated in part by applying ______.

** BONUS TUTORIAL INCLUDED**

MGT/498 Week 1 Apply: Signature Assignment: Strategic Management Journal Part 1 (Caterpillar)

Includes A+ Assignment!

Read the Strategic Management Project Background document.
Review the resources listed at the end of this assignment, along with the terms and concepts discussed this week, to prepare for this assignment:

• Strategic management
• Competitive advantage
• Strategic plan
• Mission statement
• Vision statement
• Core values statement
• AFI

Create a Microsoft® Word document and title it "Strategic Management Research Journal Part 1."
Write a 500- to 700-word response to the following prompts as your journal entry:
Justify the guiding principles required for preparing effective statements that describe the mission, vision, and the core values of an organization as covered in the assigned reading. In other words, please explain what the key elements are for an effective vision statement, an effective mission statement, and an effective values statement.
Compare whether Caterpillar Inc.’s mission, vision, and core values conform to the guiding principles in the text and support organizational strategic planning principles you explained in your response to prompt #1. Refer to the Caterpillar Inc. website listed in the Resources section below.
Assess what Caterpillar Inc.’s current competitive advantages and disadvantages are by considering their business partners, allies, and general operations. Research the assignment resources listed below and other sources. Based on your research, evaluate Caterpillar’s current competitive advantages and disadvantages. To do this, list some of Caterpillar's strengths and weaknesses, then compare these attributes against those of some of Caterpillar's competitors to show how they create competitive advantages and disadvantages for Caterpillar.
Note: You will use information from this entry in your Strategic Management Research Project Presentation due in Week 5.
Submit your assignment.

Everything listed below for Week 2 is included in purchase!! 

1. MGT/498 Week 2 Discussion – Competitive Advantage
2. MGT/498 Week 2 Practice Quiz: Ch. 5, Shared Value and Competitive Advantage
3. MGT/498 Week 2 Practice Quiz: Ch. 12, Corporate Governance and Business Ethics
4. MGT/498 Week 2 Apply: Part 2 Strategic Management Journal (Alphabet, Inc.)
5. BONUS TUTORIAL INCLUDED: Strategic Management Journal, Part 2 (Caterpillar)

MGT/498 Week 2 Apply: Part 2, Strategic Management Journal

Tutorial included for Alphabet, Inc.  A+ Work!

Strategic management includes an analysis of a business’s current state. Continuing with your research of Alphabet, you will leverage the business SWOT tool to identify and drive organizational strategic decision-making and evaluate problem-solving strategies for the company.
Write a 350- to 750-word response to the following prompts in your journal entry:
Conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of Alphabet, Inc. Each SWOT quadrant must contain 7-10 items (this is not included in the 525-word count).
Analyze Alphabet’s strengths based on your SWOT analysis findings. Use data and specific examples to support your analysis.
Evaluate the weaknesses and threats for any common themes that might be a risk.
Evaluate Alphabet’s strengths against its opportunities. Analyze how Alphabet's strengths can be used to take advantage of opportunities in the external environment.
Propose problem-solving strategies to address Alphabet’s weaknesses or threats that could be mitigated by a business opportunity or business decision. In other words, recommend and discuss a business opportunity or strategic decision Alphabet could make to address the problems posed by some of Alphabet's specific weaknesses or threats.
Format your references according to APA guidelines.
Submit your assignment.

MGT/498 Week 2 Discussion: Competitive Advantage

Includes A+ Response!

Brick-and-mortar stores and online businesses have different perspectives regarding competitive advantage.
Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: 

• With their different perspectives in mind, evaluate how and why their strategies differ.
• What recommendations would you make to brick-and-mortar stores to capitalize on how they can compete more effectively with online businesses?

MGT/498 WK2 Chapter 5: Shared Value and Competitive Advantage (Correct Answers Included)

1. Which of the following statements are true about the rival businesses Apple and Microsoft?
2. Which of the following statements is true about a firm's stock price?
3. Public companies are required by law to release detailed accounting data, which enables ______.
4. Which of the following is true about shareholders of a public company?
5. From the view of a shareholder, the measure of competitive advantage that matters most is return on _____.
6. Which of the following statements is best illustrated by the decades-long business rivalry between the technology giants Apple and Microsoft?
7. Investors in a company are mostly concerned about the company's ______.
8. Which of the following are standard performance dimensions for a company? (Check all that apply.)
9. The difference between the cost of producing a product and the price consumers are willing to pay for that product is known as ______.
10. Which of the following correctly describe the information used for comparing the performance of public companies based on accounting profitability? (Check all that apply.)
11. If Tom would have paid $1,000 for a new laptop but was able to purchase one for $800, the $200 he saved is considered his ______.
12. The legal owners of publicly traded companies are called ______.
13. Achieving competitive advantage means maximizing the difference between which of the following? (Check the two that apply.)
14. When a firm goes bankrupt, shareholders ___.
15. Which of the following would be labeled variable costs by a computer manufacturer? (Check all that apply.)
16. According to the efficient-market hypothesis, information about which of the following is embedded in a stock price? (Check all that apply.)
17. Which of the following dimensions make up the triple bottom line? (Check all that apply.)
18. Another name for producer surplus is profit. (Remember to enter only one word in the blank.)
19. Which of the following statements are true concerning a firm's business model? (Check all that apply.)
20. For a product that has a large economic value, a firm can choose to charge the same price as competitors in order to ___.
21. Managers implement the blueprint of their business model through which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
22. The money a firm spends to set up a sales website can be considered a Blank______ cost.
23. When implementing the razor-razor-blade strategy, companies make their profit from:
24. The balanced scorecard framework draws from which of the following?
25. The business model used by telecommunication companies when they provide a basic cell phone at no charge when the customer signs a two-year contract is a combination of which of the following types of business models? (Check all that apply.)
26. Which of the following are elements of the social dimension of the triple bottom line?
27. Which of the following performance dimensions matter in judging the effectiveness of a firm's strategy? (Check all that apply.)
28. With a(n) ______, firms describe how they turn strategy into action.
29. Which statements about creating and implementing an effective business model are true?
30. When a company offers video-game consoles at a steep discount, but charges customers high fees for games, they are operating on a ______ business model.
31. Combining the razor-razor-blade model and the subscription model means that telecom providers make their money through lengthy service plans, which in turn means that it is crucial that they keep their ______ rate, or the proportion of subscribers who leave, down.
32. True or false: The best measure of competitive advantage can be found in the performance of specific departments.
33. When implementing the razor-razor-blade strategy, companies make their profit from:

MGT/498 WK2 Chapter 12: Corporate Governance, Business Ethics, and Business Models (Correct Answers Included)

1. The mechanism used to guide a company toward meeting its strategic goals within the bounds of the law is known as ______.
2. According to agency theory, conflicts such as the principal-agent problem are considered ______ issues.
3. In regard to the public stock company, limited liability means that
4. A fiduciary responsibility is a(n) ______.
5. An executive can legally earn a significant profit from stock options if ______.
6. The ratio of CEO to average employee pay in the United States is about ______.
7. Corporate governance is a system of ______.
8. One of the key characteristics of a leveraged buyout (LBO) is that it _______.
9. The idea that a corporation is simply a collection of legal contracts is known as ______.
10. The main goal of a poison pill is to ______.
11. A board of directors is elected to represent the interests of ______.
12. Which of the following have been found to be ethical norms in business?
13. The right to buy a company's stock at a predetermined price sometime in the future is known as a(n) ______.
14. Employees who work in organizations that emphasize ethical behavior are ______.
15. What are the two significant issues regarding the CEO pay debate? (Check all that apply.)
16. Netflix had a successful business model based on a large library of streaming content but then achieved even more success by also producing and distributing original content. This is an example of the potential value of ______.
17. In ______, a single investor or group of investors buys, with the help of borrowed money, the outstanding shares of a publicly traded company and assumes control of it.
18. In a ________________ , a single investor or group of investors buys, with the help of borrowed money, the outstanding shares of a publicly traded company in order to take it private.
19. Which statements about creating and implementing an effective business model are true?
20. Following the rise of institutional investors, the use of poison pills to avoid hostile takeover has ______.
21. When a company offers video-game consoles at a steep discount, but charges customers high fees for games, they are operating on a ______ business model.
22. The code of professional conduct based on societal norms and expectations is known as ______.
23. Which of the following industries use a subscription model?
24. Pavel works for a successful pharmaceutical company. Despite several years of unprecedented growth, the company wants to boost profits even more. It has taken steps to drastically raise the prices of its most widely distributed medications, which are difficult to imitate. Research into employee ethical decision-making capacity indicates that Pavel will ______.
25. The pay-as-you-go model is ______.
26. With a(n) ______, firms describe how they turn strategy into action.
27. The business model used by telecommunication companies when they provide a basic cell phone at no charge when the customer signs a two-year contract is a combination of which of the following types of business models?
28. Managers implement the blueprint of their business model through which of the following?
29. Corporate governance addresses the __________ problem, which underscores the risk of delegating responsibility and control to individuals who may not have the firm's best interest in mind.
30. What is a business model innovation?
31. When implementing the razor-razor-blade strategy, companies make their profit from:
32. What do stakeholders want above all else?
33. In a subscription-based business model, customers pay for ______.
34. When you join the vehicle sharing company Zoooomm, you are allowed to use a motorized scooter whenever you like, though you do not have to own the machine. You have to pay by the hours of usage. Zoooomm operates on a ______ model.
35. Combining the razor–razor blade model and the subscription model means that telecom providers make their money through lengthy service plans, which in turn means that it is crucial that they keep their ______ rate, or the proportion of subscribers who leave, down.
36. Why should firms pursue business model innovation?
37. Which of the following are critical aspects of maintaining good relationships between a firm and its stakeholders?
38. Svanhildur's company is committed to corporate social responsibility but also understands that growth and profit are imperative for survival. What should Svanhildur's company do to achieve this balance?
39. Private start-up companies valued at over $1 billion, such as some of those in the tech sector, are called ______.
40. What are the four characteristics of a public stock company that make it an attractive corporate form?
41. Which of the following is a major drawback of public stock companies, according to Michael Porter and others?
42. Economist Michael Porter and many others argue that the value of public stock companies is too narrowly defined in terms of _________, leading to scandals and economic crises.
43. Social consequences of business activities, including pollution, energy loss, and dangerous accidents, are known as ___.
44. The shared value creation framework is a tool intended to help businesses ______.
45. Which type of company is considered a unicorn?
46. A public stock company is considered by law to be an entity with legal rights and obligations. This is known as ______.
47. According to agency theory, which of the following managerial functions can be used to avoid adverse selection and moral hazard?
48. To achieve board independence, experts in corporate governance recommend that _________
49. Narrowly defining public stock companies in terms of financial performance can lead to ______.
50. The shared value creation framework encourages managers to focus on which of the following needs?
51. The shared value creation framework encourages managers to focus on both ___________ and __________ needs.
52. The ideas of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder strategy are particularly prevalent in
53. Which of the following statements is correct in regarding the interests of principals and agents?
54. When facing an ethical dilemma, a manager can
55. Which of the following statements about stock options is true?
56. Which of the following is an example of an application of agency theory?
57. Under agency theory, a manager should seek to align ______ between principals and agents to minimize opportunism.
58. Which of the following is a federal regulatory agency whose task it is to oversee stock trading and enforce federal securities laws?
59. The ________ and __________ commission is a federal regulatory agency whose task it is to oversee stock trading and enforce federal securities laws.
60. In general, women and minorities
61. Optics Incorporated, a publicly-traded eyewear business, places profits ahead of all other performance metrics. This practice___________
62. The right to buy a company's stock at a predetermined price sometime in the future is known as a(n) ______.
63. Financial statements by public companies must ______.
64. High-profile accounting scandals and the global financial crisis are examples of ___.

*** BONUS TUTORIAL INCLUDED ***

MGT/498 Week 2 Apply: Strategic Management Journal Part 2

Includes A+ Assignment!

Strategic management includes an analysis of a business’s current state. Continuing with your research of Caterpillar, Inc., you will leverage the business SWOT tool to identify and drive organizational strategic decision making and evaluate problem-solving strategies for the company.

Review the Strategic Management Project Background document.

Create a Word doc and title itStrategic Management Research Journal Part 2.

Write a 350- to 525-word response to the following prompts in your journal entry:

• Conducta SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of Caterpillar, Inc. Each SWOT quadrant must contain 7-10 items, (this is not included in the 525-word count).
• Analyze Caterpillar’s strengths and include specific examples based on your SWOT analysis findings.
• Evaluate the weaknesses and threats for any common themes that might be a risk.
• Compare Caterpillar’sstrengths against its opportunities. Analyze how Caterpillar's strengths can be used to take advantage of opportunities in the external environment.
• Proposeproblem-solving strategies to address Caterpillar’s weaknesses or threats that could be mitigated by a business opportunity or business decision. In other words, recommend and discuss a business opportunity or strategic decision CAT could make to address the problems posed by some of CAT's specific weaknesses or threats.

Note: You will use information from this entry in your presentation due in week 5.

Submit your assignment.

MGT/498 Week 3

Everything listed below for Week 3 is included in purchase!!

1. MGT/498 Week 3 Discussion Question - Internal and External Analysis
2. MGT/498 Week 3 Practice Quiz: Ch. 11, Organizational Design: Structure, Culture…
3. MGT/498 Week 3 Apply: Part 3, Strategic Management Research Journal (Alphabet, Inc.)
4. BONUS TUTORIAL INCLUDED: Part 3, Management Research Journal (Caterpillar)

MGT/498 Week 3 Apply: Summative Assessmentt: Part 3, Strategic Management Research Journal

Full Tutorial included for Alphabet, Inc. A+ Work!

Continuing your analysis of Alphabet, you will evaluate its strategic effectiveness, organizational structure, and its internal and external environment for your research journal this week. You will use your decision-making skills to make recommendations to implement operational changes to support Alphabet’s business strategy.

Assignment Deliverable
Write a 525- to 875-word response to the following prompts in your journal entry:

1. Assess whether Alphabet Inc. is using the appropriate business performance metrics to verify its strategic effectiveness. To do this, identify some specific metrics Alphabet is using to measure how effective its strategy is, then evaluate if those metrics are the appropriate ones for Alphabet to be using.
2. Summarize Alphabet Inc.’s organizational structure. Identify the organizational structure (hierarchical, functional, horizontal, matrix, divisional, network, etc...) and explain why you chose that structure using details of the company’s reporting structure and other evidence.
3. Determine whether Alphabet Inc.’s organizational structure is considered a traditional organizational structure or a Holacracy. Use evidence and examples to support your choice.
4. Explain why it is important for Alphabet Inc.’s leadership team to study and understand the company’s internal and external environments. Include Alphabet’s cultural competence and how they foster diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging in your assessment of the internal environment.
5. Evaluate Alphabet Inc.’s competitive position and show, using specific examples, how the company has responded to shifts in the external and internal environments.
6. Recommend strategies in operational changes to support Alphabet’s strategic plan, future business decisions, and improvement in business performance. Explain how your recommended changes will help improve Alphabet's performance.

MGT/498 Week 3 Discussion Question: Internal and External Analysis

Includes Two A+ Responses!

Consider the differences between an internal analysis and an external analysis regarding strategic planning. 
Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: 

• What do organizations typically analyze as part of an internal analysis? Why?
• What do organizations typically analyze as part of an external analysis? Why?
• How do the results of each of these analyses inform an organization’s strategic plan?
• How do trends play a role in strategic analysis and planning?

MGT/498 Week 3 Practice Quiz: Chapter 11, Organizational Design (Correct Answers Included)

1. Effective strategy implementation, in general, will help a firm Blank______.
2. What is the goal of organizational design?
3. When "______," managers limit themselves to strategies that maintain the status quo.
4. Which of the following determines the allocation of resources and the organization and operations of workers?
5. Leslie, Juan, and Felicia all work for the same company. Leslie pays the bills and invoices customers, Juan makes sure the company's computers and phones work, and Felicia interacts with customers and sellers of the firm's products. This is an example of ______.
6. Strategy implementation is essentially ________.
7. The Foamy Mug, a chain of coffee shops, ensures consistent quality and service in each of its cafés by using policy and procedure manuals that explicitly describe employee tasks. The Foamy Mug is characterized by a high degree of Blank______.
8. The structure, processes, and procedures of an organization are designed, put into place, reviewed, and reworked through a process known as ______.
9. Graciela's used to be the industry leader in restaurant supplies, but over the years competition grew, and the company's market share declined. Graciela's has launched several marketing campaigns and introduced new products and services. However, not much else in the company has changed, and it still relies on the same team of managers. Graciela's is experiencing ______.
10. Ravi works for a small company. The company owner makes all strategic decisions and manages the day-to-day operations. Ravi's company has a ______ structure.
11. A firm's organizational structure directly determines which of the following aspects of the firm?
12. The functional areas present in a functional structure frequently correspond to which of the following?
13. Larger firms, such as Fortune 100 companies, tend to have ______.
14. What is the goal of a differentiation strategy?
15. The organizational structure element that deals with the degree to which employees are guided by specific, codified rules and processes is known as ______.
16. Which of the following terms describes applying current knowledge to enhance firm performance in the short term?
17. Which of the following terms describes searching for new knowledge that may enhance a firm's future performance?
18. Which two of the following accurately describe mechanistic organizations? (Check all that apply.)
19. Mechanistic organizations tend to have ______.
20. Which of the following is true of an M-form?
21. Simple structures tend to be used by which group?
22. A firm that is organized according to SBUs but also is decentralized in that different geographic locations are fully functional is likely organized in the __________ structure.
23. The degree to which decision making is concentrated in the top tiers of a firm is referred to as_______.
24. When a firms organizational structure is tall, the span of control is
25. The organizational structure at Gore may be described as
26. Which of the following is typical of an organic organization?
27. What is the main reason why boards of directors fire CEOs?
28. Motivation that is driven by external factors, such as rewards or punishments, is called ______ motivation.
29. A firms unwillingness to alter how things are currently done is known as ________.
30. Which type of structure uses domain expertise to separate employees into specific areas based on their purpose, such as sales and human resources?
31. Match the global strategy (on the left) with the appropriate structure (on the right).
32. What must a firm that pursues a cost-leadership strategy do in order to nurture and constantly upgrade core competencies in manufacturing and logistics?
33. Which of the following statements about open innovation is true?
34. Which of the following terms encompasses a firm's member's shared values and norms?
35. Which of the following structures is divided into several distinct business units, each of which has its own profit-and-loss center?
36. When a company's culture is defined and shaped by the people who start it, it is known as founder ______.
37. Which of the following structures is a combination of the multidivisional structure and the functional structure?
38. If a company fails to change its culture as the firm and environment change, the company's culture can turn into a core ______.
39. Which of the following are effects that a strong organizational culture can have on employee behavior?
40. A firm using a(n) ______ strategy is likely to have a multidivisional structure with the multiple divisions representing different products and centralized decision making.
41. The framework for R&D that involves permeable firm boundaries and allows for sharing of ideas and inventions is known as ______.
42. A system that allows managers to specify goals, measure progress, and provide performance feedback by ensuring that the incentives of shareholders and employees are aligned is called a ______ system.
43. Which are examples of strategic control-and-reward systems?
44. What is important is defined by_____  ; which attitudes and behavior are deemed appropriate are defined by ______  .
45. Which of the following use codified policies and procedures to define and direct employee behavior?
46. Steve Jobs defined and shaped Apple's culture, and his influence continued even after he left the company. This is known as _________.
47. Which of the following types of control defines expected results in order to guide employee behavior?
48. True or false: Organizational culture should never change.
49. Which of the following has been called the "graveyard of strategy" due to managers' high rate of failure when attempting it?
50. How does an organization's culture influence employee behavior?
51. A firm would use input controls if it wanted to ______.
52. When firms tie employee compensation and rewards to predetermined goals, such as a specific sales target, but do not specify the means to those results, they are using ______ controls.
53. Which of the following statements is true regarding the relationship between strategy formulation and strategy implementation?
54. The portion of the strategic management process that concerns the organization, coordination, and integration of work processes is __.
55. Hiroshi is considering a job offer from a large pharmaceutical company. At his interview he asks who his boss would be and how jobs and teams are assigned. Hiroshi is asking about the company's ______.
56. The element of organizational structure that separates the tasks of one job from the tasks of another is known as ______.
57. Samira works for a company with a strict top-down structure. Her daily tasks must conform carefully to written guidelines and rules, and she has very specific job responsibilities. Samira works for a(n) ______.
58. Which of the following statements about formalization is true?
59. Which of the following statements about blue ocean strategy is true?
60. Which of the following are characteristics of simple organizational structures?
61. Thanh works in the engineering and manufacturing division of his company. Other departments include marketing, accounting, human resources, and research and development. Each department reports to the CEO. Thanh's company is organized according to a(n) ______ structure.
62. Which type of organization attempts to balance and harness different activities in trade-off situations?
63. The type of structure that is used by experienced firms and consists of distinct, essentially independent strategic business units is the ______ structure.
64. Which of the following are benefits of a functional structure that also apply to the matrix structure? (Check all that apply.)
65. How do founders leave their imprint on their organizations?
66. A firm using a(n) ______ strategy is likely to have a multidivisional structure with the multiple divisions representing different geographic areas and decentralized decision making.
67. Which of the following are factors that influenced the shift from closed innovation to open innovation? (Check all that apply.)
68. Taki works for a start-up company that is highly centralized and its employees are not allowed to wear headphones while working. However, the company offers a flexible work schedule, free childcare, and free yoga classes. These rules and perks describe the company's ______.
69. What are two internal governance mechanisms put in place to align principal and agent incentives? (Check all that apply.)
70. Corporate culture is expressed through _____ which are elements such as vocabulary and the type of clothing worn by employees.

***** BONUS TUTORIAL INCLUDED *****

MGT/498 Week 3 Apply: Signature Assignment: Strategic Management Research Journal Part 3

Review the following terms and concepts discussed this week to prepare for this assignment:

• Organizational structure
• Organizational culture
• Inertia
• Holacracy
• PESTEL model

Create a Microsoft® Word document and title it Strategic Management Research Journal Part 3.

Write a 525- to 700-word response to the following prompts in your journal entry:

• Assess whether Caterpillar Inc. is using the appropriate business performance metrics to verify its strategic effectiveness. 
• Summarize Caterpillar Inc.’s organizational structure. Identify the organizational structure (hierarchical, functional, horizontal, matrix, divisional, network, etc...) and explain why you chose that structure using details of the company’s reporting structure and other evidence. 
• Determine whether Caterpillar Inc.’s organizational structure is considered a traditional organizational structure or a Holacracy. Use evidence and examples to support your choice.
• Explain why it is important for Caterpillar Inc.’s leadership team to study and understand the company’s internal and external environments.
• Evaluate Caterpillar Inc.’s competitive position and show, using specific examples, how the company has responded to shifts in the external and internal environments.
• Recommend strategies in operational changes to support Caterpillar’s strategic plan, future business decisions, and improvement in business performance. Explain how your recommended changes will help improve Caterpillar's performance.

Note: You will use information from this entry in your presentation due in Week 5.

Submit your assignment. 

MGT/498 Week 4

Everything listed below for Week 4 is included in purchase!!

1. MGT/498 Week 4 Discussion Question- CAGE Distance Framework
2. MGT/498 Week 4 Practice Quiz: Ch. 8, Corporate Strategy
3. MGT/498 Week 4 Practice Quiz: Ch. 9, Corporate Strategy
4. MGT/498 Week 4 Part 4, Management Research Journal (Alphabet, Inc.)
5. BONUS TUTORIAS INCLUDED: Discussion: International Expansion
6. BONUS TUTORIAS INCLUDED: Part 4, Management Research Journal (Caterpillar)

MGT/498 Week 4 Discussion Question: CAGE Distance Framework

Includes A+ Response!

• Consider the CAGE Distance Framework that firms should consider when choosing which foreign markets to enter.
• What conditions help managers determine which type of distance is most likely to affect the success of an international expansion? Provide an example with a business you are familiar with.

MGT/498 Week 4 - Part 4, Management Research Journal (Alphabet, Inc.)

For this week’s assignment, you will write the fourth part of your strategic management research journal. You will evaluate Alphabet’s integration and globalization and its impact on the organization’s goals.

Write a 525- to 700-word response to the following prompts in your journal entry: 

1. Identify some of Alphabet Inc.’s specific short-term and long-term goals. These are different from the company’s vision and mission. Goals can be found on Alphabet’s website and in its annual reports.
2. Identify 2 or 3 of Alphabet’s specific mergers and acquisitions in the last 3-5 years and evaluate how each one has contributed to Alphabet Inc.’s performance and affected its organizational goals.
3. Determine the most critical merger or acquisition that has contributed to Alphabet’s performance and success in achieving organizational goals. Defend your choice using data and examples.
4. Identify Alphabet's global strategy (e.g. international, multi-domestic, global-standardization, or transnational) and use specific examples to illustrate how Alphabet uses that strategy. Evaluate the effectiveness of Alphabet’s global strategy. Include supporting research and data in your evaluation.

Format your references according to APA guidelines.
Submit your assignment.

MGT/498 Week 4 Practice Quiz: Ch. 8, Corporate Strategy (Correct Answers Included)

1. Amazon's explosive success is largely due to which of the following?
2. The key question of where to compete is addressed by ___.
3. Which of the following is a reason why a firm needs to grow?
4. Which of the following are the four underlying strategic management concepts that determine the scope of a firm?
5. Companies that transact in the open market incur ______.
   Amazon's continued focus on ______ is a key to its ongoing success.
6. Which of the following is an example of the principal-agent problem even when the principal's goal is to create shareholder value?
7. _______ strategy involves the decisions that senior management makes and the goal-directed actions it takes to gain and sustain competitive advantage in several industries and markets simultaneously.
8. Long-term contracts (such as licensing and franchising), equity alliances, and joint ventures are examples of which of the following?
9. Which of the following are among the reasons firms need to grow?
10. A disadvantage of a short-term contract as an alternative on the make-or-buy continuum is that ____________.
11. What term refers to the firms' ownership of the inputs it needs for production or of the channels by which it distributes its outputs?
12. What term refers to the process of reorganizing and divesting business units and activities to refocus a firm to leverage its core competencies?
13. Which of the following are types of vertical integration along the industry value chain?
14. What are the main types of corporate diversification? Select all that apply.
15. Which of the following have significantly more value in their intended use than in their next-best use?
16. Why do some firms choose alternatives to vertical integration?
17. In the _________ quadrant of the core competence--market matrix, a firm combines existing core competencies with existing markets.
18. Firms that pursue an unrelated diversification strategy and are unable to create additional value tend to experience which of the following?
19. What are the three dimensions along which executives formulate corporate strategy?
20. What are the two main motivations behind restructuring?
21. Corporate strategy needs to be dynamic over time in order to ______.
22. _________ refers to an increase in the variety of products and services a firm offers or markets and the geographic regions in which it competes.
23. What are the four quadrants of the core competence-market matrix?
24. It can be riskier to own parts of the supply chain than to rely on external supply chains.
25. TWN, a large multinational corporation, chose to spin off one of its SBUs that was unrelated to TWN's core business in order to avoid the _________. When they announced the spin-off, the stock price of TWN went up by 5%.
26. A conglomerate fits which type of corporate diversification model?
27. A non-diversified company focuses on which of the following?
28. Specialized assets have ______.
    Which type of alternative on the make-or-buy continuum involves competitive bidding by external companies hoping to acquire a temporary arrangement with a firm?
29. What happens when the markets along the industry value chain are too risky and alternatives too costly in time or money?
30. Which of the following are types of strategic alliances?
31. The two alternatives to vertical integration are which of the following?
32. In order for a firm to lower costs, it must ______.
33. Which of the following is the term for the costs associated with an economic exchange?
34. Which of the following statements about the make-or-buy continuum is true?
35. When engaging in short-term contracting, a firm sends out ___________ (RFPs) to potential companies, which initiate competitive bidding for contracts to be awarded with a short duration.
36. Which of the following describes economies of scope?
37. A(n) ______ is a voluntary arrangement between firms that involves sharing of resources and capabilities with the intent of developing processes, products, or services.
38. Transaction costs include ______ costs associated with an economic exchange.
39. The degree of vertical integration corresponds to ______.
40. What is a major disadvantage of organizing economic activity within firms?
41. When a manufacturer of computers starts to produce its own computer components, the manufacturer engages in ______ vertical integration.
42. Which of the following are alternatives on the make-or-buy continuum?
43. ___________ refers to the firms' ownership of its production of needed inputs or of the channels by which it distributes its outputs.
44. If a company moves ownership of activities closer to the end customer, such as providing after-sales support, it is engaging in ___________ vertical integration.
45. ___________ are unique assets with high opportunity cost.
46. To get the benefits of vertical integration without the accompanying risks, companies can ____________.
47. To figure out if a firm's type of diversification is __________, one can ask questions about the degree to which the corporation's business units share core competencies.

MGT/498 Week 4 Practice Quiz: Ch. 9, Corporate Strategy: Alliances (Correct Answers Included)

1. How does Lyft benefit from its strategic alliances with GM and Waymo?
2. A firm must decide whether to build, borrow, or buy to answer the question of ______.
3. A conceptual model that helps strategists choose between seeking internal development, entering into an alliance, or acquiring new resources, capabilities, and competencies is called the "______ framework."
4. What are some advantages of strategic alliances?
5. A partnership that is based on contracts between companies is referred to as a(n) __________.
6. Which term refers to a company's ability to handle the three specific tasks related to an alliance concurrently and effectively?
7. In what way does the strategic alliance between GM and Lyft allow GM to hedge against uncertainty?
8. What are the three mechanisms that alliances can be governed by?
9. Strategists can grow their firms by growing organically through internal development or externally through alliances and ___________.
10. The most common type of alliance is a(n) ____________.
11. Which of the following are the three choices in the build-borrow-or-buy framework?
12. Which statements correctly describe licensing agreements?
13. Which statements correctly describe the advantages commonly possessed by firms in licensing agreements?
14. In order for an alliance to qualify as _________, it must have the potential to alter a company's competitive advantage.
15. Which of the following statements about equity alliances is true?
16. What is a major problem for between 30% and 70% of all strategic alliances?
17. Which statements about joint ventures are true?
18. Which of the following are reasons why firms enter into strategic alliances?
19. The three mechanisms to govern alliances are non-equity alliances, equity alliances, and ________.
20. How do mergers and acquisitions differ?
21. Why does Facebook acquire startups?
22. What is a true statement about strategic alliances?
23. Which of the following forms of agreement do non-equity alliances typically take?
24. Which of the following are true of alliance management capability?
25. Equity alliances allow for the sharing of ______, which involves information that cannot be codified for completing tasks.
26. A voluntary arrangement between firms to share knowledge, resources, and capabilities to develop products, processes, or services is known as a ______.
27. A(n) ______ is when two firms agree to join and create a combined entity, and a(n) ______ is when one firm buys or takes over another firm.
28. Some foreign countries require companies to be structured as ________ in order to enter that foreign market. The companies gain access to the market, while the country gains advanced technology and know-how.
29. When two competitors merge, leading to industry consolidation, they are engaging in ______.
30. One reason why a firm might enter into a strategic alliance is to _____.
31. Sources of COSTS in a horizontal integration strategy are ______.
32. Gaining new capabilities or competencies is one of the three main reasons companies ______.
33. Which of the following terms refers to when one firm purchases or takes over another firm?
34. Horizontal integration is a good option if __________.
35. Which are the three main reasons firms make acquisitions?
36. On average, mergers and acquisitions ______ shareholder value.
37. Horizontal integration can ______.
38. A standalone organization that two or more parent companies create and own together is a ____________.
39. At which level of the corporation should strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions be managed?
40. What are sources of value creation in a horizontal integration strategy?
41. What allows firms to manage both strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions?
42. Firms tend to enter strategic alliances when they have no other choice.
43. In most cases, mergers and acquisitions create competitive advantage.
44. A firm with alliance management capability is able to effectively manage which of the following tasks?

**** BONUS TUTORIALS INCLUDED ****

MGT/498 Week 4 Discussion Question: International Expansion

Includes A+ Response!

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

• Alliances are often used to pursue business-level goals, but they may be managed at the corporate level.
• Explain why this portfolio approach to alliance management would make sense.

MGT/498 Week 4 Apply: Strategic Management Research Journal Part 4 (Caterpillar)

Includes A+ Assignment!

Review the Strategic Management Project Background document.

Review the following terms and concepts discussed this week to prepare for this assignment:

• Vertical integration
• Taper integration
• Backward vertical integration
• Forward vertical integration
• Strategic alliances
• Global strategy
• International strategy
• Innovation

Create a Microsoft® Word document and title it Strategic Management Research Journal Part 4.

Write a 525- to 700-word response to the following prompts in your journal entry:

• Identify some of Caterpillar Inc.’s specific short-term and long-term goals. These are different from the company’s vision and mission.
• Identify 2 or 3 of Caterpillar’s specific mergers and acquisitions in the last 3-5 years and evaluate how each one has contributed to Caterpillar Inc.’s performance and affected its organizational goals.
• Determine the most critical merger or acquisition that has contributed to Caterpillar’s performance and success in achieving organizational goals. Defend your choice using data and examples.
• Identify Caterpillar's global strategy (e.g. international, multi-domestic, global-standardization, or transnational) and use specific examples to illustrate how Caterpillar uses that strategy. Evaluate the effectiveness of Caterpillar’s global strategy. Include supporting research or data in your evaluation.

Note: You will use information from this entry in your presentation due in Week 5.

MGT/498 Week 5

Everything listed below for Week 5 is included in purchase!!

1. MGT/498 Week 5 Discussion Question – Creating Value
2. MGT/498 Week 5 Practice Quiz: Ch. 6, Business Strategy
3. MGT/498 Week 5 Apply: Summative Assessment: Strategic Management Project Presentation (Alphabet)
4. BONUS TUTORIAL INCLUDED: Apply: Summative Assessment: Strategic Management Presentation (Caterpillar)
5. BONUS TUTORIAL INCLUDED: Discussion Question and Answer - Value

Wk 5 - Apply: Summative Assessment: Strategic Management Research Project Presentation (Alphabet, Inc.)

Includes A+ Assignment!

Assignment Overview
In this week’s Strategic Management Research Project presentation, you will demonstrate your understanding of strategic management, apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and exercise your skills in quality control when you evaluate the effectiveness of operational changes at Alphabet, Inc. Recall that you are the assistant strategic development analyst. You are presenting your findings to Alphabet’s leadership from your evaluation and entries in your strategic management research journal over the past 4 weeks. 

Assignment Preparation
Review your strategic management research journal entries from the assignments in Weeks 1-4. Be sure to make changes as a result of your continued evaluation and apply faculty feedback from previous assignments. 

Assignment Deliverable
Create a 12- to 15-slide presentation for Alphabet’s leadership team in which you:
Evaluate the mission, vision, and values of Alphabet by doing the following: 

• Summarize your evaluation of the alignment between what Alphabet Inc. is currently doing as compared to its mission, vision, or values statement. Provide specific examples of actions Alphabet is taking or has taken and show how well they align with Alphabet's mission, vision, or values statement.
• Recommend any changes you would make to Alphabet Inc.’s mission, vision, or values statements to improve organizational goals. Explain what impact the changes the changes in the mission, vision, or values statements will have on the organization’s performance.

 Conduct a competitive analysis in which you: 

• Explain your analysis of Alphabet Inc.’s competitive advantages and disadvantages. Support your analysis with specific data and examples.
• Recommend operational changes to improve Alphabet Inc.’s competitive advantages and business performance. Justify how these changes will impact performance. 
• Propose a plan to measure (include specific metrics) and monitor the effectiveness of your recommended operational changes in Alphabet Inc.’s competitive advantages to achieve organizational goals. Be sure to explain how you will measure the results and how you will monitor the progress of the operational changes. 

 Evaluate Alphabet’s global strategy by doing the following: 

• Summarize your assessment of Alphabet Inc.’s global strategy. Support your assessment with examples.
• Recommend specific operational changes to improve Alphabet Inc.’s global strategy and business performance. These recommendations should be different from those provided in the Competitive Advantages and Disadvantages section of the presentation. Justify how these changes will impact performance.
• Propose a plan to measure (include specific metrics) and monitor the effectiveness of your recommended operational changes to Alphabet Inc.’s global strategy to achieve organizational goals. Be sure to explain how you will measure the results and how you will monitor the progress of the operational changes. This measurement plan should be tailored to the recommendations you make to improve Alphabet Inc.’s global strategy and should be different from the measurement plan proposed in the Competitive Advantages and Disadvantages section of the presentation.

Include your key findings, recommendations, and supporting rationale for your recommendations. Include speaker notes with supporting details that are not present on your slides.
Format your references according to APA guidelines. 
Submit your assessment.

MGT/498 Week 5 Discussion Question: Creating Value

Includes A+ Response!

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

• Why do you think organizations tend to focus on the creation of one type of value but not both? 
• Should organizations focus on trying to create both types of values? Why or why not?

MGT/498 Week 5 Practice Quiz: Chapter 6, Business Strategy (Correct Answers Included)

1. As JetBlue grew, which of the following occurred during the years following 2007?
2. A ______ outlines the steps a manager will take to achieve competitive advantage in a single product market.
3. How to compete on a business level is defined by the variables value and cost. Together they define the ______.
4. Which of the following are considered the two generic business-level strategies? (Check all that apply.)
5. A manufacturer of electronic components can use its manufacturing machines to produce many different components such as semiconductors, sensors, and capacitors. In this case, the firm benefits from an economy of __________, reducing overall production costs by finding multiple uses for its components and facilities.
6. Which of the following are business strategies JetBlue pursued in order to gain a competitive advantage?
7. What are the three most important value drivers that managers can use to create a competitive advantage?
8. A company's goal-directed plans regarding how to compete for advantage is known as the firm's ______.
9. Unique features and attributes that differentiate a product from competitors' offerings allow the firm to ______.
10. The perceived value that a company creates for consumers less the company's costs to create the value equals ______.
11. Which type of strategy is being used if a company offers a product at a lower cost than its competitors?
12. Which value driver would be the focus of a company that sells products that are similar to competing products and that provides a 60-day guarantee with no questions asked?
13. The most significant challenge JetBlue faced in implementing its business strategy was _____.
14. Bundling of products and services that are consumed in tandem to create value is an example of ______.
15. Economies of ______ are the savings that come from producing two or more different outputs at a lower cost than producing each output individually.
16. A cost leader can achieve a competitive advantage by ______.
17. Positive adjustments in product features, customer service, and complements may enable managers to ______.
18. Which of the following are input factors? (Check all that apply.)
19. Which capability is required to create superior product features?
20. Patti's Potato Chips is a national potato-chip manufacturer. Calpurnia's Crisps is a small-batch gourmet potato-chip maker. Based on just this information, which of the following is the greatest advantage Patti's has over Calpurnia's?
21. Which of the following are examples of ways that a large retailing firm can increase the perceived value of its offerings by focusing on customer service? (Check all that apply.)
22. What is the relationship between fixed costs and economies of scale?
23. Value drivers known as ______ add value to a product or service when they are consumed in tandem with the focal product.
24. Why does the learning curve go down when productivity is considered?
25. True or false: A company that achieves differentiation parity at a lower cost has implemented a successful cost-leadership strategy.
26. The concept of a(n) ______ attempts to combine both learning effects and process improvements.
27. An auto manufacturer that has access to cheaper labor and raw materials than its rivals will have a competitive advantage regarding lower cost of ______ factors.
28. What is one of the benefits of pursuing a differentiation strategy when it comes to the power of suppliers?
29. Economies of scale are ______.
    A producer of consumer headphones that successfully differentiates its products with a patented noise-canceling technology and celebrity endorsements will enjoy which of the following benefits? (Check all that apply.)
30. Economies of scale present an opportunity to increase profits because as the number of units within the relevant range increases, fixed costs ______.
31. In addition to having the lowest cost, a low-cost leader is likely to have ______.
32. In terms of productivity, which of the following is true of learning curves?
33. Products in the affordable "business-casual" clothing market have largely become commoditized, and most retailers have begun to compete mainly on price rather than product features. In this environment, it is impossible for one retailer to gain market share without another losing it. This is an example of a ______ ocean.
34. Which of the following competitive forces can result in the erosion of margins for both differentiation and cost-leadership business strategies?
35. If two firms produce very similar products at the same rate of output, and firm A is able to achieve lower per-unit costs than firm B by taking advantage of a new manufacturing technology, firm A is benefiting from
36. A firm that increases its output of a given product and experiences a simultaneous decrease in per unit costs is taking advantage of ______.
37. Which of the following best defines economies of scope?
38. A successful blue ocean strategy requires strategists to reconcile the trade-offs between ______.
39. A firm that manages to avoid competition entirely by offering a product or service that creates an uncontested market space is engaging in ______.
40. Why do many firms fail to successfully implement a blue ocean strategy?
41. A(n) ______ strategy attempts to increase the perceived value of a product while controlling costs.
42. True or false: Formulating a business strategy is a relatively easy task because only a few strategic options are available.
43. A ______ strategy requires achieving the lowest costs in the industry while maintaining a level of value that is acceptable to customers.
44. Which of the following are components of a cost-leadership strategy? (Check all that apply.)
45. In terms of business strategy, blue oceans represent which of the following? (Check all that apply.)
46. Implementing a blue ocean strategy requires making competition irrelevant and creating a new market space, otherwise known as ______.
47. A struggling retailer seeking to implement a blue ocean strategy is likely to experience difficulty with ______.
48. What must strategic leaders keep in mind if they are going to achieve successful strategic positioning?

***** BONUS TUTORIALS INCLUDED *****

MGT/498 Week 5 Discussion Question and Answer: Value

Includes A+ Response!

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

• Discuss the difference between economic value and social value or the shared value creation framework.
• Why do you think organizations tend to focus on the creation of one type of value but not both?

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

• Discuss the difference between economic value and social value or the shared value creation framework.
• Why do you think organizations tend to focus on the creation of one type of value but not both?

MGT/498 Week 5 Apply Signature Assignment: Strategic Management Research Project Presentation (Caterpillar)

Includes A+ Assignment!

Review the Strategic Management Project Background document and your Strategic Management Research Journal entries from Weeks 1‑4.

Create a 12- to 14-slide presentation, complete with speaker notes for Caterpillar Inc.’s leadership team, in which you summarize your key findings, propose recommendations, and provide rationale for your recommendations.

Address the following topics and prompts in your presentation:

Topic: Caterpillar Inc.’s Vision

• Summarize your evaluation of the alignment between what Caterpillar Inc. is currently doing and their mission, vision, or values statement. Provide specific examples of actions Caterpillar is taking or has taken and show how well they align with Caterpillar's mission, vision, or values statement.
• Recommend any changes you would make to Caterpillar Inc.’s mission, vision, or values statements to improve organizational goals.

Topic: Caterpillar Inc.’s Competitive Advantages and Disadvantages

• Summarize your analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Caterpillar Inc.’s competitive advantages and disadvantages.
• Recommend operational changes to improve Caterpillar Inc.’s competitive advantages and business performance.
• Propose a plan to measure (include specific metrics) and monitor the effectiveness of your recommended operational changes in Caterpillar Inc.’s competitive advantages to achieve organizational goals.

Topic: Caterpillar’s Global Strategy

• Summarize your assessment of Caterpillar Inc.’s global strategy.
• Recommend operational changes to improve Caterpillar Inc.’s global strategy and business performance.
• Propose a plan to measure (include specific metrics) and monitor the effectiveness of your recommended operational changes to Caterpillar Inc.’s global strategy to achieve organizational goals.

Submit your assignment.