SM - Mcq's
SM - Mcq's
1. Dee Limited is an international clothing retailer. The company is making the following decisions:
i. Should another range of shops be established?
ii. Should the company float more share capital?
iii. How will the premises be fitted out for the new range of shops?
Which of the above decisions will be taken by corporate level managers?
Answer: (c)
2. Ever Grand Group is a diversified company active in a wide range of business lines, including
Financial Services, Fertilizers, Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS), FMCG and Real
Estate. The Board of Directors understand the need of the hour and are determined to further
develop the ITeS business, whereby they want better allocation of human resources and provision of
industry-best customer services. To achieve the same, they have suggested implementation of
specific business strategies but the managers are facing difficulties in allocating the responsibility for
implementation of the business strategy amongst them. You being a management expert, indicate
the appropriate persons responsible for translating general statements and business strategies
pertaining to the IteS strategic business unit (SBU) and ensure a smooth implantation.
Answer: (b)
3. Velvet Limited is a full-service airline. The company is making the following decisions:
i. Should a ‘no-frills’, ‘low-fare’ subsidiary be set-up?
ii. If it is set-up, how should the cabin staff be recruited?
Answer: (a)
4. Catalyst Polymers, a textile producing firm, has witnessed unprecedented sales growth in the last
few years due to favorable market conditions abroad. As a result, the company diversified its
activities to Chemical Manufacturing, Steel Forging and Metal Dye Manufacturing. The investment
in steel forging in particular has not been successful due to strict environmental laws enacted by the
Government. The said strategic business unit (SBU) though generates enough cash to sustain but
does not have much future and sometimes requires cash for survival. Consequently, the management
has engaged an expert in the field to help them classify the SBUs.
Employing the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Growth-Share Matrix, the expert advised the
company to disinvest or liquidate Steel Forging SBU. Classify the Steel Forging SBU into the most
appropriate matrix.
(a) Star
(b) Cash cow
(c) Question mark
(d) Dog
Answer: (d)
Answer: (c)
6. Training Co. operates a network of accounting training centres throughout Europe, the US and
Australia. The business intends to enter developing markets in order to drive growth and has now
decided to enter India which is 7,500 kilometres from the Training Co.'s UK headquarters. The
Board has suggested that it will require externally focused management information to move into
India. Which of the following is an external factor(s) that the Board should consider while
implementing its strategy?
Answer: (d)
7. The Specialist Clothing Company (SCC) is a manufacturer of a wide range of clothing. Fashion is
one of the five divisions of SCC. Fashion is operating in a market with high growth and is a market
leader. By the next year, it is predicted to have 10% of the market share in a growing market. Fashion
should be classified as which of the following according to the BCG matrix.
(a) Star
(b) Dog
(c) Cash cow
(d) Question mark
Answer: (a)
8. NS is the market leader in sportswear in Beeland, selling a variety of sportswear products. The
board has recently instituted a review of the competitive position of NS by commissioning a SWOT
analysis.
Match the columns in respect of the following elements of SWOT analysis:
Answer: (c)
Answer: (a)
10. An advertising company has 12 staff – 4 of whom are joint owners. It has a strong client base
across many industries such as healthcare, training, publishing and sports. However, it has never
taken working capital management and the financial side of the business seriously even to the extent
that it can never be sure that the clients are billed properly. It now has a chance to bid for a new
large, national contract from a major company. Match the columns in respect of the following
elements of SWOT analysis:
Answer: (b)
11. We have heard countless, heart breaking stories from companies that are facing immense
pressure on their cash flow due to the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. To
adapt to the changing environment, companies should undertake SWOT analysis.
Which of the following is a “Threat” affecting the companies?
(a) Customer are likely to cut back on discretion any expenditure and may move to lower cost rivals
(b) Loss of key staff
(c) Tender for new client
(d) Both a & b
Answer: (d)
Answer: (a)
Answer: (d)
14. AB is a supermarket chain operating in North India. Currently, AB is seeking to enhance its
shareholder value as its main objective. Therefore, the SWOT analysis can be used to identify how
the business can build on its strengths and take corrective action for its weakness.
Match the columns in respect of the following elements of SWOT analysis:
Answer: (a)
15. Adolf Play Sportswear sells a variety of sportswear under its own wellknown brand name. In
order to have detailed strategies for the company’s objectives, which of the following cannot be
considered as a “Strength” as per SWOT analysis?
(a) High market share
(b) Excellent brand awareness
(c) Strong revenue growth (compared to industry average of 10%)
(d) Possibility of new product to be introduced in the market for new sport at the world
championship
Answer: (d)
16. A newspaper is planning for the next five years. Which of the following demographic influence(s)
should it consider as part of its external environment analysis?
(i) Tax on newspapers
(ii) Import of raw materials will suffer if domestic currency weakens
(iii) Increased mobility around the world requires different language version
(iv) Carbon emissions from the use and products of paper –newspaper
Answer: (b)
Answer: (c)
18. Y Mart super market is planning for the next five years. Which of the following economic
influences should it consider?
(i) Unemployment rate
(ii) Internet ordering
(iii) Animal welfare
(iv) Consumer legislation
(v) Population size
(vi) Interest rates
Answer: (a)
19. Members of Infinite Care, an NGO, have met and determined that they need to formulate a
philosophical basis for their activities. Thereby they have come up with a statement:-
“Provide children till age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items
they need to thrive – at home, at school and at play”
Identify the area of strategic intent, which the members have stated?
(a) Vision (b) Business definition
(c) Goal and Objective (d) Mission
Answer: (d)
20. The following is the message of a CEO to all his divisional heads: It is significant to understand
the persisting need for developing new vistas of work, and that, of course, is preceded by the acute
need for the ability to adapt the everchanging external world. We, at Krom Limited, have identified
that embracing to digital technology is where our future lies, and we shall all pledge to make this
transition a successful choice which will definitely entail a few organizational changes.”
The underlying message of the CEO in your opinion is that of a:
(a) Business mission statement
(b) Business definition statement
(c) Strategic objective statement
(d) Strategic transformational leadership statement
Answer: (b)
Answer: (c)
22. Stylish Fabric Ltd., a clothes manufacturer is buying up a chain of retail outlets to differentiate its
clothes from those of its competitors through branding. This gives an opportunity for higher
margins. Stylish Fabric Ltd. will also be able to produce clothes as the shop demands them (JIT)
leading to reductions in inventory levels.
Which strategy has Stylish Fabric Ltd. adopted?
(a) Backward integration (b) Forward integration
(c) Conglomerate diversification (d) Horizontal integrated diversification
Answer: (b)
23. Beta Company, a car manufacturer is buying up a supplier so that it gets a dedicated supplier
with both guaranteed quality and price. The material could be manufactured when required by Beta
Company leading to lower inventory levels. Which strategy has Beta Company adopted?
(a) Backward integration (b) Forward integration
(c) Conglomerate diversification (d) Horizontal integrated diversification
Answer: (a)
24. X-Olympus is a gaming software company specializing in developing games for ZBox and
GameStation-4. The company is facing stiff competition due to saturation of market and price wars,
which has excessively favor and highlight their dependence on gaming console manufacturers.
Thereby, the company desires to establish a competitive advantage over industry rivals by enhancing
the gaming experience by expanding into Edge-Cloud Gaming Service on a monthly subscription
basis. This service offering does not require dedicated gaming consoles yet provide customers game
streaming in 4K resolution with an ample range of games to select from. This move is expected to
insulate X-Olympus from price wars and provide a competitive advantage. Kindly identify which of
the Michael Porter’s forces and generic strategies perfectly suits X-Olympus?
(a) Threat of new entrants, Focus strategy
(b) Rivalry amongst existing players, Differentiation strategy
(c) Bargaining power of suppliers, Focus strategy
(d) Threat from substitutes, Cost leadership strategy
Answer: (b)
25. The directors of Blaina Packaging Co. (BPC), a well-established manufacturer of cardboard boxes
is considering whether to enter the cardboard tube market. Cardboard tubes are purchased by
customers and these products are of various sizes, ranging from large tubes which are used for
carpets to small tubes which are used for films and paper. Another company, Plastic tubes Co. (PTC),
produces narrow, but increasing, range of plastic tubes which are capable of housing small products
such as film and paper-based products. This is considered as which of the following Porter’s force for
BPC?
(a) Threat of new entrant (b) Threat of substitutes
(c) Bargaining power of customers (d) Bargaining power of suppliers
Answer: (b)
Answer: (d)
27. Mr. Vicky Verma, a Gwalior based entrepreneur, has entered into an exclusive-retail deal with an
Italian company selling ‘Fantasy-3D’, a Hologram LED Fan, which is being used for advertising at
public places. Mr. Verma has procured a total of 500 units of the product and paid upfront as per the
seller’s policy. This resulted in blocking of his working capital significantly and the shipment is
expected in a month. Meanwhile his continued efforts of establishing relations with the marketing
heads of corporates resulted in a series of meetings, where he demonstrated his specialist product
knowledge by changing the hologram images on personalised basis and as per the specifications of
the customer. The management of a big automotive company was impressed with the quality and
adaptability of the product, and awarded a contract of 125 units to be displayed in the auto-maker’s
showrooms. Identify and mark the product promotion strategy adopted by Mr. Verma.
(a) Personal selling (b) Sales promotion
(c) Advertising (d) Publicity
Answer: (d)
28. Sport Spirit (SS) is a medium sized sports retailer. It currently operates three shops in the city at
centre locations. The management of Sport Spirit (SS) has a very careful recruitment policy; any
applicant must have a ‘passion for sport’. Which one of the following functional strategies would best
describe by SS?
(a) Human resource strategy (b) Financial strategy
(c) Operation strategy (d) Marketing strategy
Answer: (a)
29. Delta is an organisation specializing in Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) and
Communications business. Last year, the organisation had successfully integrated an Artificial
Intelligence (AI) tool named ‘Zeus’ into the existing ERP system. The AI tool, using Deep Learning
technique provided a digital leap transformation in various business processes and operations. It has
significantly diminished the role played by specialist managers of the middle management. This
technological tool in addition to saving organisational costs by replacing many tasks of the middle
management has also served as a link between top and bottom levels in the organisation and assists
in quick decision making. The skewed middle level managers now perform cross-functional duties.
Which type of organisational structure is the company transitioning into?
(a) Strategic business unit structure (b) Matrix structure
(c) Network structure (d) Hourglass structure
Answer: (d)
30. Abhishek a freelancer writes promotional materials. He decided to collaborate without requiring
physical presence of employee, and hired virtual assistants to transcribe voice mail, update his
website, and design PowerPoint graphics. What kind of structure is he using for his business?
(a) Functional structure (b) Divisional structure
(c) Network structure (d) Multi-divisional structure
Answer: (c)
31. Last year, as a part of the organisational change process, Project Zeta was implemented by the
CTO of Omega Private Limited. Zeta being an Artificial Intelligence enabled tool uses machine
Answer: (c)
32. The Audit Committee of Theta Ltd on observing a sluggish growth has advised a radical internal
digital transformation. A strategy audit was proposed to identify problem areas and correct the
strategic approaches that have not been effective so far. The strategy auditor while measuring
organisational performance has identified gaps in flow between order booking by the sales
department and the dispatch of product by the delivery department, which amounts to success of one
department means failure for another. With reference to Richard Rumelt’s criteria for strategy audit,
kindly identify and mark the correct evaluation criteria to be adopted.
(a) Advantage (b) Consistency
(c) Consonance (d) Feasibility
Answer: (b)
33. Dr. Raman has been running a nursing home for about twenty two years now, and has gained
enormous name for his benevolence in Balram district of Chhattisgarh. Recently, his daughter, Dr.
Radhika completed her medicine degree from the United States of America and returned to her
hometown to be a part of her father’s practice. She has been given the baton to promote modern
medicine and retain the local skilled youth in their practice. However, their nursing home’s skilled
youth has been more inclined to E-Commerce employment opportunities. Dr. Radhika has taken it
as a challenge to imbibe the very essence of service in them, by being employed as nurses and
caretakers of the ill. This shall be very crucial in growing the practice as desired.
Which of the following phases of Kurt Lewin’s Model of Change will be most challenging for Dr.
Radhika to strategically positioning her father’s nursing home?
(a) Compliance (b) Identification
(c) Internalization (d) Transition
Answer: (c)
34. The management of Vadakara Limited, hitherto a successful ball valves maker headquartered in
Mumbai, is looking to launch a new SBU for its future forward integration plans abroad in Sudan.
The CEO is now faced with the opportunity-cum-challenge to make this foray into Sudan a successful
but time-bound business enterprise. The CEO has already asked his India Operations Head to make
a study of Sudan’s present market conditions and territory specific laws to enable the setup of a local
branch office for the proposed SBU. Meantime, the HR manager has come across a promising
resume of a person on LinkedIn, a social networking platform on internet, who is currently engaged
in a similar Deputy CEO position with another entity. The management is also in touch with a couple
of NRI angel investors based out of Singapore, to arrange for venture capital that would be required
for this venture.
From a strategic management perspective, Vadakara Limited is currently represented by which
strategic time phase:
(a) Strategy formulation phase
(b) Strategy change phase
(c) Strategy implementation phase
(d) Strategy internalization phase
Answer: (a)
35. GetWellSoon Limited is a health provider and has only large, edge of town hospitals. It is
considering setting-up additional small city centre clinics capable of treating less-serious day cases.
Which of the following will fall under “Strategy Implementation”?
LAKSHYA By CAs for CA SMMurali 8|Page
(1) Acquiring and fitting out clinics
(2) Hiring and/or transferring staff
(3) Publicity, so that patients know where and when to go
(4) Liaison with general practitioners and the main hospitals
(a) Only (d) (b) (b) & (d)
(c) (a), (b) & (d) (d) (a), (b), (c) & (d)
Answer: (d)
36. Aditya Swaroop is the head of operations of Bindal & Sons private limited. He is focussing on
total or aggregate management functions in the sense of embracing the integrated activities of a
complete department. He assures the resources are obtained and used effectively and efficiently in
the accomplishment of the organisation’s objectives. He is practicing as: -
(a) Strategic control (b) Management control
(c) Administrative contro (d) Operations control
Answer: (b)
37. You are working as a senior manager of a company. You are entrusted with the task of putting a
strategy in place and see that it is implemented properly. Out of the following, what is the most
important thing that you will have to prepare your organization for?
(i) Strategic audit
(ii) Business process reengineering
(iii) Strategic change
(iv) Strategic control
(a) i & iii (b) iii & ii
(c) i & iv (d) i & ii
Answer: (c)
38. You are the operations manager and your top management wants to adopt a strategy that you
don’t endorse, what problems would this lead to in implementation of the strategy?
(a) No problem (b) Coordination problem
(c) Technical problem (d) Behavioural problem
Answer: (b)
39. After an earnest attempt to bring in a strategic change in your organization, you the operational
head of XYZ ltd, succeeded but still your organization couldn’t achieve the desired competitive
position in the market. Out of the following what could be the reason?
(a) Strategy formulation (b) Strategy model
(c) Strategy implementation (d) Strategy decision
Answer: (c)
40. As a strategist, what is your understanding of how strategies are put into action?
(a) Strategies are statements of Intent realized through Implementation.
(b) Strategies are statements of Intent that are automatically activated.
(c) Strategies, by themselves, lead into action.
(d) By strategy formulation and not through implementation.
Answer: (a)
41. The employees of XYZ ltd have been facing problems regarding the difference between the
understanding of strategy formulation and strategy implementation. In order to address this
problem, you, the president operations, made four groups and asked each group to write in points
their understanding of the same. The following points were compiled from their knowing of strategy
formulation and implementation.
(1) Strategy formulation focuses on efficiency while strategy implementation focuses on
effectiveness.
Answer: (c)
42. You being the core strategist of your company, entrusted with bringing about strategic change in
your company, how will you initiate “unfreezing of the situation”?
(a) Promoting new ideas throughout the organization
(b) Promoting compliance throughout the organization
(c) Promoting change in process throughout the organization
(d) None of the above
Answer: (a)
43. You are the head of operations of a company. When you focus on total or aggregate management
functions in the sense of embracing the integrated activities of a complete department et al, you are
practicing:
(a) Strategic control (b) Management control
(c) Administrative control (d) Operations control
Answer: (b)
44. Which of the following would be chosen by the core strategist to implement operational control: -
(a) Premise control (b) Special alert control
(c) Implementation control (d) Budgetary control
Answer: (d)
45. In which of the following circumstances would you initiate a strategic audit in your company?
I. When top management feels the need.
II. When the goals and objectives of the strategy are not being accomplished.
III. When a major change takes place in the external environment of the organization.
IV. When the performance indicators reflect that a strategy is not working properly or is not
producing the desired outcome.
(a) I, II, IV (b) II, III, IV
(c) I, II, III (d) All of the above
Answer: (d)
46. When it comes to identifying problem areas and correct the strategic approaches that have not
been effective so far, what should a strategic manager choose to do out of the following:
(a) BPR (b) Benchmarking
(c) Strategic change (d) Strategic audit
Answer: (d)
47. With reference to Richard Rumelt’s criteria for Strategic Audit, what out of the following is the
first limitation against which strategy is audited?
(a) Financial resource (b) Human resource
(c) Physical resource (d) All of the above
Answer: (a)
Answer: (c)
49. As the head of an MNC, you have been asked to bring in radical changes in your organisation
through BPR. Which of these is the thrust area you would focus on reducing:
(a) Total cycle time (b) Total order time
(c) Total inventory time (d) None
Answer: (a)
Answer: (c)
51. Strategy evaluation is more difficult today due to the following trends except:
(a) A dramatic increase in the environment’s complexity.
(b) The increasing difficulty of predicting the future with accuracy.
(c) The increasing number of variables in the environment.
(d) Firms have unlimited resources.
Answer: (d)
52. With reference to benchmarking, select the correct statement out of the following:
(a) The focus of benchmarking is to study existing processes and eliminate the ones that are
redundant.
(b) Traditional controlling has been rephrased as benchmarking.
(c) Benchmarking helps in setting goals and measuring productivity based on best industry practices.
(d) Benchmarking solves all business problems.
Answer: (c)
Answer: (c)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (a)
Answer: (c)
58. Which of the following is not true for strategy formulation and implementation matrix?
(a) Company in square A would focus on implementing the strategy successfully.
(b) Company in Square B is the idle situation
(c) Company in square D would focus on readjusting the implementation.
(d) Company in square D would focus on redesigning their strategy.
Answer: (d)
59. Which of the following is not one of the issues in strategy implementation?
(a) Resource allocation (b) Project implementation
(c) Structural implementation (d) Market implementation
Answer: (d)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (d)
63. Which of the following are responsible for formulating and developing realistic and attainable
strategies?
(a) Corporate level and business level managers
(b) Corporate level and functional level managers
(c) Functional managers and business level managers
(d) Corporate level managers, business level managers and functional level managers
Answer: (d)
Answer: (a)
Answer: (a)
66. What involves formulating, implementing and evaluating crossfunctional decisions that enable
an organization to achieve its objectives?
(a) Strategy formulation (b) Strategy evaluation
(c) Strategy implementation (d) Strategic management
Answer: (d)
Answer: (d)
Answer: (c)
Answer: (d)
Answer: (c)
71. ‘Attractiveness of firms’ while conducting industry analysis should be seen in-
(a) Relative terms (b) Absolute terms
(c) Comparative terms (d) All of the above
Answer: (a)
72. “Competitor’s Differentiation’, Customer Value’ and ‘Application of Competitiveness’ are the
three important areas of:
(a) Value chain analysis (b) Business process re-engineering
Answer: (d)
73. A tool by which management identifies and evaluates the various businesses that make up a
company is termed as:
(a) Value chain analysis (b) Portfolio analysis
(c) Competition analysis (d) Strategic analysis
Answer: (b)
74. An advertisement says, ‘Have Roohafza with milk and lassi too’. Which strategy is the company
trying to use:
(a) Market development (b) Product development
(c) Market penetration (d) All of the above
Answer: (c)
75. The goal of SWOT analysis is to ________ the organization's opportunities and strengths while
________ its threats and ________ its weaknesses.
(a) avoid; neutralizing; correcting (b) exploit; neutralizing; correcting
(c) avoid; capitalizing; neutralizing (d) exploit; avoiding; ignoring
Answer: (b)
Answer: (d)
77. The sustainability of competitive advantage and a firm’s ability to earn profits from its
competitive advantage depends upon:
(a) Durability, reliability, transferability, approximately
(b) Appropriability, durability, transferability, imitability
(c) Transferability, imitability, reliability, approximately
(d) Imitability, durability, reliability, appropriability
Answer: (b)
78. Anything that a firm does especially well compared to rival firms is referred to as _____.
(a) Competitive advantage (b) Comparative advantage
(c) Opportunity cost (d) Sustainable advantage
Answer: (a)
79. The emphasis on product design is very high, the intensity of competition is low, and the market
growth rate is low in the ______ stage of the industry life cycle.
(a) Maturity (b) Introduction
(c) Growth (d) Decline
Answer: (b)
81. In which phase of strategic management are annual objectives especially important?
(a) Formulation (b) Control
(c) Evaluation (d) Implementation
Answer: (d)
82. Specific results an organisation seeks to achieve in pursuing its basic mission are:
(a) Strategies (b) Rules
(c) Objectives (d) Policies
Answer: (c)
Answer: (d)
84. During what stage of strategic management are a firm’s specific internal strengths and
weaknesses determined?
(a) Formulation (b) Implementation
(c) Evaluation (d) Feedback
Answer: (a)
Answer: (c)
86. What are the means by which long term objectives will be achieved?
(a) Policies (b) Opportunities
(c) Vision (d) Strategies
Answer: (d)
Answer: (a)
88. Developing vision and mission, identifying an organisation’s external opportunities and threats,
and determining internal strengths and weaknesses are:
(a) SBU planning (b) Strategy formulation
(c) Strategy implementation (d) Business process reengineering
Answer: (b)
89. Questions such as “What is our business?” and “who are our customers? “are required to be
answered in company’s:
(a) Objectives (b) Plan
(c) Policy document (d) Mission statement
Answer: (d)
Answer: (a)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (c)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (a)
95. An organisation diversifies in backward sequence in the product chain and enters specific
product/process to be used in existing products. It is:
(a) Forward diversification (b) Vertical diversification
(c) Horizontal diversification (d) Reactive diversification
Answer: (b)
Answer: (d)
Answer: (b)
99. When to organisations combine to increase their strength and financial gains along with reducing
competition is called ______.
(a) Hostile takeover (b) Liquidation
(c) Merger (d) Acquisition
Answer: (c)
Answer: (d)
101. If suppliers are unreliable or too costly, which of these strategies may be appropriate?
(a) Horizontal integration (b) Backward integration
(c) Market penetration (d) Forward integration
Answer: (b)
102. Which of the following is not Michael Porter’s five competitive forces?
(a) New entrants (b) Rivalry among existing firms
(c) Bargaining power of unions (d) Bargaining power of suppliers
Answer: (c)
Answer: (c)
Answer: (d)
105. What are the three different bases of consideration given by Michael Porter’s Generic Strategies
to gain competitive advantage?
(a) differentiation, integration and compensation
(b) integration, focus and differentiation
(c) compensation, integration and focus
(d) cost leadership, differentiation and focus
Answer: (b)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (c)
110. The process of creating, maintaining, and enhancing strong, valueladen relationships with
customers and other stakeholder is:
(a) Social marketing (b) Augmented marketing
(c) Direct marketing (d) Relationship marketing
Answer: (d)
Answer: (c)
112. The marketing strategy which is used to reduce or shift the demand is:
(a) Enlightened marketing (b) Synchro-marketing
(c) Place marketing (d) Demarketing
Answer: (d)
Answer: (a)
Answer: (b)
115. Which of the following variables are not directly affected by marketing mix?
(a) Product (b) Place
(c) Process (d) Promotion
Answer: (c)
Answer: (b)
Answer: (c)
118. Change in company’s _____requires re allocation of resources necessitating need for changes
in_____
(a) structure, strategy (b) strategy, structure
(c) structure, structure (d) strategy, strategy
Answer: (b)
Answer: (d)
120. A person who searched for business opportunity and starts a new enterprise to make use of that
opportunity called
(a) Employee (b) Entrepreneur
(c) Intrapreneur (d) Investor
Answer: (b)
Answer: (b)
122. Which of the following situation will most likely suit a transformational leader?
(a) An organization that is in trouble
(b) A growing organization
(c) An organization in a stable environment
(d) An organization at maturity stage of product life cycle
Answer: (a)
Answer: (d)
Answer: (a)
125. What is the second phase of Matrix structure proposed by Davis and Lawrence?
(a) Cross functional task forces (b) Product/brand management
(c) Cross fertilized projects (d) Mature matrix
Answer: (b)
1. Connect Private Limited, a Mumbai based company is launching a smartphone, under the brand
name of Poppy. The company recognizes plethora of options that customers have from Chinese
manufacturers flooding the smartphone landscape. With recent COVID-19 pandemic hurting the
global sentiment towards Chinese products, the company plans to play on the patriotic card and
advertise Poppy as the “Desi” smartphone of India.
Strategic Arm of the company undertook an industry analysis and reported, that, budget phone
segment was overtaken by the Chinese brands completely, however, the low segment of smartphones
was still open for exploration. Thus, the company planned to enter the market with two models,
Poppy A and Poppy B, priced at ₹ 4,499 and ₹ 5,499.
The company is also aware that their product can easily be imitated at same costing as well as
pricing, and thus the very essence of their product can be lost. A team of marketing professionals was
hired to tackle this issue. The solution they suggested was to take the first mover advantage by
spending huge sums in advertising and promotion.
Based on sound consciousness of the competition from huge money backed international players, the
company decided to manufacture smartphone covers and accessories with the same “desi” tag, along
with Poppy Smartphones. This shall help them mitigate the risk of being completely thrown out of
business. Consequently, they invested a fairly good amount in manufacturing of these accessories.
The investors made it an objective for the team to reach an annual sales volume of 15,000 handsets
and 70,000 pieces of accessories. The accessories sales surpassed the expectations by a fairly good
margin. However, Poppy A and Poppy B did not receive the much anticipated response and the
leadership decided to reduce the scope and focus purely on accessories business going forward.
With a new focus on accessories production, the “Desi” tag will still play an important part in the
success. However, they need to ensure creation of strong barriers to entry for other domestic players,
and for that, they have plans to augment the production to enormous levels. This shall reduce their
unit cost, thus, enable volume driven cost leadership.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
1.1 Connect Private Limited, entered a saturated market of smartphones, after a due market study of
understanding the competitive landscape. Put the below steps in correct sequence of understanding
the competitive landscape.
(I) Understanding the competitors
(II) Determining strengths and weaknesses of the competitors
(III) Identify the competitors
(IV) Put all information gathered together
(a) (I),(III),(II),(IV)
(b) (III),(I),(II),(IV)
(c) (II),(III),(IV),(I)
(d) (I),(III),(II),(IV)
1.2 Annual sales volume as an objective by the investors was crucial to establish the company in the
market. In which stage of strategic management are such annual objectives especially important?
(a) Formulation
(b) Control
(c) Evaluation
(d) Implementation
1.3 Following the sales numbers reported at the end of year, the leadership took a serious strategic
stand point to move forward and shift to a new core business which was more profitable. Under
which of the following category of business strategy can this decision be categorized?
(a) Retrenchment strategy
(b) Strategic alliance
(c) Diversification strategy
(d) Market development
1.5 The phase two of shifting the business focus to peripheral accessories production, Connect
Private Limited has planned setting up entries to barrier for its potential competitors. Which of the
following barrier have they planned to implement?
(a) Capital requirement
(b) Product differentiation
(c) Access to distribution channels
(d) Economies of scale
Q No Answer
1.1 (b) Correct Sequence is (III),(I),(II),(IV)
1.2 (d) Implementation is an operations-oriented activity aimed at shaping the
performance of the core businesses of a company. Thus, short term and long
term objectives are majorly crucial part of Implementation Phase.
1.3 (a) Retrenchment strategy, is where the organisation reduces the scope of
activity to focus on more profitable/suitable businesses.
1.4 (c) Cash cow is the correct answer, as accessories business has low market
growth rate but a greater market share. Also, the investment required is low, but
it generates cash for the company.
1.5 (d) Economies of scale, as they plan to reduce their per unit cost of production.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
2.1 Igor Ansoff gave a framework which describes the intensification options available to a firm.
Which of them did KingLike use for its intensification strategy?
(a) Market penetration
(b) Product development
(c) Market development
(d) Diversification into new products
2.3 Different personnel have been deployed at respective levels in the project working as a business
unit. Answer, Divisional managers and staff are a part of which of the following strategic levels in the
organization?
(a) Corporate level
(b) Functional level
(c) Business level
(d) Consultant level
2.4. ______ is the answer to basic question “what business we are and what we do”. Many
businesses fail to conceptualize this and it requires clarity. The company however has clarity on the
same. Fill in the blank with the correct option.
(a) Vision
(b) Mission
(c) Strategy
(d) Planning
2.5 Vilartment shall function as a strategic business unit (SBU), being one of the key businesses of
the company. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a strategic business unit?
(a) It is a combination of two or more independent businesses.
(b) The planning for the business is done separately.
(c) It has its own set of competitors.
(d) It has its own manager responsible for strategy and profits.
Q No Answer
2.1 (b) Product development, Vilartment is a new product in the existing market
2.2 (c) Market development is not an area where core competency is identified
2.3 (c) Divisional managers and staff are a part of business level of an organization
2.4 (b) Mission statement
2.5 (a) It is a combination of two or more independent businesses.
3. Hareeyali Pvt. Ltd. is a company working towards making corporates spaces greener with their
innovative infrastructural designs and products. The company is newly found and has six founders.
It works with a team of just four people in middle management and around fifty plus on ground,
working at various roles like client relationship management and delivery management.
The industry is fairly new but already dominated by GreenZone Pvt. Ltd., which produces around
800 designs for its fifty clients. GreenZone has a facility that produces the designed structures at a
massive scale of 3000 pieces per day. It has been the sole player for a few years but as the corporates
plan to go green, the industry is expecting a rise.
Hareeyali has begun decent operations but is struggling for a production facility. A proper strategy to
build around the gaps and new areas of the industry shall take its business to another level. The
founders’ have mission of reaching every single corporate in India.
They plan to spread in three phases. The first phase is to tap Delhi NCR and Mumbai.
Strategy team understands one important thing about these cities that, the working class needs
something they can personalize. Hence, the company decided to go for company focused designing
that shall give them an advantage over the standardized products from its rivals.
Hareeyali has also introduced Green Card Points System, wherein the employees who chose to use
their products earn points and can further spend them to buy herbal and organic products from
leading online platforms.
The company has been doing good business since last year and plans to expand via online as and
offline modes.
3.1 GreenZone has been the leader in the industry and has deployed some barriers to entry on new
players wanting to tap into this new growing industry. Apparently, Hareeyali has been struggling on
the very same front and thus, the barrier’s magnitude increases. Which of the following is barrier to
entry used by GreenZone?
(a) Product differentiation
(b) Switching costs
(c) Economies of scale
(d) Brand identity
3.2 Hareeyali’s Green points system falls under which strategic marketing technique?
(a) Service marketing
(b) Person marketing
(c) Direct marketing
(d) Augmented marketing
3.3 If Hareeyali has to compete with GreenZone, it ought to have strategy in place. And not just
strategy but a relevant strategy audit from time to time is necessary to accomplish results. As per
Richard Rumelt, there are a few criterions to be considered in strategy audit. Which of the following
is not one of the criterions as per Richard Rumelt?
(a) Consistency
(b) Position
(c) Consonance
(d) Feasibility
3.4 The management structure of Hareeyali is apparently like any other company with a lot of
founders/top management, as the middle office work is undertaken by business automation. It does
reduce costs but the lower management has less opportunities to grow. Based on that, which if the
following is the organizational structure of Hareeyali?
(a) Network structure
(b) Matrix structure
(c) Divisional structure
(d) Hourglass structure
3.5 Intensity of rivalry determines attractiveness and profitability of an Industry. The rivalry between
the two companies is furious and the profitability shall be low because of all the below factors,
except:
(a) Variable costs of business
(b) GreenZone is currently the industry leader
(c) The industry’s growth is slow
(d) Companies are planning product differentiation
Q No Answer
3.1 (c) Economies of scale by producing massive number of items from its production
facility.
3.2 (d) Augmented marketing.
3.3 (b) Position is not a criteria for strategy audit as per Richard Rumelt.
3.4 (d) Hourglass structure.
3.5 (a) Variable costs of business are not the determinant if Intensity of Rivalry, rather
fixed costs are, wherein the company can drop prices by increasing capacity.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
4.1 LUXHEAL envisages to be the most admired and responsible healthcare equipment company
with international footprint. Is this a vision or a mission? If this is LUXHEAL’s vision, then which of
the following is not essential while drafting the strategic vision?
(a) It should clearly illuminate the direction in which the organisation is headed.
(b) It should create enthusiasm among members of the organization.
(c) It should be rigidly defined to prepare the organisation for the future.
(d) This is a mission statement and not a vision statement
4.2 Which of the following steps in benchmarking did LUXHEAL skip, which eventually lead to the
failure of the benchmarking process?
(a) Identifying the need for benchmarking.
(b) Comparing the own process and performance with that of others.
(c) Identifying best process.
(d) Reporting and implementing the steps to bridge the gaps identified.
4.3 Dr. Budhiraja has been instrumental in bringing about monumental changes in the company’s
structure and working culture. He has been very approachable yet feared by employees at all levels.
What kind of leadership style can his style be termed as?
(a) Transactional leadership style
(b) Autocratic leadership style
(c) Diplomatic leadership style
(d) Transformational leadership style
4.4 The recent international recognition that the company has got for WHEELIX, has turned around
its strategy all together. Which of the following Michael Porter’s generic strategies should LUXHEAL
follow?
(a) Cost leadership
(b) Focused differentiation
(c) Differentiation
(d) Focused cost leadership
5. Strong Girls Private Limited, is an all female-led early stage health drink company, operating out
of Bangalore. The company is aware of the two important things with respect to their business; first,
the youth is really conscious about health, and second, there are plethora of options available in the
market to cater their demands.
With these pointers in mind, they launched their flagship product, Avajuice, a health drink made
with Amla, Papaya, Aloe Vera and Neem, targeted at increasing immunity of young teenage girls. The
unique selling proposition has been to make these drinks taste good with added organic flavours.
To achieve advantage in market segment the production process has been standardised. The benefit
has reflected in improved margins and better negotiating power. This product has been identified by
the strategy team, as a Star, as per BCGs growth matrix, for its rapid growth and immense fund
needs.
The marketing team has been one of the most influential in mapping the success of Avajuice. The
existing health drink companies have had a very low customer loyalty and retention ratio. The
company had to work to win over this shortcoming. For this, they have setup collaborations with
major schools of Karnataka as well as got into an agreement with the State Government of Karnataka
to provide Avajuice to girls of government schools at subsidised rate at just one rupee each.
This has been instrumental in bringing about free publicity from local as well as national media.
With media coverage, the company very smartly placed the tagline, ‘We Offer Tasty Health for our
Teens’, and this was further pushed as a trend on social media to spread awareness of brand.
Effectively, the company has been able to position itself in the niche market domain and has been
making really good margins.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
5.1 As per Peter Drucker, it is important to have a meaningful answer to the question, ‘what business
are we in?’. Through Avajuice, the company answered the following as ’We Offer Tasty Health for our
Teens’. Among which of the following does this statement fall?
(a) Vision
(b) Mission
(c) Business definition
(d) Action plan
5.2 The processes have been standardised as a strategy to improve margins and gain more
negotiation power in the market. Which of the generic strategies by Michael Porter has the company
deployed to create a favourable scenarios for itself?
(a) Differentiation
(b) Focussed differentiation
(c) Cost leadership
(d) Focussed cost leadership
5.4 Which of the following was used to increase the saleability, based on industry analysis of the
existing customer retention success rate? The marketing team could thus, track the open gaps and
focus on the niche teenage girls segment to win over competition.
(a) Triggers of change
(b) Benchmarking
(c) Business process reengineering
(d) Strategy audit
5.5 Avajuice can be identified as a Star as per BCG’s Growth Matrix, basis the rapid growth it has
shown and the enormous funds it demanded to maintain market and fuel the growth potential. What
would Avajuice turn into, as per the matrix, when its growth slows down?
(a) Dog
(b) Question mark
(c) Will remain a star
(d) Cash cow
Q No Answer
5.1 (b) Mission, as per Peter Drucker, when we have to answer, what business are we in, the
answer should be marketing oriented and should cater to external perspective, and that
forms part of mission statement.
5.2 (d) Focussed cost leadership, as standardisation ensures low cost of production thus
making the business more profitable and award more negotiation power to the
producer/seller, and the market for Avajuice is niche, this focussed cost leadership.
5.3 (c) Market development, as Avajuice is an existing product that are targeted to be sold in a
new market of young girls.
5.4 (b) Benchmarking, it is point of reference against which one can compare and grow over
the competition by being more productive/effective/efficient.
5.5 (d) Cash cow, as per BCG’s growth matrix, a star turns into a cash cow when the growth
slows down.
6. MidoriTech, a Japanese information technology giant recently got into a multi-million dollar deal
with Dezyner Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore, a user interface designing company. MidoriTech is a leader in
developing firewall for cloud security services and this deal would help it leverage the latest user-
friendly designs of Dezyner Pvt. Ltd. to be incorporated in its own systems. The major motive of both
the companies is to capture the budding segments of the market, which is very difficult to do given
one’s own isolated operations.
The second important aspect of the deal is a shared Research and Development Centre in Bangalore
with 70:30 investments in R&D over the period of next five years. The advancements in cloud
computing are to be matched with other global giants, and this Centre will provide world class
excellence for the requisite. Mr. B. K. Suman, the erstwhile head of Dezyner Pvt. Ltd., has been
appointed as the General Manager of the R&D Centre, and would report directly to the CEO of
MidoriTech.
MidoriTech has been in the industry for over thirty years and has over five hundred clients. For
better control and ease of business, it has divided its business segments as per the clients’ industry.
Thus, it has four major segments; Robotics, E-Commerce, Energy and Others.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
6.1 Robotics, E-Commerce, Energy and Others, are separate units of MidoriTech, that have been
devised for easy of control. Which of the following is not a characteristic that would have helped
them identify and separate units for better strategic management?
(a) Distinct markets
(b) Customer’s preference
(c) Similar technologies
(d) Identical competitive advantage
6.2 Dezyner Pvt. Ltd. and MidoriTech’s deal falls under which type
of Expansion Strategy?
(a) Conglomerate merger
(b) Concentric diversification
(c) Horizontal merger
(d) Strategic alliance
6.3 The R&D centre at Bangalore will be a game changer for both the companies. Which of the
following is not an approach for implementation that Mr. Suman can deploy?
(a) First firm to market new technology
(b) Innovative imitator of successful products
(c) Being a mediator in trading of new technology
(d) Low cost mass producer of tested products
6.4 Mr. B. K. Suman shall work as general manager to the R&D centre for the two companies. At
which strategic level will he working as a General Manager?
(a) Corporate level
(b) Corporate and business level
(c) Functional and business level
(d) Functional level
6.5 MidoriTech used financial models to strategise its setup in India. Which of the following methods
is not a viable model of valuation that is effective in this case?
(a) Future earnings/synergy benefit model
(b) Value of similar firms in the industry
(c) Net worth method
(d) Price-earning ratio based valuation
Q No Answer
6.1 (b) The four segments of MidoriTEch works as SBUs. Customer preference is not a
characteristic of division as the mater is based on internal strategic decisions and does not
relate to customer influence.
6.2 (d) Strategic alliance is the right answer, as the companies would maintain independent
status and they plan to benefit from each other what they could not get in isolated
operations
6.3 (c) Being a mediator for trading of new technology does not qualify as an implementation
strategy of R&D. It is a business strategy not R&D strategy
6.4 (b) General Managers deliver their responsibilities at both corporate and business levels,
however, their responsibilities depend on size of organisation
6.5 (d) Dezyner pvt. ltd. is a private company, thus does not have marketable shares. Hence,
Price earning based valuation is not viable.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
7.1 The shift of the company to earthen home grown utensils was based on a trigger of change. Which
of the following trigger is most relevant in the case of Sukh Pvt. Ltd.?
(a) Product innovation
(b) Consumer sentiment
(c) Statutory changes
(d) Globalisation
7.2 Which of the following type of strategic control did the owners and leadership of Sukh pvt. ltd.
Deploy, that eventually turned out to be one of the most effective strategic decisions for the
company?
(a) Premise control
(b) Special alert control
(c) Implementation control
(d) Strategic surveillance
7.3 ‘Vocal for Local’ is a market sentiment that changed customer’s preferences for majority of
products of all industries. Basis that, Sukh pvt. ltd. gauged the competition it might face in coming
months and provisioned to change its own product. Which of the following force, as per Michael
Porter’s five forces of competitive analysis, is most relevant in this case?
(a) Threat of new entrants
(b) Nature of rivalry in the industry
(c) Threat of substitutes
(d) Bargaining power of the buyer
7.4 Which of the following aspects of supply chain management was the most challenging for Sukh
pvt. ltd. at the time of selling Facile brand crockery?
(a) Manufacturing
(b) Outsourcing
(c) Customer service
(d) Procurement
Q No Answer
7.1 (b) Consumer sentiment is the right answer. statutory change is not correct as there have
been no changes to statute, there has only been a push for home grown products with no
legal/political changes
7.2 (d) Strategic surveillance is the right answer, as this type of control is unfocussed and
involves casual industry environment browsing. The conclaves attendance and magazine
reviews are a part of strategic surveillance
7.3 (c) Threat of substitutes is the most relevant for Sukh pvt. ltd., as they were dealing in
Italian crockery and the same is hit by locally produced earthen utensil, thus a substitute
of their product
7.4 (c) Customer service, as the skilled English speaking workforce is not readily available in
India
7.5 (b) Divestment strategy, as a major part of business and SBU is sold off in divestment.
Here Facile was sold off to fund the new business
8. Dr. Mikesh Gupta, Agriculture Management Guru at a leading management school in Patna, has
been driving the business of EBandhu with seven of his students since 2017. This business has two
core objectives; first, sustainable farming awareness and second, seasonal availability of agricultural
inputs. It is a technology driven business wherein they have a one stop shop for all agricultural
products available to farmers at competitive prices. The business is quite challenging, given the fact
that farmers’ of the region are not well aware of the use of technology.
The team sat down in summer of 2019 to reengineer the entire business and they were very clear
about making changes to entire business processes without any emphasis on existing processes. A
new definition was formulated to be successful in the agricultural sector.
First and foremost, the target was moved from directly serving the farmers to onboarding
wholesalers and retailers into the system and selling products to them. This was done based on the
study that wholesalers and retailers could be great influencers of technology adaptability and use.
Secondly, logistics were outsourced to MaalGaadi, a rural supply chain management company, which
eased off the balance sheet of EBandhu in terms of asset procurement and the corresponding debt.
Third and the most important was inclusion of a new service-based product in their application,
ChaaraVidya, which educates farmers about the latest sustainable farming practices being
implemented around the world. This could be a game changer for E-Bandhu in the agro startup
circle.
The team is excited about the newness that Dr. Mikesh has brought in through the strategic changes
and they foresee a better sustainable future of their idea.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
8.1 Switching from direct selling to marketing though wholesalers and retailers was a strategic
decision taken by the management. Such decisions help an organization to be more of which of the
following?
(a) Authoritative
(b) Futuristic
(c) Proactive
(d) Regularised
8.3 One of the most strategically advantageous decisions for EBandhu was to get into a contract with
MaalGaadi. Which of the following could not be an advantage for E-Bandhu from this alliance?
(a) Cost savings
(b) Reduced delivery time
(c) Improved customer satisfaction
(d) Increased inventory of products
8.4 E-Bandhu spent a good amount of money on Reengineering its business. Which of the following
steps in BPR, business process reengineering did they skip?
(a) Determining Objectives
(b) Study of existing processes
(c) Formulating the redesign process plan
(d) Implementing the redesigned process
8.5 Revamping the business to cater to wholesalers and retailers than to direct farmers is change in
what?
(a) Mission
(b) Goals and Objectives
(c) Business definition
(d) Business model
Q No Answer
8.1 (c) Strategic management decisions makes an organisation more proactive.
8.2 (c) Product development as a new product is developed for the existing
consumers of the company with added features.
8.3 (d) MaalGaadi is a rural logistics solutions company that would ease off E-
Bandhu’s supply chain management. Inventory would thus reduce and not
increase
8.4 (b) Study of existing processes, as they laid no emphasis of past processes and
went into a new setup with fresh proactive perspective
8.5 (d) Business model is changed
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
9.1. Introducing Sugar-Free milkshakes by LactoQalci, falls under which Product-Market strategy as
given by Ansoff?
(a) Product development
(b) Market penetration
(c) Market development
(d) Diversification
9.2 Which of the Michael Porter’s Generic Strategies was adopted by LactoQalci to gain competitive
advantage?
(a) Cost leadership strategy
(b) Differentiation strategy
(c) Focussed cost leadership strategy
(d) Focussed differentiation strategy
9.3 Which strategic intent is expressed in the statement “Ensuring Health for Everyone” by
LactoQalci?
(a) Vision
(b) Mission
(c) Goals and Objectives
(d) Business definition
9.4. What kind of leadership did Mr. Rohatgi portray to pull out LactoQalci from the sudden
disruption?
(a) Transactional leadership
(b) Transformational leadership
(c) Transparent leadership
(d) Translational leadership
9.5 Which central thrust area was at the focus of LactoQalci’s management while implementing
business Process reengineering (BPR)?
(a) Total distribution time
(b) Total order time
(c) Total inventory time
(d) Total cycle time
10. After graduating from IIT in computer science, sisters, Shakti and Stuti, following their passion
for computers, started “Code Consulting”. They faced innumerable survival challenges in a highly
dynamic IT market. But with combined efforts of a highly dedicated team of data scientists, their
core business of big data analytics gained a prominent market presence.
From inception, Code Consulting has been a women-centric organization. The sisters ensured that
women were provided with ample opportunities in the organization. Given the option of Work From
Home as mandated by recent legal regulations, majority of the female workforce availed the option.
To avoid drop in sales, the sisters expeditiously lead a crisis management team to accommodate
adoption of the required technology to meet the changes of time.
Code Consulting, having reached a reputable market standing, was now observing cut-throat
competition from foreign giants in its niche. The sisters resolved to make an effort into their long
aspired dream to diversify into the innovative market space of 3D printing. Code Consulting, lacking
the requisite experience, went for a merger with a startup named “CreatyVT” known for its technical
know how. They have a strong skill-based team, but the long-standing startup had relatively small
market share in 3D printing arena.
Early on, the management observed that the businesses of big data analytics and 3D printing had
distinct markets. So, they split the company into different business units to independently identify
their performance. Separation into business units helped in simplifying the control related problems
too. Whereas, the challenge to grow the company's market share was successfully met by introducing
ingenious 3D printers with easily refillable cartridges. The new product was supported by an
aggressive online advertisement campaign. The customers pleased by the products helped reach the
desired sales targets in no time.
Having shown a never giving up attitude coupled with wise leadership skills, the business of Code
Consulting sustained a turbulent patch and placed itself as a renowned brand in the Indian IT.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
10.1 Applying BCG matrix, identify the correct investment category for the new “3D printing” usiness
of Code Consulting, at the time of merger?
(a) Star
(b) Cash cow
(c) Dog
(d) Question mark
10.2 Which strategy has been adopted by Code Consulting to overcome the difficulties of low-market
share for its “3D printing” business?
(a) Dynamic strategy
(b) Adaptive strategy
(c) Intended strategy
(d) Sound strategy
10.4 What has been the rationale behind Code Consulting’s management for treating big data
business and 3D printing business amenable to separate strategic treatment?
(a) The businesses were unrelated
(b) The businesses were unmanageable
(c) The businesses were related
(d) The businesses were identical
10.5 Which type of strategic control was adopted by Code Consulting when a new legal regulation
proposed that women workers shall have the option to work from home?
(a) Premise control
(b) Special alert control
(c) Strategic surveillance
(d) Implementation control
Q No Answer
10.1 (d) Question mark
10.2 (c) Intended strategy
10.3 (c) Co-generic merger
10.4 (a) Unrelated business
10.5 (b) Special alert control
11. Samadhan Pvt. Ltd, a recyclable plastic bags manufacturing and trading company, currently
operating only in Maharashtra, the management has seen a potential in the growing awareness
around hazards of plastics and the positive outlook of the society towards recycling and reusing
plastics. Following this, they want to spread their business to major metro cities of the country.
The company has mobilised funds to set up multiple manufacturing units across different metro
cities, introducing advance technologies and standardising their existing product line. They project
to multiply the production by ten times to 25,000 units per day from existing 2,500 units.
A major concern for the company are paper bags and old cloth bags. Even though they are costlier
than recyclable plastic bags, irrespective, they are being welcomed positively by the consumers.
Kaagaz LLP, an NGO operating from Kolkata, has been offering lucrative personalisation offers
through its art partners, for use of cloth and paper bags. This has hurt Samadhan’s market share.
To fight off competition, the core team internally took an ambitious target, to reach seventy cities in
the next five years with a very strong implementation plan. This was backed by a positive
environment study on recyclable plastics, published in a national daily. Further, to compete with
personalisation of bags strategy, they decided to acquire the art partners of Kaagaz LLP, and operate
it as a separate SBU (Strategic Business Unit), giving outwards services back to Kaagaz, their
competitor.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions
11.1 While benchmarking its products against those of Samadhan Pvt. Ltd, what would be the core
factor of consideration for Kaagaz LLP?
(a) Product distribution
(b) Product development
(c) Product production cost
(d) Customer service
11.3. Recyclable plastics are a game changer for Samadhan Pvt. Ltd. Which very important aspect of
strategic management model has been overlooked completely?
(a) Development of mission
(b) Implementation modules
(c) Feedback and communication
(d) Environmental analysis
11.4 Acquisition of art partners of Kaagaz LLP and operating them as a separate SBU, can be
classified as?
(a) Backward integration
(b) Forward integration
(c) Concentric diversification
(d) Conglomerate diversification
11.5 The factor that most aptly defines the competition amongst Samadhan and Kaagaz LLP is?
(a) Economies of scale
(b) Substitute products
(c) New entrant in the market
(d) Brand identity
Q No Answer
11.1 (c) Cost of production, as the cost of producing Cloth and paper bags is much
higher than recyclable plastic bags, so benchmarking its products in the Carry
Bag Market, this would be the core factor of consideration.
11.2 (a) As they have gauged the changing demand of customers, invested in
economies of scale via multiple production facilities, and also worked on
standardization of products and production, except investing in cost saving
technologies. They have rather invested in advance technologies, not
specifically cost saving in nature.
11.3 (c) There has been no communication and feedback from the other
departments and teams. The core team has taken the decisions by itself.
11.4 (b) Forward integration, as it took over the after sales services firms, which
worked on the product after it is produced. It is not concentric as the art firms
and Samadhan fall in the same chain of services and are related.
11.5 (b) Substitute products defines it most aptly.
12. In 2018, Mr. Kumar Venkat, known as KV by his peers, started a career mentoring company
under the name of FreeDum Pvt. Ltd., which aimed to provide world class career mentoring to
students on global opportunities in the field of their interest.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
12.1. Which of the following dimensions of strategic decision making does not match with KV’s
decision making?
(a) Future oriented
(b) Commitment of organisational resources
(c) Require management involvement
(d) Multi functional consequences
12.2 Which of the following tasks of strategy formulation and review was entrusted with Miss Angela
Michael?
(a) Benchmarking
(b) Strategy audit
(c) Operational control
(d) Resource allocation
12.3. Parents accepted and appreciated FreeDum’s services and their vision. Which inherent benefit
did FreeDum enjoy from such acknowledgement to safeguard itself from competition?
(a) Capital requirement
(b) Brand identity
(c) Differentiation
(d) Barriers to entry
12.5. Which of the following structures has KV and his team adopted?
(a) Hourglass structure
(b) Matrix structure
(c) Strategic business unit structure
(d) Network structure
13. The teenage fashion industry has been speculated to reach $14 Trillion by 2021 with a
profitability index of over 25%. Riding on this wave of assumed growth in the industry, Miss Sumita
Ahuja, started a clothing label named Hens of Fashion (HoF) in 2017. She began with a pop range of
clothing for teenage girls and diversified her way to boys clothing. Her brand clocked revenue of over
fifty lacs in the very first year, and to her excitement, she got an investment from a big brand label to
expand pan India.
She along with her core team found a niche consumer base, studied the industry in depth, strategized
to fight off competition and even implemented these strategies to win. Her instincts and belief have
been too strong for the clothing segment and her brand per se.
Mr. Ramit Arora, who began as a consultant with Miss Ahuja, was made the Head of Boys clothing
segment and was given full freedom to think like an owner of the business segment and experiment
for expansion. He took up the challenge and partnered with major foreign labels to bring Hens of
Fashion (HoF) to mainstream consumers.
The brand was doing great until a Japanese clothing brand by the name of Kimachee disrupted the
low cost teenage clothing and apparel industry with its global fame and pocket friendly pricing. Hens
of Fashion saw its revenues drop to at least half of what they were expecting.
An emergency strategy meeting amongst the leaders was called upon but Miss Ahuja was adamant
on sticking to the idea of selling the brand as India’s homegrown brand while other leaders including
Mr. Ramit wanted to partner with Kimachee to sustain the business. The team eventually resorted to
sticking with Miss Ahuja’s ideas and marketed the brand as the desi brand for teenagers.
Like every business faces a challenge when the environment changes and throws opportunities or
threats to the management, Hens of Fashion has had its own set of principles and leadership styles to
sustain the business in these challenging times.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
13.1 Miss Ahuja took a decision to enter teenage clothing industry based on which of the following
important industry attractiveness considerations?
(a) Less uncertainty in industry
(b) Growth potential of the industry
(c) Instinct and entrepreneurial belief
(d) Potential to capitalize weaker existing businesses
13.2 Mr. Ramit Arora is an/a ______, while Miss Sumita Ahuja is an/a ______?
(a) Entrepreneur and Intrapreneur
(b) Manager and Senior leader
(c) Intrapreneur and Entrepreneur
(d) Visionary and Incomeptent leader
13.5 In times of distress, the core of organisational structure helps an organisation to think
holistically. Which of the following principles was highly ignored by Hens of Fashion?
(a) Ideal organisational structure is one where leaders take final decision
(b) Ideal organisational structure is one where executive order is valued over participation
(c) Ideal organisational structure is one where source of idea carries more weight than the merit
(d) Ideal organisational structure is one where ideas filter up as well down.
Q No Answer
13.1 (b) Growth potential of the industry
13.2 (c) Intrapreneur and Entrepreneur
13.3 (c) Evaluation and Control
13.4 (a) Premise control, as owner’s instincts/beliefs were not checked and as per
global competitive movement disrupted the business.
13.5 (d) Ideal organisational structure is one where ideas filter up as well down
14. Flash Co is a well-known sport goods manufacturer established in Deeland, sells its branded
products widely. The Company’s objective is to maximise shareholder wealth. Due to the slowdown
in the Deeland economy, the Company’s recent performance has been weak. The Strategic Manager
has applied Porter’s five forces and reached the following conclusions:
Threat of new entrants: Low, as Flash Co’s size presents a large entry barrier.
Bargaining power of buyers: Significant, as customers worldwide have much choice from different
competitors.
Bargaining power of suppliers: Little threat. Most of Flash Co’s material suppliers are small and
Flash could easily find alternative sources of these. Labour is relatively cheap as most of Flash’s
production facilities are based in developing countries.
Threat of substitutes: Low, as there is little scope of substitute products for sports goods.
Rivalry among competitors: A major threat due to the constant launch of new products in this
competitive industry.
The CEO directed the Strategic Manager to commission a benchmarking exercise to improve Flash’s
performance. This exercise will involve comparison of a range of financial and other operational
performance indicators against Fennel, a similar business in Veeland.
Fennel agreed to share some recently available performance data with Flash as they operate in
different countries.
The Veeland economy is growing strongly. There have been several tax incentives for businesses like
Fennel in the last two years. The Veeland government has also underwritten loans taken out by
businesses to support them. This has enabled Fennel to borrow funds for the significant capital
investment required in IT systems. The automation has improved performance by increasing the
availability of goods at stores, and reducing inventories.
Flash uses the benchmarking process to achieve improvements in diverse range of management
functions like – assessment of manufacturing cost, production development, product distribution
and plant utilisation levels
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
14.1 State the issues that Flash can face in the benchmarking exercise with Fennel?
(a) There is no indication that Fennel is best in class
(b) Fennel has taken tax incentives which is not available to Flash in Deeland.
(c) Fennel operates in a different country where the economy is much stronger.
(d) All of the above
14.4 The customers are loyal to Flash” implies which of the following of Porter’s Five Forces?
(a) Less threat of substitutes
(b) High threat of substitutes
(c) Less threat of suppliers
(d) High threat of suppliers
Q No Answer
14.1 (d) All of the above – Benchmarking helps in improving performance by
learning from best practices and the processes by which they are achieved.
14.2 (c) Mergers & Acquisitions – Plant utilisation levels, Product development,
Product distribution are diverse management functions where improvement is
sought through benchmarking.
14.3 (c) The amount Flash spends with a supplier is low as a proportion of total cost
– The amount Flash spends with a supplier as a proportion of total cost could
indicate the importance of that supplier and therefore their potential bargaining
power
14.4 (a) Less threat of substitutes
Customer loyalty – if customers are loyal to Flash, then this should reduce the
risk of them switching to substitute products
14.5 (c) Bargaining power of customers of Flash
1. Little differentiation indicates high competitive rivalry
2. Launching new products provides an opportunity for growth (for company
making the launch)
3. Market share indicates how effectively Flash is maintaining its position in the
market
15. In the seventh decade of last century the Banerjee Tasty Teas Ltd (BTTL), engaged in tea
plantations in Assam and Darjeeling for more than two decades, began selling packaged tea under
the brand name “Mitra” and “Dost”. At the time they had around 32 per cent of market share in the
packaged tea segment that was growing rapidly. Their next competitor had 18 per cent share. In the
middle of eighth decade the company launched a chain of eateries selling teas and branded it as
“Prakriti”. They brewed tea in these eateries by adding goodness of adrak, tulsi and other natural
ingredients. Their products were positioned as natural Indian tea with ayurvedic ingredients having
health benefit. They positioned it as masala chai clinically proven to enhance immunity and gave a
tag line, “Dadi Maa Ke Gharelu Nuskhe”. It soon became the favourite chain of eateries, selling
India's popular beverage, tea.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
15.1 In the 1970’s what was the position of BTTL in BCG matrix?
(a) Stars
(b) Cash cows
(c) Question marks
(d) Dogs
15.2. Which of the following are not strength of Galaxly in India in the year 1994?
i. Financial resources
ii. Krypton breakfast tea brand
iii. Strong distribution channel
(a) ii
(b) iii
(c) ii and iii
(d) i, ii and iii
15.3 What is the Micheal Porter business level strategy for the brand `Swad’?
(a) Cost leadership
(b) Differentiation
(c) Focussed cost leadership
(d) Focussed differentiation
Q No Answer
15.1 (a) Stars – Good market share in growing market
15.2 (c) ii and iii Neither brand was established in India nor they had distribution
channel
15.3 (a) Cost leadership – Low cost competitive strategy with aim at broad mass
market and cost reduction.
15.4 (d) Product development – Product development involves substantial
modification of existing products or creation of new but related items that can
be marketed to current customers through establish channels.
15.5 (a) Vertically integrated diversification – The company is moving forward in the
chain by selling teas at eateries.
16. With rising incomes of salaried class individuals and the percentage of second-generation kids
pushing the economic consumption to an all time high, Anant Khanna, a 23 year old graduate of IIT
Mumbai, betting on this new market segment, started a digital credit payback platform under the
name of Money Mox.
The company began its operations last year and has already accumulated a customer base of around
two million active users. One of the reasons to enter this market was the disruptive technology
already in place because of earlier FinTech startups. It was easy to mold the available infrastructure
and build a platform. The idea of the company is simple; make a gated community of high income -
high spending individuals and reward them for their purchases via credit and debit cards.
The company made news recently with global investors finding it attractive to bet on. Following
which, Josh Kattings, an early investor, met with the team and advised them to not just copy what
Batuya, the key competitor with a different business model was doing, but to learn, improve and
better the process for customers.
Surprisingly, Josh also offered Batuya to work along with Money Mox for better penetration, but
Anant and team did not agree to the same so early on. They had issues with their current
infrastructure and rather wanted to outshine the competition, than to shake hands and grow
together.
The company last month shared their revenue projections publicly and it attracted a lot of old players
in banking to take note of the new technology. The leader in this sentiment was CBZ Bank which
offered to buy Money Mox for 50 crores against a 100% equity deal.
Anant and team are yet to respond to the enormous offer from a well established bank, but this
surely speaks volume about how unique ideas are valued in the developing economies like India.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
16.1 Which model has been thoughtfully considered while taking the decision to dive into FinTech
market?
(a) BCG growth share matrix
(b) ADL matrix
(c) Stop-Light strategy model
(d) SWOT analysis
16.3 Which of the following may be true about the downsides of the plan to work along with Batuya,
that Anant and team might have considered?
(a) Trade secrets can be spilled out
(b) Ally may become a competitor
(c) There may be good sharing of skills and technology and thus the costs will rise
(d) Only A and B
16.4 Which procedural approach was brought out in the investor meeting by Josh Kattings for a
better market standing of Money Mox?
(a) Business process re-engineering (BPR)
(b) Benchmarking
(c) Change management
(d) Strategy control
16.5 CBZ Bank’s offer to buy 100% equity of Money Mox is an example of?
(a) Horizontal merger
(b) Concentric diversification
(c) Strategic alliance
(d) Co-generic merger
Q No Answer
16.1 (c) Stop-Light Model, GE Matrix – Attractiveness (Availability of Technology)
and Strength (Market Share growth rate), Business attractiveness due to
technology available and business strength due to high market growth rate.
16.2 (b) Focused differentiation strategy as it focuses on premium high net worth
salaried class people to give the exclusive benefits.
16.3 (d) Disadvantages of strategic alliance
16.4 (b) Benchmarking - not just copy better processes but efforts made to learn,
improve and evolve them
16.5 (d) Co-generic merger, as somewhat same line of business and merger could
help them get into new areas of banking
17. Jalsa Group is a family amusement park developer, based out of Ahmedabad. They have four
prime properties in Gujarat; Snake Land, Water World, Ride Road and Habitat Universe.
Amongst above, Ride Road is the newest. The concept of Ride Road is that people can bring in their
vehicles (of all sizes) and race against each other/in teams under expert guidance. The idea is fairly
new to Indian market and the group is betting big money on it. Another bet that turned quite well for
Jalsa is the Snake Land. The park has an integral design of a jungle with various rides based on
snakes and reptiles. It has attracted locals in huge numbers and recently an influx of national tourists
has been observed.
The owners liked a concept they saw on their visit to Indonesia, where people could visit an
amusement park and plant vegetables and trees of their liking, and apparently own that particular
tree/plant with all its produce being their property. This could have a major environmental benefit
vis a vis governmental support to set up the business. The owners’ proposed that this could even be
made part of the Water World to revive it back to its glory.
Noting from above, Water World has seen tremendous competition at a national level, and the
quality of rides has also deteriorated with new technological designs coming up. To meet the losses
being made at Water World, management of Jalsa built Habitat Universe in a close spot, which has
been awarded at international level and is seeing slight competition with increasing tourism, as the
ticket sales figures are quite high. The management team in their annual meeting presented the
below matrix to the owners, based on which further plans were thought through;
The owners and team have realised that their differentiating factor at a national level is their ability
to observe international trends and implement the same in India. Following which, Jalsa has
planned to form an international vigilance committee to find such international trends and give them
an Indianess for their business. The Group plans to develop two more properties near Goa in the
coming years.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
17.4 Which of the following is true in the matrix presented at annual meeting with the owners?
(a) Stars: Snake Land and Question Marks: Ride Road
(b) Cash Cow: Water World and Stars: Snake Land
(c) Dogs: Habitat Universe and Question Marks: Ride Road
(d) Question Marks: Ride Road and Cash Cow: Water World
17.5 Clearly SWOT analysis helped the owners’ understand their differentiating factor of success, but
which factor amongst the below can disrupt their differentiation factor in the long term?
(a) Highly complex environment
(b) Competitive scenario
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) SWOT analysis is a fool proof technique, thus nothing would affect
Q No Answer
17.1 (a) Product life cycle, SL is in growth, WW is declining, RR is intro, HU growth
17.2 (a) Core competency
17.3 (b) Concentric diversification
17.4 (a) Stars: Snake Land and Question Marks: Ride Road
17.5 (c) Both a and b
18. Bhartiya Cricket Premier League (BCPL) is one of the most valued sports events which is held
every year. Started in 2007 by Board of Indian Cricket, the cricket tournament became a model for
success with strong revenue flows both for the parent company i.e. Board, team owners, broadcasters
and players. According to an estimate valuation of the prestigious sports brand was approximately Rs
50000 crore.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
18.1 The Premier League, in the current situation has to undertake what kind of analysis to arrive at
one of the choices provided by the CEO ?
(a) Risk analysis
(b) Competitive analysis
(c) Industry analysis
(d) Business analysis
18.2 Choose the appropriate options provided by the CEO on behalf of the board:
(a) Cancel the event in the absence of scope of spectators.
(b) Hold the event in India at an isolated location despite inadequate facilities.
(c) Hold the event outside India to enhance earning through broadcast and sponsorships.
(d) Postpone for the current period of pandemic.
18.3 Critical Business Processes that should be the first priority for the board to enhance revenue
incase the event is physically held-
(a) Information technology enabled processes involving audience and sponsors.
(b) Cost -effective hotel accommodation and travel.
(c) Reduced revenue share to stakeholders.
(d) Downsizing the composition of delegations.
18.4 The decisions that are going to be considered by the board for overcoming the situation can be
strategic only if :
(a) No reliance on external environment as they change and cannot be predicted.
(b) The league should generate revenue to meet its operational costs.
(c) The stakeholders are duly compensated in the short run.
(d) Significantly impact on the long-term prosperity of the league.
18.5 According to the case, who are the chief customers in this scenario?
(a) Sponsors
(b) Spectators
(c) Channel partners
(d) Sports retailers
19. HearU, a home-grown millennial brand providing on demand services for clinical depression and
unmodulated anxiety, recently launched a pan India application to serve individuals with early stage
to severe levels of mental instability. The brand was launched last year by a group of middle aged
corporate executives, eyeing the growing mental health care sector.
Their services have had good organic reach where people of all ages are using their promotional free
services. The most active age group on their application has been 28 to 35.
One of the biggest consumer goods brands, Palto, recently invested heavily in the mental health
segment, and this gave the management of HearU much anticipated confidence in the industry's
viability. It is important to note that Palto’s leadership team has been infamous for entering a
market, infusing huge funds on developing the market, advertising on all media forms, and churning
out money from the customers due to its established brand name. This has been their strategy for the
mental health segment as well.
The thought behind starting HearU was to spread awareness and serve the individuals in need; to set
up a dialogue between those who might need consultation and those who are going through it, while
being a mediator in finding mental calmness. HearU is content with its organic reach and plans to
infuse more on their quality of service than advertising and to do so affordably.
This core thought of serving people is a top down responsibility within the company as well. Each
employee takes ownership of delivering selfless and utmost quality help. Teams are interactive,
adjusting and the sense of competition is replaced by collaboration. The company leaders take pride
in being able to find and retain such talent.
HearU has been making nil profits since inception, and plans to monetise soon. Palto on other hand,
has been disrupting the market by engaging with customers and making decent profits. They have
lined up celebrities urging youngsters to use the application. HearU feels this is building the industry
and would eventually benefit them as well. Nonetheless, they must be aware of the dynamic nature of
huge companies and how they may make it tough for competitors to survive.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
19.1 Funds infusion by Palto in the mental health segment can be defined as which of the following
methods of industry and competitive analysis?
(a) Dominant economic features of industry
(b) Strength of competition
(c) Triggers of change
(d) Strategic moves of rivals
19.2 What kind of strategy is HearU pursuing while Palto is spending so much on promotion?
(a) Expansion strategy
(b) Combination strategy
(c) Stability strategy
(d) Retrenchment strategy
Q No Answer
19.1 (c) Triggers of change
19.2 (c) Stability strategy
19.3 (b) Cross-functional team insulation
19.4 (c) Product and Price
19.5 (a) Vision
20. Medline patient care limited (MPCL) began its business as a small familyrun business supplying
custom-made hospital furniture and patient care equipment. The company started its operations
with meager capital and work force in the year 1990, now having 20 years of experience and
expertise, it has grown into a thriving hub of experts specializing in either custom-made, locally
sourced or quality imported commercial grade hospital furniture. The company has made a
significant name in the field of “patient care equipment” by providing high quality products to its
customers.
Medline patient care limited (MPCL) has a wide business network throughout India and supply its
products to various hospitals, nursing homes and medical colleges. It is well-known for
manufacturing Hospital Furniture and Operation Theatre Equipment (Tables and Lights). Due to
sudden plunge in the sales volume, margin of profits and declining market share, the company’s CEO
called a meeting with Board of Directors and other senior executives. They decided to appoint Mrs.
Puri as a new strategy manager.
As a newly appointed strategy manager, Mrs. Puri has to assess and analyse the business
environment and work out on the reasons of declining trends. Mrs. Puri conducted SWOT analysis
and observed that the reason of these decreasing trends is increased competition that has emerged
over the last three years. For many years, Medline (MPCL) has been known for high quality but now
this quality is being matched by the competitors who are able to sell at lower prices.
After analysing the business environment, Mrs. Puri submitted her report to the top level
management with the following proposals:
• Focus on technology, innovation, and quality: The expert technology, quality and innovates can
earn the confidence of Doctors and the trust of consumers in developing latest Medical Equipments.
• Employee training & development: She advised to train and experts technical staff in our company
to produce trouble free products.
• Cost rationalization: Reduction in the cost of production is required.
• Client service, support, and feedback: MPCL understands the importance of “After Sale-Service” to
customers and always concentrate on this point.
• Product testing: All products are thoroughly tested before dispatch.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
20.1 After conducting the SWOT analysis by Mrs. Puri in MPCL, she identifies that high quality,
custom-made hospital furniture has made a significant name in the field of “patient care equipment”
by MPCL. For MPCL, these features of its products are its:
(a) Strength
(b) Opportunity
(c) Weakness
(d) Threat
20.3 According to Michael Porter’s five forces model, which force came into existence for declining
the growth and profits of MPCL?
(a) Threat of new entrant
(b) Threat of substitutes
(c) Bargaining power of customers
(d) Bargaining power of suppliers
20.4 MPCL’s market share is declining due to equivalent products being sold by competitors at lower
prices. What does this statement reflect?
(a) It reflects that the cost of production of competitors is lower than MPCL
(b) It reflects that the competitors are providing cheap products
(c) It reflects that MPCL has declined the quality of its products
(d) All of the above.
20.5 Competitive advantage leads to superior profitability. Mrs. Puri’s report indicates the factors for
value creation. Identify the factors by which MPCL can achieve competitive advantage by value
creation.
(a) The expert technology, quality and innovates can earn the confidence.
(b) Reduction in the cost of production is required.
(c) After Sale-Service to customers and welcome the valuable suggestions from their customers.
(d) All of the above
Q No Answer
20.1 (a) Strength
20.2 (c) Corporate level
20.3 (b) Threat of substitutes
20.4 (a) It reflects that the cost of production of competitors is lower than MPCL
20.5 (d) All of the above
21. Trepsico Trito Company is one of the most famous brands in food and beverages industry in the
world. It has seventeen food and beverage brands worth more than 100 crores. Trepsico Trito,
Crisppy Chips (subsidiary), Tasty Chips (acquisition), Tangy (joint venture), Twisters (acquisition),
and Threshold drink are just some of the household names that Trepsico Trito Company manages.
Trepsico Trito’s mission is to provide consumers around the world with delicious, affordable,
convenient and complementary foods and beverages from wholesome breakfasts to healthy and fun
daytime snacks and beverages to evening treats. Convenient F&B defines Trepsico Trito’s business.
Trepsico Trito’s vision is articulated as achieving business and financial success while leaving a
positive imprint on society – delivering what it calls Performance with Purpose. For example,
Trepsico Trito India’s Agri program presently benefits over 24,000 farmers across 14 states through
various Agri and sourcing initiatives. All the potato used in Crisppy Chips and Tasty Chips is grown
in India and sourced from Indian farmers. Through its 360-degree farmer connect initiatives for
potato cultivation, Trepsico Trito provides training and seed support, advanced plant protection
programs, and assured buy-back with reasonable returns. Besides backward integration with farmers
it has invested in cold storages along its supply chain. Since 2009 it has been Water Positive by
conserving, utilising and managing this important resource in a sustainable manner.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
21.1 Match the columns in respect of the following elements of the strategic intent and their
descriptions:
Column A Column B
(i) Vision (a) Product-Market Configuration
(ii) Business Model (b) The way business is conducted
(iii) Business Definition (c) Aspiration for a desired future
(iv) Mission (d) The scope of Business
21.2 State the two dimensions implied by portfolio approach to strategy formulation in Trepsico
Trito’s experiences are:
(a) Vision and Mission
(b) Food business and Beverages business
(c) Market growth and Relative market share
(d) Performance and Purpose
21.3 The business/ product portfolio classification implied by BCG Matrix comprises which of the
following combinations?
(a) Growth; Stability; Retrenchment; Turnaround
(b) Weakness-Threat; Weakness-Opportunity; Strength- Opportunity; Strength-Threat
(c) Cash-cows; Stars; Question marks; Dogs
(d) Market penetration; Product development; Market development; Diversification
21.4 Which of the following may be cited as instances of collaborative approach/ strategic alliance
Trepsico Trito follows in its strategy?
(a) Diversification from carbonated drinks to fruit juices
(b) Diversification from fried to baked chips
(c) Partnerships with quick service restaurants and multiplexes
(d) Diversification into breakfast cereals
21.5 Which of the following is the most correct corporate level strategic alternative by the overall
strategic direction evident from Trepsico Trito’s corporate strategy?
(a) Growth/Expansion strategy
(b) Stability strategy
(c) Retrenchment strategy
(d) Turnaround strategy
22. Aero Mind Bridge Technologies Ltd (AMBTL) is a software development company work as a
solution provider to airlines industry. The company was established more than a decade ago by Mr.
Pranshu Gupta havingexperience of working in the United States of America (USA). His
entrepreneurial desires brought him back to India to promote Aero Mind Bridge Technologies Ltd
(AMBTL). The company started its operations with a meager capital of Rs. 10 lakhs with limited
workforce. Currently, it enjoys a valuation of more than Rs. 50 crores. Almost everybody
acknowledged the competency of AMBTL in developing customized software for the airlines
industry.
The high growth of the company was mainly on account of the heavy inflows of the funds in the
airlines industry from various big business houses that have diversified into airlines industry.
Currently, these business houses were in the manufacturing of FMCG, textiles, packaging etc. and
having good expertise and uniqueness in these industries.
However, AMBTL saw stagnation in last three years. The order position was shrinking day by day.
The margins were also reducing. Last year was particularly bad for the AMBTL and its annual sales
reduced by 20 % for the first time since its inception.
Most of the business houses that had entered in the airlines industry had less knowledge and
experience in the industry. However, their desire to diversify and seeing new opportunity in the
airlines industry prompted them to invest heavily into the industry.
However, things did not turn out to be as expected. The tough competition between several players,
reduction in the fare by railways and high prices of aviation fuel created problems for the industry.
The sector was not able to generate reasonable profits thus resulting difficulty in maintaining
operations. They were in need for hard to come by capital. Lately, the airlines industry is witnessing
some consolidation with companies planning for mergers or even contemplating closures.
The general global recession also resulted in the reduction of travel expenditure of corporates
resulting in decrease in the order position of AMBTL.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
22.1 Identify the nature of diversification by the business houses entering into airlines industry.
(a) Concentric diversification
(b) Conglomerate diversification
(c) Vertically integrated diversification
(d) Horizontal integrated diversification
22.2 The big business houses were in the manufacturing of FMCG, textiles, packaging etc. and having
good expertise and uniqueness in these industries. But they are not performing well in airlines
industry because of
(a) Non availability of funds
(b) Incompetent workforce
(c) Rapid technological changes
(d) Lacking core competence
22.3 According to Michael Porter’s model, identify the competitive pressures faced by airlines
industry as per the given scenario.
1. Competitive pressure among rival sellers
2. Competitive pressure from suppliers
3. Competitive pressure from substitute products
4. Competitive pressure from buyers
5. Competitive pressure from new entrants
22.4 AMBTL could be easily marked as a Star as per BCG’s Growth Matrix in its early years.
However, the last three years have not been good for AMBTL. Where would you put it on the BCG
Matrix?
(a) Dog
(b) Question mark
(c) Will remain a star
(d) Cash cow
22.5 Mr. Pranshu Gupta as a core strategist of AMBTL has been authorised to bring about strategic
change in his company, how he will initiate “unfreezing of the situation”?
(a) Promoting new ideas throughout the organization
(b) Promoting compliance throughout the organization
(c) Promoting change in process throughout the organization
(d) None of the above
Q No Answer
22.1 (b) Conglomerate diversification
22.2 (d) Lacking core competence
22.3 (a) 1, 2 & 3
22.4 (d) Cash cow
22.5 (a) Promoting new ideas throughout the organization
23. Cosmetrix was awarded as the fastest growing cosmetics brand with over 50 stores in various
parts of the country. The brand had been doing fairly well until the advent of e-commerce in India.
Huge flocks of consumers shifted to online buying and the business of Cosmetrix started to slow
down.
The management had a staunch belief that brick and mortar businesses shall prevail even if
consumers opted to buy online, and thus, to turn around the brand, they added a new segment of
branded watches to their existing stores under the name of Rize.
The new segment involved spending huge funds in inventory, distribution and promotion, more so, it
ate up 80% of the companies working capital. It can only be termed unfortunate that even Rize was a
flop show strategy for the company. The management saw one of the biggest losses in a decade and
were skeptical of continuing the business.
There came a Japanese clothing brand called Amixo offered Cosmetrix to lease their stores and
distribution channels, as they wanted to set up 500 plus stores in South-East Asia, with over 100
stores in India alone. They also brought in Ms. Amrita Ahuja to lead the India operations. Cosmetrix
accepted the offering and exited cosmetics business to foray into real estate leasing.
Amixo has been a huge success in East Asian with influence on developing nations of Indonesia,
Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. As they began into Indian market with Cosmetrix’s existing skeleton
of business, they wanted Amrita to deep dive into the existing work culture of Cosmetrix and
enhance it while changing the basics of business that matched Amixo’s processes. They wanted the
Indianness in distribution channels and stores which would allow customers to feel trusted while
shopping.
The shift of business for Cosmetrix and a new market for Amixo, have so far been a good strategy,
but how sustainable it is for both parties is yet to be seen.
23.1 Which of the following aspects do you find missing from Cosmetrix’s early business policy?
(a) Functions and responsibilities of senior management
(b) Defining crucial problems that affect success
(c) Decisions that determine direction
(d) Decisions that shape its future
23.2 Rize was a well thought strategy but it failed enormously, leading to a major cash crunch. Which
of the following statements fits Rize?
(a) It was an intensification strategy which focussed on penetrating market.
(b) It was a diversification strategy, concentric in nature.
(c) It was a combination of intensification and diversification strategies.
(d) It was a diversification strategy, conglomerative in nature.
23.3 What amongst the following can be said about Cosmetrix’s business till Amixo partnered with
them?
(a) It was in a SO (Maxi-Maxi) segment
(b) It was in a ST (Maxi-Mini) segment
(c) It was in a WT (Mini-Mini) segment
(d) It was in a WO (Mini-Maxi) segment
23.4 Amixo from Japan has been expanding in South-East Asia because of which of the following two
advantages over its competitors?
(a) Capital inducement
(b) Switching cost
(c) Brand identity
(d) Economies of scale
23.5 What kind of leadership did the management of Amixo expect from Ms. Amrita Ahuja?
(a) Transactional leadership
(b) Transformational leadership
(c) Focussed leadership
(d) Differentiating leadership
Q No Answer
23.1 (b) Defining crucial problems that affect success and hence all strategies were flopping
23.2 (b) It was a diversification strategy, concentric in nature
23.3 (d) It was in a WO (Mini-Maxi) segment
23.4 (c) Brand identity
23.5 (b) Transformational leadership
24. Over 3 billion people worldwide drink coffee every day, and about 18% of Indians prefer coffee
over tea. These numbers are growing at a CAGR of 11% and HotKopi wants to lead the way ahead in
budget coffee stores in the Indian subcontinent. With many new brands mushrooming out to make
money from the growing industry, HotKopi’s unique selling proposition (USP) is its hand blended
coffee, roasted on cow dung.
The business is not easy, getting quality cow dung, training individuals, packing organically and
maintaining hygiene has been a constant issue. However, their customer reach and relationship
management has been a winner in the market. This has helped them grow slow and steady
even with enormous competition in the coffee segment.
In their annual finance meeting, the CFO of the company targeted to achieve 30% growth in
customers and 7% increase in net profits as soon as possible. On these lines, the company planned to
expand its operations and team size to nearly thrice of what they were in the beginning of the year.
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
24.1 Which of the following aspects of Value Chain Analysis has been a crisis area for HotKopi?
(a) Inbound logistics and Transformational operations
(b) Outbound logistics and Transformational operations
(c) Marketing and Sales
(d) Service and Inbound logistics
24.2 Differentiation has been core to HotKopi’s business, but it has its own weaknesses. Which of the
following could be the weakest of them all for HotKopi?
(a) Price point war
(b) Sustainability of uniqueness
(c) Inevitability of offering proposition
(d) Switching costs for customers
24.3 Which core characteristic in CFO’s objective of achieving 30% growth in customers and 7%
increase in net profits is missing?
(a) Being concrete and specific
(b) Providing standard for performance appraisal
(c) Challenging in nature
(d) Time frame specific
24.4 Had they not offered their business to ChocoJoe, HotKopi would have to pursue their plans of
expansion. Which of the following would best suit their organizational structure?
(a) Divisional structure
(b) Multidivisional structure
(c) Functional structure
(d) Strategic business unit structure
24.5 HotKopi opted for liquidation. What kind of strategic control helped them get money out of the
business at the right time?
(a) Strategic surveillance
(b) Special alert control
(c) Premise control
(d) Management control
Q No Answer
24.1 (a) Inbound Logistics and Transformational Operations
24.2 (b) Sustainability of uniqueness as cow dung can be used easily by any other competitor
24.3 (d) Time frame is missing in his objective
24.4 (c) Functional as low level of diversification
24.5 (b) Special alert control where M&A by competitors was accessed and worked on
Based on the above case scenario, answer the multiple choice questions.
25.2 Which of the following best describes the vendor engagement for DRIPP?
(a) Organizational alliance
(b) Economic alliance
(c) Strategic alliance
(d) Political alliance
25.3 Which of the following is a focal weak point for DRIPP’s success if the pandemic allows more
time for competitors to conceptualise something similar?
(a) Minimum capital requirement
(b) Inadequate barriers to entry
(c) Easy access to distribution channels
(d) Low switching costs
25.5. For an Events Management firm such as Monolith Events LLP the ideal form of organisaitonal
structure would be
(a) Hourglass (b) Matrix
(c) Functional (d) Divisional