ACCA Strategic Business Leadership Models 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to the Ashridge Mission Model, which four elements define an organization's mission?
- Purpose, Strategy, Values, and Standards of behavior (Correct answer)
- Vision, Mission, Goals, and Objectives
- Purpose, People, Processes, and Performance
- Strategy, Structure, Systems, and Style
Correct answer: Purpose, Strategy, Values, and Standards of behavior
The Ashridge model defines mission through Purpose (why the company exists), Strategy (competitive position), Values (beliefs and moral principles), and Standards of behavior (policies guiding employees).
Question 2: Which leadership style in Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership model is most appropriate for a follower with high competence but low commitment?
- Telling (S1)
- Selling (S2)
- Participating (S3) (Correct answer)
- Delegating (S4)
Correct answer: Participating (S3)
Participating (S3) is appropriate for high-competence, low-commitment followers because the leader focuses on two-way communication and motivation rather than task direction.
Question 3: In the context of Porter's Five Forces, which force is primarily increased by a high degree of product standardization?
- Threat of new entrants
- Bargaining power of buyers (Correct answer)
- Threat of substitutes
- Rivalry among existing competitors
Correct answer: Bargaining power of buyers
Standardized products make it easier for buyers to compare offerings and switch suppliers, increasing their bargaining power over firms in the industry.
Question 4: What does the concept of 'dynamic capabilities' add to the traditional Resource-Based View of the firm?
- It focuses on acquiring static assets to build competitive advantage
- It emphasizes the ability to reconfigure resources in response to changing environments (Correct answer)
- It argues that competitive advantage is entirely determined by industry structure
- It replaces the need for core competencies with financial capital
Correct answer: It emphasizes the ability to reconfigure resources in response to changing environments
Dynamic capabilities extend the RBV by highlighting a firm's ability to sense, seize, and reconfigure its resource base to adapt to rapidly changing competitive environments.
Question 5: In Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington's Strategic Lenses, which lens views strategy as emerging from organizational routines and cultural experience?
- Strategy as Design
- Strategy as Experience (Correct answer)
- Strategy as Ideas
- Strategy as Discourse
Correct answer: Strategy as Experience
The Experience lens sees strategy as shaped by individual and organizational experience and cultural assumptions rather than through rational analytical design.
Question 6: Which theory of motivation classifies needs into a hierarchy ending with self-actualization at the apex?
- Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory
- McClelland's Acquired Needs Theory
- Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Correct answer)
- Vroom's Expectancy Theory
Correct answer: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs arranges five levels from physiological and safety at the base up through social, esteem, and self-actualization at the peak.
Question 7: The concept of 'disruptive innovation' introduced by Christensen primarily describes which type of challenge to incumbents?
- A superior technology that immediately displaces the market leader
- An innovation that initially targets overlooked segments before moving upmarket (Correct answer)
- A radical product launch by an established competitor
- A cost-reduction initiative in a mature market
Correct answer: An innovation that initially targets overlooked segments before moving upmarket
Disruptive innovations begin in low-end or overlooked segments with simpler, cheaper offerings and gradually improve until they displace established players in mainstream markets.
ACCA Strategic Business Leadership Models 5
According to the Ashridge Mission Model, which four elements define an organization's mission?