CBC Business Strategy & Goal Setting 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client consistently sets goals but abandons them within weeks. What underlying issue should the coach explore first?
- Whether the goals align with the client's core values and motivation (Correct answer)
- Whether the client needs more employees
- Whether the goals are written in the correct software
- Whether competitors have similar goals
Correct answer: Whether the goals align with the client's core values and motivation
Goals disconnected from a client's values and intrinsic motivation are frequently abandoned.
Question 2: In goal-setting theory (Locke and Latham), which combination most reliably improves performance?
- Specific and challenging goals with feedback (Correct answer)
- Vague goals with high rewards
- Easy goals with strict deadlines
- Team goals with no individual accountability
Correct answer: Specific and challenging goals with feedback
Research shows specific, challenging goals paired with feedback produce the highest performance.
Question 3: A retail client wants to compete on price against a large national chain. What strategic concern should the coach raise?
- Cost leadership is hard to sustain against larger competitors with economies of scale (Correct answer)
- Price competition is illegal for small businesses
- Customers never choose based on price
- Differentiation strategies always fail in retail
Correct answer: Cost leadership is hard to sustain against larger competitors with economies of scale
Large chains' economies of scale make sustained price wars dangerous for smaller businesses, which often benefit more from differentiation.
Question 4: What is the main function of a milestone in a long-term business goal?
- It breaks the goal into checkpoints for measuring interim progress (Correct answer)
- It replaces the final deadline
- It guarantees the goal will be achieved
- It transfers accountability to the coach
Correct answer: It breaks the goal into checkpoints for measuring interim progress
Milestones create interim checkpoints that make progress visible and allow timely course corrections.
Question 5: A client's annual plan lists 25 top-priority goals. What should the coach help the client recognize?
- Too many priorities dilute focus and resources, so goals should be narrowed (Correct answer)
- More goals always produce more results
- Goals should be doubled to allow for failures
- Priority lists are unnecessary in small businesses
Correct answer: Too many priorities dilute focus and resources, so goals should be narrowed
When everything is a priority, nothing is; effective strategy requires focusing resources on a few key goals.
Question 6: Which question best helps a client assess strategic fit before pursuing a new market opportunity?
- "Does this opportunity align with our strengths, resources, and long-term vision?" (Correct answer)
- "Is this the cheapest option available?"
- "Will this impress our competitors?"
- "Can we launch it within one week?"
Correct answer: "Does this opportunity align with our strengths, resources, and long-term vision?"
Strategic fit means an opportunity matches the firm's capabilities, resources, and long-term direction.
Question 7: A coach uses the GROW model with a client. In which stage are business goals primarily established?
- Goal (Correct answer)
- Reality
- Options
- Will
Correct answer: Goal
The Goal stage of GROW is where the desired outcome is defined before examining reality and options.
CBC Business Strategy & Goal Setting 3
A client consistently sets goals but abandons them within weeks.
What underlying issue should the coach explore first?