Strategic Planning & Organizational Development Flashcards

A CMC consultant recommends redesigning a client's organization around customer segments rather than functional departments. This is an example of transitioning to which structure?

Answer: Divisional (market-based) structure

A divisional structure organized by customer segment groups all resources and activities needed to serve a particular market, improving customer responsiveness.

In VRIO analysis, a resource that is valuable and rare but easily imitated provides a firm with:

Answer: Temporary competitive advantage

VRIO logic states that without inimitability (and organizational support), a rare and valuable resource yields only a temporary advantage before competitors replicate it.

An organization using OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) correctly should set key results that are:

Answer: Measurable outcomes that indicate progress toward the objective

Key results in the OKR framework must be quantifiable outcome indicators — not tasks or activities — that verify whether the objective was achieved.

When applying Lewin's Force Field Analysis, a management consultant would recommend strengthening driving forces OR:

Answer: Reducing or removing restraining forces

Lewin's model shows that change occurs when driving forces exceed restraining forces; removing barriers is often more effective than simply adding more pressure to drive change.

A strategic alliance differs from a merger primarily because:

Answer: Partners in an alliance retain independent legal identities and share only specific activities

In a strategic alliance, each organization remains legally separate and collaborates on defined activities, whereas a merger combines entities into a single new organization.

Which concept describes the danger of a dominant firm becoming too focused on existing customers at the expense of emerging market shifts?

Answer: The innovator's dilemma

Clayton Christensen's 'innovator's dilemma' describes how listening too closely to current customers causes established firms to miss disruptive innovations that initially serve less-demanding segments.

In organizational development, an 'appreciative inquiry' approach to change differs from problem-solving because it:

Answer: Focuses on discovering and amplifying what already works well in the organization

Appreciative inquiry (AI) builds change capacity by identifying and scaling existing strengths and successes rather than diagnosing and fixing deficits.