CSC Strategic Planning & Business Analysis 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A senior consultant is helping a client choose between organic growth and an acquisition strategy. The Ansoff Matrix quadrant that represents entering new markets with existing products is called:
- Product Development
- Diversification
- Market Penetration
- Market Development (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Market Development
Market Development involves taking existing products into new markets, which aligns with the geographic or demographic expansion scenario without changing the product.
Question 2: During process mapping, a consultant uses swimlane diagrams. The PRIMARY benefit of swimlanes over basic flowcharts is that they:
- Eliminate the need for data flow documentation
- Show handoffs and accountability between different roles or departments (Correct answer)
- Reduce the number of process steps required
- Focus exclusively on automated system interactions
Correct answer: Show handoffs and accountability between different roles or departments
Swimlane diagrams visually separate responsibilities by role or department, making cross-functional handoffs and accountability clear in ways simple flowcharts cannot.
Question 3: A client's strategic plan calls for 15% revenue growth, but the business analysis reveals that the current sales pipeline can only support 6% growth. This gap is best addressed first by:
- Immediately cutting costs to offset the revenue shortfall
- Conducting a gap analysis to identify root causes and options to close the difference (Correct answer)
- Revising the strategic plan downward to match pipeline capacity
- Outsourcing the sales function entirely
Correct answer: Conducting a gap analysis to identify root causes and options to close the difference
A formal gap analysis identifies the root causes of the performance shortfall and generates strategic options before any corrective action is chosen.
Question 4: Which competitive strategy, as defined by Michael Porter, involves targeting a narrow customer segment with either lower cost or differentiation advantages?
- Cost Leadership
- Broad Differentiation
- Focus Strategy (Correct answer)
- Value Chain Optimization
Correct answer: Focus Strategy
Porter's Focus Strategy directs competitive efforts at a narrow market niche, applying either cost or differentiation advantages specifically to that segment.
Question 5: A business analyst is eliciting requirements for a new CRM system. A stakeholder says, 'The system should be fast.' This is best classified as a:
- Functional requirement
- Business rule
- Non-functional requirement (Correct answer)
- Constraint
Correct answer: Non-functional requirement
Performance expectations like speed are non-functional requirements that describe system quality attributes rather than specific behaviors or functions.
Question 6: When a consultant applies the 80/20 rule (Pareto Principle) to a client's customer revenue data, the most likely finding is that:
- All customers contribute equally to revenue
- Roughly 20% of customers generate approximately 80% of revenue (Correct answer)
- 80% of customers are unprofitable
- Revenue is evenly distributed across product lines
Correct answer: Roughly 20% of customers generate approximately 80% of revenue
The Pareto Principle consistently shows that a small minority of customers (roughly 20%) typically drives the majority (roughly 80%) of revenue in most businesses.
Question 7: A consultant facilitating a strategic planning session notices that the group consistently avoids challenging the CEO's initial proposal. This phenomenon is known as:
- Confirmation bias
- Groupthink (Correct answer)
- Anchoring effect
- Escalation of commitment
Correct answer: Groupthink
Groupthink occurs when group cohesion and deference to authority suppress critical thinking, leading teams to conform rather than challenge flawed proposals.
CSC Strategic Planning & Business Analysis 3
A senior consultant is helping a client choose between organic growth and an acquisition strategy.
The Ansoff Matrix quadrant that represents entering new markets with existing products is called: