Strategic Planning & Analysis Flashcards
7 cards from real CSM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Strategic Planning & Analysis flashcards as text
In strategic analysis, 'environmental scanning' involves:
Answer: Continuously monitoring external trends and events that may affect the organization
Environmental scanning is the ongoing process of monitoring external factors—economic, technological, competitive—to inform strategic decisions.
Which scenario best illustrates a 'first-mover advantage' in software strategy?
Answer: A company enters a new market segment before rivals and establishes brand dominance
First-mover advantage occurs when a company gains a significant market position by being the first to enter a new space.
A software manager using the Ansoff Matrix decides to sell existing products in new geographic markets. This strategy is known as:
Answer: Market development
Market development involves selling existing products to new markets or customer segments, including new geographies.
Which of the following BEST describes a 'strategic inflection point' in the software industry?
Answer: A fundamental shift in the industry that dramatically changes competitive dynamics
A strategic inflection point (coined by Andy Grove) is a moment when a fundamental change in the business environment forces a significant strategic response.
When assessing strategic risk, which technique involves assigning probabilities and impacts to potential risks and calculating an expected value?
Answer: Quantitative Risk Analysis
Quantitative Risk Analysis numerically evaluates the probability and impact of risks to produce an expected monetary or schedule value.
A software organization aligns its IT strategy directly to business strategy by ensuring IT investments support organizational goals. This alignment is known as:
Answer: IT-business strategic alignment
IT-business strategic alignment ensures technology investments directly support and enable the organization's strategic objectives.
Which of the following represents a 'core competency' as defined by Prahalad and Hamel?
Answer: A collective learning and skill set that provides access to a wide variety of markets and is difficult to imitate
Prahalad and Hamel defined core competencies as deep collective expertise that opens multiple markets and is hard for competitors to replicate.