CSM Strategic Planning & Execution 3

Question 1

During strategic execution, a mid-level manager notices that frontline employees are unaware of the company's three-year strategic priorities. This BEST illustrates a failure in:

Accepted Answer

Strategic communication and cascade

Answer

Strategic cascade ensures that high-level strategy is communicated, translated, and understood at every organizational level to enable aligned execution.

Question 2

A company pursuing a 'blue ocean strategy' is primarily seeking to:

Accepted Answer

Create uncontested market space by making competition irrelevant

Answer

Blue Ocean Strategy, by Kim and Mauborgne, focuses on creating new demand in uncontested market space rather than competing in existing saturated markets.

Question 3

Which of Porter's Five Forces addresses the threat posed by companies outside an industry offering substitute products?

Accepted Answer

Threat of substitutes

Answer

The threat of substitutes examines how easily customers can switch to alternative products or services from different industries that fulfill the same need.

Question 4

In strategic planning, 'scenario planning' is MOST useful when:

Accepted Answer

The external environment is highly uncertain with multiple plausible futures

Answer

Scenario planning helps organizations prepare for multiple plausible futures rather than relying on a single forecast, making it ideal for high-uncertainty environments.

Question 5

The 'strategy map' concept associated with the Balanced Scorecard is PRIMARILY used to:

Accepted Answer

Show cause-and-effect relationships between strategic objectives across perspectives

Answer

A strategy map visually depicts how an organization creates value by linking objectives across the financial, customer, internal process, and learning & growth perspectives.

(CSM) Certified Strategic Manager Practice Test

(CSM) Certified Strategic Manager Practice Test

CSM Strategic Planning & Execution 3