DBA Doctor of Business Administration 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which framework is commonly used for strategic analysis by examining Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats?
- PESTLE analysis
- SWOT analysis (Correct answer)
- Balanced Scorecard
- Value chain analysis
Correct answer: SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis integrates internal factors (strengths, weaknesses) with external environmental factors (opportunities, threats) to inform strategy.
Question 2: In operations management, 'Total Quality Management' (TQM) is best characterized by:
- Inspection-based defect detection at the end of production
- Organization-wide commitment to continuous quality improvement (Correct answer)
- Outsourcing quality control to third-party auditors
- Reducing quality standards to lower production costs
Correct answer: Organization-wide commitment to continuous quality improvement
TQM is a management philosophy embedding quality improvement in all organizational processes and involving every employee, not just the quality department.
Question 3: A DBA researcher using 'triangulation' in their study is doing so primarily to:
- Calculate geometric relationships in organizational structures
- Enhance credibility by using multiple data sources or methods (Correct answer)
- Reduce the sample size needed for statistical significance
- Eliminate the need for a literature review
Correct answer: Enhance credibility by using multiple data sources or methods
Triangulation improves research validity and trustworthiness by cross-checking findings using multiple methods, data sources, investigators, or theories.
Question 4: Agency theory in corporate governance primarily addresses conflicts between:
- Regulators and corporations over compliance
- Shareholders (principals) and managers (agents) (Correct answer)
- Customers and suppliers over contract terms
- Employees and unions over wage negotiations
Correct answer: Shareholders (principals) and managers (agents)
Agency theory examines how shareholders can ensure managers act in their interests rather than pursuing personal goals, given information asymmetry.
Question 5: Which concept describes a firm's bundle of unique resources and capabilities that provide sustained competitive advantage?
- Dynamic capabilities framework
- Resource-based view (RBV) (Correct answer)
- Transaction cost economics
- Institutional theory
Correct answer: Resource-based view (RBV)
The Resource-Based View (Barney) argues that rare, valuable, inimitable, and non-substitutable (VRIN) internal resources are the source of sustainable competitive advantage.
Question 6: In project management, the Critical Path Method (CPM) identifies:
- The most expensive sequence of project activities
- The longest sequence of dependent tasks that determines project duration (Correct answer)
- Activities with the highest risk of delay or failure
- Resources requiring the most management attention
Correct answer: The longest sequence of dependent tasks that determines project duration
CPM calculates the longest path through the project network; any delay on critical path activities directly extends the overall project completion date.
Question 7: Which behavioral finance concept explains why investors feel the pain of losses more intensely than the pleasure of equivalent gains?
- Confirmation bias
- Herding behavior
- Loss aversion (Correct answer)
- Overconfidence bias
Correct answer: Loss aversion
Loss aversion (Kahneman & Tversky's Prospect Theory) demonstrates that losses are psychologically about twice as powerful as equivalent gains.
DBA Doctor of Business Administration 5
Which framework is commonly used for strategic analysis by examining Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats?