MEM Strategic Management 3

Question 1

In a multi-business engineering corporation, a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) is best defined as:

Accepted Answer

A distinct business with its own competitors, customers, and strategy

Answer

An SBU is a semi-autonomous unit that operates in a defined market segment, competes against identifiable rivals, and develops its own business-level strategy.

Question 2

The 'resource-based view' of the firm argues that competitive advantage stems primarily from:

Accepted Answer

Unique, valuable, and hard-to-imitate internal resources and capabilities

Answer

The resource-based view holds that sustained advantage comes from internal resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable, and well-organized.

Question 3

An engineering firm pursuing a 'focus differentiation' strategy would typically target:

Accepted Answer

A narrow market segment where specialized expertise commands a premium

Answer

Focus differentiation concentrates on a niche segment and serves it with superior, specialized offerings that justify premium pricing.

Question 4

Which tool is most useful for mapping the strategic positions of competitors in an industry?

Accepted Answer

Strategic group map

Answer

Strategic group maps plot competitors along key dimensions (e.g., price vs. product breadth) to reveal clusters of firms pursuing similar strategies.

Question 5

When assessing whether to enter a new international market, an engineering firm using a PESTEL analysis would examine:

Accepted Answer

Political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal macro-factors

Answer

PESTEL analysis systematically scans the macro-environmental forces that shape opportunities and threats in a target market.

MEM - Master of Engineering Management Practice Test

MEM - Master of Engineering Management Practice Test

MEM Strategic Management 3