MGT 301 STUDY GUIDE 2026 EXAM QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Growth Strategy - ✔✔involves expansion, as in sales revenues, market share,
number of employees, or number of customers
✔✔PORTER'S 4 Competitive Strategies - ✔✔· Co-Leadership strategy
1. Keep the costs, and hence prices, of a product or service below those of competitors
and target a wide market.
· Differentiation strategy
1. Offer products that are of unique and superior value compared to those of
competitors and target a wide market.
· Cost-focus strategy
1. Keep the costs of a product below those of competitors and target a narrow market.
· Focused-differentiation strategy
1. Offer products that are of unique and superior value compared to those of
competitors and target a narrow market.
✔✔Single-Product strategy - ✔✔- company makes and sells only one product within its
market
- benefits is that a company can focus on just one product
- risk is that you are vulnerable
✔✔Diversification - ✔✔- operating several businesses in order to spread the risk
- products may be related or unrelated
✔✔Vertical Integration - ✔✔firm expands into businesses that provide the supplies it
needs to make its products or that distribute and sell its products
✔✔Strategy Implementation - ✔✔-putting strategic plans into effect
- means dealing with roadblocks within the organization's structure and culture seeing if
the right people and control systems are available to execute plans
✔✔Strategic Control - ✔✔- monitoring the execution of strategy and taking corrective
action, if necessary
- to keep on track you must (1)engage people, (2) keep it simple, (3) stay focused, (4)
keep moving
✔✔Execution - ✔✔consists of using questioning, analysis and follow-through in order to
mesh strategy with reality, align people with goals, achieve results as promised
✔✔The Three Core Processes of Business - ✔✔1. People- consider who will benefit
you in the future
2. Strategy- consider how success will be accomplished
3. Operations- consider what path will be followed
, ✔✔Building a foundation of execution - ✔✔- know your people and your business
- insist on realism
- set clear goals and priorities
- follow through on accountability and results
- reward the doers
- expand peoples capabilities
- know and understand yourself
✔✔Decision - ✔✔choice made from among available alternatives
✔✔decision making - ✔✔- process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of
actin
- can be made rationally or non rationally
system 1: intuitive and largely unconscious
system 2: analytical and conscious
✔✔The 4 steps in rational decision making - ✔✔1. identify the problem or opportunity
2. think up alternative solutions
3. evaluate alternatives and select a solution
4. implement and evaluate the solution chosen
✔✔Non-rational decision making - ✔✔- assumes that decision making is nearly always
uncertain and risky, making it difficult for managers to make optimal decisions
- two types are discussed: satisfying and intuition
✔✔Intuition Model - ✔✔making a choice without the use of conscious thought or logical
inference
- expertise- a persons explicit and tacit knowledge about a person, a situation, an
object, or a decision opportunity, is known has a holistic hunch
- automated experience- the involuntary emotional response to those same matters
✔✔Tips for improving your intuition - ✔✔1. trust your intuitive judgements
2. seek feedback
3. test your intuitive success rate
4. try visualizing solutions
5. challenge your intuition
✔✔ethics - ✔✔standards of right and wrong that influence behavior
✔✔Evidence-Based Management - ✔✔- the translation of principles based on the best
evidence into organizational practice
- brings rationality to the decision-making process
SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Growth Strategy - ✔✔involves expansion, as in sales revenues, market share,
number of employees, or number of customers
✔✔PORTER'S 4 Competitive Strategies - ✔✔· Co-Leadership strategy
1. Keep the costs, and hence prices, of a product or service below those of competitors
and target a wide market.
· Differentiation strategy
1. Offer products that are of unique and superior value compared to those of
competitors and target a wide market.
· Cost-focus strategy
1. Keep the costs of a product below those of competitors and target a narrow market.
· Focused-differentiation strategy
1. Offer products that are of unique and superior value compared to those of
competitors and target a narrow market.
✔✔Single-Product strategy - ✔✔- company makes and sells only one product within its
market
- benefits is that a company can focus on just one product
- risk is that you are vulnerable
✔✔Diversification - ✔✔- operating several businesses in order to spread the risk
- products may be related or unrelated
✔✔Vertical Integration - ✔✔firm expands into businesses that provide the supplies it
needs to make its products or that distribute and sell its products
✔✔Strategy Implementation - ✔✔-putting strategic plans into effect
- means dealing with roadblocks within the organization's structure and culture seeing if
the right people and control systems are available to execute plans
✔✔Strategic Control - ✔✔- monitoring the execution of strategy and taking corrective
action, if necessary
- to keep on track you must (1)engage people, (2) keep it simple, (3) stay focused, (4)
keep moving
✔✔Execution - ✔✔consists of using questioning, analysis and follow-through in order to
mesh strategy with reality, align people with goals, achieve results as promised
✔✔The Three Core Processes of Business - ✔✔1. People- consider who will benefit
you in the future
2. Strategy- consider how success will be accomplished
3. Operations- consider what path will be followed
, ✔✔Building a foundation of execution - ✔✔- know your people and your business
- insist on realism
- set clear goals and priorities
- follow through on accountability and results
- reward the doers
- expand peoples capabilities
- know and understand yourself
✔✔Decision - ✔✔choice made from among available alternatives
✔✔decision making - ✔✔- process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of
actin
- can be made rationally or non rationally
system 1: intuitive and largely unconscious
system 2: analytical and conscious
✔✔The 4 steps in rational decision making - ✔✔1. identify the problem or opportunity
2. think up alternative solutions
3. evaluate alternatives and select a solution
4. implement and evaluate the solution chosen
✔✔Non-rational decision making - ✔✔- assumes that decision making is nearly always
uncertain and risky, making it difficult for managers to make optimal decisions
- two types are discussed: satisfying and intuition
✔✔Intuition Model - ✔✔making a choice without the use of conscious thought or logical
inference
- expertise- a persons explicit and tacit knowledge about a person, a situation, an
object, or a decision opportunity, is known has a holistic hunch
- automated experience- the involuntary emotional response to those same matters
✔✔Tips for improving your intuition - ✔✔1. trust your intuitive judgements
2. seek feedback
3. test your intuitive success rate
4. try visualizing solutions
5. challenge your intuition
✔✔ethics - ✔✔standards of right and wrong that influence behavior
✔✔Evidence-Based Management - ✔✔- the translation of principles based on the best
evidence into organizational practice
- brings rationality to the decision-making process
