MNG4801 PAST EXAM PACK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

MNG4801 Preparations: Previous Exam Questions and Answers Exam - Jan 2011 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jun 2011 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jan 2012 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jun 2012 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jan 2013 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jun 2013 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jan 2014 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jun 2014 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jan 2015 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jun 2015 Question 1: Question 2: Question 3: Question 4: Question 5: Question 6: Exam - Jan/Feb 2016 Question 1: Question 2: Exam - Jan 2011 Question 1: Define the following contemporary strategic management concepts : 1.1. Competitive advantage 1.2. Corporate Governance 1.3. Deliberate Strategy 1.4.Emergent Strategy 1.5. E-V-R Congruence 1.6. Industry life-cycle 1.7. Organisational architecture 1.8. Scenario planning 1.9. Stakeholder engagement 1.10 Wealth Maximisation Text book reference: Write TB/tutorial reference here if there are any... 1.1 Competitive advantage. (pg 42 SG) Is a component of strategic competitiveness and refers to the edge that an organization has over its competitors. Competitive advantage may be achieved when the organization’s products or services are perceived as having value determined by customer’s acceptance. Simply put, competitive advantage is the ability of an organization to outperform its rivals. When the organization implements value creating strategies that other competitors are unable to duplicate or are too costly to imitate, it has achieved a competitive advantage. An organization must have resources that are valuable, rare, costly to imitate and non-substitutable to be competitive advantage. 1.2. Corporate governance. (pg 55 & 56 SG) It is about the responsible leadership of organisations that is transparent, answerable and accountable towards the organisations identified stakeholders. Organisations are expected to be more than just good corporate citizens and should aspire to be sustainable. It is being concerned with holding the balance between economic and social goals. It is the practice by which companies are managed and controlled. From this definition, we can deduce that corporate governance is firstly about the relationship between the board of directors and shareholders, secondly about aligning the goals of the individuals, society and corporations and lastly about the internal control systems of an organisation at various levels. 1.3. Deliberate strategy. (pg 18 TB) These are intended strategies that are fully realised. Intended strategies are envisioned by top management and are achieved by managers shaping strategies as circumstances dictate, and as they learn from experience and seek out improvements 1.4. Emergent strategy. (pg 18 TB) When the pattern realised is not explicitly intended, it is referred to as an emergent strategy. A pattern of decisions emerging from managers adapting to changing external circumstances. and the ways in which the intended strategy is interpreted. Unplanned responses to unforeseen circumstances 1.5. E-V-R congruence: Strategic Management adapts its strategies to maintain equilibrium between its environment, values and resources, by understanding the uncertainty, complexity and dynamism of its external environment (Jansen van Rensburg, Davis & Cronje, 2010: 97). 1.6. Industry Life Cycle. (pg 114 SG, pg 215 TB) There are four phases in the industry life cycle that any product or industry moves. They are: 1. The development phase: Early adopters will but the product on offer and there will be few competitors and there could be a temporary monopoly 2. Growth phase: Early followers will begin to purchase the product and competitors start to enter the market to profit from the growth. Competition is likely to centre on gaining market share rather than on price. Competitors try to gain some differentiation advantage. 3. Shake – out – phase: As the growth phase starts to decline, competitors are entering the market during this phase. Increasing rivalry and resulting lower profitability forces weaker competitors out of the market. This is the early phase of industry maturity. 4. Maturity: Growth peaks and could start declining. Repeat sales fuel revenues. Growth is low, so emphasis is on retaining market share. Focus is likely to shift to strategies focusing on efficiency and low cost production. Competition may turn to price reduction to achieve volumes. consolidation through mergers and acquisitions may occur