Confidential: Section A - 20 Marks Scenario A. (3 Questions)
Confidential: Section A - 20 Marks Scenario A. (3 Questions)
Confidential: Section A - 20 Marks Scenario A. (3 Questions)
SECTION A 20 MARKS
Scenario A. (3 Questions)
You and a fellow investor are investigating the possibility of starting a new Petrol Kiosk in
Kuala Pilah, a small town in the Negeri Sembilan. It has been your lifelong dream. You have
save big sum of money from the EPF contribution and are trying to decide if this is what you
want to do with the money. You decide to do an analysis of the competitive environment.
After your analysis, you discover several important issues. First, it will cost most of your EPF
savings to finance the business. Second, it will be difficult to attract new customers because
they have so many choices available to them in Kuala Pilah and the surrounding small
towns. Finally, the competition in the oil and gas industry is considered "fierce" by industry
analysts and this is frightening to someone who has never even worked in the petrol service
station industry.
1. Analysis of the competitive environment that you have conducted utilized the work of.
2. Competitive analysis can be referred to as.
3. The existence of savvy customers in an industry is an indication of
Scenario B. (3 Questions)
The local Ace Hardware Store manager has several decisions she has to make as the week
begins. She always comes in early on Mondays to sift through the paperwork on her desk
and decide what needs to be done for the week and in which order. The decisions facing her
this week are:
3. Interviewing applicants for two open part-time positions and hiring them; and
4. Providing input to the owner on a possible upgrade to the checkout technology
currently in use.
4. The decisions in Scenario B can best be classified as?
5. Decision 4 is an example of which type of decision?
6. Decisions 1 and 3 are both ____________ decisions because ____________________.
CONFIDENTIAL
Scenario C. (4 Questions)
Barefoot Grass, Inc., a lawn and landscape firm has completed a SWOT analysis as part of
its ongoing strategic planning process. Management has uncovered the following information
through extensive research.
1. New regulations have been passed limiting its ability to spray certain types of
fertilizer;
4. As compared to its competitors, its management team is by far the best in the
industry;
5. It has fallen behind in turf research and development over the last few years;
6. The company has adequate financial resources to invest in its operations; and
7. New homebuilding has fallen off due to a difficult recession.
7. Which of the above scenario facts would be strength for Barefoot Grass?
8. Which of the above scenario facts would be a weakness for Barefoot Grass?
9. Which of the above scenario facts would present an opportunity for Barefoot?
10. Which of the above scenario facts would most likely present a threat for Barefoot?
CONFIDENTIAL
Scenario E. (3 Questions)
Suppose you are a consultant for three companies with international operations. Each of
them has selected a different global strategy. Alpha Company uses their established skills in
producing widgets which they will sell in foreign markets. Beta Company produces locallytargeted wines for which they have built specialized plants in each local region. Gamma
Company has a single worldwide corporate headquarters from which they centrally manage
the entire company's operations. Finally, Delta Company is located in Wazomia where
wages are quite low, and produces large pieces of widgets that are fairly easy to
manufacture, requiring little employee skill level. These pieces are then sent to its locations
abroad to be finished by a more skilled workforce taking into account the customs and
benefits desired by each of those particular populations.
14. Which global strategy is Alpha Company using?
15. Which global strategy is Beta Company using?
16. Which global strategy is Gamma Company using?
Scenario F. (4 Questions)
Tim and his wife were having a few friends over for dinner, many of whom Tim knew from an
international management association to which he belonged. Tim's company provides the
programming needed to download maps of world areas from satellites and then the firm sells
these maps via the Internet to firms, countries, and others around the world. Sally, a guest at
the party, bakes cookies for a living. Her recipe is so well-liked that her company has grown
dramatically. She now has sold the right to manufacture and recipe for her cookies to a firm
in Eastern Europe. Mac is a director at McDonald's and is a guest along with his wife, Mary,
who works for Hershey. Finally Samantha works for (Electronic Data Systems) EDS and is
soon to go abroad to visit a firm that EDS is considering acquiring so that it can keep its
technology proprietary. Conversation was lively and the guests at one point were speaking
about the way that the company they own or work for decided to "go global."
17. Tim's company uses __________ to participate in the global marketplace.
18. Sally's company uses __________ to participate in the global marketplace.
19. McDonald's uses __________ to participate in the global marketplace.
20. Hershey uses __________ to participate in the global marketplace.
CONFIDENTIAL
SECTION B 80 MARKS. (1 Question = 20 Marks)
1. Meaning of Macro-environment and External factors that generally affect all
organization.
2. Steps of strategic management.
3. Approaches to international competition.
4. Factors why managers do not want to delegate.