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Question 1

The resource-based view is also known as:

a) The outside-in approach

b) The positioning approach

c) The value chain approach

d) The inside-out approach

Question 2

Toyota has excellent materials handling and inventory control. In terms of the value chain, this is the activity of:

a) Procurement

b) Firm infrastructure

c) Inbound logistics

d) Technology development

Question 3

Which of the following approaches is not another way of referring to the approach that is exemplified by the Five Forces model?

a) Outside-in approach

b) Fit approach

c) Stretch approach

d) Positioning approach

Question 4

An organization's reputation is an example of:

a) A threshold resource

b) An intangible resource

c) A tangible resource

d) A knowledge-based resource

Question 5

Tacit knowledge is knowledge which is?

a) Codified

b) Difficult to codify

c) Unknowable

d) Easy to transfer

Question 6

The resources of an organization can be defined as:

a) Inputs to enable the organization to carry out its activities

b) The activities of the organization

c) Tangible assets

d) Capabilities of the organization

Question 7

Competencies can be defined as:

a) Attributes that a firm requires to be able to compete in the market place

b) Distinctive capabilities

c) Ways of doing things that are unique to the organization

d) A cluster of attributes that confer competitive advantage

Question 8

A core competence can be defined as:

a) A cluster of attributes that confers competitive advantage

b) A cluster of resources that confers competitive advantage

c) A unique way of configuring an activity

d) Configuration of the value chain

Question 9

Core competences or distinctive capabilities derive from three areas. These are:

a) Architecture, flexibility and reputation

b) Infrastructure, innovation and reputation

c) Architecture, innovation and reputation

d) Architecture, innovation and operation

Question 10

Prahalad and Hamel (1990) refer to 'the tyranny of the SBU' when describing the situation where:

a) Corporations see their portfolio as a collection of discrete businesses

b) One SBU dominates a corporation

c) SBUs are too closely related

d) The SBU is not flexible enough to renew its core competences

Question 11

An organization's architecture comprises of:

a) Relational contracts that exist within and outside the organization

b) The physical assets of the organization

c) The organizational structure of the organizaton

d) The ownership structure of the organization

Question 12

For a resource to provide the potential for sustainable competitive advantage it must be:

a) Valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, no strategic substitutes

b) Valuable, rare, patented, no strategic substitutes

c) Valuable, tacit, difficult to imitate, no strategic substitutes

d) Valuable, embedded, rare, no strategic substitutes

Question 13

Causal ambiguity refers to the situation where:

a) The reason for something is secret

b) The reason for something isn't fully understood

c) The reason for something is too complex to understand

d) The reason for something can't be understood fully because the human brain is limited

Question 14

The way in which an organization generates value from the knowledge held in the organization is referred to as:

a) Knowledge management

b) Knowledge acquisition

c) Organizational learning

d) Learning organization

Question 15

Explicit knowledge is:

a) Knowable and easily transferable

b) Tacit

c) Not easy to codify

d) Not easy to imitate

Oxford University Press, Online Resource Centre, Chapter 05.

Chapter 05

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