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Strategic Management Ii (Buss 440) Question Paper
Strategic Management Ii (Buss 440)
Course:Business Administration
Institution: Kenya Methodist University question papers
Exam Year:2011
TIME: 2 HOURS
Instructions: Answer Question ONE and any Other TWO Questions.
Question One (Compulsory)
Read the following case and Answer Questions that follow.
Wikipedia leverages specific capabilities enabled by innovations of the Internet. Beyond the technical challenges of web interpices, sewers, and badwidth for delivery in a sometimes overlooked capacity: wikipedians themselves. Over 14 million people have registered accounts to contribute edits to Wikipedia. More than 300,000 users provide edits to the website at least once a month. These volunteers build the content for the site, using creative commons license that ensures free access to any of the more than 80 million unique, visitors each month (as of January 2011). This crowd sourcing and its legal underpinnings are successful only as long as individuals are willing to spend their own time contributing to the site for no pay or other extrinsic benefits. The ability to attract and utilize legions of interested individuals is vital to the success of Wikipedia both today and into the future.
While the death of Encarta was not a major blow for blow for Microsoft as a whole, the same cannot be said for the effect that online shopping and e-books had for Borders that group inc. borders filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2011.
The firm’s president, Mike Edwards, said Borders is closing 200 superstores and some other properties. Borders owed nearly & 200 million to publishers at the time of its chapter II filing.
There is little doubt that a major culprit of this bankruptcy for borders is its slow recognition of the impact of online and e-book sales on its business. Borders used Amazon for all of its online business until opening its own website (Border.com)in 2008.
Additionally, the borders e-readers (from Kobo) was not on the market until June 2010. In comparison, the Amazon Kidle Launched in November 2007, and Barnes & Noble launched the hook in November 2009.
(i) Provide a suitable title for this case.
(2 Marks )
(ii) What are THREE strategic issues implied in this case? Explain
(6 Marks)
(iii) Choose an organization in Kenya that you think faces a situation similar to
Wikipedia. Explain your answer/Choices. (5 Marks)
How can Wikipedia maintain and grow its ability to harness the corwde sourcing of its "Wikipedians" to maintain high quality and quickly up-dated estate?
(8 Marks)
What type of innovations should each of these TWO companies use to gain or sustain a competitive advantage?
(9 Marks)
Question Two
Strategy in an organization exists at THREE levels. Identify the THREE
levels. (3 Marks)
Rigorously explain each of the THREE levels of strategy and illustrate your answers with at least an example.
(15 Marks)
What level of strategy deals with issues such as expansion into global markets?
(2 Marks)
Question Three
What do you understand by the phrase competitive advantage?"
(3 Marks)
When firms are competing they have access to generic strategies as part of their competitive arsenal/weapon. Explain how each of the THREE generic strategies you know of can be practically implemented in a firm.
(11 Marks)
How can we measure competitive advantage? Provide and explain any THREE standard dimensions of competitive advantage.
(6 Marks)
Question Four
Many organizations including firms have a vision, a mission, strategies and core values. However, a very small fraction of their strategic plans end up being implemented and the vision does not seem to be achieved.
What do you think could be the problem.
(10 Marks)
How can you achieve effective implementation of strategy in order to create the charge that a firm as acquires for? You may use any change framework that you know of including the John Kottler’s (1996) framework.
Question Five
What is strategic entrepreneurship? And why is it important? (3 Marks)
Define ……………… and describe its role in the competitive process.
(3 Marks)
How does industry life cycle affect business strategy? Detail your answer based on each stage: Introduction, growth, maturity and decline. (3 Marks)
How do strategic management concepts apply to entrepreneurship?
(4 Marks)
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