Test bank for marketing planning and strategy 1st edition

Test Bank for Marketing Planning and Strategy 1st
Edition
Mutiple Choice Questions
Procter & Gamble divided its business into 39 categories under which:
1.

a. brand managers for various detergents can demand new packages at the same
time

2.

b. brand managers in the same line of business can compete for a share of P&G’s
ad budget

3.
4.

c. the category manager decides the positioning of different brands
d. minor brands such as Dreft detergent has the same claim on manufacturing as
Tide

Which of the following is not a reason for doing strategic planning?
1.

a. to earn a desired level of profit

2.

b. because of a complex business environment

3.

c. because of technological developments

4.

d. to make a choice between many equally attractive investments

5.

e. none of the choices given

Managing strategic planning for focus and flexibility requires:
1.

a. building on what the company does best

2.

b. developing core skills

3.

c. sketching future scenarios and responding to opportunities

4.

d. all of the choices given


McKinsey & Company, an international consulting firm, identify five global

forces and trends that have forced strategic marketers to question their
current assumptions as they change the opportunities and the challenges
that confront both Australian and global companies. Which one of the
below is not one of these?
1.

a. emerging markets as the centres for consumerism and innovativeness

2.

b. the necessity to improve developed market productivity

3.

c. decreasing global networks

4.

d. the tension between rapidly rising resource consumption and sustainability

Strategic planning emerging perspectives include:
1.

a. harnessing information

2.

b. managing through people

3.

c. managing for competitive advantage

4.

d. all of the choices given

_________ considers future changes in areas of importance to a company
and tries to assess the impact of these changes on company operations.
1.

a. Planning

2.

b. Forecasting

3.

c. Strategy

4.

d. none of the choices given

In its strategic role, marketing consists of establishing a match between
the _________ and its _________.
1.

a. customer/needs

2.

b. firm/environment

3.

c. management/employees

4.

d. none of the choices given


Planning should cause:
1.

a. a lot of disruption as major changes will be occurring

2.

b. as little disruption as possible

3.

c. a restructure of the company, so that it can remain competitive

4.

d. all of the choices given

Strategy in a firm is:
1.

a. the pattern of major objectives, purposes or goals

2.

b. essential policies and plans for achieving goals

3.

c. definition of what business the company is in

4.

d. definition of the kind of company is or is to be

5.

e. all of the choices given

While planning is admittedly complex, successful planning systems do
have some fundamental characteristics. Which of the following is not one
of these?
1.

a. wholehearted support of the chief executive officer

2.

b. actual planning process is kept as simple as possible

3.

c. all planning is done by the corporate planner and his or her staff

4.

d. encouragement of decisions with long-term implications

The planning process:
1.

a. is the same thing as forecasting

2.

b. is usually a detailed five-year operational plan

3.

c. should be custom-made for each particular company

4.

d. usually takes approximately two years to complete

5.

e. none of the choices given


As the global financial crisis (GFC) hit in 2008, executives shifted their
focus to:
1.

a. short term cost-cutting goals

2.

b. growth/survival

3.

c. constraint

4.

d. differentiation

Responsibility for planning lies with the:
1.

a. marketing researcher

2.

b. staff assistants

3.

c. consultants

4.

d. line managers

The philosophy of _________ planning has its foundation in operations
research.
1.

a. satisfying

2.

b. optimising

3.

c. adaptivising

4.

d. none of the choices given

Many firms pursue growth internally through the _________ effort.
1.

a. marketing system

2.

b. research and development

3.

c. financial

4.

d. capital

The trend of technological changes will _________ in the future.
1.

a. fall


2.

b. rise

3.

c. remain stable

4.

d. improve

In an analysis of three different philosophies of planning, Ackoff
established the following three labels.
1.

a. marketing, human resources and finance

2.

b. satisfying, optimising and adaptivising

3.

c. demanding, objectifying, solutions

4.

d. goals, objectives, outcomes

Planning perspectives develop in response to needs that arise:
1.

a. internally

2.

b. externally

3.

c. both internally and externally

4.

d. none of the options given

In the 1990s, Procter & Gamble reorganised along the category lines
because:
1.

a. the brand management system created conflicts and inefficiencies

2.

b. businesses have been growing fast and retail trade has been losing clout

3.

c. the consumer market is becoming concentrated

4.

d. all of the choices given

Companies find planning useful in all of the following ways, except:
1.

a. for choosing growth opportunities from among competing alternatives

2.

b. for evaluating risk associated with different projects

3.

c. in maintaining organisational flexibility

4.

d. for globalisation of business


In its strategic role, marketing establishes a:
1.

a. position for each brand

2.

b. match between the firm and its environment

3.

c. promotional budget for each line of business

4.

d. none of the choices given

Strategic planning should not:

1.

a. become an exercise in forecasting

2.

b. be restored to the care of line management responsibilities

3.

4.

c. change the role of planner from being a purveyor of incrementalism to that of a
crusader
d. require top management to assume a more explicit role

The marketing decision-making approach that directs us to develop our
product offering - and our entire marketing program - to meet the needs of
our customer base is the _________ approach.
1.

a. environmental

2.

b. systems

3.

c. societal marketing

4.

d. marketing concept

Optimising some functions instead of the whole company is _________ for
exhibiting superior corporate performance.
1.

a. less than adequate

2.

b. adequate

3.

c. more than adequate

4.

d. socially desirable


Planning should:
1.

a. be flexible

2.

b. evolve gradually

3.

c. be simple

4.

d. all of the choices given

Any organisation needs strategy when:
1.

a. resources are finite when there is uncertainty about competitive strengths and
behaviour

2.

b. when commitment of resources is irreversible

3.

c. when there is uncertainty about control of the initiative.

4.

d. all of the choices given

In 2010, IBM focuses on which three things?

1.

a. basic goals, objectives of the business and human resources

2.

b. product-market matches, research and development and marketing

3.

c. vision, strategic planning and execution strategies

4.

d. goals, objectives and research and development

The guiding force behind decision making should be:
1.

a. profits

2.

b. the strategic planning process

3.

c. forecasts

4.

d. past trends

5.

e. none of the choices given


A unit that is comprised of one or more products having a common
market base whose manager has complete responsibility for integrating
all functions into a strategy against an identifiable competitor is called:
1.

a. a strategic business unit

2.

b. a strategy centre

3.

c. a strategic planning unit

4.

d. an independent business unit

5.

e. all of the choices given

Strategy:
1.

a. specifies direction

2.

b. influences competitors’ behaviour

3.

c. influences the evolution of the market

4.

d. all of the choices given

5.

e. none of the choices given

Business ecosystem refers to:
1.

a. a framework for managers to explore and analyse

2.

b. a technique for measuring performance

3.

c. a framework for gaining a broad perspective of the business

4.

d. both a and c

In a great many firms, the __________ function represents the greatest
degree of contact with the external environment.
1.

b. legal

2.

c. financial

3.

d. marketing

4.

e. none of the choices given


Telstra started a self-renewal process in 2010 which included:
1.

a. investing heavily in the latest technologies

2.

b. developing SBU’s

3.

4.

c. implementing the use of Twitter accounts, Facebook sites, a flickr account,
YouTube channels
d. None of the choices given

According to Hewlett-Packard’s former CEO Carly Fiorina, the role of CEO
in strategy is to:
1.

a. encourage discussion of the white spaces

2.

b. examine overlaps and gaps among business strategies

3.

c. stress areas not addressed by individual businesses

4.

d. all of the choices given

_________ levels of aggregation make SBUs identical to product/market
segments that may lack ‘strategic autonomy’.
1.

a. Higher

2.

b. Lower

3.

c. Complex

4.

d. Separate

5.

e. none of the choices given

Future planning is also known as _________ planning.
1.

a. long-range

2.

b. corporate

3.

c. comprehensive

4.

d. formal

5.

e. all of the options given


Which of the following is not a prerequisite to do well in strategic
planning?
1.

a. matching short-term goals to long-term perspectives

2.

b. organising the company into strategic business units

3.

c. demonstrating interest in new product development

4.

d. developing a framework for evaluating and balancing competing requests from
business units

All SBUs must have:
1.

a. a distinct business mission

2.

b. an explicit management philosophy

3.

c. an interdivisional overlap

4.

d. all of the choices given

Successful planning requires:
1.

a. complex networking arrangements between the CEO and internal and external
stakeholders

2.

b. the CEO mirco manages each department

3.

c. the CEO remains at arm’s length of the plan

4.

d. that the CEO be completely supportive of planned perspective

True - False Questions
A portfolio of business should be designed and managed to achieve each
individual business’s strategy, rather than overall corporate strategy.
1.

True

2.

False


The first and most widely used approach to marketing decision making is
the marketing systems approach.
1.

True

2.

False

The value of effective strategic planning is virtually unchallenged in
today’s business world.
1.

True

2.

False

P&G reorganised along the category lines with the purpose of devising
marketing strategies and fitting brands together, then formulating
competing brand strategies and allocating resources among them.
1.

True

2.

False

Strategic planning is a paper-and-pencil activity which does not require
CEO’s involvement.
1.

True

2.

False

The planning process is difficult, while its actual implementation is
relatively simple.
1.

True

2.

False

The systems approach, instructs the marketer to view the marketing
process holistically and view product not as an individual entity but as
just one aspect of the customer’s total need-satisfaction system.
1.

True

2.

False


A definition of planning should be based on what planning is supposed to
be in an organisation.
1.

True

2.

False

A firm has the most control over its external environment.
1.

True

2.

False

Any organisation needs strategy when resources are infinite.
1.

True

2.

False

Planning is essentially a process directed toward making today’s decision
with tomorrow in mind and a means of preparing for future decisions so
that they may be made more rapidly, economically and with as little
disruption to the business as possible.
1.

True

2.

False

The key to profitable operations is to achieve a sustainable competitive
advantage based on stockholders’ expectations.
1.

True

2.

False

Companies that do well in strategic planning clearly define their goals and
develop rational plans to implement them.
1.

True

2.

False


The beginning of the financial year is the best time for initiating planning
activities.
1.

True

2.

False

The emphasis has shifted from planning as a basis of all an organisation’s
efforts and decisions to planning as an aspect of the organisation.
1.

True

2.

False

Business strategy seeks to unify all business lines of a company and
point them at an overall goal.
1.

True

2.

False

The guiding force behind decision making should be the strategic
planning process.
1.

True

2.

False

Different functions or activities need to reinforce each other for
developing a successful strategy.
1.

True

2.

False

Organisations that follow an internal and historical perspective have a
much better chance of success than those that take an externally focused
view.
1.

True

2.

False


Generally, organisations have identifiable existing strategic perspectives;

however, not many organisations have explicit strategy for the intended
future.
1.

True

2.

False

The three types of strategic decisions are satisfying, optimising, and
adaptivising.
1.

True

2.

False

Planning and forecasting are different.
1.

True

2.

False

An SBU cannot overlap divisions, and a division cannot include more than

one unit.
1.

True

2.

False

Contemporary environments are characterised by dynamism.
1.

True

2.

False

The SBU concept is essentially the same as the brand management
system except that the SBU manager has more clout.
1.

True

2.

False

Decentralised planning was characteristic of the 1960s.
1.

True


2.

False

Today, markets are closed. Barriers are easy to install and maintain. Thus,
it is difficult for competitors to enter.
1.

True

2.

False

Free Text Questions
Various philosophies of planning include _________, _________ and
_________.
Answer Given

satisfying, optimising, adaptivising

Planning for future action has been called by many different names:
_________ planning, _________ planning, comprehensive planning and
formal planning.
Answer Given

long-range, corporate

Any organisation needs strategy when commitment of resources is
_________.
Answer Given

irreversible

The guiding force behind decision making should be the _________
_________ _________.
Answer Given

the strategic planning process


_________ considers future changes in areas of importance to a company
and tries to assess the impact of these changes on company operations.
Answer Given

Forecasting

Strategic planning is the responsibility of the __________________.
Answer Given

chief executive officer

The planning process should be _________ for each particular company.
Answer Given

custom-made

Growth is a type of _________.
Answer Given

objective