答案和详解如下： 16．The three generic strategies that companies can use to achieve a competitive advantage are: A) imitation, differentiation, and predatory pricing. B) cost leader, cost follower, and focus. C) superior bargaining, technological edge, and market driver. D) cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The correct answer was D) The three generic strategies that companies can use to achieve a competitive advantage are cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. 17．Generic strategies for achieving a competitive advantage include: A) R&D leadership. B) cost leadership. C) lowest prices to outsell the competitors and gain maximum market share. D) acquisition of weaker competitors. The correct answer was B) Of the four choices listed, only cost leadership is mentioned as a generic strategy. The other generic strategies are differentiation and focus. 18．Medley International, Inc. (Medley) is a conglomerate business who has seen its profit margins deteriorate in the last several years. To help increase profitability, it has decided to abandon its approach of cost leadership in all business lines and instead use the most appropriate competitive strategy for each business line. Listed below is a brief description of Medley’s six business divisions. Restaurant Services Medley is a recycler of food processing by-products. It collects and recycles animal processing by-products, and used cooking oil from food service establishments. It processes materials, at 5 facilities located along the east coast of the United States , into finished products such as tallow, protein, and yellow grease. Rendering consists of the collection and processing of animal by-products from butcher shops, grocery stores, independent meat and poultry processors, converting these wastes into similar products such as useable oils and proteins, soaps, pet foods, and livestock feed that it sells to large distributors servicing agricultural and oleo-chemical industries. This segment represented 66.4 percent of net external sales for the restaurant services division during the most recent fiscal year. The collection of used cooking oils from food service establishments and recycling them into similar products such as high-energy animal feed ingredients and industrial oils accounted for the remaining net external sales in the most recent fiscal year for the restaurant services division. Technology Equipment Medley also is a manufacturer of high-performance engineered materials serving the global telecommunications and computer, optical media, automotive electronics, industrial components, aerospace and defense, and appliance markets. Alloy Products, comprises the largest unit within the technology equipment division. It manufactures and sells copper and nickel-based alloy systems, the majority of which also contains beryllium. These products are metallurgically tailored to meet specific customer performance requirements. They are used in plastic tooling and heavy equipment product applications.
Medley has recently gone on-line with its fourth production facility following the opening of its third major factory only two years earlier and the refurbishing of its other two production facilities over a five-year period. The new factory is best described as a state of the art plant able to deal equally well with long production runs and with short runs due to its flexible set up that significantly reduces retooling time. Medley now maintains operations in North America, South America, Europe, and East Asia.
Financial Services Medley’s financial services division has operations in two business segments: Commercial Banking and Trust and Asset Management. The Commercial Banking segment provides lending, business checking and deposits, cash management, merchant card services, and other traditional and e-commerce commercial banking services to large customers. Medley conducts business in 30 locations throughout northern Indiana and south-central Missouri . Medley provides commercial banking and related financial services at attractive prices to a limited range of large customers. In recent years it has developed a loyal customer base by demonstrating its willingness to go the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. The Trust and Asset Management segment provides trust, investment management, and employee benefit recordkeeping and administration, and brokerage services. Many commercial banking clients also subscribe to the Medley’s Trust and Asset Management services. Customers can get real-time stock market quotes and investment account information and place trades 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Prices are among the most competitive in the industry. Aerospace and Defense Medley is a specialized manufacturer serving aerospace and defense customers. It operates this division in three segments: Avionics and Controls, Sensors and Systems, and Advanced Materials. The Avionics and Controls segment designs and manufactures technology interface systems for military and commercial aircraft and land- and sea-based military vehicles, secure communications systems, specialized medical equipment, and other industrial applications. The Sensors and Systems segment produces high-precision temperature and pressure sensors, fluid control components, micro-motors, motion control sensors, and other related systems, principally for aerospace and defense customers. The Advanced Materials segment develops and manufactures high-performance elastomer products used in a range of commercial aerospace and military applications and combustible ordnance components and electronic warfare countermeasure devices for military customers.
Medley’s proprietary products meet critical operational requirements and provide customers with technological advantages in such areas as night vision compatibility and backlighting for active-matrix liquid-crystal displays. It has sales offices in 32 countries around the world and deals with the who’s who of the aerospace and defense industry.
Retail Services Medley is engaged in the business of providing general merchandise and retail health services, through two main business segments. One segment consists of a multi-department retailer located primarily in mid-size and larger communities. The retail stores are committed to offering merchandise, services, and value to meet customers’ needs for home, family basics, casual apparel, and seasonal products, along with a special emphasis on retail health through its in-store pharmacies and optical centers. As of the most recent fiscal year, Medley had 98 retail stores operating in 11 Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and Western Mountain states. Its other retail segment is a general merchandise retailer, which serves smaller and more rural communities, offering a convenient, one-stop shopping format. Stores are designed for simplicity, speed and ease of the shopping experience. This segment operates at 10 locations in 9 Midwest, North Central and Rocky Mountain states. Computer Networking Medley’s computer networking division has been operating since 1974 and provides multi-capable storage network solutions that enable end customers worldwide to better consolidate and utilize their storage infrastructure, manage the storage network and implement business continuance solutions. Its solutions include hardware and software products, professional services, and education that enable businesses to scale their operations globally.
In August, 2003, Medley acquired a provider of native Internet protocol (IP) storage switching solutions that builds open storage networking products based on IP and Ethernet, both international networking standards. Later in 2003, Medley acquired a producer of intelligent director class switching platform technologies. It provides customers with solutions that solve customer problems such as consolidation and data protection allowing the customers to focus on their business mission with the assurance of high availability and functionality. Medley does business with the leaders in the industry who recognize that higher quality comes with higher prices.
The competitive strategy that best applies to Medley’s restaurant services division is: A) cost leadership. B) differentiation. C) cost focus. D) differentiation focus. The correct answer was D) Medley’s restaurant services division operates to a large degree in a limited geographical area along the eastern coast of the U.S. It attempts to differentiate itself through its choice of a limited range of products and through its target market comprised of large distributors who service several specific industrial sectors. 19．The competitive strategy that best applies to Medley’s technology equipment business is: A) differentiation. B) cost leadership. C) cost focus. D) differentiation focus. The correct answer was B) Cost leadership seems to be the main strategy here as the Medley has extensive operations on 4 continents. Additionally, in an effort to become the industry’s cost leader, it has invested substantial sums of money in recent years to become more efficient by modernizing and upgrading its main production facilities. 20．The competitive strategy that best applies to Medley’s financial services division is: A) cost leadership. B) differentiation. C) differentiation focus. D) cost focus. The correct answer was D) Medley’s financial services business operates in a narrow geographic region and seeks a competitive advantage by locating its facilities in order to be close to most of its customers. Medley has also made a conscious decision to specialize in several key areas of the financial services sector while avoiding sectors that have strong price competition such as mortgage lending. | 
发表于 2008-5-17 17:51
|