Question 4 Samantha Cole teaches economics and finance at the Southwestern Central Wyoming College of Business. Her first class of the day is an economics primer for freshman. This morning, she is discussing industry analysis. In her opening lecture, she lists the following factors that should be included in any industry-analysis model: - Industry classification.
- Supply analysis.
- Demand analysis.
- International competition and markets review.
- External factor review.
Cole then asks her students for the characteristics of a mature industry. She gets four responses: - Aaronson said, “Mature industries tend to have an overall growth rate slower than that of the overall economy.”
- Blisterman said, “The companies that generate the most growth in a mature industry are those selling to new markets.”
- Clendenning said, “Demand for the products made by a mature industry is usually starting to decrease.”
- Dresdler said, “Some companies in a mature industry may perform well during the weak parts of the business cycle.”
In the next portion of her class, Cole tells the students about two companies, Lightnight Corp. and Quicklag Inc. Lightnight earned a profit margin higher than the industry average last year. The company also grew faster than the industry average, with sales growth of 9 percent and profit growth of 13 percent. The company gained market share at the expense of its competitors through a combination of innovative products and a superior cost structure that allowed for aggressive discounting of existing products. Quicklag lost money last year. The company is very concerned about technological change. Quicklag counts on its marketing to differentiate itself from competitors. The company expects GDP to decline sharply next year but still plans to increase its spending on marketing and research. Salaries represent more than 60 percent of Quicklag’s total expenses. Cole then asks the class to deduce the nature of the industries in which Lightnight and Quicklag operate. Part 1) Which of the following factors is least likely to affect the fortunes of an industry in the pioneer stage? A) Technology. B) Social change. C) Demography. D) Government.
Part 2) Which student’s statement about mature industries is most accurate? A) Dresdler’s. B) Aaronson’s. C) Blisterman’s. D) Clendenning’s.
Part 3) In what stages are the industries of Lightnight and Quicklag? Lightnight's industry Quicklag's industry A) Mature Pioneer B) Growth Pioneer C) Mature Decline D) Growth Decline
Part 4) Movements of the business cycle are likely to have the greatest effect on a: A) cyclical industry in the pioneer stage. B) mature industry. C) defensive industry in the decline stage. D) growth industry.
Part 5) In her lecture on industry-analysis models, Cole left out which of the following factors? A) Profitability analysis. B) Financial-structure analysis. C) Economic review. D) Market-share comparison.
Part 6) Assuming Quicklag has pricing power, which of the following is most likely to be a reason for that power? A) Barriers to entry. B) Input prices. C) Capacity utilization. D) Product segmentation. | 
发表于 2008-5-26 13:53
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