Explanation:
The long-running debate between the ‘rational design’ and ‘emergent process’ schools of strategy formation has involved caricatures of firms' strategic planning processes, but little empirical evidence of whether and how companies plan. Despite the presumption that environmental turbulence renders conventional strategic planning all but impossible, the evidence from the corporate sector suggests that reports of the demise of strategic planning are greatly exaggerated. The goal of this paper is to fill this empirical gap by describing the characteristics of the strategic planning systems of multinational, multibusiness companies faced with volatile, unpredictable business environments. In-depth case studies of the planning systems of eight of the world's largest oil companies identified fundamental changes in the nature and role of strategic planning since the end of the 1970s. The findings point to a possible reconciliation of ‘design’ and ‘process’ approaches to strategy formulation. The study pointed to a process of planned emergence in which strategic planning systems provided a mechanism for coordinating decentralized strategy formulation within a structure of demanding performance targets and clear corporate guidelines. The study shows that these planning systems fostered adaptation and responsiveness, but showed limited innovation and analytical sophistication
Answer:
E. I, II, and IV only
Explanation:
Six sigma is a management technique that involves measuring the number of defective products resulting from production activities, and carefully undergoing certain processes to reduce these defects and improve quality.
The DMAIC cycle is an important process when using the six sigma technique. It involves;
• Defining the goals and objectives to be achieved and problems to be fixed.
• Measuring the production process to see how it currently performs and gathering data on defective products.
• Analysing the processes to find root causes of problems and possible causes of defects.
• Improving the process by implementing carefully formed plans which will help reduce defects.
• Controlling how the new processes are implemented to yield and sustain favorable results and deliver value to customers.
Six sigma aims to remove variations from business processes to reduce product defects and improve quality.
Answer: Overconfidence bias
Explanation:
The options are:
a. overconfidence bias
b. hindsight bias
c. framing bias
d. escalation of commitment bias
e. sunk-cost bias
Overconfidence bias is when people or organization believe so much in their ability, knowledge, talent, or skills which invariably leads them to believe that they are better than the way they really are. It is an ego belief and can have a dangerous effect.
Ford was slow to recall vehicles to fix a possible carbon monoxide leak due to overconfidence bias as they believe that they are a force to be reckoned with and can't make such mistakes.
Answer:
$225,000
Explanation:
The cash flow statement is divided into three categories investing, operating and financing. The investing activity refers to those activities which deal in buying and selling for long term asset in cash. The buying is cash outflow while the selling is a cash inflow. So the amount reported under the investing activity is $225,000 as cash inflow.
Answer:
b. The competitive pressures associated with rivalry among competing sellers in the industry for buyer patronage.
Explanation:
The Porter’s five forces of competition is a framework developed by Michael E. Porter in 1979, it is used to measure and analyze an organization's competitiveness in a business environment.
The Porter's five forces of competition framework are:
1. The bargaining power of suppliers.
2. The bargaining power of customers.
3. Threat posed by substitute products.
4. Threats posed by new entrants.
5. Threats posed by existing rivals in the industry.
The most powerful of the five competitive forces is usually the competitive pressures associated with rivalry among competing sellers in the industry for buyer patronage. When the amount of competitors (sellers), as well as the quantity of goods and services they provide are large, the lesser their competitive strengths or advantage in the market because the customers have a large pool of finished goods and services to choose from and vice-versa.
