Question Paper of MS-11: Corporate Policies & Practices Dec-2001

Q.1. Briefly explain McKinsey 7-s Framework. How can it be helpful in strategic management?

Q.2. “The role of BOD is to govern and not to manage.” Discuss the statement, bringing out the elements of corporate governance.

Q.3. Briefly explain the constituents of the micro environment of a business organisation, individually or collectively, improve industrial relations climate within and outside?

Q.4.(a) Explain the concept of “strategic choice” in relation to inventory items. What are its uses and limitations?

(b) What ratios, do you think, can be useful to strategic analysis? Illustrate your answer.

Q.5. Why is pre-implementation evaluation of strategy important? What check¬points would you like to use in the process of evaluation?

Q.6. Distinguish between “integration” and diversification. What are the pre¬requisites for success of conglomerate diversification? Explain.

Q.7. Read the following case study carefully and answer the questions given at the end.

THE CONVENTIONAL ROUTE

A. SETTING OBJECTIVES

Where do we want to go?

B. POSITION AUDIT

Where are we now?

C. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

What is the future of the environment in which we operate?

D. GAP ANALYSIS

Ultimate Objectives Compared with Extrapolated Existing Performance

E. CORPORATE APPRAISAL

SWOT Analysis

F ESTABLISHING STRATEGY

What is the best way to get from B to A considering C, D and E?

A. Does the company have a core competence?

B. Does the core competence add value?

C. Is the core competence sustainable?

D. Is the company nurturing its core competencies?

Questions

1. How should Coolex evolve its strategy? Should it continue with the conventional approach, with its focus on the external environment, in the face of potential competition? Is there an alternative to the traditional approach to formulation?

2. Has Coolex been able to identify its “core competencies"? Is it feasible to link strategies planning at Coolex with its core competencies?

3. Are the managers at Coolex asking the right questions? What should be the road-map for Jagmohan and his team?

Question Paper of MS11: Corporate Policies & Practices Dec-2000

Q.1 What role does the Board of Directors (BOD) play in strategic management of a company? What kind of relationship may the BOD have with the top management of the company? Examine and discuss.

Explain the concept of corporate strategy. What kinds of people in a company are responsible for strategic decisions and their implementation? Is strategic planning the same as strategic management?

Q.2 Why is competitive analysis needed for as business enterprise? Explain how porter’s framework to
analyze industry structure can be helpful in competitive analysis. Explain the relevance of the model.

What criteria can be used for determining strengths and weaknesses of a corporate entity? What measures can be used for determining strengths and weaknesses? Discuss briefly.

Q.3 What is BCG’s Growth Share matrix? Construct a BCG matrix based on hypothetical data.

What role do costs play in different market conditions? How does this role change? Does Porter’s generic business strategy of cost leadership have nay relevance in this context?

Q.4 Distinguish between related and Unrelated diversifications. Examine the merits and demerits of each. What kind of trend, in this context, has been dissemble over the recent past?

It is often said that strategy implementation is much more difficult and challenging than the strategy formulation. Why is it so? What would you suggest to a company for effective implementation of strategies?

Q.5 Read the case study carefully and attempt the questions given at the end.

Questions

1 What do you identify as the basic issues/problems?

2 What strategy/strategies should Morro have to resolve the problem or meet the challenge posed?

Question Paper of MS-11: Corporate Policies & Practices June-2001

Q.1. Why should a company have Mission Statement? Discuss its role and functions. Give examples of mission statements in relation to any three of the following organisations:

(a) A corporate hospital in the private sector
(b) A specialised professional educational and training institution in the Government sector
© A technical and management consulting firm in the private sector
(d) A electric supply undertaking in the Government sector

Briefly explain 7-S Framework. In what way can the framework be helpful in strategic formulation and implementation?

Q.2. Enumerate the consistent of mega and micro environments of a business firm. How are the two types of environments interrelated? Illustrate your answer with suitable examples.

What are the different criteria for classifying organisational elements into strengths and weaknesses? Illustrate with suitable example. Are different criteria exclusive?

Q.3. In what ways do the BCG Matrix, GE Planning Grid, and Shell’s Directional Policy Matrix differ from each other? Explain how such portfolio matrices are helpful in strategy formulation.

Briefly explain and then discuss in which situations the following strategies would be useful:

(i) Turnaround strategy
(ii) Takeover strategy
(iii) Vertical Integration strategy

Q.4. Briefly discuss the elements of successful implementation of strategies. What checkpoints could you use in pre-implementation phase of a strategy?

What factors could cause corporate decline? What measures have been taken in India to deal with corporate/industrial sickness? Examine critically.

Q.5. Read the following case study carefully and answer the questions given at the end.

Questions

(a) Identify the environmental threats and opportunities and strengths and weaknesses of the organisation.

(b) Discuss those aspects of Pennzoil’s strategic choices to which you can apply the BCG matrix.

Question Paper of MS-11: Corporate Policies & Practices June-2000

Q.1. There are some managerially-derived expectations from the Board of Directors (BOD) of a company. What are these expectations ? Discuss and make a critical assessment of the role of the Board of Directors in the context of Indian corporate sector.

Q.2. What constitutes socio-cultural and political environment for a business enterprise? How do the trends in such environment impact upon a company? Illustrate with examples.

What is meant by ‘competitive advantage’? How can a company build competitive advantage? Explain giving suitable examples.

Q.3.. What is portfolio analysis in the context of strategic management? What considerations would guide you in balancing the portfolio?

Describe the techniques of strategic financial analysis and explain one of them in detail, pointing out its merits and demerits.

Q.4. What strategic options may a company have? Explain and also discuss the risks attached with each option.

Distinguish between backward and forward integrations. Pointing out the situations in which each would be advisable. Examine the merits and demerits of both types of integration.

Q.5. Read the case study carefully and attempt the questions given at the end.

Questions

(a) Is there a need for a strategy at Auto Components? Does a small company operating in a predictable environment need to formulate one?

(b) Can approaches to strategy be so conceptually different? Should Abhayankar go by gut-feel and, using in-house talent do what he believes is right for the company?

© Instead of spending time on documenting a strategy, shouldn’t Auto Components just have an informal plan of action, governed by the intuition of its senior managers?

(d) Since the company has a team which knows its business better than any consultant, why should Auto Components bank on external ideas? Should strategy ever be documented?

Question Paper of MS-11: Corporate Policies & Practices Dec-1999

Q.1 (a) Is there any difference between corporate objectives and corporate values?! What factors affect corporate values? Discuss briefly,

(b) What role could the Board of Directors play in the area of strategic management? Discuss.

Q.2(a) What is “competitive advantage"? Citing some real life examples, discuss how competitive advantage could be gained

(b) “The purpose of internal analysis is to match strengths and weakness* with opportunities and threats.” Explain.

Q.3(a) What factors cause Experience Curve Effect? Discuss briefly.

(b) Explain briefly the PIMS model portfolio analyses.

Q.4(a) How would you predict company failures? Discuss briefly any measurement model in this context.

(b) Differentiate between Concentric and Conglomerate diversifications, citing examples for each.

Q.5 Read the following case carefully and answer the questions indicated in the last paragraph of the case study.

Quesion Paper of MS-11: Corporate Policies & Practices June-1999

Q.l(a) What are the characteristics of Strategic Management Decisions? Differentiate between! Strategic Decisions and Operating Decisions,

(b) What is meant by “distinctive competence"? In what ways can a company attain distinctive competence?

Q.2(a) Discuss some tools (or frameworks) for analysing the impact of environmental opportunities pointing out their relative merits and shortcomings.

(b) Differentiate between the Economists and the Marketing viewpoints regarding the study of competition.

Q.3(a) Explain briefly Patel and Younger’s approach for assessing the strategic position of a company. In what way you think, is this approach an improvement over product portfolio matrices?

(b) What is ‘Synergy’? What could be the different types of synergies and how can they be brought about? Explain briefly.

Q.4(a) “Implementation of strategy requires right organisational structure.” Explain.

(b) A friend of yours bring to you a proposal for the acquisition of a medium scale company. How would you judge the suitability of the proposal?

Q.5 Read the following case carefully and answer the question indicated in the last paragraph of the case study.

Question Paper of MS-11: Corporate Policies & Practices Dec-1998

Q.1 (a) What are the various routes to building competitive advantage? Discuss them.

(b) Differentiate between the Grid Approach and the 7-S Framework for analysing strengths and weaknesses of a given corporate entity.

Q.2(a) Explain how at different stages in the life cycle of a product, business organisations need to adopt different strategies,

(b) What do you understand by the term Diversification? When is it resorted to? Explain relevance of the concept of core competencies while evolving diversification strategy and plans.

Q.3(a) “The success of a takeover, to a large extent, depends upon the post acquisition management.” Explain it with corporate experiences,

(b) What are the structural requirements for proper evaluation, control and updation of strategies?

Q.4(a) Do you agree with the suggestion that it is now imperative for al enterprises to evaluate global environments for their survival? If yes, why? I no, why not?

(b) Explain what do you understand by turnaround and list various types o: turnaround strategies. Discuss them briefly.

Q.5 Read the case study titled “Contrived Crises” and answer the questions given at the end.