| 1. | (a) | State whether the following statements, based on the quoted terms, are ‘True’ or ‘False’ with justifications for your answer. If any given statement is ‘False’, you are required to give the correct terms duly quoted. No credit will be given for answers without justifications. | 1x5 | |
| | | (i) | ‘Strategic Planning’ focuses on forecasting the future by using economic and technical tools; | | (0) |
| | | (ii) | ‘Market forecast’ by a company involves the selection of its market and setting as an objective a target share of each market segment; | | (0) |
| | | (iii) | ‘Repositioning’ involves moving the product or brand into a different market segment. | | (0) |
| | | (iv) | ‘Divestment’ means selling off a part of a firm’s operations, or putting out of certain product–market operations. | | (0) |
| | | (v) | ‘Debt recovery’ is an arrangement to have debts collected by a factor company, which advances a proportion of the money it is due to collect. | | (0) |
| | (b) | Define the following terms (in not more than one/two sentences): | 1x5 | |
| | | (i) | Exit barrier; | | (0) |
| | | (ii) | Acquisition; | | (0) |
| | | (iii) | Conglomerate diversification; | | (0) |
| | | (iv) | Eye Camera; | | (0) |
| | | (v) | Overtrading. | | (0) |
| | (c) | Choose the most appropriate one from the stated options and write it down: | 1x10 | |
| | | (i) | Attacking other niche markets and exploiting them one by one is: | (A) | Aggressive strategy; | | (B) | Attack strategy; | | (C) | Acquisition strategy; | | (D) | Take over strategy. |
| | (0) |
| | | (ii) | For an actor in Bollywood, his outstanding performance would be a/an | (A) | Asset; | | (B) | Strategic asset; | | (C) | Core competency; | | (D) | Capability. |
| | (0) |
| | | (iii) | If an airline firm purchases a hotel, this would be an example of | (A) | Strategic alliance; | | (B) | Market expansion; | | (C) | Forward integration; | | (D) | Backward integration. |
| | (0) |
| | | (iv) | In product life cycle, ‘warhorses’ indicates | (A) | Negative cash flows; | | (B) | High share and negative growth; | | (C) | Low share and negative growth; | | (D) | High share, negative growth and positive cash flow. |
| | (0) |
| | | (v) | In product life cycle, ‘cash cows’ indicates | (A) | High share; | | (B) | Low growth and negative cash flow; | | (C) | High share, low growth and large positive cash flow; | | (D) | Low share, high growth and large positive cash flow. |
| | (0) |
| | | (vi) | A new organization built through the combined resources of two or more existing entities is a | (A) | Joint venture; | | (B) | Merger; | | (C) | Reorganization; | | (D) | Association. |
| | (0) |
| | | (vii) | According to Porter, three generic strategies available to business are | (A) | Low cost, market development and diversification; | | (B) | Market development, niche and diversification; | | (C) | Differentiation, low cost and niche; | | (D) | Differentiation, diversification and market development. |
| | (0) |
| | | (viii) | A product that offers either a radical performance advantage over competition or drastic lower price or both is a | (A) | Competitive product; | | (B) | Improved product; | | (C) | Breakthrough product; | | (D) | Credence product. |
| | (0) |
| | | (ix) | In value–chain model, primary activities include all of the following except | (A) | In bound logistics; | | (B) | Operations; | | (C) | Customer service; | | (D) | Procurement. |
| | (0) |
| | | (x) | 3– ‘C’ model in business management (value–based) consists of | (A) | Customers, cost and competitors; | | (B) | Customers, context and channels; | | (C) | Cost, capital and capability; | | (D) | Competitors, channels and context. |
| | (0) |
| 2. | (a) | ‘The intensity of competition depends on several factors.’ Identify these factors and discuss briefly on them. | 8 | (0) |
| | (b) | Can cost leadership strategy allow a firm to earn above–average returns despite strong competitive forces? Discuss using the case of Air Deccan of Nano. | 8 | (0) |
| 3. | (a) | What is ‘Portfolio Planning’? What is ‘Boston Classification’? Why the public sector insurance companies have started using BCG service of late? | 2+4+2 | (0) |
| | (b) | ‘International business conditions are having an increasingly significant impact on organizations’. State these conditions in detail. | 8 | (0) |
| 4. | While pioneers generally enjoy certain advantages, sometimes, the crafty imitators or the later entrants too, enjoy their share after a pioneers’ successful entry.
In view of the above— | | |
| | (a) | List the advantages enjoyed by the pioneers; | | (0) |
| | (b) | Identify the benefits the imitators or the later entrants may enjoy; and | | (0) |
| | (c) | Discuss some successful strategies taken by such non–pioneers in India. | 4+4+8 | (0) |
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| 5. | M/s.ABC Ltd., is a conglomerate that consists of five Strategic Business Units (SBUs). Information relating to each SBU (and the market leader or the nearest competitors) is given below: | S.B.U | Current Market Share | Nearest Competitor % | Expected Market
Growth Rate | | M/s. ABC Ltd. | Market Leader & | | Tiles | 3 | 25 | | Small | | Cosmetic | 1 | 6 | | nil | | Food products | 25 | | 5 | Slowly declining | | Cattle feed | 0.025 | 0.5 | | high | | Software | 10 | | 8 | rapid |
Required: | (a) | Comment on M/s. ABC Ltd.’s overall competitive position by applying the BCG Growth Share Matrix. |
| (b) | Highlight the problems in using the BCG Growth Share Matrix. |
| 8+8 | (0) |
| 6. | (a) | The link between the formulation and the implementation of marketing strategy is the Marketing Action Plan. Define and discuss any four of the basic strategic decisions indicated in a Marketing Action Plan. | 8 | (0) |
| | (b) | What are the ways of strengthening a company’s position relative to that of its competitors? Discuss. | 8 | (0) |
| 7. | Case Study: Two Companies discussing a potential merger. Company A is assessing the impact of a potential offer to Company B at a price o Rs. 65, as compared to Company B’s current price of Rs. 54. Company A has a price–earning ratio of 12 X, with current EPS of Rs. 8, a dividend of Rs. 2 and a market price of Rs. 90 to Rs. 100, with a recent price of Rs. 98. One crore shares are outstanding. Company B has a price–earning ratio of 20 X and is growing at twice the 6% rate of Company A. Company B’s current EPS is Rs. 3. It pays no dividend and its market price is ranging between Rs. 45 and Rs. 70. Ten lakh shares are outstanding.
Calculate the appropriate measures to assess the impact of these terms and discuss potential implications. | 16 | (0) |
| 8. | Write short notes on: | 4x4 | |
| | (a) | Core business analysis; | | (0) |
| | (b) | Branding strategies; | | (0) |
| | (c) | Classification of goods based on consumer habit; | | (0) |
| | (d) | Benchmarking. | | (0) |
