VSB2006: Example Mid-Term Exam Multiple Choice Questions
1. Brother International Corporation (BIC) experienced skyrocketing growth in its sales of
multifunction centers, printers and labeling systems. Along with sales growth came a tremendous
increase in customer service calls. When Brother failed to answer the phone fast enough, product
returns started to increase. BIC responded by increasing call center capacity, but all the company
was doing was answering the phone. Valuable customer information was not collected. BIC
decided to deploy _______ to learn more about customer needs and behaviors.
a. a Value Chain
b. a Supply Chain Management (SCM) system
c. Groupware
d. a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) system
e. a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
2. PC manufacturer Dell purchases the Windows OS (operating system) from Microsoft.
Microsoft raised the price of its OS, which will decrease the profitability of Dell because the PC
market is fierce and customers frequently purchase PCs based on price. According to Porter’s
five competitive forces model, Dell is experiencing:
a. Industry competitors
b. Threat of substitute products
c. Bargaining power of buyers
d. Bargaining power of suppliers
e. Potential threat of new entrants
3. Which of the following are IT assets?
a. Technical skills
b. IT management skills
c. Relationship skills
d. none of the above
e. b and c only
4. ACME Foods of Canton, OH is a seller of cellophane-wrapped cookies to the fast food
restaurant business. Which one of Porter's Generic Strategies is most applicable to ACME in
seeking a competitive advantage?
a. Cost differentiation
b. Cost leadership
c. Differentiation
d. Broad focus
e. Focus