In analyzing the strength of competition among rival firms, an important consideration is Select one: a. whether the industry is characterized by a strong learning/experience curve and whether the industry is composed of many or few strategic groups. b. the potential for buyers to exercise strong bargaining power. c. the extent to which some rivals have more than two competitively valuable competencies or capabilities. d. the diversity of competitors in terms of long-term direction, objectives, strategies, and countries of origin. e. the number of firms pursuing differentiation strategies versus the number pursuing low-cost leadership strategies and focus strategies.

Ajustification for job training programs is that they improve worker productivity. suppose that you are asked to evaluate whether more job training makes workers more productive. however, rather than having data on individual workers, you have access to data on manufacturing firms in ohio. in particu- lar, for each firm, you have information on hours of job training per worker (training) and number of nondefective items produced per worker hour (output). (i) carefully state the ceteris paribus thought experiment underlying this policy question. (ii) does it seem likely that a firm’s decision to train its workers will be independent of worker characteristics? what are some of those measurable and unmeasurable worker characteristics? (iii) name a factor other than worker characteristics that can affect worker productivity. (iv) if you find a positive correlation between output and training, would you have convincingly established that job training makes workers more productive? explain.

Overspeculation and a decrease in consumer confidence are both leading factors of: ?

Which of the following statements is true of the balanced-scorecard? a. it is a more or less a one-dimensional metric of measuring competitive advantages of a firm. b. it is one of the traditional approaches of measuring firm performance. c. its primary focus is to base a firm's strategic goals entirely on external performance dimensions. d. it attempts to provide a holistic perspective on firm performance.