Download BU (Bangalore University) MBA (Master of Business Administration) 3rd Semester 2019 Feb Startegic Management And Corporate Governace Question Paper
Ill Semester M.B.A. Degree Examination, JanJFeb. 2019
(CBCS Scheme)
(2014-15 and Onwards)
MANAGEMENT
Paper ? 3.1 : Strategic Management and Corporate Governance
. Time : 3 Hours Max. Marks : 70
SECTION ? A
Answer any five of the following questions. (5x5=25)
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2.
3.
Explain the process of strategy formulation.
How do you link vision and mission statements of the organization ?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
a) Vertical Integration
b) Outsourcing
Briefly discuss various kinds of Growth Strategy with suitable example.
. What is GE planning grid 2 Discuss.
How can companies pursuing cost leadership and differentiation lose their place
on the value frontier ? In what way they can regain their competitive advantage ?
.?When is company likely to choose 1) Related diversification 2) Unrelated
Diversification.
SECTION ? B
Answer any three of the following questions. (3x10=30)
8.
What is Competitive advantage ? Discuss its building blocks. How long a
competitive advantage will last ? What are the factors affecting the durability'
of competitive advantage ?
. What are the important perspectives of Balanced score card ? Why it is needed ?
Explain with suitable example. P.T.O.
a a T
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10. How would you design an evaluation and control process in a large established
corporation ?
11. Write short notes on :
1) Corporate Governance
2) Blue Ocean Strategy.
SECTION ? C (Compulsory)
12. The Evolution of Strategy at Procter and Gamble. (1x15=15)
Founded in 1837, Cincinnati-based Procter and Gamble has long been one of
the world?s most International companies. Today, P and G is a global colossus
in the consumer products business, with annual sales in excess of $68 billion,
some 56% of which are generated outside the United States. P and G sells more
than 300 brands ? including Ivory soap, Tide, Pampers, IAMS pet food, Crisco,
Gillette, and Folgers ? to consumers in 180 countries N production operations
in eighty countries and employs close to 138,000 people globally.
P and G established its first foreign factory in 1915 when it opened a plant in
Canada to produce Ivory soap and Crisco. This was followed in 1930 by the
establishment of the company?s first foreign subsidiary in Britain. The pace of
international expansion quickened in the 19503 and 19603 as P and G expanded
rapidly in western EUrope and then again in the 19703 when the company
entered Japan and other Asian nations. Sometimes P and G entered a nation
by acquiring an established competitor and its brands, as occurred in the case
of Great Britain and Jaw, but more typically the company set up operations
from the ground floor.
By the late 19703, the strategy at P&G was well established. The company
developed new products in Cincinnati and then relied on semiautonomous
foreign subsidiaries to manufacture, market and distribute those products in
different nations. In many cases, foreign subsidiaries had their own production
facilities and tailored the packaging, brand name and marketing message to
local tastes and preferences. For years, this strategy delivered a steady stream
of new products and reliable growth in sales and profits. By the 19903, however,
profit growth at P and G was slowing.
The essen?e of the problem was simple; P and G?s costs were too high because
of extensive duplication of manufacturing, marketing and administrative facilities
in different national subsidiaries. The duplication of assets made sense in the
world of the 19603, when national markets were segmented from each other by
barriers to cross-border trade. Products produced in Great Britain, for example,
could not be sold economically in Germany due to high tariff duties levied on
imports into Germany. By the 19803, however, barriers to cross-border trade
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were falling rapidly worldwide and fragmented national markets were merging
into larger regional or global markets. Also, the retailers through which P and
G distributed its products, such as Wal-Mart, Tesco in the United Kingdom and
Carrefour in France, were growing larger and more global. These emerging
global retailers were demanding price discounts from P and G.
In 1993. P and G embarked on a major reorganization in an attempt to control
its cost structure and recognize the new reality of emerging global markets. The
company shut down some thirty manufacturing plants around the globe, laid
off 13,000 employees and concentrated production in fewer plants that could
better realize economies of scale and serve regional markets. These actions
cut some $600 million a year out of P and G?s cost structure. It wasn?t enoughil
profit growth remained sluggish.
In 1998, P and G launched its second reorganization of the decade. Named
Organization 2005, its goal was to transform P and G into a truly global company.
The company tore up its old organization, which was based on countries and
regions and replaced it with one based on Countries based on seven self-
contained global business units ranging from baby care to food products. Each
business unit was given complete responsibility for generating profits from its
products, and for manufacturing, marketing and product development. Each
business unit was told to rationalize production, concentrating it in fewer, larger
facilities; to build global brands wherever possible, thereby eliminating marketing
differences among countries; and to accelerate the development and launch
of new products. In 1999, P and G announced that, as a result of this initiative,
it would close another ten factories and lay off 15,000 employees, mostly in
Europe where there was still extensive duplication of assets. The annual cost
savings were estimated to be about $800 million. P and G planned to use the
savings to cut prices and increase marketing spending in an effort to gain market
share and thus further lower costs through the attainment of scale economies.
This time. the strategy seemed to be working. Between 2003 and 2006. P and G
reported strong growth in both sales and profits. Significantly, P and G?s global
competitors, such as Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, and Colgate-Palmolive, were
struggling in 2003 to 2006.52
Case Discussion Questions :
1) What strategy was Procter and Gamble pursuing until the late 19903 ?
2) Why did this strategy succeed for so many years ? Why was it no longer
working by the 19908 ?
3) What strategy didP and G adopt in the late 19903 and early 20008 ? Does
this strategy make more sense ? Why ?
This post was last modified on 28 January 2020