What strategies do you believe can save newspaper companies from extinction?
> Illustrate how value chain activities can become core competencies and eventually distinctive competencies. Give an example for an organization you are familiar with.
> What is your forecast for interest rates and the stock market in the next several months? As the stock market moves up, do interest rates always move down? Why? What are the strategic implications of these trends?
> Draw a breakeven chart to illustrate a drop in labor costs.
> Explain why it is important for ratings in an EFE Matrix to be 1, 2, 3, or 4 for any opportunity or threat.
> Who are the major stakeholders of the bank that you do business with locally? What are the major claims of those stakeholders?
> Discuss the meaning of the following statement: “Good mission statements identify the utility of a firm’s products to its customers.”
> Explain why a mission statement should not include monetary amounts, numbers, percentages, ratios, goals, or objectives.
> In your opinion, what are the three most important components that should be included when writing a mission statement? Why?
> Drucker says that the most important time to seriously reexamine the firm’s vision/mission is when the firm is very successful. What is this?
> Explain how developing a mission statement can help resolve divergent views among managers in a firm.
> If your company does not have a vision or mission statement, describe a good process for developing these documents.
> What are some different names for “mission statement,” and where will you likely find a firm’s mission statement?
> How do you think an organization can best align company mission with employee mission?
> Some excellent nine-component mission statements consist of just two sentences. Write a two-sentence mission statement for a company of your choice.
> Explain how a firm such as J. Crew can be doing well, but does not have an effective vision or mission statement.
> Discuss the meaning of the following statement: “Good mission statements identify the utility of a firm’s products to its customers.”
> List four components and four guidelines that the J. Crew mission statement fails to exhibit. Write a new and improved mission for J. Crew.
> Why is it not adequate to simply obtain competitive advantage?
> Explain the principal value of a vision and mission statement.
> List four financial and four nonfinancial benefits of a firm engaging in strategic planning.
> Why is it important for all business majors to study strategic management since most students will never become a chief executive officer or even a top manager in a large company?
> Compare business strategy and military strategy.
> In your opinion, what is the single major benefit of using a strategic-management approach to decision making? Justify your answer.
> What do you believe are some potential pitfalls or risks in using a strategic-management approach to decision making?
> Would strategic-management concepts and techniques benefit foreign businesses as much as domestic firms? Justify your answer.
> Who are the major competitors of your college or university? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are their strategies? How successful are these institutions compared to your college?
> Give an example of a recent political development that changed the overall strategy of an organization.
> Compare a company’s strategic plan with a football team’s game plan.
> How can strategist’s best ensure that strategies will be effectively implemented?
> Explain why a mission statement should not include strategies and objectives.
> Discuss the importance of feedback in the strategic-management model.
> Why do you think some chief executive officers fail to use a strategic-management approach to decision making?
> Why is it so important to integrate intuition and analysis in strategic management?
> What aspect of strategy formulation do you think requires the most time? Why?
> How often do you feel a firm’s vision and mission statement should be changed?
> List eight benefits of having a clear mission statement.
> List what you feel are the five most important lessons for business that can be garnered from THE ART OF WAR book.
> List seven characteristics of a mission statement.
> List ten guidelines for making the strategic-planning process effective. Arrange your guidelines in prioritized order of importance in your opinion.
> Explain why a mission statement should not include monetary amounts, numbers, percentages, ratios, goals, or objectives.
> Why do you think organizations that have a comprehensive mission statement tend to be high performers? Does having a comprehensive mission cause high performance?
> Who are the major stakeholders of the bank that you do business with locally? What are the major claims of those stakeholders?
> Discuss the notion of strategic planning being more formal versus informal in an organization. On a 1 to 10 scale from formal to informal, what number best represents your view of the most effective approach? Why?
> In your opinion, what are the three most important components that should be included when writing a mission statement? Why?
> Explain the principal value of a vision and mission statement.
> List three internal strengths and three internal weaknesses that characterize your university.
> Your university has fierce competitors. List three external opportunities and three external threats that face your university.
> Explain why a mission statement should not include strategies and objectives.
> Why do you think organizations that have a comprehensive mission statement tend to be high performers? Does having a comprehensive mission cause high performance?
> Do local service stations need to have written vision and mission statements? Why or why not?
> Do local service stations need to have written vision and mission statements? Why or why not?
> Drucker says that the most important time to seriously reexamine the firm’s vision/mission is when the firm is very successful. What is this?
> As cited in the chapter, Edward Deming, a famous businessman, once said, “In God we trust. All others bring data.” What did Deming mean in terms of developing a strategic plan?
> Why are strategic planning retreats often conducted away from the work site? How often should firms have a retreat, and who should participate in them?
> Explain how developing a mission statement can help resolve divergent views among managers in a firm.
> Compare and contrast vision statements with mission statements in terms of composition and importance.
> Why do many firms move too hastily from vision/mission development to devising alternative strategies?
> If your company does not have a vision or mission statement, describe a good process for developing these documents.
> What are the three stages in strategic management? Which stage is more analytical? Which relies most on empowerment to be successful? Which relies most on statistics? Justify your answers.
> What are some different names for “mission statement,” and where will you likely find a firm’s mission statement?
> Are “strategic management” and “strategic planning” synonymous terms? Explain.
> Compare and contrast vision statements with mission statements in terms of composition and importance.
> How do you think an organization can best align company mission with employee mission?
> Compare and contrast the near-end-of-chapter quotes by Alexander the Great and Bear Bryant regarding the importance of strategic planning in military or athletic settings. How applicable are those quotes in a business setting? Discuss.
> Some excellent nine-component mission statements consist of just two sentences. Write a two-sentence mission statement for a company of your choice.
> Explain why both internal and external factors should be stated in specific terms, i.e., using #’s, %’s, $’s, ratios, and comparisons over time, to the extent possible.
> Explain how a firm such as J. Crew can be doing well, but does not have an effective vision or mission statement.
> Compare the opossum and turtle to the woolly mammoth and saber tooth tiger in terms of being adept at adapting.
> Explain why internal strengths and weaknesses should be stated in divisional terms to the extent possible.
> Strengths and weaknesses should be determined relative to competitors, or by elements of being, or relative to a firm’s own objectives. Explain.
> List four components and four guidelines that the J. Crew mission statement fails to exhibit. Write a new and improved mission for J. Crew.
> Compare your college/university’s vision and mission statements to a leading rival institution
> Describe the three activities that comprise strategy evaluation.
> Write a Vision And Mission Statement For Pepsico
> Develop an improved J. Crew mission statement
> Strategic planning for your university.
> Update the PepsiCo cohesion case.
> Gather strategy information for PepsiCo.
> Compare business strategy with military strategy.
> Distinguish between the “self-concept” and the “philosophy” components in a mission statement. Give an example of each for your university.
> How often do you feel a firm’s vision and mission statement should be changed?
> List eight benefits of having a clear mission statement.
> List seven characteristics of a mission statement.
> Distinguish between the “self-concept” and the “philosophy” components in a mission statement. Give an example of each for your university.
> Find the court decision located at T.C. Memo. 1992-204. a. Which court heard the case? b. Who was the judge(s)? c. Which tax year(s) is in question and in what year was the case decided? d. Which code section(s) was at issue? e. What was the issue(s) inv
> Find the court decision located at T.C. Memo. 2015-189. a. Which court heard the case? b. Who was the judge(s)? c. In what year was the case decided? d. What was the issue(s) involved?
> Find the court decision located at T.C. Memo 2013-144. a. Which court heard the case? b. Who was the judge(s)? c. In what year was the case decided? d. What was the issue(s) involved?
> Define and distinguish between general (interpretive) and legislative regulations.
> Find the court decision located at 142 T.C. 297. a. Which court heard the case? b. Who was the judge(s)? c. In what year was the case decided? d. What was the issue(s) involved?
> Find the court decision located at 144 T.C. 279. a. Which court heard the case? b. Who was the judge(s)? c. In what year was the case decided? d. What was the issue(s) involved?
> Locate the court case David H. Hoffman, et ux., T.C. Memo 2016-69. Using only the headnotes, answer the following questions: a. What issue(s) did the court address? b. What was the ruling of the court?
> Locate the court case Vichich, 146 T.C. No. 12 (2016). Using only the headnotes, answer the following questions: a. What issue(s) did the court address? b. What was the ruling of the court?
> Locate the court case Ellis v. Jarvis et al., 117 AFTR 2d 2016-1932. Using only the headnotes, answer the following questions: a. What issue(s) did the court address? b. What was the ruling of the court?
> Use a tax service to give three parallel citations for Falstone, Inc. v. Commissioner, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case decided in 2003. Using only the headnote(s), determine the issue(s) in this case.
> May Circular 230 practitioners advertise on television? On the Internet? If so, what standards are applied to the advertisements?
> Use an online tax service (e.g., Checkpoint, LexisNexis, CCH IntelliConnect) to answer the following questions: a. What is the general content of Internal Revenue Code § 28? b. What is the general content of Internal Revenue Code § 141? c. What is the ge
> Use a tax service to give three parallel citations for Baral v. U.S., a Supreme Court case decided in 2000. Using only the headnote(s), determine the issue(s) in this case.
> Use a tax service to give two parallel citations for U.S. v. D’ambrosia, a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals case decided in 2002. Using only the headnote(s), determine the issue(s) in this case.
> Why should the tax researcher exercise caution in relying on an IRS publication, such as published instructions to tax forms, in undertaking a research project?
> Read and brief the following cases: a. Thornton v. Commissioner, 2003-2 USTC ¶50,695 b. Stamoulis v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2007-38
