IMANET IMANET Certifications IMANET-CMA Questions & Answers

• Question 1191:

  The cheapestwayto gain market share ordinarily is by targeting

  A. Close competitors.

  B. Distant competitors.

  C. Weak competitors.

  D. Bad competitors.

  Correct Answer: C

  Using the results of a customer value analysis, a firm may target a given class of competitors to gain market share. Targeting weak competitors is usually the cheapestwayto gain market share because weak competitors generally do not offer much resistance.

• Question 1192:

  Which of the following are steps in a customer value analysis (OVA)?

  l. Determining what customers value.

  Il. Having customers rank the relative significance of the elements of customer value.

  Ill. Evaluating Howell the firm and its competitors perform relative to the elements of customer value.

  IV.

  Focusing on performance with respect to each element of customer value.

  A.

  I, Ill, and IV only.

  B.

  I, II, and Ill only.

  C.

  I, II, and IV only.

  D.

  I, II, Ill, and IV.

  Correct Answer: D

  The steps in a OVA are to

  Determine what customers value.

  Assign quantitative amounts to the elements of customer value and have customers rank their relative

  significance.

  Evaluate how well the firm and its competitors perform relative to each element.

  Focus on performance with respect to each element in relation to competitors in a given market segment.

  Repeat the foregoing steps as circumstances change.

• Question 1193:

  Which of the following is not a step in the establishment of a competitive intelligence system?

  A. Data analysis.

  B. Data collection.

  C. Information dissemination.

  D. Classification of competitors.

  Correct Answer: D

  A competitive intelligence system is established to identikit competitor strategies, monitor their new product introductions, analyze markets for the firm's own new product introductions and acquisitions, obtain information about nonpublic firms, evaluate competitor RandD activity, learn about competitors' senior executives, and perform other necessary information gathering tasks. Its establishment consists of setting up the system, collecting data, analyzing the data, and disseminating the information. Classification of competitors, however, is not a step in this process. Competitors are classified, and targeted by a firm based on that classification, following the results of a customer value analysis (CVA).

• Question 1194:

  Marketing research may rely on primary or secondary sources of information. Which research approach gathers primary information through moderated discussions?

  A. Surveys.

  B. Focus groups.

  C. Experimentation.

  D. Evidence of purchasing behavior.

  Correct Answer: B

  Focus group discussions are guided by a moderator and recorded for later analysis. This approach collects information about participant's attitudes toward a product, company, service, etc. Consumer goods 1,research has popularized the use of focus groups.

• Question 1195:

  Which element of the internal data collection process is most likely to yield up4o-date information about prices?

  A. Marketing intelligence system.

  B. Competitive intelligence system.

  C. Sales information system.

  D. Transaction processing system for the order-to-payment cycle.

  Correct Answer: C

  Sales information systems using the Internet, extranets, and EDI allow the generation and sharing of very up-to-date information about prices, per-item sales, per-store sales, inventories at any level, and much more.

• Question 1196:

  A firm may seek marketing information using its internally collected data. An approach that uses advanced statistical and mathematical methods to find hidden relationships in the data is

  A. Data mining.

  B. Data warehousing.

  C. Multidimensional data analysis.

  D. Electronic data interchange (EDI).

  Correct Answer: A

  A firm with a decision-support system (DSS) may exploit advanced database technology to analyze vast amounts of data. One approach is online analytical processing, or multidimensional data analysis. It allows a user to have multiple perspectives of the same data. Another approach is data mining. It allows a user to discover hidden relationships in the data, such as associations (links to a given event), sequences of events, classifications (descriptions of the group to which an item belongs, or clusters (new groupings not previously known). Consequently, a firm might detect trends or underserved customer market segments. Data mining requires advanced statistical and mathematical methods, for example, predictive modeling, neural networking, and automatic interaction detection.

• Question 1197:

  Which of the following statements regarding budgets is false?

  A. Budgets present organizational plans in a formal, logical, and integrated manner.

  B. Budgets are used only as a planning function.

  C. Budgets may be developed for cash lows or labor usage.

  D. A budget is a plan that contains a quantitative statement of expected results.

  Correct Answer: B

  Budget formulation is a planning function; however, budgets are also useful control devices. Budgets provide a basis for control of performance through comparisons of actual with budgeted data. They permit analysis of variations from plans and signal the need for corrective managerial action.

• Question 1198:

  Which of the following activities would likely not be a consideration in strategic planning?

  A. New product development.

  B. Capital budgeting

  C. Mergers

  D. Materials procurement.

  Correct Answer: D

  Strategic, or long-term, planning covers long periods of time and is concerned with matters such as new product development, capital budgeting; major financing; and mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Operational matters, such as material procurement, are not a part of strategic planning, but they are a consideration in short- term, or operational, planning.

• Question 1199:

  Effective cost capacity management

  A. Minimizes the value delivered to customers.

  B. Maximizes required future investments.

  C. Matches the firm's resources with current and future market opportunities.

  D. Is limited to eliminating short-term worth.

  Correct Answer: C

  According to SMA 4Y, Measuring the Cost of Capacity, maximizing the value created within an organization starts with understanding the nature and capabilities of all of the company's resources. Capacity is defined from several different perspectives. Managing capacity cost starts when a product or process is first envisioned. It continues through the subsequent disposal of resources downstream. Effective capacity cost management requires supporting effective matching of a firm's resources with current and future market opportunities.

• Question 1200:

  When demand uncertainty is low, firms tend to adopt a strategy of preemptive expansion. The conditions for successful preemption expansion include which of the following?

  A. The firm should avoid market signals that alert competitors to the firm's plans.

  B. The expansion should be small relative to the market to minimize risk.

  C. Economies of scale should be large relative to demand.

  D. The business should be strategically vital to competitors.

  Correct Answer: C

  Economies of scale should be large in relation to demand, orthe learning-curve effect should give an initial large investor a permanent cost advantage. For example, the preemptive firm may be able to secure too much of the market to allow a subsequent firm to invest at the efficient scale. That is, the residual demand available to be met by the later firm is less than the efficient scales of production. The later firm therefore must choose between intense competition at the efficient scale or a cist disadvantage.