Amity Campus

Uttar Pradesh
India 201303

ASSIGNMENTS
PROGRAM: MFC
SEMESTER-III
Subject Name
Study COUNTRY
Roll Number (Reg.No.)
Student Name

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:
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INSTRUCTIONS
a) Students are required to submit all three assignment sets.
ASSIGNMENT
Assignment A
Assignment B
Assignment C

DETAILS
Five Subjective Questions
Three Subjective Questions + Case Study
Objective or one line Questions

MARKS
10
10
10

b)
c)
d)
e)

Total weightage given to these assignments is 30%. OR 30 Marks

All assignments are to be completed as typed in word/pdf.
All questions are required to be attempted.
All the three assignments are to be completed by due dates and need to be
submitted for evaluation by Amity University.
f) The students have to attached a scan signature in the form.

Signature :
Date
:

_________________________________
_________________________________

( ) Tick mark in front of the assignments submitted

Assignment
Assignment B
Assignment C
A

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
SECTION A
1. A mission describes what the organization is now; a vision statement describes what the
organization would like to become. Differentiate between corporate mission and strategic
vision by taking corporate illustrations.
2. Explain the concept of Porters generic strategies. Discuss cost leadership strategy,
differentiation strategy and focus strategy with examples.
3. Discuss basic model of strategic management. Explain four basic elements:

Environmental scanning
Strategy formulation
Strategy implementation
Evaluation and Control

4. How are the following prepared?

Strategic advantages profile (SAP).
Environmental threat opportunity profile (ETOP). Take the case of a bicycle company
for discussion.
5. What is value-chain analysis? Consider the components of the value chain. Do any
provide the potential to generate competitive advantage?

SECTION B
1. Discuss the nature and scope of corporate management and its role in non-business
organisation, giving examples.
2. Discuss Vertical and Horizontal Integrations with examples.
3. The Balanced scorecard is a management system (not only measurement system) that
enables organizations to clarify their vision strategy and translate them into action. It
provides a clear prescription to as to what companies should measure in order to balance

the financial perspective. Following the Balanced Scorecard approach helps:

Balance financial and non-financial measures

Balance short and long-term measures
Balance performance drivers (leading indicators) with outcome measures (lagging
indicators)
Lead to strategic focus and organizational alignment.

Discuss the above statement.

SECTION B
Read the following case carefully and answer the questions that follow:
ASIAN PAINTS (INDIA) LIMITED
The siege is over, and the time has come for the leader to sally forth into greener pastures.
Even as the paints industry is emerging from the shadow of recession, the Rs. 560 crore
Asian Paints (India) Limited (APIL) is mixing new shades to emerge with winning colours.
Says managing director Atul Choksey: "With proper planning and a comprehensive approach
to issues, we intend to keep pace with the growth of the industry".
APIL is actually targeting a growth rate that is higher than the 9 to 10 per cent that the
industry has been averaging recently. In the year to March 1994, the company notched up a
gross sales turnover of Rs. 559.96 crore (net sales: Rs. 401.96 crore), a growth of 10.8 per
cent over the previous year. Net profit also registered a healthy growth of 31.5 percent to
Rs. 25.61 crore. The results have tidied up the company's balance sheet, which had begun
to look a bit ragged.
APIL's approach is multipronged: expansion of its product range and introduction of value
added, niche products in the industrial paints area; line extensions of existing products to
target lower income market segments both in rural and urban areas; expansions of
production capacity and continuous modernisation to keep pace with the growing demand;
and diversification in to the unrelated but synergistic area of ceramics.
All these strategies are part of what the company's top management terms "harnessing our
full potential", or the challenges that lie ahead. They are also aimed at retaining leadership
in a recession-free industry over the next few years.
APIL is the leader in the entire industry, comprising both organised as well as unorganised
players, with a market share of about 19 per cent. The company is confident of the fact that
its share of industry sales is twice as much as that of its nearest competitor, Goodlass
Nerolac. APIL also dwarfs the others in size, its net sales nearly twice that of Goodlass
Nerolac, well over twice that of third-placed Berger Paints, and nearly four times that of
fourth-placed Jenson and Nicholson (see Exhibit-I).
It is only wary of the expanding unorganised sector which seems to be eating up the share
of firms in the organised sector. Nevertheless, given the multiplicity of shades it is capable
of, APIL reckons it can look forward to a compound growth in its market share.
Exhibit I
How They Compare
(Figures in Rs. crore for 1993 - 94)
Company
Asian Paints

Net sale Net Profit

Net Profit/Sales
(%)

401.96 25.62

6.36

Goodlass Nerolac

205.88 8.05

3.91

Berger Paints

174.95 3.24

1.85

Jenson & Nicholson 110.33 1.97

1.72

Garware Paints

2.57

2.33

Shalimar Paints**

102.59 1.60

1.56

Bombay Paints

37.81

0.08

**

106

0.03

* 18 months to September 1993

**12 months to March 1993
But though the good times are back, the company is not content to sit back and relax. The
last three years, during which the paints industry went through a trough, saw APIL taking a
beating (though it remained the market leader all through), with its paints division showing
a negative growth of 3.5 per cent in terms of volume.
With the rupee having been progressively devalued during the years 1989-92, and with high
rates of inflation also rampant over this period, excise duties and other levies too exerted
upward pressure on paint prices, and this served to depress demand. An additional
complication, reinforcing this trend, was created by the difference in the selling prices of
paints made by the organised and unorganised sectors.
The first signs of recovery came with the Union Budget of 1993 which cut excise and custom
duties, Excise duties were reduced to 30 per cent and customs duties were cut from 85 to
65 per cent- This provided a respite to the industry by facilitating a rolling back of prices,
and it began to grow at about 2 per cent a year. In spite of intermittent social disturbances
in 1993, the industry gradually responded and so did the demand for its products.
Simultaneously, the automobile industry, which is a major user industry for paints, also
began to emerge from the two-year recession.
A gradual revival of the industry brought along a new threat for the seven major players
from the organised segment. Uneven prices during the recession years had the unorganised
competitors grabbing at a significant chunk of the market.
Budget concessions brought relief to the organised sector, but its constituents also found
themselves having to compete with an unorganised sector that had grown to become a
significant threat, even as the prospect of competition from imports began to worry the
organised sector.
APIL'S largest new venture will be a diversification into ceramics, though the project is still
at the planning stage. The decision to enter a new field is fuelled by the management's
perception that the ceramics industry has tremendous potential for growth.
Even though the company has no experience in the production and technology aspects of
ceramic tiles manufacture, it has opted for ceramics because the marketing will involve
utilisation of its existing distribution network for paints. The rationale is that since paints
and ceramics are both building materials, APIL'S existing customer base (which can serve as
a ready-made market) will be targeted for its ceramics products.

"With our extensive distribution network and stocking points, we can reach even the remote
markets. So marketing ceramics is not likely to be a problem," says Choksey. The plan is to
penetrate the market as quickly as possible, and grab a substantial chunk of industry sales.
The company will initially start with ceramic tiles, but there is no plan to restrict itself to any
specific market segment.
The project involves a Rs. 70 crore initial investment in the first phase, which involves
installation of a capacity of 23,000 tonnes per year. This will be followed in a couple of years
by the second phase, which will see an increase in the capacity to 50,000 tonnes.
The new project is scheduled for completion by the end of 1996, and it will, in all probability,
be located in Gujarat. This is because any location in that state will have the advantage of
proximity to the raw material supplying areas in Gujarat and Rajasthan. APIL is currently
negotiating with foreign collaborators for the technology, which will have to be imported.
The technology will also have to be adapted to Indian conditions.
While putting a few eggs in a new basket to ensure that fluctuating fortunes in the paint
industry do not have the effect of hurting the company's bottomline yet again, APIL is not
ignoring its bread-and-butter business - that of paints. Over the past year, a variety of new
brands have been added to its product range. The company has made an attempt to extend
its marketing and distribution beyond the country's major towns, to which its activities were
hitherto confined.
'Utsav', an economically priced brand, was launched last year and is targeted at small
households with limited budgets. This project concentrated mainly on consumers in Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat, thus widening the accessibility of its products to all
consumer levels.
General Manager Mr. P.M. Murthy says that "the degree of penetration concentrates on how
economical it is to do business." He says that though this new product has performed
favourably, it has not contributed much to the profits of the year. "Of course, it promises to
be a very good and attractive segment for future business," he adds, when asked about its
future growth and profit potential.
Other new products also include powder paints to be used for both auto and non-auto
appliances. There are other products like wood finishings (Touch-wood) that takes care of
refinishings on furniture.
To strengthen its industrial product base, APIL has collaborated with PPG industries, an
American firm, and thus enjoys the use of cathode electro deposition primer (CED). The
company has concluded a tie-up with Nippon Paints for original equipment paint products
and with Sigma Coatings of Holland for corrosion coatings. The technology that has been
brought home as a result of these ventures is modified at the company's plant at Bhandup,
so as to make it suitable for the Indian climate.
With a better product range on offer now, APIL is just waiting for a greater awareness of
industrial paint applications to develop in the Indian market; the presumption is that the
demand for this particular product is still latent. For its decorative paints, the company has
gone in for differential pricing to encourage all segments of the market.

The company is intent on a continuous modernisation and upgradation of its technology and
its assets, so as to keep in tune with the changing requirements of the marketplace. In
addition, it is also working on plans to increase production capacity owr the next few years.
Besides the activity on the domestic front, APIL is increasing its overseas presence as well.
One of the few Indian companies with overseas subsidiaries in the South-Pacific region, APIL
is now setting up a new subsidiary in Australia. Its existing ventures abroad too have
reported healthy results: Asian Paints (South Pacific) has registered a 12 per cent growth,
Asian Paints (Tonga) grew at a rate of five per cent, Asian Paints (Solomon Islands) at over
10 per cent and Asian Paints (Nepal) at over 18 per cent.
With a new subsidiary at Vanuatu (New Hebrides) and a joint venture unit in Townsville
(Australia), APIL has established at least a foothold in the international markets.
When asked about the threats facing the company, Choksey chuckles and says he prefers to
call them challenges. "We need to meet the demands of this growing organisation- of our
workforce, our technology and our assets. A major point to be tackled is to be able to meet
the growing demand for our product and to create a greater awareness for our newer
products," he says.
Over the first few months of the current financial year, sales volume has been growing at a
rate of 14 per cent, well above the industry average. With the recession firmly behind it and
government levies no longer inflating its prices, the paint industry seem to be on an
uptrend. But the APIL management has its work cut out for it : it will not merely have to
gear up to meet the burgeoning demand, but will also have to work hard at retaining and
then increasing its market share.
Questions:
(a) What corporate goal has the company adopted for the next few years and with what
strategies does the company propose to realise the above goal?
(b) What threats is the company facing or/and might face in future? What has it done
and/or what could it further do to safeguard itself from threat(s)?
(c) Evaluate the new strategies of Asian Paints (India) Limited, particularly its proposed
foray into ceramics.
(d) What action plans has the company proposed to strengthen its product base?
(e) Classify all the strategic plans or proposed strategic actions of the company for achieving
growth against suitable headings, e.g., Diversification, Joint Ventures, etc.,

NOTE: Rs.1 crore = Rs. 100 Lakh = Rs. 10 million.

For simplicity Rs. 50 = I US$
Rs. 1 crore = 0.2 million US$

Assignment C
Question 1
It is generally agreed that the role of strategy is to:
a) Make best use of resources
b) Achieve competitive advantage
c) Make profits for the organization
d) Make the best products and services
Question 2

According to Porter (1996) in his article what is strategy? strategy is about being:
a) Different
b) Better
c) Bigger
d) Open

minded

Question 3

An organization's external environment consists of the general or macro environment

and:
a) The

internal environment
b) The competitive environment
c) The specific environment
d) The micro-environment

Question 4

Alfred Chandler believed that:

a) Strategy

should be developed first and the organization tailored to meet the requirements of the

strategy
b) Set the strategy according to the organization's strengths and weaknesses
c) Strategy should be allowed to develop incrementally
d) Strategy should be allowed to evolve over time

Question 5

The key activities in the strategic management process are:

a) Analysis,

formulation, review
implementation, review
c) Analysis, formulation, implementation
d) Formulation, analysis, implementation
b) Analysis,

Question 6

Strategy analysis is also referred to as:

a) SWOT

analysis

b) Strategy

diagnosis
c) Rational analysis
d) Situation analysis

Question 7

Strategy formulation takes place at two levels. These are:

a) Conscious

and sub-conscious
Implicit and explicit
c) Corporate and business
d) Business and operational
b)

Question 8

The goals of an organization derive from its:

a) Strategy
b) Purpose
c) Objectives
d) Mission

Question 9

The statement of an organization's aspirations can be found in the organization's:

a) Mission

statement
b) Strategic objectives
c) Actions
d) Vision statement

Question 10

Decisions regarding which industries to compete in are the concern of:

a) Business

level strategy
b) Corporate level strategy
c) Mergers and acquisitions
d) Functional level strategy

Question 11

Competitive strategy is also known as:

a) Competitive

positioning
b) Corporate level strategy
c) Industry strategy
d) Business level strategy

Question 12

In the SWOT analysis, the 'strengths' and 'weaknesses' part refers to:
a) What

the organization does internally in relation to competitors

potential level of profits in the industry
c) The quality of the products and services in relation to competitors
d) The potential level of sales in the market
b) The

Question 13

A method for imagining alternative, possible futures is known as:

a) Scenario

imagining
composition
c) Scenario planning
d) Scenario envisioning
b) Scenario

Question 14

The general environment is also referred to as the:

a)

Micro-environment

b) Macro-environment
c) Competitive
d) External

environment
environment

Question 15

The general environment can be broken down using a PEST analysis. Conventionally the
PEST analysis consists of:
a) Political,

economic, scientific, technological

environmental, social, technological
c) Political, economic, social, technical
d) Political, economic, social, technological
b) Political,

Question 16

Competitive rivalry will be high if:

a) The

industry is fragmented
are a few strong players in the industry
c) There is a high degree of differentiation
d) The industry is in its infancy
b) There

Question 17

A substitute product or service is:

a) A competitor's

product or service

b) An

alternative way of meeting the same need

c) A new entrant into the industry
d) A less attractive way of meeting the same need

Question 18

Buyer power is high if:

a) Differentiation

is low
costs are low
c) They have little information
d) The buyer requires a high quality product for their own production
b) Switching

Question 19

In Porter's Five Forces, the 'threat of new entrants' relates to:

a) Barriers

to entry

b) Substitutes
c) Switching
d) Buyer

costs
power

Question 20

The value chain is subdivided into two main headings. These are primary activities and:
Peripheral activities
b) Support activities
c) Secondary activities
d) Outsourced activities
a)

Question 21

The decision regarding whether to do manufacturing within the organization or to subcontract it to someone else is popularly known as:
a) An

'in or out' decision

or buy' decision
c) A 'do-it-yourself' decision
d) A 'vertical-integration' decision
b) A 'make

Question 22

WH-Smith the stationer and bookseller has a store on most high streets in the UK. In
terms of the SWOT analysis, this could be considered a:
a) Strength
b) Weakness
c) Strength

and a weakness

d) Neither

strength nor a weakness

Question 23

A market is defined by:

a) Demand

conditions and customers

conditions and suppliers
c) Supply conditions and production technology
d) Supply conditions and customers
b) Demand

Question 24

Porter's generic strategies are:

a) Low

price, differentiation, focus

leadership, differentiation, cost focus, focus differentiation
c) Price leadership, differentiation, focus
d) Low cost, differentiation, focus differentiation
b) Cost

Question 25

According to Porter, if an organization does not follow either a cost reduction strategy or
a differentiation strategy they are:
a) Hybrid
b) Stuck

in the middle
c) Typical
d) No frills

Question 25

In Porter's Generic Strategies model, a focus strategy involves:

a) Selling

a limited range of products

to a narrow customer segment
c) Selling to one region only
d) Selling simple products that are cheap to produce
b) Selling

Question 26

A differentiation strategy offers:

a) A broad

segment something unique

segment something unique
c) A broad segment something more expensive
d) A narrow segment something more expensive
b) A narrow

Question 27

Kim and Mauborgne (2005) argue that organizations should try to capture uncontested
market space. These uncontested markets are known as:
a) Blue

skies
b) Blue oceans
c) White skies
d) Fresh snows

Question 28

In Ansoff's matrix, 'product development' involves going in the direction of:

a) Present

products to present markets

products to new markets
c) New products to present markets
d) New products to new markets
b) Present

Question 29

Horizontal integration is where:

a) A firm

takes over a supplier

takes over a distributor
c) A firm takes over a competitor
d) A firm takes over a manufacturer
b) A firm

Question 30

reduces uncertainty
a) Negotiating
b) Planning
c) Organizing
d) Leading

Question 31

are those plans that are extended beyond three years

a) Short-term

plans
b) Long-term plans
c) Specific plan
d) Strategic plan

Question 32

Value Chain is an effective tool for..................................

a) External

Analysis
b) Internal Analysis
c) Self analysis
d) Systematic analysis

Question 33

The preparation of ETOP involves:

a) Dividing

environment into sectors, sub factors, analyze impact of each sector & sub factor on
organization, description of impact of each sub factor into a statement which is positive, neutral
or negative.
Description of impact of each sub factor into a statement which is positive, neutral or
negative. , dividing environment into sectors, sub factors, analyze impact of each sector & sub
factor on organization
b)

Question 34

Make or buy decision is related with ________strategy

a) Vertical

(forward) integration

b)

Vertical (backward) integration

c)

Horizontal integration

c)

Diversification

Question 35

Strategic management is mainly the responsibility of

a) Top

Management

b)

Senior Management

c)

General Management

c)

Middle Management

Question 36

A hardware manufacture enters into software is an example of ________integration

a) Vertical

(forward) integration

b)

Vertical (backward) integration

c)

Horizontal integration

c)

Diversification

Question 37

True/False
Question: Scheduling is a part of strategic management.
Correct Answer
a)

False

b) True

Question 38

Factors to be considered in political- legal environmental scanning are

govt. policies, stability, philosophy of govt. , legal system, implementation, infrastructure ,
import-export
b) govt. policies, stability, philosophy of govt. , legal system, implementation, infrastructure
a)

Question 39

True/False
Micro environment is the internal environment of a company.
Correct Answer
a)

False

b) True

Question 40

Perspective which does not belong to four Balanced Scorecard perspectives is:
a) The

Business Process Perspective

b)

The Customer Perspective

c)

The Learning & Growth Perspective

d)

The Business Reengineering Perspective