________________ allow(s) a firm to differentiate its products and services from those of its rivals, creating higher value for the customer or offering products and services of comparable value at lower costcore competenciesFirms that can employ and establish _________________, are more likely to protect their competitive advantage from being copied and/or eroding awayisolating mechanismsDue to resource immobility, a critical assumption in the resource-based model of a firm, theresource differences between firms last for a long timeHow are the critical assumptions of the resource-based model of a firm fundamentally different from the way in which a firm is viewed in the perfectly competitive industry structure?In perfect competition, all firms have access to the same capabilities, whereas in the resource-based model, resource differences exist between firms in the same industryDynamic capabilities are especially relevant for surviving and competing in markets thatshift quickly________ is the benefit that is missed or given up when an investor, individual or business chooses one alternative over anotherOpportunity costUnder the ________ framework, producer surplus is important in the quest for competitive advantage because this is the profit that a firm captures when producing and selling a good or serviceeconomic value creationThe types of assets that are the primary focus of accounting data but are no longer most important to competitive advantage aretangibleEconomic value creation is best expressed asconsumer surplus plus firm profitWhich of the following is an advantage of applying the economic value creation perspective to assess a firm's performance?In economic value perspective, analysts not only consider historical costs, but also opportunity costsAll of the following are generic business-level strategies exceptfocused market strategyOne of the reasons that big box retailers like Home Depot are able to achieve economies of scale is thatthey are able to take advantage of physical properties and maximize their scale efficiencies by stocking more merchandise and handling inventory more efficientlyThe goal of a strategic position is to create the largest gap possible between the ________ that a firm creates through its offerings and the ________ required to create these offeringsValue; CostWhich of the following is a firm effect that has an impact on the competitive advantage of a firm?the value and the cost position of the firm relative to its competitorsWhat must a cost-leadership strategy accomplish to be successful?It must reduce the firm's cost below that of its competitors while offering adequate valueThe type of customers vital to a firm introducing a new innovation are the ________, who are willing to pay higher prices and like to tinker with new products.early adoptersWhich of the following is not an advantage when it comes to "first-mover advantages"?First movers must educate potential customers about the productA disruptive innovation leverages ________ technologies, while architectural innovations are based on ________ technologies.New; ExistingIncumbent firms prefer to focus on incremental innovations which reinforce their established organizational structure and power distribution and avoid radical innovation that could disrupt their existing power distribution. This is known asOrganizational InertiaWhy is the phase after the growth stage of the industry life cycle referred to as the shakeout stage?he weaker firms are forced out of the industry in this stageDecisions relating to "what stages of the industry value chain to participate in" determine a firm'svertical integrationWhich of the following is an example of an external transaction cost?the cost of searching for a contract manufacturerA drawback of short-term contracting as an alternative to making a component in-house is thatthe supplying firm has no incentive to make any transaction-specific investments to increase performance or qualityHow does a conglomerate benefit from following an unrelated diversification strategy?The conglomerate can overcome institutional weaknesses, such as a lack of capital markets, in emerging economiesIn the context of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) growth-share matrix, if one of the strategic business units of a conglomerate is categorized under dogs, the management shoulddivest the strategic business unit