UGC NET Management Unit - VI Syllabus

Unit - VI syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Unit - VI in UGC NET Management, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Concept, Process, Decision & Types

   overview

   Examined as a single unit within Unit - VI — no further topic split in the official outline.

2. 2

   Strategic Analysis

   2 topics

   • External Analysis
     • PEST
     • Porter’s Approach to Industry Analysis
   • Internal Analysis
     • Resource Based Approach
     • Value Chain Analysis
3. 3

   Strategy Formulation

   3 topics

   • SWOT Analysis
   • Corporate Strategy
     • Growth
     • Stability
     • Retrenchment
     • Integration
     • Diversification
   • Business Portfolio Analysis
     • BCG
     • GE Business Model
     • Ansoff’s Product Market Growth Matrix
4. 4

   Strategy Implementation

   1 topic

   • Challenges of Change
5. 5

   Developing Programs

   1 topic

   • Mckinsey 7s Framework

Unit - VI flashcards for UGC NET Management

23 of 50 cards from the Unit - VI deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is External Analysis in strategic management?

   The process of examining an organization's external environment to identify opportunities and threats arising from forces outside the firm's control, such as economic, social, political, technological, competitive, and market factors.

2. What does a PESTEL analysis examine in the external environment?

   Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal factors that affect an organization's operations and strategy.

3. In Porter's Five Forces, what are the five competitive forces?

   1) Threat of new entrants, 2) Bargaining power of suppliers, 3) Bargaining power of buyers, 4) Threat of substitute products/services, and 5) Rivalry among existing competitors.

4. According to Porter's Five Forces, what determines the threat of new entrants?

   Barriers to entry such as economies of scale, capital requirements, product differentiation, switching costs, access to distribution channels, and government policy.

5. What is the difference between the macro (general) environment and the micro (task/industry) environment in external analysis?

   The macro environment consists of broad societal forces (PESTEL) affecting all firms, while the micro environment consists of industry-specific actors—competitors, customers, suppliers—that directly affect a particular firm.

6. What is an 'opportunity' versus a 'threat' in external analysis?

   An opportunity is a favorable external condition the firm can exploit for advantage; a threat is an unfavorable external condition that could harm the firm's performance or position.

7. What is Internal Analysis in strategic management?

   The evaluation of an organization's internal resources, capabilities, and competencies to identify its strengths and weaknesses relative to competitors.

8. What are the four criteria of the VRIO framework for evaluating resources?

   Value, Rarity, Imitability (costly to imitate), and Organization (the firm is organized to exploit the resource).

9. According to the Resource-Based View (RBV), what is the source of sustained competitive advantage?

   Resources and capabilities that are valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and non-substitutable (VRIN), and that the firm is organized to exploit.

10. What is a 'core competency' as defined by Prahalad and Hamel?

    A unique bundle of skills and technologies that provides access to a wide variety of markets, contributes significantly to customer perceived benefits, and is difficult for competitors to imitate.

11. What is Porter's Value Chain?

    A framework that disaggregates a firm into its strategically relevant activities to understand cost behavior and sources of differentiation; it separates primary activities from support activities.

12. What are the five primary activities in Porter's Value Chain?

    Inbound logistics, Operations, Outbound logistics, Marketing & Sales, and Service.

13. What are the four support activities in Porter's Value Chain?

    Firm infrastructure, Human resource management, Technology development, and Procurement.

14. What is the difference between tangible and intangible resources in internal analysis?

    Tangible resources are physical/financial assets (plant, equipment, cash) that are easily valued; intangible resources are non-physical assets (brand, reputation, patents, knowledge, culture) that are harder to value and often more valuable for advantage.

15. What is the distinction between a resource and a capability?

    A resource is an asset the firm owns or controls (inputs); a capability is the firm's ability to deploy and coordinate resources to perform a task or activity.

16. What does SWOT stand for?

    Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

17. In SWOT analysis, which elements are internal and which are external?

    Strengths and Weaknesses are internal factors; Opportunities and Threats are external factors.

18. What is the purpose of a SWOT analysis?

    To assess an organization's strategic position by matching internal capabilities (strengths/weaknesses) with external conditions (opportunities/threats) to formulate strategy.

19. What are the four strategy combinations in a TOWS matrix?

    SO (Strengths-Opportunities/maxi-maxi), WO (Weaknesses-Opportunities/mini-maxi), ST (Strengths-Threats/maxi-mini), and WT (Weaknesses-Threats/mini-mini).

20. What is the difference between a SWOT matrix and a TOWS matrix?

    SWOT simply lists internal and external factors; TOWS extends SWOT by systematically matching factors to generate actionable strategies (SO, WO, ST, WT).

21. What is an SO (Strengths-Opportunities) strategy in the TOWS matrix?

    A strategy that uses the firm's internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities; the most desirable, aggressive position.

22. What is a WT (Weaknesses-Threats) strategy in the TOWS matrix?

    A defensive strategy that aims to minimize internal weaknesses and avoid external threats, often involving retrenchment, divestiture, or liquidation.

23. What is Corporate-level strategy?

    Strategy concerned with the overall scope and direction of the organization—what businesses to compete in and how to add value across the portfolio of businesses (the question of 'where to compete').

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