MBA Comprehensive Exam Questions Summer 2011

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY MBA Comprehensive Examination Questions Summer 2011 Examination Procedure 1. Students randomly pick two chips with question numbers from the Core Business Topics section and one chip with a number nu mber from the students ’ Concentration section. 2. Students have to answer only one question from the Core Business Topics selected from the two picked straws and the picked question from the students’ Concentration section.

Questions 1. Core Business Topic Questions 1.1 Discuss the reasons why the goals of a business manager and the goals of a business investor may be different. different. Consider different different types of businesses. Provide an example to to support your your answer. 1.2 The intent of business research is the development development of new knowledge. knowledge. The intent of a Google Google search is to gather information. information. Discuss the differences between business research and an information search and provide an example example that illustrates illustrates your explanation. explanation. Do differences differences in reporting research or search results exist? 1.3 You are a manufacturer manufacturer of industrial products that that are sold to other manufacturers and and to consumers. consumers. Describe and give examples examples of the fundamental differences between their goals and methods for marketing to other businesses and for marketing to consumers. 1.4 Some firms firms and their products products face intensively competitive markets markets while other firms and their products have little to no effective competition. Explain why this condition may exist, which economic models describe both situations, and give examples to support your answer. 1.5 Economic theory generally generally holds holds that in competitive competitive markets markets price is is a function of demand demand and supply. Describe and give an example of the the effect of a shortage of supply supply as opposed to a shortfall in demand. demand. What would Page 1 of 6

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Comprehensive Exam Questions

you do as a business manager meeting a mismatch between your supply and customers demand? 1.6 Explain the distinctions between Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting and discuss goals and objectives for each of them. Provide an example to support your point of view. 1.7 Implementing organization change can create employee fears, dissatisfactions, and resistance. Do you think that such resistance is always negative? Discuss the actions the organization’s leadership could take to prevent, reduce or productively address adverse employee responses to change. 1.8 Corporation growth strategies often include efforts to achieve a cost leadership position in their industry and competitively differentiate their products from those of their competitors. Explain why a company may choose to employ only one of these strategies. Provide an example in support of your position. 1.9 CEOs focus much of their attention on periodic statements like balance sheets and income statements while CFOs focus most of their attention on cash flow issues. Explain this statement in terms of the differing responsibilities of the CEO and CFO. 1.10 Describe the difference between corporate level strategies and business level strategies in terms of their intent and implementation. Provide examples to illustrate the difference. 1.11 Business plans play a very important role in the process of creating a business. Identify the types of information that is essential to include in a business plan and provide examples of the various ways that plan can be used when forming or restructuring a business. 1.12 Effective corporate governance includes the establishment of a well defined set of policies related to ethical behavior and ensuring that required and appropriate internal controls are in place and effective. Discuss the purpose of establishing and implementing both of these sets of policies in terms of risk and responsibility.

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2. General Business 2.1 Distinguish between the role of leadership and the role of management in an organization. Can the same person perform both roles? Provide examples in support of your answer. 2.2 Describe and define the key factors that influence the structuring of a business as a partnership, S Corporation, C corporation or Limited Liability Corporation. Provide examples that illustrate your response. 2.3 It is common to refer to two groups who have significant interests in the success of a business. These two groups are shareholders and stakeholders. Identify who are the members of these groups and what management needs to do to satisfy their interests. 2.4 What set of strategies might a business develop and implement if it wishes to differentiate itself from its competitors? Provide business examples. 2.5 Explain what is meant by the term “management style” and why it can be an important issue in the success or failure of a business. Support your answer with examples that illustrate differing management styles.

3. International Business 3.1 Business firms seeking to expand globally may employ several different growth strategies. Define and compare licensing, franchising, branching, or creation of a subsidiary as a growth strategy together with their advantages and disadvantages. Provide examples. 3.2 Many companies operating globally choose to engage in hedging against foreign currency risk exposure. Explain the conditions that create a foreign currency risk exposure and describe the various hedging strategies that can be employed to reduce or offset this transaction exposure risk. 3.3 Many of today’s global companies use outsourcing and off -shoring strategies to gain competitive or growth advantages. Identify some of the key advantages and disadvantages that implementation of such strategies may create. Use a risk versus reward approach in forming your response. 3.4 Firms that make direct foreign investments must evaluate such opportunities requiring capital investment very differently from the methods

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used to evaluate domestic investments. Describe these differences from both a capital budgeting and country risk perspective. 3.5 You are running an international organization with employees from different cultures working together. As a manager what steps could you employ to take advantage of the cultural diversity and increase business productivity while eliminating or minimizing problems that could stem from cultural differences.

4. Finance Management and Investment Banking 4.1 Major long-term investment decisions are extremely important to the continuing growth and financial success of a business firm. Explain how long-term investment opportunities are analyzed, evaluated and rejected or accepted. 4.2 Risk versus return is a core concept in Finance that describes investor behavior. Discuss the meaning of this concept and provide an example of how we can measure risk and return for equity type investments. 4.3 Explain how the weighted average cost of capital is calculated and used in capital budgeting where firms seek to identify the most productive investment opportunities from among competing alternatives. 4.4 Discuss the differences between transaction, operating (economic) and translation exposure and the ways in which global firms seek to protect themselves from these currency exchange rate related risks. 4.5 Describe the major reasons business firms may seek to expand through international investments and operations and explain the risk vs. return implications of decisions to become a global enterprise

5. Human Resource Management 5.1 For many firms employees represent the single largest category of expense. Discuss this statement in terms of how it might serve to shape the firm’s recruiting, hiring and compensating its employees. 5.2 There is general agreement that employee satisfaction has a direct relationship to their productivity. Discuss the actions a company may decide to employ to create or improve the level of employee satisfaction and commitment to the growth and increased success of their firm.

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5.3 In today’s global business environment the number of employees represented by unions is shrinking. Explain the possible causes of reduced union influence in terms of the advantages and disadvantages employee union representation bring to a business. 5.4 Identify and discuss the various compensation strategies many companies employ to both attract and retain key management and professionally qualified employees (i.e. engineers and scientists). Provide your opinion as to the value and success of the compensation plans you present in your discussion. 5.5 An increasing number of firms are developing and implementing management succession plans that often include all levels of management and executive officers. Many of these plans can be quite costly. Provide an example of the way a succession plan can be structured and your opinion as to the importance of a firm having such a plan.

6. Management Information Systems 6.1 Describe the changing role of the information systems professional in highly computerized and interconnected enterprise acting in a highly competitive global environment. Discuss the combination of technology and business skills that one needs as an IS professional to ensure the survival and success of a business organization. 6.2 Describe the types of information systems used in companies of different types and sizes. What business or management functions they support? Discuss the impact the current developments in E-business and Mbusiness have on the structure and use of information systems. Provide examples. 6.3 One of today’s hottest business trends and technical topics is cloud computing. Compare and contrast cloud computing with client/server architecture. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each approach from the business perspective. How the use of cloud computing will impact the processes of systems analysis and design, software development and project management? 6.4 Describe the database modeling and design activities occurring in each phase of the information systems development process. What role the analysis of business objects and business rules play in this process? Provide examples. Spring 2011

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6.5 Describe the current developments in E-business and commerce and Mbusiness and commerce and their impact on B2C and B2B interactions. What advantages and challenges for the economy of your country these developments can have?

Updated: 4/12/2011

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MBA Comprehensive Exam Questions Summer 2011

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