02138

The World of Harvard

The CBM

Med school grads have to pass boards; lawyers have to pass the bar. Biz school grads, however, skip off to work with nothing but a diploma. HBS alum Devi Vallabhaneni thinks that's bad business.Read More

Test your skills with the following sample questions from the CBM.

Which of the following questions is central to a functional-level strategy?

A. What business are we in?
B. How do we compete?
C. How do we support our chosen strategy?
D. What business do we buy?

The Leadership Grid used the two leader behaviors that are called _______.

A. Employee-centered and job-centered
B. Consideration and initiating structure
C. Concern for people and concern for production
D. Relationship-oriented and task-oriented

Which of the following is an example of a hygiene factor?

A. Achievement
B. Recognition
C. Pay
D. Responsibility

The ethical decision-making approach that views ethical decisions from the actor's perspective and then judges whether the decisions were ethical is:

A. Ethical fundamentalism
B. Situational ethics
C. Ethical relativism
D. Act utilitarianism

Which of the following equations can calculate total slack in a project?

A. Latest finish time (LF) - Earliest finish time (EF)
B. Latest finish time (LF) - Latest start time (LS)
C. Latest finish time (LF) - Earliest start time (ES)
D. Earliest finish time (EF) - Earliest start time (ES)

Which of the following is NOT an example of an activity ratio used to measure a supplier's financial condition?

A. Inventory turnover
B. Average collection period
C. Fixed asset turnover
D. Return on equity

Which of the following characterizes a "mass service"?

A. A low degree of labor intensity and a low degree of interaction and customization
B. A low degree of labor intensity and a high degree of interaction and customization
C. A high degree of labor intensity and a high degree of interaction and customization
D. A high degree of labor intensity and a low degree of interaction and customization

Demand overbookings in service firms are at their peak when:

A. The even will take place immediately
B. The event will take place in the near future
C. The event will take place in the distant future
D. The event will take place on short notice

Customers do NOT use brands to do which of the following?

A. Simplify purchase choices
B. Obtain the lowest possible prices
C. Reduce purchase risk
D. Assess the general image of the product

Which of the following is the correct sequence of stages that customer go through before purchasing a new product?

A. Awareness, Attitude, Purchase Intention, Beliefs/Knowledge, Purchase
B. Awareness, Purchase Intention, Attitude, Beliefs/Knowledge, Purchase
C. Awareness, Beliefs/Knowledge, Purchase Intention, Attitude, Purchase
D. Awareness, Knowledge, Liking, Preference, and Purchase

Meeting a competitor's price cuts will ______, while meeting its price increases will ______.

A. Eliminate a competitive disadvantage; increase margins
B. Create a competitive advantage; reduce margins
C. Decrease demand; increase margins
D. Eliminate a competitive disadvantage; reduce margins

A 50% markup on cost is equivalent to a markup on price of:

A. 25%
B. 33%
C. 50%
D. 100%

There are four unique service characteristics that distinguish goods from services. The one that is the primary source of the other three characteristics is:

A. Intangibility
B. Inseparability
C. Homogeneity
D. Perishability

Which of the following is NOT true regarding kaizen?

A. Kaizen requires substantial financial investment
B. Kaizen is different than innovation
C. Kaizen concentrates on small, gradual improvements over the long term
D. Any improvement activity is a part of the kaizen philosophy

What is a psychological contract?

A. The written employment contract between a job applicant and a prospective employer
B. The unwritten expectations employees and employers have about the nature of their work relationships
C. The sum of a new employee's experiences during the first days on the job
D. The trade-off between wages and benefits in the overall compensation package

In measuring criterion-related validity, an employment-related test is the _____ and the desired knowledge, skills, abilities, and measures of job performance are the ______.

A. Validator; job statistics
B. Predictor; criterion variables
C. X-variable; Y-variable
D. Measure; performance scores

A vacant lot, originally purchased for $40,000, is sold for $80,000 in cash. What is the effect of the sale on the accounting equation?

A. Assets increase $80,000; owner's equity increases $80,000
B. Assets increase $40,000; owner's equity increases $40,000
C. Assets increase $80,000; liabilities decrease $40,000; owner's equity increases $40,000
D. Assets increase $40,000; no change for liabilities; owner's equity increases $80,000

Project A has an IRR of 15%. Project B has an IRR of 18%. Both projects have the same risk. Which of the following statements is most correct?

A. If the WACC is 10%, both projects will have a positive NPV, and the NPV of Project B will exceed the NPV of Project A
B. If the WACC is 15%, the NPV of Project B will exceed the NPV of Project A
C. If the WACC is less than 18%, Project B will always have a shorter payback than Project A
D. If the WACC is greater than 18%, Project B will always have a shorter payback than Project A?

In cross-cultural communication, high-context cultures:

A. Value expertise and performance
B. Make agreements on the basis of general trust
C. Like efficient negotiations
D. Like to get down to business right away
 

Read more about Devi Vallabhaneni and the CBM in our current issue.

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