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 from the students Concentration section. 2. Students have to answer only one question from the Core Business Topics sele cted from the two picked straws and the picked question from the students Concentra tion section. Questions 1. Core Business Topic Questions 1.1 Discuss the reasons why the goals of a business manager and the goals of a b usiness investor may be different. Consider different types of businesses. Provi de an example to support your answer. 1.2 The intent of business research is the development of new knowledge. The intent of a Google search is to gather inform ation. Discuss the differences between business research and an information sear ch and provide an example that illustrates your explanation. Do differences in r eporting research or search results exist? 1.3 You are a manufacturer of industr ial products that are sold to other manufacturers and to consumers. Describe and give examples of the fundamental differences between their goals and methods fo r marketing to other businesses and for marketing to consumers. 1.4 Some firms a nd their products face intensively competitive markets while other firms and the ir 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 holds that in competitive mar kets price is a function of demand and supply. Describe and give an example of t he effect of a shortage of supply as opposed to a shortfall in demand. What woul d Page 1 of 6

Lincoln University MBA Program Comprehensive Exam Questions you do as a business manager meeting a mismatch between your supply and customer s demand? 1.6 Explain the distinctions between Financial Accounting and Manageri al Accounting and discuss goals and objectives for each of them. Provide an exam ple to support your point of view. 1.7 Implementing organization change can crea te employee fears, dissatisfactions, and resistance. Do you think that such resi stance is always negative? Discuss the actions the organization s leadership could t ake to prevent, reduce or productively address adverse employee responses to cha nge. 1.8 Corporation growth strategies often include efforts to achieve a cost l eadership position in their industry and competitively differentiate their produ cts 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 issu es. Explain this statement in terms of the differing responsibilities of the CEO and CFO. 1.10 Describe the difference between corporate level strategies and bu siness level strategies in terms of their intent and implementation. Provide exa mples to illustrate the difference. 1.11 Business plans play a very important ro le 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 Effect ive corporate governance includes the establishment of a well defined set of pol icies related to ethical behavior and ensuring that required and appropriate int ernal controls are in place and effective. Discuss the purpose of establishing a nd implementing both of these sets of policies in terms of risk and responsibili ty. Spring 2011 Page 2 of 6

Lincoln University MBA Program Comprehensive Exam Questions 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 suppor t of your answer. 2.2 Describe and define the key factors that influence the str ucturing of a business as a partnership, S Corporation, C corporation or Limited Liability Corporation. Provide examples that illustrate your response. 2.3 It i s 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 ar e the members of these groups and what management needs to do to satisfy their i nterests. 2.4 What set of strategies might a business develop and implement if i t 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 importan t issue in the success or failure of a business. Support your answer with exampl es that illustrate differing management styles. 3. International Business 3.1 Business firms seeking to expand globally may employ several different growt h strategies. Define and compare licensing, franchising, branching, or creation of a subsidiary as a growth strategy together with their advantages and disadvan tages. Provide examples. 3.2 Many companies operating globally choose to engage in hedging against foreign currency risk exposure. Explain the conditions that c reate a foreign currency risk exposure and describe the various hedging strategi es 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 disadv antages that implementation of such strategies may create. Use a risk versus rew ard approach in forming your response. 3.4 Firms that make direct foreign invest ments must evaluate such opportunities requiring capital investment very differe ntly from the methods Spring 2011 Page 3 of 6

Lincoln University MBA Program Comprehensive Exam Questions used to evaluate domestic investments. Describe these differences from both a ca pital budgeting and country risk perspective. 3.5 You are running an internation al organization with employees from different cultures working together. As a ma nager what steps could you employ to take advantage of the cultural diversity an d increase business productivity while eliminating or minimizing problems that c ould stem from cultural differences. 4. Finance Management and Investment Banking 4.1 Major long-term investment decisions are extremely important to the continui ng growth and financial success of a business firm. Explain how long-term invest ment opportunities are analyzed, evaluated and rejected or accepted. 4.2 Risk ve rsus return is a core concept in Finance that describes investor behavior. Discu ss 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 co st of capital is calculated and used in capital budgeting where firms seek to id entify the most productive investment opportunities from among competing alterna tives. 4.4 Discuss the differences between transaction, operating (economic) and translation exposure and the ways in which global firms seek to protect themsel ves from these currency exchange rate related risks. 4.5 Describe the major reas ons business firms may seek to expand through international investments and oper ations and explain the risk vs. return implications of decisions to become a glo bal enterprise 5. Human Resource Management 5.1 For many firms employees represent the single largest category of expense. D iscuss 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 empl oyee satisfaction has a direct relationship to their productivity. Discuss the a ctions 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. Spring 2011 Page 4 of 6

Lincoln University MBA Program Comprehensive Exam Questions 5.3 In today s global business environment the number of employees represented by un ions is shrinking. Explain the possible causes of reduced union influence in ter ms of the advantages and disadvantages employee union representation bring to a business. 5.4 Identify and discuss the various compensation strategies many comp anies employ to both attract and retain key management and professionally qualif ied employees (i.e. engineers and scientists). Provide your opinion as to the va lue and success of the compensation plans you present in your discussion. 5.5 An increasing number of firms are developing and implementing management successio n 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 su ch 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 globa l environment. Discuss the combination of technology and business skills that on e needs as an IS professional to ensure the survival and success of a business o rganization. 6.2 Describe the types of information systems used in companies of different types and sizes. What business or management functions they support? D iscuss the impact the current developments in E-business and Mbusiness have on t he structure and use of information systems. Provide examples. 6.3 One of today s ho ttest business trends and technical topics is cloud computing. Compare and contr ast cloud computing with client/server architecture. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each approach from the business perspective. How the use of clo ud computing will impact the processes of systems analysis and design, software development and project management? 6.4 Describe the database modeling and desig n activities occurring in each phase of the information systems development proc ess. What role the analysis of business objects and business rules play in this process? Provide examples. Spring 2011 Page 5 of 6

Lincoln University MBA Program Comprehensive Exam Questions 6.5 Describe the current developments in E-business and commerce and Mbusiness a nd commerce and their impact on B2C and B2B interactions. What advantages and ch allenges for the economy of your country these developments can have? Updated: 4/12/2011 Spring 2011 Page 6 of 6