Quiz 4

1. WordPerfect announced the imminent release of a windows-based word

processing software package in 1990 right after MS Word was introduced by
Microsoft; the reality was that WordPerfect's release was several months away.
This is what is called a preannouncement.
Answer:
True False

Government regulation can make a technology the dominant design.

Answer:
True False

As Motorola made more and more cell phones, the learning curve would cause it to be
able to produce them with less cost and less waste.
Answer:
True

There are never any advantages to a government mandated dominant design of

technology.
Answer:
True False

Disetronic dominates the market for diabetic insulin pumps. As a result, there is a wider
range of high quality complementary goods available for the pump, and there are more
physicians with training in using the Disetronic pump than for other insulin pumps. In
this situation, customers may be tolerant of the company having a near monopoly
position in the market -- the benefits may exceed the costs.
Answer:
True
.
6

After Acme company developed its first few R&D projects it found that it began to get
better at subsequent development projects, even if they were not based on the same
technologies. This is probably due to the principle or effect called
Choose one answer.
a. repetitive motion.
b. intelligence magnification.
c. programming simplification.
d. absorptive capacity.
7

Tom had tried to mount different types of motors on buffing machines to speed up the
polishing of wax floors and failed 12 times. He should realize that
Choose one answer.
a. he will never be able to do it if he has failed that many times.
b. he is building a knowledge base of how buffers work that will help him in
the future.
c. he is doing something terribly wrong and start over from scratch.
d. he is developing a failure mentality which will become a self-fulfilling
prophecy and cause him to fail in the future.

When can it be better for consumers for one technology to have a near monopoly in the
market?
Choose one answer.
a. when there are strong benefits to consumers of a large installed base of a
technology, e.g., when compatibility is important.
b. when the availability of complementary goods that are compatible with the
technology is very important.
c. either (or both) of the above

When you buy a product on eBay you can pay for it using an online payment system
called PayPal (which accepts credit cards or electronic funds transfers). PayPal is offering
a technology that offers value during the __________ stage of buyer experience
according to the Kim and Mauborgne model.
Choose one answer.
a. purchase
b. delivery
c. use

d. maintenance
10

When both Nintendo and Sega claimed to have over 60 percent market share of the video
game console market, both were trying to influence
Choose one answer.
a. users' perceptions and expectations about the installed base.
b. perceived technical utility.
c. pre-order demand.
d. technology bias.

11

WordPerfect Corporation noticed during the 1980s that the more of its word processing
software packages it sold, the more customers complained or suggested improvements.
As a result of this the word processing software program could be
Choose one answer.
a. steadily improved.

b. taken from the market so all the bugs could be removed.

c. replaced by a completely new program.
d. none of the above.

12

If both Turbo Shoes and Jet Shoes have 50 percent market share in the new gliding shoe
market, but Jet Shoes has greater stand-alone technical utility, which product is likely to
be more attractive to customers?
Choose one answer.
a. Turbo Shoes
b. Jet Shoes

c. they will be equally attractive

d. one cannot tell without more information; customer perceptions can be as
influential as actual installed base or technical utility.

13

During the 1990s more and more people started using cell phones. As a result the cell
phone
Choose one answer.
a. began to deteriorate in quality because the industry could not keep up with
production.
b. became more expensive in response to increased demand.
c. became better in quality.
d. stabilized in quality.
.
14

Most graphic artists, newspapers, magazines, and other professionals who work intensely
with pictures use Photoshop. To be perceived as a better value, a new graphics program
would have to offer more value than Photoshop's _________________
Choose one answer.
a. complementary goods
b. installed base
c. complementary goods and installed base
d. technological ability, complementary goods, and installed base

15

Disetronic dominates the insulin pump market for diabetics. The benefits of it being
practically a monopoly probably include(s)
Choose one answer.
a. greater availability of belts, holsters, syringes, and cartridges to go with the
pump.
b. it will be easier for medical personnel to train diabetics in how to use the pump.

c. the Disetronic pump will continue to improve technically.

d. all of the above.