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Strategic Planning & Analysis Flashcards

7 cards from real CSM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

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  1. Which strategic analysis tool categorizes external factors into Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal dimensions?

    Answer: PESTEL Analysis

    PESTEL Analysis examines six macro-environmental factors that can affect an organization's strategy.

  2. In the context of strategic planning, what does 'competitive parity' mean for a software organization?

    Answer: Matching competitors' capabilities to avoid disadvantage

    Competitive parity means achieving at least the same level of performance as competitors so the organization is not at a strategic disadvantage.

  3. A software manager uses scenario planning primarily to:

    Answer: Prepare strategies for multiple plausible future environments

    Scenario planning helps managers prepare contingency strategies by exploring multiple plausible futures rather than relying on a single forecast.

  4. Which metric best measures the financial viability of a strategic software initiative by comparing expected benefits to costs over time?

    Answer: Return on Investment (ROI)

    ROI compares the financial gain from an initiative to its cost, making it the standard metric for evaluating financial viability.

  5. What is the primary purpose of a balanced scorecard in software management strategy?

    Answer: Align business activities to vision across financial, customer, process, and learning perspectives

    The balanced scorecard translates an organization's vision into a set of performance measures spanning four perspectives to ensure holistic alignment.

  6. When conducting a gap analysis in strategic planning, what does the 'gap' represent?

    Answer: The difference between current state and desired future state

    A gap analysis identifies the distance between where an organization currently is and where it wants to be strategically.

  7. Which approach is most aligned with a 'blue ocean strategy' in software product management?

    Answer: Creating an uncontested market space with a unique product offering

    Blue ocean strategy focuses on creating new market space rather than competing in existing, contested markets.