- A.A 2x2 of relative market share against market growth, classifying business units as Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks, or Dogs to guide portfolio investment.
- B.A 2x2 of products (existing/new) against markets (existing/new), defining four growth strategies — penetration, development, product development, and diversification.
- C.Barney's test for sustainable competitive advantage — a resource must be Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, and supported by Organization.
- D.Porter's decomposition of a firm into nine activities — five primary, four support — used to identify sources of cost advantage or differentiation. ✓
Value Chain Analysis is porter's decomposition of a firm into nine activities — five primary, four support — used to identify sources of cost advantage or differentiation. The other options describe related but distinct concepts in Strategic Frameworks — see the deep-dive guide for the full distinction.
How to think about questions like this
Strategic advantage lives in specific activities, not in vague capabilities. Questions like this test whether you can distinguish Value Chain Analysis from neighboring concepts. The most common trap is choosing a closely-related concept that sounds similar but applies in a different context.
When you see a definition question on an exam, do two things: (1) translate the question into your own words, then (2) generate the answer in your own words before reading the options. This avoids the cognitive bias of recognizing a familiar phrase as correct just because it is familiar.