Final answer:
A customer-focused business tends to align with customers' needs and adopt a long-term perspective, aiming for sustainable profits and long-run survival. Managers in these businesses look beyond immediate financial metrics and focus on building long-term customer relationships. This approach often includes focusing on a company's core competency to meet customer demands effectively. Therefore, the correct option is A.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the statements given about businesses with a strong customer focus, the one that holds true is that a customer-focused business is in sync with customers' needs and requirements, not with competitors' strategies. Unlike a short-term approach that prioritizes immediate gains, a customer-focused business often adopts a long-term perspective to build lasting relationships with customers and understand their evolving needs. This approach can lead to higher customer satisfaction, greater brand loyalty, and ultimately, more sustainable profits. Shareholders in such businesses are usually more interested in the long-run survival and growth of the company, rather than short-term earnings. Furthermore, in a customer-focused business, managers are often judged not just on immediate financial results but on how well they cultivate these customer relationships and ensure the future success and long-run survival of the business. This differs from businesses that lack a strong customer focus, where managers might only be judged based on short-term financial metrics like the last quarter's results.
Additionally, businesses that center around their core competency, often find success as they can deliver products or services that align closely with customer needs, leveraging their areas of expertise to stand out in the market. This strategy supports the notion of a strong customer focus, as it caters directly to the customer demand by harnessing the company's strengths.