international business chp 15 module

According to the text, the two keys to interorganizational relationships are:

1. Commitment 2. trust

What two factors are critically important to the success of global supply chain coordination?

1. coordination 2. integration

Increasing inventory turnover can lead to what two outcomes for a business?

1. decrease in working capital needs 2. reduction in storage costs

What are three strategic roles a foreign factory might have?

1. offshore factory 2. server factory 3. outpost factory

`What are two potential "hidden" costs of outsourcing production to a foreign location?

1. poor product quality 2. high employee turnover

What are three factors that would lead a company to establish a concentrated production configuration?

1. product serves universal needs 2. value-to-weight ratio is high 3. high fixed costs

Supply chain management refers to the integration and coordination of what three activities from raw material to the end-customer?

1. purchasing 2. logistics 3. operations

What are the three broad groups of factors that a company should consider when making decisions on where to produce its products?

1. technological factors 2. production factors 3. country factors

Which three decisions are part of global inventory management?

1. where to locate inventory in the supply chain 2. how much inventory to hold 3. in what form to hold inventory

server factory

A factory established to overcome tangible and intangible barriers in the global market place which supplies specific country or regional markets around the world

production

All the activities involved in creating a product

Garrison Electric Corp. redesigned its manufacturing area and has a dozen large machines that are controlled by a computer. Each machine is able to switch quickly between the types of parts it produces based on the computer command it receives. What type of technology is Garrison Electric Corp. using?

Flexible machine cells

A company that engages in international purchasing, but does so in a reactive and uncoordinated way, is at which level of global purchasing?

Level II

A company that engages in global purchasing activities that are integrated across worldwide locations and functional groups is at which level of global purchasing?

Level V

mass customization

The term used to describe a company's ability to produce a customized product at low cost

lean production

also referred to as flexible manufacturing technology

Using a web-or ______-based information system allows a company to speed up production, if necessary, by flying in key parts to the facility.

cloud

When flexible manufacturing technologies are available, this bolsters the argument for _____ production configurations.

concentrated

Which aspect of global logistics is concerned with the decision-making process on the raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods inventory for a multinational corporation?

global inventory management

A source factory ______ than an offshore factory.

has a more significant strategic role

What term is given to the activities that encompass the movement of physical materials through the supply chain?

logistics

Which form of transport is the least expensive?

ocean

Which type of factory can be viewed as an information-gathering unit?

outpost

When discussing global supply chains, _____ is/are sometimes referred to as manufacturing or operations.

production

A business uses the _____ function to obtain raw materials it needs to manufacture goods.

purchasing

Which type of packaging is designed to contain several primary packages?

secondary

The main difference between a contributor factory and a(n) ______ factory is that a contributor factory has responsibilities for product and process engineering and development.

server

six sigma

set of techniques and tools for process improvement.

When trade barriers are high, fixed costs are low, important exchange rates are unstable, and the value-to-weight ratio is low, a ______ production configuration is preferred.

decentralized

Speeding up inventory turnover can lead to a(n) ______ in warehousing and storage costs and free up working capital.

decrease

offshore factory

developed and set up to assemble or manufacture products in a country where labor and/or raw materials are cheaper, for export and/or eventual import into the manufacturer's home country.

The portion of the supply chain from the production facility to the end-consumer is the ______ supply chain.

downstream

True or false: The term production is only used to denote a physical product.

false

True or false: When considering the building blocks for global supply chains, all relationships between vendors, suppliers, and partners are equally valuable.

false

Artisan Inc. needs to find a company that will store its products and when requested provide customization -- then ship the products to the final customer. What type of facility can help Artisan Inc. with this?

global distribution center

operations but can be found in foreign subsidiaries is known as ______.

global learning

contributor factory

has its own infrastructure when it comes to development, engineering, and production, and often competes with the firm's home factories for testing new ideas and products.

Which of the two factors would lead a firm to choose a concentrated production configuration?

high fixed costs high minimum efficient scale of production

If the demand for rocking chairs is 5 million per year and the minimum efficient scale for a plant to manufacture these chairs is 100,000 per year, it (is or is not?) economically feasible for the company to manufacture rocking chairs in several locations.

is

The ______ the minimum plant scale relative to total global demand, the ______ is the argument for centralizing production.

larger; greater

A motorcycle company is establishing a new factory to create processes, products, and technologies that the firm will use throughout its global operations. This factory would best be described as being a(n) ______ factory.

lead

In which type of factory should cutting-edge production take place or be tested?

lead

Flexible manufacturing technology is also referred to as ______ production.

lean

minimum efficient scale

level of output at which most plant-level scale economies are exhausted scale of output a plant must operate to realize all major plant-level scale economies Flexible manufacturing technology

Kalee works for Wolf Furniture Corp. and it is her job to control the inventory of raw materials, component parts, and products used in the manufacturing of the company's office furniture line. Kalee works in _____.

logistics

Web-based information systems can improve the ______ function by better tracking component parts, optimizing production schedules, and by providing good information about the company's supply chain.

logistics

When a company makes a make-or-buy decision, the strategic level is typically focused on the ______-term while the operational level is more focused on the ______-term.

long; short

One strategic objective of the logistics and production functions is to ______ costs, when moving from raw materials to the finished product.

lower

When a company uses flexible manufacturing technology to develop a low cost, customized product, it is using the process of

mass customization

SInce unit costs decrease as plant output increases, a ______ of output is necessary for a plant to realize all major plant-level scale economies.

minimum efficient scale

The ______ is the smallest amount of production a company can achieve while still taking full advantage of economies of scale with regards to supplies and costs.

minimum efficient scale

A(n) _______ factory is developed and set up to assemble or manufacture products in a country where labor and/or raw materials are cheaper, for export and/or eventual import into the manufacturer's home country.

offshore

Manuel works on the assembly line at a factory in Mexico that produces component parts for a Japanese automaker. The factory is not involved in any decisions on the automobiles but is simply designed for parts production. This is an example of a(n) _____ factory.

offshore

outpost factory

placed near a competitor or the most-demanding customers and acts as an intelligence gathering unit.

Renee buys a new cell phone. It comes in a molded plastic package. This is an example of ______ packaging.

primary

Global Supply Chain Coordination

refers to the integrated and coordinated decisions of key global supply chain activities.

ISO 9000 is used in the EU marketplace as a way to _____.

regulate manufacturing processes

A high value-to-weight ratio means that

transportation costs are low

True or false: Low fixed costs can make it economical to set up production facilities in several locations at once.

true When fixed costs are low, it can be more economical for a company to manufacture in multiple locations which can also allow the firm to better accommodate demands for local responsiveness.

True or false: A global distribution center is used to store quantities and assortments of products and allow for customization of those products.

true at the center of the global supply chain

transportation

The movement of raw materials, component parts, and finished goods through the supply chain

Given equivalent factor costs, which three conditions should have the most influence on a firm's decision on where to develop a production site?

1. cultural 2. economic 3. political

Flexible manufacturing involves a range of manufacturing technologies designed to do what three things?

1. improve quality control 2. reduce setup times 3. increase utilization of machines

Which three factors would lead a company to adopt a decentralized production configuration strategy?`

1. low fixed costs 2. low value- to-weight ratio 3. high trade barriers

What are two major strategic objectives of logistics and production?

1. lower costs 2. increase product quality

ISO 9000

In the European Union, companies must be certified under ISO 9000. This is a certification of a manufacturing firm's processes and products

One reason a company would use a(n) _____ factory is that it can minimize the costs that would be necessary if the production facility were further away from its customers.

Server

Which type of factory is used and treated the same as any factory in a global firm's home country?

Source

purchasing

The process of a business or organization attempting to acquire goods or services to accomplish the goals of its enterprise

make or buy decision

Whether a firm should perform a value creation activity themselves or outsource

A benefit of flexible machine cells is

a reduction in work in progress

What are the considerations that help determine where an international firm will locate its production facilities?

ability to minimize costs and improve quality

JIT

an inventory strategy companies employ to increase efficiency and decrease waste by receiving goods only as they are needed in the production process, thereby reducing inventory costs. This method requires producers to forecast demand accurately.

Which of these products would have a low value-to-weight ratio?

bulk chemicals