MGMT 341

T/F: Consistent quality is not important to today's consumers.

False

T/F: Environmental scanning refers to the unique resources and strengths that an organization's management considers when formulating a strategy.

False

T/F: Productivity is measured as input divided by output.

False

T/F: Quality is more easily measured in a service process than in a manufacturing process.

False

_____________ is how industrial buyers often refer to delivery speed.

Lead time

_____________ is the elapsed time between receiving a customer's order and filling it.

Lead time

T/F: A core process is a set of activities that delivers value to external customers.

True

T/F: A firm's core competencies should determine its core processes.

True

T/F: As a functional area of a business, Operations translates materials and services into outputs.

True

T/F: At the process level, it is much easier to distinguish whether the process is providing a service or manufacturing a product.

True

T/F: Delivery speed is measured by the elapsed time between receipt of a customer's order and filling it.

True

T/F: Flexibility is a possible competitive priority.

True

T/F: Labor productivity is an index of the output per person or hours worked.

True

T/F: Manufacturing processes tend to be capital intensive, while service processes tend to be more labor intensive.

True

T/F: Manufacturing processes usually have long response times compared to service processes.

True

T/F: Most products today are composites of global materials and services from throughout the world.

True

T/F: Operations management refers to the direction and control of inputs that transform processes into products and services.

True

T/F: Strategic plans are developed farther into the future than tactical plans.

True

T/F: The three main line functions of any business include Operations, Finance and Marketing.

True

_____________ is the ability to accelerate or decelerate the rate of production quickly to handle large fluctuations in demand.

Volume flexibility

A company's ability to support varying rates of production is best described as: a.volume flexibility. b.variety. c. consistent quality. d.development speed.

a

All of the following decisions fall within the scope of operations management except for: a. conducting financial analysis b. design of production processes c. location of facilities d. quality management e. facility maintenance

a

Competitive priorities define the dimensions on which companies should excel in producing their products or services. Which one of the following statements is TRUE? a.A firm that competes on the dimension of volume flexibility is more likely to manufacture products that experience a seasonal demand variation. b.It is impossible for a firm to improve cost and quality simultaneously. c.A firm offering little customization cannot compete simultaneously on the dimension of consistent quality. d.A firm that competes on the dimension of customization tends to have operating systems that are inflexible.

a

Quickly filling a customer's order is evidence of: a.delivery speed. b.lead time. c.development speed. d.variety.

a

The process that facilitates the placement of orders and identifies, attracts, and builds relationships with external customers is called the: a.customer relationship process. b.new service development process. c.order fulfillment process. d.supplier relationship process.

a

Which of the following is an example of a core competency? a.Facilities b.Top quality c. Low-cost operations d.On-time delivery

a

A process produces 5000 units of output that yield $6 per unit. Resources contributed to this output are 200 hours of labor at $15 per hour, materials at $700 and overhead at $300. What is the labor productivity? a. 20 units per hour b. 25 units per hour c. 30 units per hour d. 40 units per hour

b

It takes the Blacksburg shipyard twenty six weeks with 500 workers to build a small tanker. Material costs are $32 million and overhead costs are $2 million. Workers cost $40 per hour including benefits and work 40 hours per week. The ship sells for $75 million. What is the multifactor productivity ratio? a.Less than 1.0 b.Greater than 1.0 but less than or equal to 2.0 c.Greater than 2.0 but less than or equal to 3.0 d.Greater than 3.0

b

Productivity can be improved by: a. increasing inputs while holding outputs steady b. decreasing inputs by holding outputs steady c. increasing inputs and outputs in the same proportion d. decreasing outputs while holding inputs steady

b

Regardless of how departments like Accounting, Engineering, Finance, and Marketing function in an organization, they are all linked together through: a.management. b.processes. c. customers. d.stakeholders.

b

Using an airline example for competitive priorities, the process capability of handling service needs of all market segments and promotional programs would be best described by: a.top quality. b.variety. c. consistent quality. d.delivery speed.

b

Which of the following statements is more of a general characteristic of a manufacturing organization, as compared to a service organization? a.Short-term demand tends to be highly variable. b.Operations are more capital intensive. c.Outputs are more intangible. d.Quality is more difficult to measure.

b

the volume at which the total revenues equal total costs

break-even point

A company's ability to reconfigure processes to meet diverse types of customer needs would be best described by: a.top quality. b.variety. c. customization. d.delivery speed.

c

A lawn fertilizer company has identified a group of customers, such as Costco and Wal-Mart, that has a high degree of variability in its demands for fertilizer. This is an example of needs assessment on the basis of: a.product/service needs. b.delivery system needs. c. volume needs. d.industry factors.

c

In an assembly operation at a furniture factory, six employees assembled an average of 450 custom cabinet drawers per 5-day week. What is the labor productivity of this operation? a. 90 chairs per worker per day b. 20 chairs per worker per day c. 15 chairs per worker per day d. 75 chairs per worker per day

c

Operations management is part of a production system that can be described in the following manner: Organization: inputsprocessesoutputs. Which one of the following correctly describes a production system? a.Airline: pilotsplanestransportation b.Bank: tellerscomputer equipmentdeposits c. Furniture manufacturer: woodsandingchair d.Telephone company: satellitescablescommunication

c

Refresh your understanding of the word customer in operations management and identify the statement that is TRUE. a. Manufacturing systems can have only internal customers because other departments are responsible for serving the external customer. b. Only service organizations have external customers because service is provided in the presence of a customer. c. Customers can be internal or external in both manufacturing and service operations. d. The concept of an external customer is no longer relevant because delivery is given by third-party distribution companies.

c

The process that includes the activities required to produce and deliver the service or product to the customer is called the: a.customer relationship process. b.new service development process. c.order fulfillment process. d.supplier relationship process.

c

Which of the following is not a reason why there are economies of scale? a. spreading fixed costs over more units b. finding process advantage by dedicating resources to individual products c. reducing construction costs by building smaller facilities d. better bargaining position and quantity discounts on purchase materials

c

Which of the following statements about competitive priorities is TRUE? a.Firms emphasizing low price have slack capacity and hold large inventories in order to be efficient. b.To survive, all firms in an industry must compete on the same dimensions of competitive priority. c.United Parcel Service (UPS) competes on the dimension of on-time delivery in part by using its logistics and warehousing expertise to deliver a very large volume of shipments on-time across the globe. d.A good delivery time is less than a few weeks, irrespective of the industry under consideration.

c

Which of the following statements concerning manufacturing and service organizations is generally true? a.A service facility is more likely to serve national or even international markets. b.Manufacturing organizations generally have more difficulty in matching capacity with demand. c.In many service organizations, such as hospitals and entertainment centers, customers themselves are inputs to the transformation processes. d.Most service organizations can buffer themselves against uncertain demand by creating inventories and smoothing output levels.

c

Which of the following statements makes the preference matrix approach attractive? a. criterion weights must be specified before examining the alternatives b. selection of proper weights is subjective c. it allows the manager to deal with several performance criteria d. criterion weights can be specified after examining the alternatives

c

Which one of the following statements concerning Ford Assembly Plant is best? a. production planning is informal and does not project very far into the future b. scheduling process is very fluid c. manufacturing process is highly capital intensive d. there is a buildup of inventories between each successive operation

c

amount of reserve capacity a company has to prepare for sudden fluctuations in demand/output or temporary losses of production capacity

capacity cushion

The framework for carrying out all of an organization's functions

corporate strategy

A firm gains competitive advantage by outperforming competitors in terms of competitive priorities, which fall into four major groups: _____________, ____________, _____________, and _____________.

cost, quality, time, flexibility

A company's ability to quickly introduce a new service or product would be best described as: a.volume flexibility. b.variety. c. consistent quality. d.development speed.

d

A firm that competes based on development speed would not: a.have critical suppliers participate in the process. b.have a high level of cross-functional coordination between marketing and sales. c.practice concurrent engineering. d.have critical competitors engage in the design process.

d

A manufacturing process requires 12 minutes of labor to make 10 units of production. Which of the following actions will increase productivity? 1. Increase labor per 10 units of production 2. Decrease labor per 10 units of production 3. Increase number of units per 10 minutes of labor 4. Decrease number of units per 12 minutes of labor a. 1. and 3. only b. 2. and 4. only c. 1. and 4. only d. 2. and 3. only

d

All of the following are core competencies except: a.facilities. b.market and financial know-how. c.systems and technology. d.environmental scanning.

d

An ethnic restaurant, in serving a lovely, four-hour, seven-course dinner for two for $250, is giving particular emphasis to which dimension of competitive priorities? a.Price b.Consistent quality c.Delivery speed d.Top quality

d

Service processes usually have: a.physical, durable output. b.low levels of customer contact. c.output that can be inventoried. d.low levels of capital intensity.

d

Which of the following is not a reason why there are diseconomies of scale? a. complexity b. loss of focus c. inefficiencies d. None

d

Which of the following statements is best? Operations management can be made more effective by: a.focusing on aspects of operations that are directly related to production. b.coordinating operations with other functional areas that impact operations. c.making production early enough so that stockouts do not occur. d.coordinating all activities related to operations directly or indirectly, both within and outside the organization.

d

Which of the following would be considered an advantage of global competition? a. ability to safeguard proprietary technology in working with offshore suppliers b. a recent climate of low political risk and lessening nationalization c. high levels of worker skills in foreign countries mean less required training d. strong global competition and increased worldwide demand

d

Which one of the following statements is more of a general characteristic of a service organization, as compared to a manufacturing organization? a.Output can be inventoried. b.The response time is longer. c.There is less customer contact. d.The facilities tend to be smaller.

d

Which one of the following statements regarding operations management is true? a.Inputs to a production system include capital and materials, but not human resources. b.Operations management deals only with manufacturing organizations because service organizations do not have tangible outputs. c.Typical inputs to a production system are processes and consumer goods. d.Customer participation and information on performance are two special types of inputs to a production system.

d

plan, do, act, check

deming wheel

Which of the following characteristics best describes process focus (flexible flow)? a. low volume, high variety b. FG usually made to order c. equipment used is general purpose d. a and c e. all true

e

Which of the following is false regarding mass customization: a. a form of mass production but with individualized products b. a form of agile production but at assembly line speed c. blurs the distinctions among the traditional three process models d. allows for individualized products without sacrificing the speed of an assembly line e. all are true

e

Monitoring trends in the industry, the marketplace, and society for potential opportunities or threats

environmental scanning

capacity strategy that stays ahead of demand by minimizing chances of lost sales due to inefficient capacity

expansionist

organizes resources (employees) and equipment by function rather than by service or product

flexible flow

portions of the facility have a flexible-flow and others have a line-flow layout

hybrid flow

workstations or departments are arranged in a linear path

line flow

a technique for systematically changing parameters in a model to determine the effects of such changes

sensitivity analysis

The cumulative work of the processes of a firm is a(n) ________________.

supply chain

A strategy that focuses on the competitive priorities of delivery speed and development speed is _____________.

time-based competition

_____________ measures the frequency with which delivery-time promises are met.

On-time delivery

________________ provide vital resources and inputs to core processes.

Support processes

Every sub-contractor knew that their quality had to be excellent to be considered for the project; it was their ability to deliver on time that would secure the lucrative contract. Quality was recognized as being an ______________ but on- time was the ______________.

order qualifier; order winner

Productivity is defined as __________ divided by____________.

output, input

a table that allows the manager to rate an alternative according to one performance criterion

preference matrix

Four major cost categories

prevention, appraisal, internal failure, external failure

A(n) ________ is any activity or group of activities that takes one or more inputs, transforms and adds value to them, and provides one or more outputs for its customers.

process

capacity strategy characterized by reducing the risks of over-optimistic demand forecasts by waiting until more capacity is needed to make investments

wait-and-see