MNGT 368 - Exam 1

four categories of inputs for a transformation process

Human resources Facilities & Processes Technologies Materials

Which component represents the beginning of a supply chain?

External suppliers represent the beginning of a supply chain.

Describe the differences between forward integration and backward integration

Forward integration: owning or controlling the channels of distribution Backward integration: owning or controlling of sources of raw materials and component parts.

three factors critical to the development of a business strategy

Mission: A statement defining what business an organization is in, who its customers are, and how its core beliefs shape its business. • Environmental Scanning: Monitoring the external environment for changes and trends to determine business opportunities and threats. • Core Competencies: The unique strengths of a business.

Describe the differences between insourcing and outsourcing

Insourcing is processes or activities that are completed in house Outsourcing is completed by other supply chain members

Check the supply chain map, a focal firm will have more direct contact with which tier of suppliers?

Tier One, Suppliers

Value Added: a company will need to have a net increase between the final value of a product and the value of all the inputs. • Be efficient: a company is able to perform activities well and at the lowest possible costCompanies must add value and be efficient in order to be successful in OM.

What must companies do in order to be successful in operations management?

the differences between order winners and order qualifiers

When making competitive decisions, the firm need to consider order qualifiers and order winners • Order Qualifiers: competitive priorities met for a company to survive/qualify as a competitor in the marketplace • Order Winners: competitive priorities that win orders in the marketplace and that distinguish the firm from its competitors

What is the "role" of operations management?

The role of ____________ is to transform a company's inputs into the finished goods or services (outputs).

Strategic OM Decisions

long term decisions that set the direction for the entire organization

operations management

the business function that plans, organizes, coordinates/leads, and controls the resources needed to produce a company's goods and services.

differences between structure and infrastructure

• Structure: Decisions related to the design of production process, such as characteristics of facilities used, selection of appropriate technology, and the flow of goods and services. • Infrastructure: Decisions related to planning and control systems of operations, such as organization of workers, payment, quality control measures, policies.

Describe the relationship between business strategy and operations strategy

Business Strategy is the long-range plan of a business, designed to provide and sustain shareholder value. Operations Strategy is a long-range plan for the operations function that specifies the design and use of resources to support the business strategy The relationship between the business and operation strategies is that the business strategy is developed before the operation strategy and gives guidance for the development of operation strategy.

the primary four competitive priorities

• Cost. The way to compete on cost is to offer a product at a low price relative to competitors. Typically, high volume products, often limit product range and offer little customization, may invest in automation to reduce unit costs, can use lower skill labor, probably use product focused layouts, low cost does not mean low quality. • Quality. Quality is often subjective, meaning quality is defined differently depending on who is defining it. Two major quality dimensions include: High performance design and product and service consistency. • Time. Speed is one of the most important competition priorities to be competitive with time. The first one that can deliver often wins the race. Time-related issues involve rapid delivery and on-time delivery. • Flexibility. Companies must accommodate change by being flexible. Product flexibility: Easily switch production from one item to another. Easily customize product/service to meet specific requirements of a customer. Volume flexibility: Ability to ramp production up and down to match market demands.

Describe the three components of a supply chain.

(1) External Distributors: transport finished products to appropriate locations (2) Internal functions: processing functions, purchasing, planning, quality, assurance, shipping (3) External suppliers: Tier 1 - suppliers directly to focal firm, tier 2 - supplier supplies directly to tier 1, tier 3 - supplier supplies directly to tier 2.

The interpretation of productivity is based on what?

The interpretation of productivity is based on comparison. A calculation of productivity does not mean anything unless you are able to compare it to a benchmark, for example, last year's productivity, competitor's productivity, etc.

tactical OM decisions.

short term decisions that focus on specific departments and tasks