Designing Operations Midterm
"Making it right the first time" is the focus of the user-based definition of quality.
True False FALSE
Agile project management is a type of work breakdown structure (WBS).
True False FALSE
Benchmarking requires the comparison of your firm to other organizations; it is not appropriate to benchmark by comparing one of your divisions to another of your divisions.
True False FALSE
Computer-aided design (CAD) refers to the use of specialized computer programs to direct and control manufacturing equipment.
True False FALSE
Firms using the global strategy can be thought of as "world companies."
True False FALSE
In a regression equation where y-hat is demand and x is advertising, a coefficient of determination (R2) of .70 means that 70% of the variance in advertising is explained by demand
True False FALSE
Key success factors and core competencies are synonyms.
True False FALSE
PERT, but not CPM, has the ability to consider the precedence relationships in a project.
True False FALSE
Shortening the project's duration by deleting unnecessary activities is called "project crashing."
True False FALSE
Source inspection is inferior to inspection before costly operations.
True False FALSE
The larger the number of periods in the simple moving average forecasting method, the greater the method's responsiveness to changes in demand.
True False FALSE
The quality loss function indicates that costs related to poor quality are low as long as the product is within acceptable specification limits.
True False FALSE
The theory of competitive advantage implies that you should allow another firm to perform work activities for your company if that company can do it more productively than you can.
True False FALSE
Work breakdown structure is a useful tool in project management because it addresses the timing of individual work elements.
True False FALSE
A multinational corporation is a firm with extensive international business involvement.
True False TRUE
A time-series model uses a series of past data points to make the forecast.
True False TRUE
An improvement in quality must necessarily increase costs.
True False TRUE
Experience differentiation is an extension of product differentiation, accomplished by using people's five senses to create an experience rather than simply providing a service.
True False TRUE
Forecasts may be influenced by a product's position in its life cycle.
True False TRUE
Forecasts of individual products tend to be more accurate than forecasts of product families.
True False TRUE
In project management, crashing an activity must consider the impact on all paths in the network.
True False TRUE
Internal failure costs are associated with scrap, rework, and downtime.
True False TRUE
Kaizen is similar to TQM in that both are focused on continuous improvement.
True False TRUE
Key success factors are those activities that are key to achieving competitive advantage.
True False TRUE
Line employees need the knowledge of TQM tools.
True False TRUE
Linear-regression analysis is a straight-line mathematical model to describe the functional relationships between independent and dependent variables.
True False TRUE
One of the ways that just-in-time (or JIT) influences quality is that by reducing inventory, bad quality is exposed.
True False TRUE
One phase of a large project is scheduling.
True False TRUE
Product strategy may focus on developing a competitive advantage via differentiation, low cost, rapid response, or a combination of these.
True False TRUE
Quality circles empower employees to improve productivity by finding solutions to work-related problems in their work area.
True False TRUE
Seasonal indices adjust raw data for patterns that repeat at regular time intervals.
True False TRUE
The definition of quality adopted by The American Society for Quality is a customer-oriented (i.e., user based) definition.
True False TRUE
The phrase Six Sigma has two meanings. One is statistical, referring to an extremely high process, product, or service capability; the other is a comprehensive system for achieving and sustaining business success.
True False TRUE
The sales force composite forecasting method relies on salespersons' estimates of expected sales.
True False TRUE
___________ reviews successful products for improvement during the production process.
Value analysis
The creation of a unique advantage over competitors is called a ___________.
Competitive advantage
The ___________ is the computed longest time path(s) through a network.
Critical path
Enlarging employee jobs so that the added responsibility and authority is moved to the lowest level possible in the organization is called ___________.
Employee empowerment
A drawing that shows the dimensions, tolerances, materials, and finishes of a component is a (an) ___________.
Engineering drawing
_____________ costs result from production of defective parts or services before delivery to the customer.
Internal failure
__________ is the Japanese word for the ongoing process of unending improvement.
Kaizen
___________ lists products in descending order of the individual dollar contribution to the firm.
Product-by-value analysis
___________ is a forecasting technique based upon salespersons' estimates of expected sales.
Sales force composite
Not only customers, but stockholders, suppliers, and others, are among the ___________ whose values must be protected in making ethical decisions concerning the quality of products.
Stakeholders
If two variables were perfectly correlated, what would the coefficient of correlation r equal?
a. 1 b. -1 c. 0 d. -1 or 1 e. None of these D
What percentage of sales from new products is indicative of industry leaders?
a. 10 to 15% b. above 75% c. 20 to 25% d. 7.5% e. 50% E
Which of the following is an example of competing on quick response?
a. A firm offers more reliable products than its competitors do. b. A firm advertises more than its competitors do. c. A firm utilizes its capacity more effectively than its competitors do. d. A firm produces its product with less raw material waste than its competitors do. e. A firm's products are introduced into the market faster than its competitors' products. E
Which of the following is the best example of competing on low-cost leadership?
a. A firm's research and development department generates many ideas for new products. b. A firm produces its product with less raw material waste than its competitors do. c. A firm offers more reliable products than its competitors do. d. A firm advertises more than its competitors do. e. A firm's products are introduced into the market faster than its competitors' products are. B
Quality function deployment (QFD):
a. All of these b. is used early in the design process. c. translates customer desires into the target design. d. determines what will satisfy the customer. e. is used to determine where to deploy quality efforts. A
Which of these statements regarding Regal Marine is TRUE?
a. All of these are true. b. Product design is a critical decision for the firm. c. Regal still uses some wooden parts and hand-produces some components. d. Regal's use of CAD has resulted in a superior product. e. Regal uses a three-dimensional CAD system to shorten product development time. A
Which of these statements regarding time-cost tradeoffs in CPM networks is true?
a. Crashing shortens the project duration by assigning more resources to one or more of the critical tasks. b. The crash time always exceeds the normal time. c. Crashing a project often reduces the length of long-duration, but noncritical, activities. d. Crashing is not possible unless there are multiple critical paths. e. Activities not on the critical path can never be on the critical path, even after crashing. A
Manufacturability and value engineering has which of the following benefits? I. Reduced complexity of the product II. Reduction of environmental impact III. Additional standardization of components IV. Robust design V. Improved job design and safety
a. II, IV b. IV c. I, III, IV d. I, III, V e. I, II, III, IV, V E
Which of the following is TRUE regarding computer-aided design?
a. It is too expensive to use in most manufacturing and design settings. b. It is the use of computers to interactively design products and prepare engineering documentation. c. It is an obsolete technology. d. It is the use of information technology to control machinery. e. It results in longer development cycles for virtually all products B
The tracking signal is the:
a. MAD. b. standard error of the estimate. c. ratio of cumulative error / MAD. d. absolute deviation of the last period's forecast. e. MAPE. C
What is a set of quality standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization?
a. Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award b. Deming Prize c. ISO 9000 d. IOS 2009 e. ISO 14000 C
The main difference between PERT and CPM is that:
a. PERT employs three time estimates for each activity. b. PERT is more accurate than CPM. c. PERT assumes that activity durations are known. d. CPM assumes activity durations can vary. e. PERT ignores activity costs. A
________ is used to rank a company's products to determine which products represent the best use of the firm's resources, or, perhaps, to determine which products are to be eliminated.
a. Product cost justification b. Product-by-value analysis c. Value engineering d. Value analysis e. Financial analysis B
What technology "builds" products by laying down successive thin layers of plastic, metal, glass, or ceramics?
a. STEP b. 3-D printing c. CAM d. virtual reality e. replicator B
Suppose that a firm has historically been achieving "Three Sigma" quality. If the firm later changes its quality management practices such that it begins to achieve "Six Sigma" quality, which of the following phenomena will result?
a. The average number of defects will be cut by 99.9997%. b. The average number of defects will be cut by 99.87%. c. The average number of defects will be cut in half. d. The specification limits will be moved twice as far from the mean. e. The average number of defects will be cut by 99.73%. B
Which of the four major categories of quality costs is particularly hard to quantify?
a. prevention costs b. appraisal costs c. None is hard to quantify. d. internal failure costs e. external failure costs E
Which of the following activities takes place most immediately once the mission has been developed?
a. The firm develops alternative or back-up missions in case the original mission fails. b. The functional areas develop their supporting missions. c. Operational tactics are developed. d. The functional areas develop their functional area strategies. e. The ten OM decision areas are prioritized. B
Which of the following statements about organizational missions is FALSE?
a. They indicate what a company intends to contribute to society. b. They define a company's reason for existence. c. They provide guidance for functional area missions. d. They are formulated after strategies are known. e. They reflect a company's purpose. D
Which of the following is true regarding value engineering?
a. Value engineering occurs during production when it is clear the product is a success. b. Value engineering creates fragile design. c. Value engineering occurs only after the product is selected and designed. d. Value engineering can save substantial amounts of product cost, but quality suffers. e. Value engineering is oriented toward improvement of design. E
Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning:
a. a fishbone diagram. b. setting standards. c. a foolproof mechanism. d. just-in-time (JIT). e. continuous improvement. E
"Making it right the first time" is:
a. a product-based definition of quality. b. an unrealistic definition of quality. c. a user-based definition of quality. d. the definition of quality proposed by the American Society for Quality e. a manufacturing-based definition of quality. E
The degree or strength of a relationship between two variables is shown by the:
a. alpha. b. cumulative error. c. mean. d. mean absolute deviation. e. coefficient of correlation. E
The hierarchy of components, their description, and the quantity of each required to make one unit of a product are documented on:
a. an engineering drawing. b. a route sheet. c. a group technology listing. d. a work order. e. a bill of material. E
Techniques for building employee empowerment include:
a. building high-morale organizations. b. building communication networks that include employees. c. moving responsibility from both managers and staff to production employees. d. All of these are techniques for employee empowerment. e. developing open, supportive supervisors. D
A network has been crashed to the point where all activities are critical. Additional crashing:
a. can be done, but all critical tasks must be reduced in duration. b. is impossible. c. is unnecessary. d. is prohibitively expensive. e. may require crashing multiple tasks simultaneously. E
The process of identifying other organizations that are best at some facet of your operations and then modeling your organization after them is known as:
a. continuous improvement. b. benchmarking. c. copycatting. d. employee empowerment. e. patent infringement. B
Short-range forecasts tends to ________ longer-range forecasts.
a. deal with more comprehensive issues than b. be more accurate than c. be less accurate than d. have about the same level of accuracy as e. employ the same methodologies as B
The fundamental purpose of an organization's mission statement is to:
a. define the operational structure of the organization. b. define the functional areas required by the organization. c. create a good human relations climate in the organization. d. generate good public relations for the organization. e. define the organization's purpose in society. E
Which of the following OM strategy/issues should a firm with a product in the maturity stage of its life cycle be LEAST concerned with at the present time?
a. fewer rapid product changes b. long production runs c. standardization d. cost cutting e. increase capacity E
Poka-yoke is the Japanese term for:
a. fishbone diagram. b. just-in-time production. c. continuous improvement. d. foolproof. e. card. D
Response-based competitive advantage can be:
a. flexible response. b. quick response. c. All of these. d. None of these. e. reliable response. C
Outsourcing is simply an extension of the long-standing practice of:
a. importing. b. subcontracting. c. e-procurement. d. postponement. e. exporting. B
A checklist is a type of:
a. kanban. b. poka-yoke. c. kaizen. d. Pareto chart e. flowchart B
The three major elements of the product decision are:
a. legislative, judicial, and executive. b. cost, differentiation, and speed of response. c. strategy, tactics, and operations. d. selection, definition, and design. e. goods, services, and hybrids. D
Which of the following is not a type of qualitative forecasting?
a. market survey b. Delphi method c. moving average d. sales force composite e. jury of executive opinion C
Which of the following is LEAST likely to be a low-cost leadership competitive advantage?
a. mass production b. broad product line c. effective capacity use d. low overhead e. inventory management B
At which stage of the product life cycle is product strategy likely to focus on improved cost control?
a. maturity b. introduction c. growth d. inflation e. saturation A
The "four Ms" of cause-and-effect diagrams are:
a. mentality, motivation, management, and manpower. b. material, management, manpower, and motivation. c. material, methods, men, and mental attitude. d. named after four quality experts. e. material, machinery/equipment, manpower, and methods. E
Reducing the complexity of a product and improving a product's maintainability are activities of:
a. organizing for product development. b. product lifecycle management (PLM). c. manufacturability and value engineering. d. design for destruction (DFD). e. product-by-value analysis. C
If a sample of parts is measured and the mean of the measurements is outside the control limits, the process is:
a. out of control and the process should be investigated for assignable variation. b. None of these. c. in control, but not capable of producing within the established control limits. d. within the established control limits with only natural causes of variation. e. monitored closely to see if the next sample mean will also fall outside the control limits. A
The analysis tool that lists products in descending order of their individual dollar contribution to the firm is:
a. product life cycle analysis. b. breakeven analysis. c. decision tree analysis. d. product-by-value analysis. e. Pareto analysis. D
A graphic technique for defining the relationship between customer desires and product (or service) is:
a. product lifecycle management. b. the house of quality. c. modular design. d. the assembly drawing. e. the moment of truth. B
The two general approaches to forecasting are:
a. qualitative and quantitative. b. judgmental and qualitative. c. mathematical and statistical. d. historical and associative. e. judgmental and associative. A
According to the manufacturing-based definition of quality:
a. quality is the degree to which a specific product conforms to standards. b. even though quality cannot be defined, you know what it is. c. quality is the degree of excellence at an acceptable price and the control of variability at an acceptable cost. d. quality lies in the eyes of the beholder. e. quality depends on how well the product fits patterns of consumer preferences. A
A customer service manager at a retail clothing store has collected numerous customer complaints from the forms they fill out on merchandise returns. To analyze trends or patterns in these returns, she has organized these complaints into a small number of sources or factors. This is most closely related to the ________ tool of TQM.
a. quality loss function b. histogram c. cause-and-effect diagram d. scatter diagram e. process control chart C
The dimensions, tolerances, materials, and finishes of a component are typically shown on a:
a. route sheet. b. assembly chart. c. assembly drawing. d. bill of material. e. engineering drawing. E
Which of the following is NOT one of the phases of project management?
a. scheduling b. planning c. budgeting d. All of these are project management phases. e. controlling C
A strategy is a:
a. set of opportunities in the marketplace. b. simulation used to test various product line options. c. broad statement of purpose. d. action plan to achieve the mission. e. plan for cost reduction. D
A result of concurrent engineering in product design is:
a. speedier product development. b. less customer demand. c. lower quality. d. All of these. e. higher costs. A
The Japanese method of organizing for product design features:
a. teams. b. distinct departments with assigned tasks. c. product managers (champions). d. a single organization without subdivision or individual teams. e. None of these. D
Many services maintain records of sales noting:
a. the day of the week. b. unusual events. c. the weather. d. holiday impacts. e. All of these. E
Which of the following represents an opportunity for generating a new product?
a. understanding the customer b. demographic change, such as decreasing family size c. changes in professional standards d. economic change, such as rising household incomes e. All of these are such opportunities. E
The philosophy of zero defects is:
a. unrealistic. b. the result of Deming's research. c. consistent with the commitment to continuous improvement. d. an ultimate goal; in practice, 1 to 2% defects is acceptable. e. prohibitively costly. C
Experience differentiation:
a. uses only the consumer's senses of vision and sound. b. keeps consumers from becoming active participants in the service. c. attempts to make the service experience different for every single customer. d. isolates the consumer from the delivery of a service. e. is an extension of product differentiation in the service sector. E
WBS stands for which of the following project management tools?
a. work break status b. work breakdown structure c. work breakdown status d. work break schedule e. work breakdown schedule B
What two numbers are contained in the daily report to the CEO of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts regarding the six Orlando parks?
a. yesterday's forecasted attendance and yesterday's actual attendance b. yesterday's forecasted attendance and today's forecasted attendance c. yesterday's actual attendance and last year's actual attendance d. yesterday's forecasted attendance and the year-to-date average daily forecast error e. yesterday's actual attendance and today's forecasted attendance A
