ISDS 3115 Test 1

Production processes are being dispersed to take advantage of national differences in labor costs. T/F

True

Productivity is generally more difficult to improve in the service sector than in the manufacturing sector. T/F

True

The sales force composite forecasting method relies on salespersons' estimates of expected sales. T/F

True

Which of the following is the best example of a pure service? a. counseling b. electric Co-Op c. oil change d. restaurant e. heart transplant

a. counseling

According to the authors, which of the following strategic concepts allow firms to accomplish their missions? a. differentiation, cost leadership, and response b. productivity, efficiency, and quality leadership c. differentiation, distinctive competency, quality leadership, and capacity d. differentiation, quality leadership, and response e. distinctive competency, cost leadership, and experience

a. differentiation, cost leadership, and response

Which of the following has progressed the FURTHEST along its product life cycle? a. drive-through restaurants b. 3-D game players c. iPods D. Xbox 360 E. Boeing 787

a. drive-through restaurants

Which is NOT true regarding differences between goods and services? a. goods tend to have higher customer interaction than services b. services tend to be more knowledge-based than goods c. services are generally produced and consumed simultaneously; tangible goods d. reselling is unusual in services; goods often have some residual value e. services tend to have a more inconsistent product definition than goods

a. goods tend to have higher customer interactions than services

A project organization: a. is effective for companies with multiple large projects b. is most helpful for ongoing projects with no termination date c. is most helpful when the work contains simple and unrelated tasks d. is appropriate only in construction firms e. often fails when the project cuts across organizational lines

a. is effective for companies with multiple large projects

The forecasting technique that pools the opinions of a group of experts or managers is known as: a. jury of executive opinion b. management coefficients c. the expert judgment model d. market survey e. multiple regression

a. jury of executive opinion

Which of the following statements regarding critical paths is true? a. on a specific project, there can be multiple critical paths, all with exactly the same duration. b. the duration of the critical path is the average duration of all paths in the project network c. the shortest of all paths through the network is the critical path d. every network has only one critical path e. some activities on the critical path may have slack

a. on a specific project, there can be multiple critical paths, all with exactly the same duration

The purchasing function is concerned with: a. procuring materials, supplies, and equipment b. securing monetary resources c. building and maintaining a positive image d. producing goods or providing services e. generating the demand for the organization's products or services.

a. procuring materials, supplies, and equipment

Increasing the number of periods in a moving average will accomplish greater smoothing, but at the expense of: a. sensitivity to real changes in the data b. stability c. accuracy d. manager understanding e. all of the above are diminished when the number of periods increases

a. sensitivity to real changes in the data

A result of concurrent engineering in product design is: a. speedier product development b. lower quality c. higher costs d. less customer demand e. all of the above

a. speedier product development

In a PERT network, non-critical activities that have little slack need to be monitored closely: a. because they have a high risk of not being completed b. because near-critical paths could become critical paths with small delays in these activities c. because slack is undesirable and needs to be eliminated d. because they are causing the entire project to be delayed e. because PERT treats all activities as equally important

b. because near-critical paths could become critical paths with small delays in these activities

Which of the following statements comparing exponential smoothing to the weighted moving average technique is TRUE? a. exponential smoothing is considerably more difficult to implement on a computer. b. exponential smoothing typically requires less record keeping of past data. c. exponential smoothing is more easily used in combination with the Delphi method. d. more emphasis can be placed on recent values using the weighted moving average. e. exponential smoothing allows one to develop forecasts for multiple periods, whereas the weighted moving average technique does not.

b. exponential smoothing typically requires less record keeping of past data.

A fundamental distinction between trend projection and linear regression is that: a. trend projection can be a function of several variables, while linear regression can only be a function of one variable b. in trend projection the independent variable is time; in linear regression the independent variable need not to be time, but can be any variable with explanatory power. c. trend projection uses least squares while linear regression does not d. trend projection uses two smoothing constants, not just one. e. only linear regression can have a negative slope

b. in trend projection the independent variable is time; in linear regression the independent variable need not to be time, but can be any variable with explanatory power.

The project organization works best when which of the following conditions are satisfied? I. Work tasks can be defined with a specific goal and deadline. II. The job is typical and familiar to the existing organization III. The work contains interrelated tasks requiring specialized skills. IV. The project is temporary but unimportant to long-term organizational success. V. The project cuts across organizational lines a. I, II, III, IV, V b. none of the above conditions need to be satisfied c. I, III, V d. I, III, IV, V e. I, II, III, V

c. I, III, V

Which of the following is an example of competing on the basis of differentiation? a. a firm advertises more than its competitors do b. a firm's distribution network routinely delivers its product on time c. a firm offers more reliable products than its competitors do d. a firm manufactures 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 are

c. a firm offers more reliable products than its competitors do

The last four weekly values of sales were 80, 100, 105, and 90 units. The last four forecasts were 60, 80, 95, and 75 units. These forecasts illustrate: a. slope b. trend projection c. adaptive smoothing d. qualitative methods e. bias

e. bias

The main difference between PERT and CPM is that: a. PERT ignores activity costs b. PERT is more accurate than CPM c. CPM assumes activity durations can vary d. PERT assumes that activity durations are known e. PERT employs three time estimates for each activity

e. PERT employs three time estimates for each activity

Which of the following statements best characterizes delivery reliability? a. a company that has a computerized delivery scheduling system b. a company that always delivers on the same day of the week c. a company that delivers faster than its comptetitors d. a company that delivers more frequently than its competitors e. a company that always delivers at the promised time

e. a company that always delivers at the promised time

Cost cutting in international operations can take place because of: a. lower indirect costs b. lower wage scales c. lower taxes and tariffs d. less stringent regulations e. all of the above

e. all of the above

Quality function deployment (QFD): a. is used early in the design process b. determines what will satisfy the customer c. is used to determine where to deploy quality efforts d. translates customer desires into the target design e. all of the above

e. all of the above

Value-chain analysis can be used to determine if a business is adding unique value in which of the following areas? a. quality management b. process innovation c. human resources d. product research e. all of the above

e. all of the above

The difference between AON and AOA networks is that: a. nodes consume no resources or time in AOA networks b. AOA networks sometimes require dummy activities c. both are acceptable in practice; however, Microsoft Project uses AON d. nodes designate activities in AON, while arrows designate activities in AOA e. all of the above are true

e. all of the above are true

One use of short-range forecasts is to determine: a. capital expenditures b. research and development plans c. facility location d. planning for new products e. job assignments

e. job assignments

Work breakdown structure is a useful tool in project management because it addresses the timing of individual work elements. T/F

False

Customer interaction is often high for manufacturing processes, but low for services. T/F

False

In a regression equation where y-hat is demand and x is advertising, a coefficient of determination (r^2) of .70 means that 70% of the variance in advertising is explained by demand. T/F

False

In trend projection, a negative regression slope is mathematically impossible. T/F

False

Low-cost leadership is the ability to distinguish the offerings of the organization in a way that the customer perceives as adding value. T/F

False

Productivity is the total value of all inputs to the transformation process divided by the total value of the outputs produced. T/F

False

Shortening the project's duration by deleting unnecessary activities is called "project crashing." T/F

False

The larger the number of periods in the simple moving average forecasting method, the greater the method's responsiveness to change in demand. T/F

False

The shortest of all paths through the network is the critical path. T/F

False

All organizations, including service firms such as banks and hospitals, have a production function. T/F

True

One advantage of exponential smoothing is the limited amount of record keeping involved. T/F

True

One reason to globalize is to learn to improve operations. T/F

True

One reason to study operations management is to learn how people organize themselves for productive enterprise. T/F

True

Operations management is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs. T/F

True

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 advertises more than its competitors do c. A firm produces its product with less raw material waste than its competitors do d. A firm offers more reliable products than its competitors do e. A firm's products are introduced into the market faster than its competitors' products are

c. a firm produces its product with less raw material waste than its competitors do

All of the following decisions fall within the scope of operations management EXCEPT for: a. human resources and job design b. design of goods and services c. creating the company income statement d. location strategy e. managing quality

c. creating the company income statement

Which of the following are the primary functions of all organizations? a. production/operations, marketing, and human resources b. research and development, finance/accounting, and purchasing c. marketing, production/operations, and finance/accounting d. marketing, human resources, and finance/accounting e. sales, quality control, and production/operations

c. marketing, production/operations, and finance/accounting

Which of the following statements regarding PERT analysis is true? a. The most likely time is equivalent to the expected activity time b. project standard deviation is the sum of all critical activity standard deviations c. only critical activities contribute to the project variance d. project variance is the sum of all activity variances e. each activity has two estimates of its duration

c. only critical activities contribute to the project variance

The phases of project management are: a. GANTT, CPM, and PERT b. planning, programming, and budgeting c. planning, scheduling, and controlling d. different for manufacturing projects than the service projects e. planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling

c. planning, scheduling, and controlling

Gibson Valves produces cast bronze values on an assembly line, currently producing 1600 valves per shift. If the production increased to 2000 valves per shift, labor productivity will increase by: a. 10% b. 40% c. 20% d. 25% e. 50%

d. 25%

If two variables were perfectly correlated, what would the coefficient of correlation r equal? a. 0 b. -1 c. 1 d. B or C e. None of the above

d. B or C

Which of the following typically shows the hierarchy of components, their description, and the quantity of each required to make one unit of a product? a. an assembly drawing b. an engineering drawing c. an assembly chart d. a bill of material e. a route sheet

d. a bill of material

Which of the following is a similarity between goods and services? a. automation b. mass production c. consistency d. both have quality standards e. both can usually be kept in inventory

d. both have quality standards

Cost minimization is an appropriate strategy in which stage of the product life cycle? a. growth b. adolescence c. retirement d. decline e. introduction

d. decline

Which of the following is NOT a typical service attribute? a. customer interaction is high b. simultaneous production and consumption c. intangible product d. easy to store e. difficult to resell

d. easy to store

A forecast based on the previous forecast plus a percentage of the forecast error is a(n): a. qualitative forecast b. naive forecast c. weighted moving average forecast d. exponential smoothing forecast e. moving average forecast

d. exponential smoothing forecast

Activity R on a CPM network has predecessors M and N, and has successor S. R has duration 5. N's late finish is 18, while M's is 20. S's late start is 14. Which of the following is definitely true? a. S is a critical activity b. N is a critical activity c. R has no slack but is not critical d. the set of times cannot all be possible e. R is critical and has zero slack

d. the set of times cannot all be possible

Which of the following does NOT represent a valid reason for globalizing operations? a. understand markets b. attract and retain global talent c. reduce costs d. improve the supply chain e. reduce responsiveness

e. reduce responsiveness