BUS 3950 CH 2

Which of the following statements about productivity measures is true?

A company may use a variety of different productivity measures. Partial productivity measures are most useful for operations.

Which of the following statements is/are true about a company's mission and goals?

A company's reason for existence is laid out in its mission statement. Strategies are ways to achieve a company's goals.

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

A mission statement specifies the purpose of an organization. A company's mission is the foundation for its goals, which provide detail and scope for the mission.

Which of the following statements is/are true about order qualifiers and order winners?

Characteristics may be order qualifiers or order winners at different points in time. Order qualifiers are minimum standards expected by customers.

Which of the following is/are possible external factors that may affect businesses?

Competition Economic conditions

Which of the following statements is true about a company's core competencies?

Core competencies must be aligned with an organization's strategies.

Time-based strategies focus on reducing the time needed to conduct the various activities in a process. The rationale is that by reducing time the firm receives benefits. What are those benefits?

Costs are lower Customer service improves Product innovations appear sooner Productivity is higher

What is the first step in managing and controlling an operation?

Develop productivity measures

Which of the following is/are possible external factors that may affect businesses?

Economic conditions Competition

Which is the narrower concept?

Efficiency

What are the ways in which operations influences competitiveness?

Ensuring product quality Product and service design

Which of the following is/are internal factors that may affect businesses?

Facilities and equipment Human resources

True or false: Organizational strategy does not need to take into account operational strategy.

False

Which of the following is/are internal factors that may affect businesses?

Financial resources Products and services

Which of the following is/are internal factors that may affect businesses?

Human resources Facilities and equipment

Which of the following is true of a time-based strategy?

It focuses on reducing the time required to accomplish various activities.

When organizations use a low-cost, high-volume strategy, what is the impact on variety of products offered to the customer?

It is lower

Identify the factors that always decrease productivity.

Labor turnover Computer viruses New workers

Which of the following is/are ways in which operations influences competitiveness?

Location Response time

Which of the following are the three basic business strategies?

Low cost, responsiveness, differentiation.

Which of the following is not an example of an organizational strategy?

Low quality

What are the strategic advantages of sustainability?

Lower costs Promotional benefits

Which of the following is/are possible external factors that may affect businesses?

Markets Competition Suppliers

Which of the following is/are reason(s) some organizations fail?

Not focusing enough on process design and improvement. Failure to correctly identify customer wants and needs.

Identify some of the reasons for the failure of some organizations.

Not investing enough in necessary capital or human resources. Underestimating the importance of internal communication and cooperation between functional areas.

Identify true statements about operations strategy.

Operations strategy and organizational strategy must be aligned. Operations strategy must be aligned with the other functional units of the organization.

Which of the following statements is not true?

Operations strategy deals with things like financing, costing, and product development.

Which of the following statements is true of operations strategy?

Operations strategy is used to guide the operations function.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

Order winners are characteristics that make products/services more appealing than those of the competition. In the future current order qualifiers may become order winners or vice versa.

Which statement about formulating strategies is correct?

Organizations may choose a single strategy or multiple strategies.

Which of the following are places companies have achieved reduction in the time required to complete activities?

Planning time Processing time Delivery time

Which of the following statements about service productivity is/are true?

Process yield can be used to measure service productivity in certain situations. Service productivity is often more difficult to measure than manufacturing productivity.

Match the following operations decision areas with what the decisions affect.

Product and service design --Costs, quality, liability, and environmental issues Capacity-- Cost structure, flexibility Process selection and layout -- Costs, flexibility, skill level needed, capacity Location--Costs, visibility Quality -- Ability to meet or exceed customer expectations

Which of the following factors do business organizations use to stay competitive?

Product/service differentiation Price Delivery time

Which of the following statements is/are true about productivity?

Productivity is often expressed as a ratio of outputs to inputs. Productivity measures the effective use of resources.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

Productivity may include the efficient use of a variety of resources. Efficiency is a narrower concept than productivity.

Which of the following statements is always true?

Quality-based strategies focus on improving quality.

Which of the following statements is always true?

Quality-based strategies have a variety of possible motivators.

Which of the following statements is/are true about SWOT analysis?

SWOT analysis can be seen as the link between organizational and operational strategy. SWOT analysis critically examines factors that may impact business performance.

Which of the following statements is/are true about SWOT?

SWOT can be seen as the link between organizational and operational strategy. SWOT analysis has both an internal and an external focus.

Which of the following are possible steps a company can take to continuously improve productivity?

Set reasonable improvement goals. Take a systems view point to ensure changes impact the system as a whole. Measure productivity of all operations.

Which of the following are factors that improve productivity?

Standardization Technological improvements

Which of the following statements is true?

Supply chain strategy should cover all aspects of a company's supply chain.

What is the main determinant of productivity?

Technological improvements

What are the impacts of a mismatch between organizational strategy and supply chain management strategy?

The matching of supply to demand is more difficult Substantial supply chain variations Reduces the ability to compete on price

Which of the following statements is/are true of tactics?

They are more specific than strategies. They provide guidance and direction for carrying out actual operations.

Which of the following statements best defines tactics?

They are the methods and actions taken to accomplish strategies.

Which of the following statements about productivity measures is/are true?

They can be used to evaluate a company's competitiveness. They can be used to track performance over time.

How does marketing influence the competitiveness of an organization?

Through advertising and promotion By identifying consumer wants and needs By identifying price point

Two factors that tend to have universal strategic operations importance. What are they?

Time Quality

Which of the following statements is true of time-based strategies?

Time-based strategies reduce costs by reducing the time required to complete tasks.

The definition of competitiveness is how effectively ______.

an organization can meet customer needs/wants compared to others with similar products/services

Productivity measures ______.

can be used to evaluate an entire industry's performance can be used to identify areas for improvement

The special attributes or abilities possessed by an organization that give it a competitive edge are referred to as:

core competencies

Competitiveness defines how efficiently an organization meets the wants and needs of ___________ relative to others that offer similar goods or services.

customers

The next step for an organization after assessing internal and external factors, and its distinctive competence, is to ______.

formulate a strategy

Manufacturing productivity is ______ to measure, compared with service productivity.

less difficult

Productivity:

measures the effective use of resources. measures output relative to input.

The ratio of "feet of fence painted" to "number of labor hours" is a ______ of productivity.

partial measure

Tactics are the methods and actions taken to accomplish _______.

strategies

Tactics are the methods and actions taken to accomplish ________

strategies