Chapter 1: Introduction to Operations Management (multiple choice) & Chapter 2: Competitiveness, Strategy, and Productivity

Which of the following statements about variation is false?

Any variation makes a production process less productive

The Balanced Scorecard is a useful tool for helping managers translate their strategy into action in the following areas:

Customers; Financial; Internal Business Processes; Learning and Growth

Which of the following is a system in which low-skilled workers use specialized equipment to produce high volumes of standardized goods?

mass production

Which of the following is not an ongoing trend in manufacturing?

mass production for greater economies of scale

Which mission strategy has a narrow scope?

operational

Scheduling personnel is an example of an operations management:

operational decision

Which of the following is not an element of supply chain management?

operations Explanation: operations is a function, not an element, of supply chain management.

With regard to operations, organization strategy should, ideally, take into account:

operations' strengths and weaknesses

The external elements of SWOT analysis are::

opportunities and threats

Years ago in the overnight delivery business, providing package tracking capability gave some firms a competitive advantage. Now, all firms must offer this capability simply to be in this line of business. This is an example of --- becoming --- over time.

order winners; order qualifiers

The fact that a few improvements in a few key areas of operations will have more impact than many improvements in many other areas is consistent with the...

pareto phenomenon

A firm pursuing a strategy based on customization and variety will tend to structure and manage its supply chain to accommodate more --- than a firm pursuing a strategy based on low cost and high volume.

variation

A productivity increase in one operation that does not improve overall productivity of the business is not:

worthwhile

Which of the following is not true about the systems approach?

a systems approach concentrates on efficiency within subsystems

Which of the following would be least important in the pursuit of a time-based strategy?

cost minimization

Which of the following is not a characteristic of service operations?

easy measurement of productivity

Measurements taken at various points in the transformation process for control purposes are called:

feedback

They key to successfully competing is understanding what customers want and then --- satisfy those wants.

finding the best way to

Which is not an area of significant difference between manufacturing and service operations?

forecasting demand

Which of the following would tend to increase the importance of supply chain management?

increased globalization

Productivity growth can be calculated by:

((current productivity − previous productivity) ÷ (previous productivity)) × 100

Which of these factors would be least likely to affect productivity?

advertising Explanation: advertising could increase the value of the outputs, but it is less likely to affect productivity than these other factors.

If one organization is better able than most to respond to changes in demands or opportunities, we say that organization exhibits higher:

agility Explanation: agility refers to the ability of an organization to respond quickly to demands or opportunities.

--- and --- customers are factors in quality.

attracting; retaining

Which of the following is essential to consider with respect to managing a process to meet demand?

capacity

The process of comparing outputs to previously established standards to determine if corrective action is needed is called:

controlling

Supplying operations with parts and materials, performing work on products, and/or performing services are part of the firm's:

internal supply chain

Marketing depends on operations for information regarding:

lead time

Marketing personnel and product designers must work closely with operations to successfully develop and produce new products because operations personnel can best judge how --- new product designs will be.

manufacturable

Competitiveness doesn't include:

profitability

Which of the following is not a key factor of competitiveness?

size of organization Explanation: competitiveness often has nothing to do with organization size.

Business organizations consist of three major functional areas which, ideally:

support one another

Taking a systems viewpoint with regard to operations in today's environment increasingly leads decision makers to consider --- in response to the ---.

sustainability; threat of global warming

Product design and process selection are examples of --- decisions.

system design

The responsibilities of the operations manager include:

the creation of goods or provision of services