BSAt 382 ch 1 Operations Management – Flashcards

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1. Operations managers are responsible for assessing consumer wants and needs and selling and promoting the organization's goods or services.
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FALSE Operation managers are not responsible for promoting goods/services.
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2. Often, the collective success or failure of companies' operations functions will impact the ability of a nation to compete with other nations.
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TRUE A nation is often only as competitive as its companies.
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3. Companies are either producing goods or delivering services. This means that only one of the two types of operations management strategies are used.
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FALSE Most systems involve a blend of goods and services.
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4. Operations, marketing, and finance function independently of each other in most organizations.
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FALSE Operations, marketing and finance are naturally dependent upon one another
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5. The greater the degree of customer involvement, the more challenging the design and management of operations.
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TRUE Greater customer involvement leads to more complexity in the design and management of operations.
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6. Goods producing organizations are not involved in service activities.
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FALSE Most systems involve a blend of goods and services.
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7. Service operations require additional inventory because of the unpredictability of consumer demand.
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FALSE Service operations cannot use inventory as a hedge against unpredictable demand.
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8. The value of outputs is measured by the prices customers are willing to pay for goods or services.
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TRUE Customers' willingness to pay for goods or services sets the value of these outputs.
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9. The use of models will guarantee the best possible decisions.
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FALSE Models are useful, but their use does not guarantee the best decisions.
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10. People who work in the field of operations should have skills that include both knowledge and people skills.
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TRUE Operations management requires a blend of knowledge and people skills.
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11. Assembly lines achieved productivity but at the expense of standard of living.
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FALSE Productivity and standard of living go hand in hand.
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12. The operations manager has primary responsibility for making operations system design decisions, such as system capacity and location of facilities.
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FALSE The operations manager plays a role in these decisions but is not primarily responsible for them.
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13. The word "technology" is used only to refer to "information technology".
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FALSE Technology also refers to the technology involved in resource transformations.
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14. 'Value added' by definition is always a positive number since 'added' implies increases.
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FALSE Some transformations result in the output being worth less than the inputs.
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15. Service often requires greater labor content, whereas manufacturing is more capital intensive.
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TRUE Service operations tend to be more labor-intensive than manufacturing.
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16. Measurement of productivity in service is more straightforward than in manufacturing since it is not necessary to take into account the cost of materials.
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FALSE Materials cost must be considered in services as well.
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17. Special-purpose technology is a common way of offering increased customization in manufacturing or services without taking on additional labor costs.
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FALSE Special-purpose technology typically reduces costs through standardization.
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18. One concern in the design of production systems is the degree of standardization.
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TRUE How standardized outputs will be is a critical consideration in the system design question.
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19. Most people encounter operations only in profit-making organizations.
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FALSE Operations are also relevant to not-for-profit organizations such as the Red Cross.
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0. Service involves a much higher degree of customer contact than manufacturing.
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TRUE Customer contact tends to be much higher in services.
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21. A systems approach emphasizes interrelationships among subsystems, but its main theme is that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.
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TRUE Optimizing the performance of individual subsystems does not guarantee optimal performance from the overall system.
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22. The Pareto phenomenon is one of the most important and pervasive concepts that can be applied at all levels of management.
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TRUE Pareto phenomena can be observed in a wide variety of organization situations.
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23. Operations managers, who usually use quantitative approaches, are not really concerned with ethical decision-making.
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FALSE Ethics issues are touching on all areas of management, including operations.
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24. The optimal solutions produced by quantitative techniques should always be evaluated in terms of the larger framework.
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TRUE Quantitative techniques have limitations that must be considered.
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25. Managers should most often rely on quantitative techniques for important decisions since quantitative approaches result in more accurate decisions.
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FALSE Just as other techniques do, quantitative techniques have limitations.
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26. Many operations management decisions can be described as tradeoffs.
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TRUE Managing tradeoffs is the essence of operations management.
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27. A systems approach means that we concentrate on efficiency within a subsystem and thereby assure overall efficiency.
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FALSE Subsystem efficiency doesn't necessarily translate into overall efficiency.
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28. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, goods were produced primarily by craftsmen or their apprentices using custom made parts.
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TRUE After the Industrial Revolution, more standardized approaches became common.
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29. Elton Mayo's "Hawthorne Experiment" was the focal point of the Human Relations Movement, which emphasized the importance of the human element in job design.
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TRUE The Hawthorne Experiments were the beginning of the Human Relations Movement.
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30. Among Ford's many contributions was the introduction of mass production, using the concept of interchangeable parts and division of labor.
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TRUE Ford made mass production a practical success.
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31. Operations management and marketing are the two functional areas that exist to support activities in other functions such as accounting, finance, IT and human resources.
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FALSE Operations management and marketing are supported by these functions.
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32. Lean production systems incorporate the advantages of both mass production and craft production.
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TRUE Lean production blends the best of both worlds.
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33. As an abstraction of reality, a model is a simplified version of a real phenomenon.
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TRUE Models are valuable abstractions and simplifications of real, complex phenomena.
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34. Lean production systems use a highly skilled work force and flexible equipment.
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TRUE Lean depends on a skilled workforce.
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35. The lean production philosophy has been slow to be adopted in service industries.
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FALSE Lean concepts apply very well in service industries.
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36. Operations Management activities will be less important in the future because many firms are becoming service-oriented operations rather than goods producing operations.
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FALSE Operations management is just as important for service firms.
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37. A modern firm has two supply chain considerations - external links with suppliers and customers, and an internal network of flows to and between the operations function itself.
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TRUE Supply chain considerations are at play both in and beyond the modern firm.
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38. Operations management involves continuous decision-making; hopefully most decisions made will be:
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C. informed Informed decisions incorporate all relevant issues.
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39. A 'product package' consists of:
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C. a combination of goods and services Most firms are not pure service or manufacturing firms; they produce combinations of goods and services.
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40. Business organizations consist of three major functions which, ideally:
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A. support one another Finance, Marketing and Operations are these major functions.
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41. Which of the following is not a type of operations?
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E. all the above involve operations All of these involve taking inputs and transforming them.
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42. Technology choices seldom affect:
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C. union activity. Union activity can affect a firm's technology choices, but not the other way around.
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43. Measurements taken at various points in the transformation process for control purposes are called:
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D. feedback Feedback is used to monitor and improve processes.
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44. Budgeting, analysis of investment proposals, and provision of funds are activities associated with the _______ function.
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D. finance These are the primary tasks for the finance function.
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45. Which one of the following would not generally be classified under the heading of transformation?
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C. staffing Staffing doesn't involve transforming resources so much as it involves acquiring them.
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46. Manufacturing work sent to other countries is called:
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B. outsourced Outsourcing is increasingly a part of operations management.
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47. Product design and process selection are examples of _______ decisions.
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C. system design These major decisions affect decisions made at lower levels.
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48. The responsibilities of the operations manager are:
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B. planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling The scope of operations management ranges across the organization.
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49. Knowledge skills usually don't include:
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C. communication skills Communication skills generally are considered to be people skills.
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50. Which of the following is not true about systems approach?
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C. A systems approach concentrates on efficiency within subsystems. Subsystem efficiency doesn't necessarily translate into overall system efficiency.
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51. What is credited with gains in industrial productivity, increased standards of living and affordable products?
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D. assembly lines Mass production has played a prominent role in increasing standards of living.
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52. Production systems with customized outputs typically have relatively:
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E. skilled workers Skilled workers are necessary to accommodate the variation inherent in customized outputs.
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53. Which is not a significant difference between manufacturing and service operations?
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A. cost per unit Manufacturing operations aren't necessarily more or less efficient than service operations.
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54. Which of the following is not a characteristic of service operations?
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D. easy measurement of productivity The productivity of service operations is often hard to measure.
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55. Which of the following is a recent trend in business?
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C. supply chain management Supply chain management involves a broader systemic view of operations.
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56. Farming is an example of:
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C. non-manufactured goods Farm operations are not manufacturing operations.
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57. Dealing with the fact that certain aspects of any management situation are more important than others is called:
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C. recognition of priorities Solutions tend to be targeted toward higher priority aspects of a situation.
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58. 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:
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B. Pareto phenomenon Pareto phenomena direct our attention to the difference between the "important few" and the "trivial many."
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59. The process of comparing outputs to previously established standards to determine if corrective action is needed is called:
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C. controlling Controls are used to maintain performance.
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60. Which of the following does not relate to system design?
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C. inventory management Inventory management is a system operation decision area.
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61. Taking a systems viewpoint with regard to operations in today's environment increasingly leads decision-makers to consider ______________ in response to the ___________.
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C. sustainability; threat of global warming Sustainability is a relatively recent operations management consideration.
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62. Some companies attempt to maximize the revenue they receive from fixed operating capacity by influencing demands through price manipulation. This is an example of __________________:
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D. Revenue management Revenue management is used to ensure that as much perishable capacity as possible is sold.
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63. Which of the following is not an ongoing trend in manufacturing?
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D. mass production for greater economies of scale Manufacturers are moving away from mass production for economies of scale.
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64. Which of the following is not a benefit of using models in decision making?
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D. All of the above are benefits. Models are useful tools for making decisions without confronting the actual situation with all of its complexity.
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65. Modern firms increasingly rely on other firms to supply goods and services instead of doing these tasks themselves. This increased level of _____________ is leading to increased emphasis on ____________ management.
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A. outsourcing; supply chain Supply chain management takes a more systemic view of the firm, its operations, and its suppliers.
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66. Operations and sales are the two ________ functions in businesses.
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E. line Others are support functions.
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67. Marketing depends on operations for information regarding ___________.
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B. lead time Marketing uses lead time information to make promises to customers.
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68. Two widely used metrics of variation are the __________ and the _________.
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The mean and standard deviation summarize important facets regarding the variation in a process. . mean; standard deviation
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69. Which of the following statements about variation is FALSE?
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D. Any variation makes a production process less productive. The choice to offer customers greater variety might increase variation but increase productivity even more.
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70. Which of the following is essential to consider with respect to managing a process to meet demand?
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A. strategy B. demand forecasts C. capacity D. random variability E. all of the above All of these play a role in determining whether a process can meet demand.
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