Deck 1: Introduction to Operations Management

Question 1

The operations manager has primary responsibility for making operations system design decisions, such as system capacity and location of facilities.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The greater the degree of customer involvement, the more challenging the design and management of operations.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Service often requires greater labor content, whereas manufacturing is more capital intensive.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Service operations require additional inventory because of the unpredictability of consumer demand.

Question 5

Service involves a much higher degree of customer contact than manufacturing.

Question 6

The value of outputs is measured by the prices customers are willing to pay for goods or services.

Question 7

Companies are either producing goods or delivering services. This means that only one of the two types of operations management strategies are used.

Question 8

Special-purpose technology is a common way of offering increased customization in manufacturing or services without taking on additional labor costs.

Question 9

Goods-producing organizations are not involved in service activities.

Question 10

The word "technology" is used only to refer to "information technology."

Question 11

"Value added" by definition is always a positive number since "added" implies increases.

Question 12

Most people encounter operations only in profit-making organizations.

Question 13

People who work in the field of operations should have skills that include both knowledge and people skills.

Question 14

Measurement of productivity in service is more straightforward than in manufacturing since it is not necessary to take into account the cost of materials.

Question 15

The use of models will guarantee the best possible decisions.

Question 16

Often, the collective success or failure of companies' operations functions will impact the ability of a nation to compete with other nations.

Question 17

Assembly lines achieved productivity but at the expense of standard of living.

Question 18

One concern in the design of production systems is the degree of standardization.

Question 19

Operations managers are responsible for assessing consumer wants and needs and selling and promoting the organization's goods or services.

Question 20

Operations, marketing, and finance function independently of each other in most organizations.

Question 21

The optimal solutions produced by quantitative techniques should always be evaluated in terms of the larger framework.

Question 22

Operations managers, who usually use quantitative approaches, are not really concerned with ethical decision making.

Question 23

Managing the supply chain has become more important as a result of firms increasing their levels of:

A) overtime.
B) outsourcing.
C) marketing.
D) promotions.
E) shipping.

Question 24

Knowledge about challenges specific to the operations function can help marketing personnel to judge how _____________ new product designs will be.

A) marketable
B) segmentable
C) manufacturable
D) measurable
E) nameable

Question 25

Elton Mayo's Hawthorne experiments were the focal point of the human relations movement, which emphasized the importance of the human element in job design.

Question 26

Business organizations consist of three major functions which, ideally:

A) support one another.
B) are mutually exclusive.
C) exist independently of each other.
D) function independently of each other.
E) do not interface with each other.

Question 27

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.

Question 28

A systems approach emphasizes interrelationships among subsystems, but its main theme is that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Question 29

A systems approach means that we concentrate on efficiency within a subsystem and thereby assure overall efficiency.

Question 30

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

A) increased supply chain stability
B) lower levels of outsourcing
C) reduced competitive pressures
D) increased globalization
E) greater emphasis on local markets

Question 31

A "product package" consists of:

A) the exterior wrapping.
B) the shipping container.
C) a combination of goods and services.
D) goods if a manufacturing organization.
E) customer relations if a service organization.

Question 32

As an abstraction of reality, a model is a simplified version of a real phenomenon.

Question 33

Lean production systems incorporate the advantages of both mass production and craft production.

Question 34

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, goods were produced primarily by craftsmen or their apprentices using custom-made parts.

Question 35

Managers should most often rely on quantitative techniques for important decisions since quantitative approaches result in more accurate decisions.

Question 36

Operations management involves continuous decision making; hopefully most decisions made will be:

A) redundant.
B) minor in nature.
C) informed.
D) quantitative.
E) qualitative.

Question 37

The Pareto phenomenon is one of the most important and pervasive concepts that can be applied at all levels of management.

Question 38

Many operations management decisions can be described as trade-offs.

Question 39

Among Ford's many contributions was the introduction of mass production, using the concepts of interchangeable parts and division of labor.

Question 40

In addition to operations, which of the following is considered a "line" function?

A) accounting
B) finance
C) IT
D) procurement
E) sales

Question 41

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

A) plans.
B) directions.
C) controls.
D) feedback.
E) budgets.

Question 42

Dealing with the fact that certain aspects of any management situation are more important than others is called:

A) analysis of trade-offs.
B) sensitivity analysis.
C) recognition of priorities.
D) analysis of variance.
E) decision table analysis.

Question 43

What is credited with gains in industrial productivity, increased standards of living, and affordable products?

A) personal computers
B) the Internet
C) mass transportation
D) mass production
E) multilevel marketing

Question 44

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

A) A systems viewpoint is almost always beneficial in decision making.
B) A systems approach emphasizes interrelationships among subsystems.
C) A systems approach concentrates on efficiency within subsystems.
D) A systems approach is essential whenever something is being redesigned or improved.
E) All of the choices are true.

Question 45

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

A) intangible output
B) high customer contact
C) high labor content
D) easy measurement of productivity
E) low uniformity of output

Question 46

Which of the following is not a type of operations?

A) goods production
B) storage/transportation
C) entertainment
D) communication
E) advertising

Question 47

Which one of the following would not generally be classified under the heading of transformation?

A) assembling
B) teaching
C) staffing
D) farming
E) consulting

Question 48

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

A) cost per unit
B) uniformity of output
C) labor content of jobs
D) customer contact
E) measurement of productivity

Question 49

Product design and process selection are examples of _______ decisions.

A) financial
B) tactical
C) system design
D) system operation
E) forecasting

Question 50

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

A) planning.
B) directing.
C) controlling.
D) budgeting.
E) disciplining.

Question 51

Farming is an example of:

A) an obsolete activity.
B) a virtual organization.
C) nonmanufactured goods.
D) a growth industry.
E) customized manufacturing.

Question 52

Which of the following does not relate to system design?

A) altering the system capacity
B) location of facilities
C) inventory management
D) selection and acquisition of equipment
E) physical arrangement of departments

Question 53

Which of the following most involves coordinating the activities among all the elements of the business?

A) pollution control
B) quality management
C) supply chain management
D) competition from foreign manufacturers
E) technological change

Question 54

Manufacturing work sent to other countries is called:

A) downsizing.
B) outsourcing.
C) internationalization.
D) vertical integration.
E) entrepreneurship.

Question 55

Production systems with customized outputs typically have relatively:

A) high volumes of output.
B) low unit costs.
C) high amount of specialized equipment.
D) fast work movement.
E) skilled workers.

Question 56

Budgeting, analysis of investment proposals, and provision of funds are activities associated with the _______ function.

A) operation
B) marketing
C) purchasing
D) finance
E) internal audit

Question 57

The responsibilities of the operations manager are:

A) planning, organizing, staffing, procuring, and reviewing.
B) planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.
C) forecasting, designing, planning, organizing, and controlling.
D) forecasting, designing, operating, procuring, and reviewing.
E) designing and operating.

Question 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:

A) Irwin phenomenon.
B) Pareto phenomenon.
C) Stevenson phenomenon.
D) Tellier phenomenon.
E) Adam Smith phenomenon.

Question 59

Knowledge skills usually don't include:

A) process knowledge.
B) accounting skills.
C) communication skills.
D) global knowledge.
E) financial skills.

Question 60

Technology choices seldom affect:

A) costs.
B) productivity.
C) union activity.
D) quality.
E) flexibility.

Question 61

Which of the following is not a benefit of using models in decision making?

A) They provide a standardized format for analyzing a problem.
B) They serve as a consistent tool for evaluation.
C) They are easy to use and less expensive than dealing with the actual situation.
D) They force the decision maker to take into account qualitative issues such as personalities and emotions.
E) They offer insights into fundamental issues at play in a decision-making setting.

Question 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:

A) illegal price discrimination.
B) collusion.
C) volume analysis.
D) revenue management.
E) outsourcing.

Question 63

Which of the following statements about variation is false?

A) Variation prevents a production process from being as efficient as it can be.
B) Some variation can be prevented.
C) Variation can either be assignable or random.
D) Any variation makes a production process less productive.
E) Random variation generally cannot be influenced by managers.

Question 64

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

A) sustainability.
B) efficiency.
C) productivity.
D) agility.
E) marketability.

Question 65

Operations and sales are the two ________ functions in businesses.

A) strategic
B) tactical
C) support
D) value-adding
E) line

Question 66

Which of the following refers to service and production processes that use resources in ways that do not harm ecological systems?

A) sustainability
B) supportability
C) marketability
D) perishability
E) transportability

Question 67

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

A) globalization
B) quality improvement
C) flexibility and agility
D) mass production for greater economies of scale
E) technological advances

Question 68

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

A) advertising
B) trends in fashion
C) global economic trends
D) financial reporting standards
E) capacity

Question 69

Two widely used metrics of variation are the __________ and the _________.

A) mean; standard deviation
B) productivity ratio; correlation
C) standardized mean; assignable deviation
D) randomized mean; standardized deviation
E) normal distribution; random variation

Question 70

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

A) flexibility; pressure to be more efficient
B) offshoring; need to promote domestic production
C) sustainability; threat of global warming
D) technology; impact of random variation
E) forecasting; stabilization of demand

Question 71

Which of the following principles emphasizes that actions should make the community as a whole better off?

A) The Rights Principle
B) The Fairness Principle
C) The Virtue Principle
D) The Common Good Principle
E) The Utilitarian Principle

Question 72

Marketing depends on operations for information regarding:

A) productivity.
B) lead time.
C) cash flow.
D) budgeting.
E) corporate intelligence.

Question 73

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

A) division of labor.
B) market development.
C) outsourcing.
D) external process orientation.
E) internal supply chain.

Question 74

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.

A) outsourcing; supply chain
B) offshoring; lean
C) downsizing; total quality
D) optimizing; inventory
E) internationalization; intercultural