Deck 13: Operations Consulting Reengineering

Question 1

Operations consulting deals with assisting clients in developing operations strategies and improving production processes.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The primary job of partners in a consulting firm is to manage consulting engagements.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Profitability in consulting firms is achieved by leveraging the skills of the partners through use of midlevel and junior consultants.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Most consulting firms are very large organizations and are specialized by function or by industry.

Question 5

SWOT stands for Strengths,Weaknesses,Opportunities and Threats.

Question 6

One of the implementation tools from the operations consulting tool kit is the responsibility chart.

Question 7

One of the cost impact and payoff analysis tools from the operations consulting tool kit is bottleneck analysis.

Question 8

One form of gap analysis used in operations consulting is benchmarking particular client company processes against firms which are exemplars in the process and measuring the differences.

Question 9

One of the cost impact and payoff analysis tools from the operations consulting tool kit is gap analysis.

Question 10

An effective job of operations consulting results in an alignment between strategy and process dimensions in a way that enhances the business performance of the client.

Question 11

Complex consulting engagements that require a great deal of innovation and creativity are sometimes called "gray hair" projects because they require a great deal of experience on the part of the consultants.

Question 12

Consulting has become one of the major areas of employment for business graduates.

Question 13

Consulting firms are frequently characterized according to whether their primary skill is strategic planning or tactical analysis and implementation.

Question 14

The main operational goal of consulting firms is to satisfy the client's needs.

Question 15

Issue trees are used as problem definition tools to structure or map the key problems to be investigated and provide a working initial hypothesis as to the likely solution to the problem.

Question 16

General management consulting often recommends changes in attitudes and culture,which are relatively easy for the client to attain.

Question 17

Fishbone diagrams and cause-and-effect diagrams give different information.

Question 18

Companies typically seek out operations consultants when they are faced with major investment decisions or when they believe that they are not getting maximum effectiveness from their productive capacity.

Question 19

One of the implementation tools from the operations consulting tool kit is the issue tree.

Question 20

A key use of a customer survey used in operations consulting phase of problem definition is customer loyalty analysis.

Question 21

Fredrick W.Taylor is credited with being which of the following?

A)Being the father of management consulting
B)Being the father of statistical quality control
C)Being the father of Elizabeth Taylor
D)Being the father of the American Production and Inventory Control Society
E)Being the father of business process engineering

Question 22

The value chain provides a structure to capture the linkage of organizational activities that create value for the customer and profit for the firm.

Question 23

Which of the following is not considered an operations consulting tool kit category?

A)Problem definition
B)Data gathering
C)Cost impact and payoff analysis
D)Optimizing operations output
E)Implementation

Question 24

Which of the following represents the greatest percentage of consulting activity for major consulting firms?

A)Strategy
B)Information technology
C)Operations management
D)Human resources
E)Statistical quality control

Question 25

In causal loop analysis,reinforcing loops generate exponential growth or collapse,in which the growth or collapse continues at an ever-increasing rate.

Question 26

Which of the following is the stage in the operations consulting process that immediately follows assure client satisfaction?

A)Design,develop and test alternative solutions
B)Assemble learnings from the study
C)Present final report
D)Assure client satisfaction
E)Present invoice

Question 27

Data envelopment analysis is a linear programming technique used in operations consulting to measure the relative performance of branches of multi-site service organizations such as banks.

Question 28

There are two types of loops in causal loop analysis: reinforcing loops and feedback loops.

Question 29

Which of the following is not a major strategic or tactical area where companies typically seek operations consulting?

A)Adding new plants
B)Refocusing existing facilities
C)Locating new plants
D)Expanding an existing plant
E)Refurbishing an existing facility

Question 30

Business process reengineering emphasizes continuous and incremental change of processes that are essentially in control.

Question 31

Which of the following is the stage in the operations consulting process that immediately follows present final report?

A)Design,develop and test alternative solutions
B)Develop systematic performance measures
C)Present invoice
D)Assure client satisfaction
E)Implement changes

Question 32

A key principle of reengineering is to downsize (lay-off)workers and do the same amount of work as before.

Question 33

Which of the following is one of the Five Ps of Production?

A)Preparation
B)Production quality
C)People
D)Project management
E)Purchasing

Question 34

Which of the following is the stage in the operations consulting process that immediately follows sales and proposal development?

A)Design,develop and test alternative solutions
B)Develop systematic performance measures
C)Present final report
D)Assure client satisfaction
E)Problem analysis

Question 35

Reengineering is about achieving a significant improvement in processes so that contemporary customer requirements of quality,speed,innovation,customization and service are met.

Question 36

A responsibility chart is used in operations consulting in planning the task responsibilities for a project.

Question 37

Operations consulting in business process reengineering requires that the consulting team be led by a person with an engineering degree who is certified as a business process engineer.

Question 38

In a rapid plant assessment tour a study team of consultants can determine the "leanness" of a plant in 30 minutes.

Question 39

Which of the following is the stage in the operations consulting process that immediately follows problem analysis?

A)Design,develop and test alternative solutions
B)Develop systematic performance measures
C)Present final report
D)Assure client satisfaction
E)Implement changes

Question 40

One of the seven principles or rules for reengineering is to organize around outcomes,not tasks.

Question 41

Which of the following is not a principle of reengineering?

A)Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized
B)Link parallel activities instead of integrating their results
C)Capture information many times,at the source and where it is interpreted
D)Organize around outcomes not tasks
E)Merge information processing work into the work that produces the information

Question 42

In the five forces model,which of the following is not one of the five forces?

A)Buyer power
B)New technologies
C)Supplier power
D)Substitute products
E)Potential entrants

Question 43

Identify the two types of loops in causal loop analysis.

Question 44

Which of the following is not a data analysis and solution development tool from the operations consulting tool kit?

A)Computer simulation
B)Statistics
C)Plant tours/audits
D)Problem analysis (SPC tools)
E)Bottleneck analysis

Question 45

Which of the following is a problem definition tool from the operations consulting tool kit?

A)Plant tours/audits
B)Work sampling
C)Gap analysis
D)Balanced scorecard
E)Responsibility charts

Question 46

Identify the five forces which help evaluate a firm's competitive position in light of the structure of its industry.

Question 47

In the five forces model,which of the following is one of the five forces?

A)Industry rivalry
B)Quality control
C)Manufacturing processes
D)Quality at the source
E)Opportunities for the customer

Question 48

Flow charts are used in both manufacturing and service consulting to track which of the following?

A)Historical milestones
B)Information
C)Income trends
D)Ideas
E)Cash flow

Question 49

Which of the following is not a data gathering tool from the operations consulting tool kit?

A)Plant tours/Audits
B)Work sampling
C)Flowcharts
D)Factory blueprints
E)Organization charts

Question 50

It is expected that an operations consultant would be familiar with which of the following statistical process control tools?

A)Linear programming
B)Information technologies
C)Run charts
D)Core competencies
E)Waiting line theory

Question 51

Which of the following is a data gathering tool from the operations consulting tool kit?

A)Gap analysis
B)Employee surveys
C)Organization charts
D)Statistical tools
E)Bottleneck analysis

Question 52

Which of the following is a cost impact and payoff analysis tool from the operations consulting tool kit?

A)Decision trees
B)Gap analysis
C)Work sampling
D)Statistical tools
E)Customer surveys

Question 53

Which of the following is not one of the categories in a Rapid Plant Assessment tour?

A)Customer satisfaction
B)Teamwork and motivation
C)Productivity incentives
D)Level of inventory
E)Commitment to quality

Question 54

Identify the seven principles of reengineering.

Question 55

Flow charts are used in both manufacturing and service consulting to track which of the following?

A)Materials
B)Information
C)People
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 56

Which of the following is not a problem definition tool from the operations consulting tool kit?

A)Customer surveys
B)Computer simulation
C)Gap analysis
D)Issue trees
E)Five forces model

Question 57

One of the principles of reengineering is which of the following?

A)Quality at the source
B)Have those who use the output of a process perform the process
C)Do not select suppliers on the basis of price alone
D)Leverage high cost employees with lower cost employees
E)Downsize your headcount while outsourcing non-essential activities

Question 58

Name the five P's of production

Question 59

Which of the following is a data analysis and solution development tool from the operations consulting tool kit?

A)Bottleneck analysis
B)Employee surveys
C)Gap analysis
D)Balanced scorecard
E)Responsibility charts

Question 60

In the language of systems thinking,what is the archetypical pattern called which attempts to resolve a difficult underlying problem by trying to alleviate the problem's symptoms?

A)Limits to success archetype
B)Success-to-the-successful archetype
C)Reinforcing and balancing archetype
D)Shifting the burden archetype
E)Feedback loop archetype

Question 61

What are buyer power,potential entrants,power of suppliers,potential of substitutes and industry rivalry?

Question 62

What is the distinction between detailed complexity and dynamic complexity?

Question 63

What is the goal of consulting firms?

Question 64

What are the three systems archetypes discussed in the text?

Question 65

List three managerial guidelines for implementation of reengineering.

Question 66

Why do client firms need operations consulting?

Question 67

Describe how the success-to-the-successful system archetype works.What should be done about it?

Question 68

What is the most common method for improving efficiency in consulting firms?