Deck 1: Goods, Services, and Operations Management

Question 1

Customers and service providers often work together to co-produce a service.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The greater the customer participation, the more uncertainty the firm has with respect to service time.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A service encounter is any interaction between a customer and the service provider.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Services always involve direct customer contact.

Question 5

Peripheral goods and services are not essential to a primary good or service.

Question 6

Operations management is focused primarily on the application of technology in manufacturing.

Question 7

Customer participation in manufacturing processes and activities is generally high.

Question 8

A toothbrush is an example of a nondurable good.

Question 9

A customer benefit package CBP) consists of both a primary good and a primary service.

Question 10

A product that typically lasts at least three years is called a durable good.

Question 11

The ability to download music onto a cell phone would be considered a primary service.

Question 12

Moments of truth consist of one or more service encounters.

Question 13

The demand for services is usually easier to predict than the demand for goods.

Question 14

Both goods and services can be standardized for the mass market or customized to individual needs.

Question 15

Service facilities must be physically located close to the customer.

Question 16

Many products that appear to be only physical goods often include bundled services.

Question 17

Employees who work in financial and accounting functions of organizations need little knowledge of operations management.

Question 18

To apply the principles of operations management, managers need to understand people, processes, and technology.

Question 19

Every job entails some aspect of operations management.

Question 20

Ensuring that a credit card has accurate customer information and is delivered quickly to the customer is an example of inventory management in OM.

Question 21

A process can be designed by operations managers independently of the choice of a customer benefit package, which is chosen exclusively by marketing staff.

Question 22

Which of the following is not a key activity of an operations manager?

A)translating market knowledge into goods, services, and processes
B)continually learning and adapting to global and environmental changes
C)managing cash flows and strategic investments
D)exploiting technology to improve productivity

Question 23

Which one of the following has the lowest goods content?

A)automobile muffler replacement
B)computer diagnosis and repair
C)movie presentation
D)fast food restaurant

Question 24

Which one of the following statements is false?

A)Service that do not involve significant interaction with customers can be managed much the same as goods in a factory.
B)A service is any primary or complementary activity that does not directly produce a physical product.
C)Some very significant differences exist between goods and services that create different demands on the operations function.
D)Designing and managing operations in a goods-producing firm is quite similar to that in a service-providing organization.

Question 25

Process thinking is the traditional way of viewing an organization by function.

Question 26

The reason that many Japanese firms captured major shares of world markets in the 1970s was the result of their focus on quality rather than efficiency.

Question 27

Which one of the following has the highest goods content?

A)medicine prescription
B)computer repair
C)automobile loan
D)symphony performance

Question 28

Many business-to-business manufacturers think of the physical good they produce as peripheral to their service offerings.

Question 29

Operations management is the only function by which managers can directly affect the value provided to all stakeholders - customers, employees, investors, and society.

Question 30

Today, almost half the U.S. economy is involved in service industries.

Question 31

Which of the following is not true regarding the differences between goods and services?

A)Demand for services is easier to forecast.
B)Customers participate in many services.
C)Services cannot be stored as physical inventory.
D)Patents do not protect services.

Question 32

Computer software would be an example of

A)an intangible good
B)a nondurable good
C)a service
D)a value creation process

Question 33

Value creation processes focus on primary goods and services.

Question 34

Quality has been a principal focus of operations management since the industrial revolution.

Question 35

Taking a customer order at a quick service restaurant would generally be viewed as a support process.

Question 36

Which one of the following statements is false?

A)Service encounters can be between a customer and a building.
B)High customer contact systems generally have high process efficiency.
C)A hotel room is a perishable asset.
D)The demand for services is time-dependent, especially over the short term.

Question 37

Which one of the following statements is true?

A)A variant is always a durable good with new features.
B)An automobile is a nondurable good.
C)Demand for goods is more difficult to predict than demand for services.
D)Normally patents do not protect services.

Question 38

Time-based competition means providing new and innovative products that surprise and delight customers.

Question 39

In relating operations management and the customer benefit package CBP), which is the correct timing sequence?

A)Operating system processes lead to customer needs and expectations, which lead to customer benefit package.
B)Customer benefit package leads to customer needs and expectations, which lead to operating system processes.
C)Customer needs and expectations lead to customer benefit package, which leads to operating system processes.
D)Customer needs and expectations lead to operating system processes, which lead to customer benefit package.

Question 40

As manufacturers sought to customize products for global markets and increase goods and service variety, they were able to leverage the mass production methods that are very efficient and cost-effective.

Question 41

Differentiate between a good and a service. What is the difference between a durable and nondurable good. Give an example of each.

Question 42

Define OM and provide some examples of what operations managers do.

Question 43

A golf simulator in a retail sports store is an example of

A)non- durable goods replacing services
B)primary good
C)goods content
D)biztainment

Question 44

Which of the following is not a current challenge to OM?

A)globalization
B)technology
C)quality
D)mass production

Question 45

Which is generally related to service operations?

A)tangible product
B)need for flexible capacity
C)separation of production from consumption
D)large amount of inventory

Question 46

The following terms -- interchangeability of parts, division of labor, highly repetitive tasks -- best relate to a focus on

A)quality
B)efficiency
C)quality
D)time

Question 47

Which of the following is the correct sequence describing the evolution of operations management?

A)efficiency, customization, quality, service, sustainability, time-based competition
B)quality, efficiency, time-based competition, sustainability, customization, service
C)efficiency, quality, customization, time-based competition, service, sustainability
D)quality, service, customization, time-based competition, efficiency, sustainability

Question 48

Which one of the following is not an example of biztainment?

A)iPhone applications
B)automobile leasing
C)product demonstrations
D)virtual factory tours

Question 49

A customer benefit package CBP) includes

A)only core offerings
B)only peripheral offerings
C)either core or peripheral offerings but not both
D)both core offerings as well as peripheral offerings

Question 50

A value creation process could be any of the following except

A)shipping a customer's order
B)providing a home mortgage
C)assembling a dishwasher
D)purchasing production material

Question 51

Which one of the following statements about the structure of the U.S. economy is true?

A)About 91 percent of all U.S. jobs are in service-providing processes.
B)All goods-producing jobs account for 25 percent of total U.S. jobs.
C)All service-providing jobs account for 65 percent of total U.S. jobs.
D)The largest U.S. industry with respect to U.S. jobs is manufacturing.

Question 52

Though there are similarities between goods and service, there are significant differences; discuss five.

Question 53

Which of the following would be the lowest in goods content and highest in service content?

A)fast food restaurant
B)attending a theater production
C)getting an oil change for your car
D)filling a medical prescription

Question 54

The three issues that are at the core of operations management include all of the following except

A)cost
B)quality
C)utilization
D)efficiency

Question 55

A support process could be any of the following except

A)assembling automobiles
B)purchasing materials and supplies
C)managing inventory
D)installing a product

Question 56

Service organizations generally

A)are in close proximity to the customer
B)rely on physical inventory
C)take advantage of patents
D)can delegate human behavior and marketing skills

Question 57

Service management skills would include all of the following except

A)accounting and finance
B)knowledge and technical expertise about operations
C)marketing and cross-selling
D)human interaction

Question 58

Relate a service encounter to a moment of truth. Do they have to be person-to-person? Explain.

Question 59

Support processes would typically include all of the following except

A)inventory management
B)customer help desk operations
C)research and development
D)manufacturing and assembly

Question 60

The quality revolution is most related to

A)continuous improvement
B)mass production
C)time-based competition
D)service

Question 61

Explain a customer benefit package CBP). Also, differentiate a primary good or service from a peripheral good or service.

Question 62

In the last century, operations management saw six major themes. What are they? Briefly discuss each.

Question 63

What are the four key current challenges in OM that managers need to understand?

Question 64

For each of the three dimensions of sustainability environmental, social, and economic), provide three examples of business practices that support it.

Question 65

Define a process. Then differentiate among a value creation process, a support process, and a general management process.