Question 1

Planning for quality begins before products are initially designed or redesigned.

Accepted Answer

Planning for quality should begin during the planning phase of a product's lifecycle, before it is designed or redesigned.

Question 2

Supply chain management focuses mainly on the earliest parts of the supply chain in order to discover economies of operation.

Accepted Answer

Supply chain management focuses on the entire supply chain, from raw materials to the end customer, in order to optimize each step and achieve the overall goal of cost-efficient and timely delivery to the customer.

Question 3

Firms with increasing productivity rates can provide higher wage increases to workers more easily than firms with declining productivity rates.

Accepted Answer

Productivity is a key factor in determining the profitability and competitiveness of a firm. Firms with increasing productivity rates are able to produce more output with the same amount of input, allowing them to generate more revenue and profits. This can enable them to provide higher wage increases to workers without significantly impacting their bottom line. On the other hand, firms with declining productivity rates may struggle to maintain profitability, making it more difficult for them to offer higher wage increases to their employees.

Question 4

Quality means a product's fitness for use in terms of offering the features that consumers want.

Accepted Answer

Quality is defined as meeting or exceeding customer expectations and satisfying their needs and wants. Therefore, a product's fitness for use and ability to offer desired features is crucial in determining its quality.

Question 5

Because supply chain strategy is based on the collective effort of a number of firms, no one firm in the chain gains a competitive advantage.

Accepted Answer

Supply chain strategy can give a competitive advantage to a particular firm that has implemented it effectively. By optimizing the flow of goods, reducing costs, and improving communication with suppliers, a firm can gain a competitive advantage over others in the supply chain.

Question 6

Margaret is evaluating all work activities, materials flows, and paperwork to determine the value that they add for customers. This is an example of a quality/cost study.

Accepted Answer

Margaret is conducting a process known as value stream mapping, which is a lean-management method for analyzing the current state and designing a future state for the series of events that take a product or service from its beginning through to the customer, focusing on reducing waste and improving value to the customer.

Question 7

Control charts are used to monitor the process during production in order to detect the time at which the process becomes unacceptable.

Accepted Answer

Control charts are commonly used in quality control to monitor the process during production to detect when the process becomes unstable or when there is a deviation from the desired performance. It allows the production team to identify the cause of the deviation and take corrective action to bring the process back to its stable state.

Question 8

A process capability study provides information about variation in a production process.

Accepted Answer

A process capability study involves measuring key characteristics of a production process to determine its ability to consistently produce products within specified tolerances. The study provides information about the process's variability, which can be used to identify areas for improvement and ensure that the process is capable of meeting customer requirements.

Question 9

Performance quality is the consistency of product quality from unit to unit.

Accepted Answer

Performance quality refers to the level of performance a product provides as per its intended function, not the consistency of product quality from unit to unit, which is referred to as conformance quality.

Question 10

The 2012 OECD productivity study showed that Norway had the highest output per hour worked.

Accepted Answer

The 2012 OECD productivity study did indeed show that Norway had the highest output per hour worked among its member countries.

Question 11

Internal failures in quality/cost studies focus on costs incurred during production and before bad products leave the plant.

Accepted Answer

Internal failures in quality/cost studies refer to costs associated with defects or issues discovered during production and prior to the product leaving the plant. These may include the cost of reworking or scrapping defective items, unplanned downtime, and increased labor or material costs associated with fixing the issues.

Question 12

A decline in productivity shrinks a nation's available resources so that any one person's increase in wealth can come only at the expense of others in the society.

Accepted Answer

When productivity declines, the total output of the nation decreases, which means there are fewer resources available for everyone. In such a situation, any increase in wealth for one person means fewer resources for others, resulting in a redistribution of wealth within the society.

Question 13

Merritt Corp. implements the best practices from its own past performance and those of other companies to improve its own products. This is an example of re-engineering.

Accepted Answer

This is not an example of re-engineering, but rather of continuous improvement or benchmarking. Re-engineering involves a radical redesign and overhaul of processes and systems.

Question 14

Labour productivity is determined by dividing GNP by the total number of workers in a country.

Accepted Answer

Labour productivity is determined by dividing the total output (usually measured by GDP) by the total number of hours worked in a country or by dividing the total output by the number of workers in a country. GNP (Gross National Product) does not take into account the output of foreign workers and therefore is not an appropriate measure for labour productivity.

Question 15

Benchmarking is the process of finding, analyzing, and applying the best practices of other companies to their own operations.

Accepted Answer

Benchmarking involves researching and analyzing successful practices of other companies in order to improve one's own operations.

Question 16

A supply chain includes the entire network of manufacturing firms, beginning with suppliers and ending when production is complete at the factory and the product is put into inventory in the warehouse.

Accepted Answer

A supply chain encompasses not just the manufacturing process but also the complete journey of materials and products from suppliers through manufacturing to the end consumers, including distribution and logistics.

Question 17

Coast Capital Savings Credit Union branch in Surrey, B.C., simplified the banking experience of its customers and developed an innovative new service called "You're the Boss Mortgage" which was named the Mortgage of the Year by canadianmortgagetrends.com. This is an example of benchmarking.

Accepted Answer

Benchmarking involves comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests or best practices from other companies. The example given describes an innovative service development, not a comparison to external standards or practices.

Question 18

The goal of supply chain management is to reduce the number of links in the channel.

Accepted Answer

The goal of supply chain management is not to reduce the number of links in the channel, but rather to optimize the flow of goods, services, and information between all parties involved in the chain. This may involve adding or removing links in the chain as needed to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Question 19

Applying the concept of quality ownership results in an increase in the power and authority of the quality control department and their inspectors.

Accepted Answer

The concept of quality ownership aims to distribute responsibility for quality across all departments and employees in an organization, rather than solely relying on the quality control department and inspectors. This means that everyone is responsible for ensuring quality, not just the quality control department. Therefore, quality ownership does not increase the power and authority of the quality control department and their inspectors.

Question 20

In planning for quality, managers must set goals for both performance quality and quality reliability.

Accepted Answer

Planning for quality involves setting goals for both the level of performance quality that the product or service must achieve, as well as the reliability of that quality over time. This includes identifying specific quality standards, establishing quality control measures, and developing procedures for monitoring and evaluating quality performance.

Quiz 10: Operations Management, Productivity, and Quality