Question 1

The critical path method may illustrate several different paths that must be completed in order to complete the entire project.

Accepted Answer

The critical path method shows the activities that must be completed in order to complete the project and may show multiple paths that must be followed.

Question 2

A major reason Canadian businesses outsource operational activities overseas is to take advantage of the low cost of labour and other resources.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. Many Canadian businesses outsource operational activities such as manufacturing, customer service, and IT services to countries where labour and resources are less expensive, leading to cost savings for the company.

Question 3

Immediate predecessors are activities in a project that are independent of any other project activities, and thus have no effect on when these other activities are performed.

Accepted Answer

Immediate predecessors are activities that must be completed directly before a subsequent activity can begin, indicating a dependency rather than independence.

Question 4

In a critical path network, those activities that aren't on the critical path typically have some slack, meaning that a delay in their completion is unlikely to create a delay in the completion of the overall project-as long as the delay isn't too great.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. Non-critical path activities have some slack or float, which means they can be delayed without affecting the overall project completion date, as long as the delay stays within the slack time. However, if the slack time is exhausted, the overall project duration will increase.

Question 5

A fixed position layout is used for goods that must be produced at a specific site or that are so large and bulky that it is not feasible to move them from station to station.

Accepted Answer

A fixed position layout is used for products that cannot be moved easily or that require a specific site for production. Examples include large airplanes, ships, buildings, and other items that are too large or heavy to be moved easily. In this type of layout, the workers, equipment, and materials are brought to the fixed location to produce the product.

Question 6

The supply chain involves the flow of materials and physical goods through all the organizations involved in the production and distribution of a product, as well as the services, financial resources, and information that may be involved with the process.

Accepted Answer

This is a correct definition of the supply chain.

Question 7

One weakness of the critical path method is that it doesn't provide a way to determine the sequence in which the activities involved in a project must be performed.

Accepted Answer

The critical path method does provide a way to determine the sequence in which activities must be performed. In fact, it is a key feature of the method to identify the critical path, which is the longest sequence of dependent activities that must be performed in a specific order to complete the project on time.

Question 8

Outsourcing allows a firm to shed functions it does not perform well in order to focus on its areas of strength.

Accepted Answer

Outsourcing is a business strategy where a company contracts out certain functions or tasks to external third-party providers. Companies often outsource tasks that are not their core competencies, in order to focus on their areas of expertise or strategic priorities. By doing so, they can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and access specialized expertise that may not be available in-house. Therefore, outsourcing allows a firm to shed functions it does not perform well or efficiently, which can ultimately help it to improve its performance and competitiveness.

Question 9

The critical path method is a project management tool that illustrates the relationships among the activities involved in completing a project and enables managers to identify those activities that are most likely to create delays in the completion of the overall project.

Accepted Answer

The critical path method (CPM) is indeed a project management tool that helps identify the relationships and dependencies among activities and highlights the activities that are critical to the project's timeline. It allows managers to calculate the shortest possible project duration and identify those activities that could cause delays if not completed on time.

Question 10

The selection of the best type of process for a given type of production is influenced by the cost of production and the degree to which the output is customized.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The selection of the best type of...

Question 11

A cellular layout falls behind the product layout and the process layout as it groups different types of machinery and equipment into self-contained cells. Products move from one station in the cell to the next in a specific sequence.

Accepted Answer

This statement accurately describes a cellular layout, which is designed to create self-contained work cells that group all the necessary machinery and equipment for a particular product or process. While this approach can improve productivity and reduce lead times, it is typically less efficient than a product layout or process layout, which are better suited to high-volume, repetitive production.

Question 12

The critical path method (CPM) is a network of relationships that channels the flow of inputs, information, and financial resources through all of the processes directly or indirectly involved in producing goods and services and distributing them to customers.

Accepted Answer

The critical path method (CPM) is a project management technique used to identify the longest sequence of dependent tasks and estimate the minimum completion time for the entire project.

Question 13

Holding larger inventories helps prevent stock outages and lost sales.

Accepted Answer

Holding larger inventories ensures that there is always stock available to meet customer demand, thereby preventing stock outages and lost sales.

Question 14

Vertical integration means outsourcing all activities in the supply chain with the exception of the very basic things the firm wants to do itself.

Accepted Answer

Vertical integration means bringing more activities in-house and controlling much of the supply chain rather than outsourcing them to outside companies. It involves taking ownership of suppliers or distributors or both, in order to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

Question 15

Offshoring is the same as outsourcing.

Accepted Answer

Offshoring refers specifically to moving business operations or production to a different country, while outsourcing simply involves contracting work to an external third party, which may or may not be located in a different country.

Question 16

Vertical integration is the arranging for other organizations to perform supply chain functions that were previously performed internally.

Accepted Answer

Vertical integration is the opposite of arranging for other organizations to perform supply chain functions. It involves the company performing these functions internally, such as manufacturing its own raw materials or handling its own distribution.

Question 17

The Stock N Stuffer company produces small, inexpensive toys and novelties that are often used as stocking stuffers during the Christmas season. Almost half of all of the company's sales come between November 1st and December 24th. Stock N Stuffer is likely to find that it makes sense to build up relatively large inventories of goods over the summer and fall months.

Accepted Answer

Since almost half of the company's sales come during the Christmas season, it would make sense for Stock N Stuffer to build up inventories of goods over the summer and fall months to meet the higher demand during the holiday season.

Question 18

The critical path method focuses on controlling inventory levels during the production process to ensure that enough parts and materials are available to support production.

Accepted Answer

The critical path method (CPM) is a project management technique used to identify the tasks that are critical to the completion of a project and to develop a schedule that ensures that these tasks are completed on time. It does not specifically focus on controlling inventory levels during production.

Question 19

The critical path in a project is the sequence of activities expected to take the longest to complete. Any delay in an activity on the critical path is likely to create a delay in completing the project.

Accepted Answer

This is the definition of critical path and is true.

Question 20

Wages earned by workers in the nation of Ruritania are only a third as high as the wages paid to Canadian workers. This clearly means that Canadian firms that outsource production to Ruritania will enjoy much lower costs of production.

Accepted Answer

While lower wages in Ruritania might reduce labor costs, the overall cost of production also depends on other factors such as productivity, quality of infrastructure, transportation costs, tariffs, and the cost of materials, which might offset the lower labor costs.

Quiz 16: Operations Management: Putting It All Together