Deck 2: Strategy

Question 1

Productivity is a relative measure.

Answer 1

True
Explanation: Productivity is what we call a relative measure.In other words, to be meaningful, it needs to be compared with something else.

Question 2

By following a straddling strategy, firms can broaden their capabilities and effectively compete with more focused firms in markets requiring low cost for success.

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Straddling is a risky strategy that often results in failure.More focused firms can effectively compete with a straddling firm in each segment the straddling firm enters.

Question 3

Activity-system maps are useful in understanding how well a system of activities fits the overall company's strategy.

Answer 3

True
Explanation: This type of map can be useful in understanding how good the fit is between the system of activities and the company's strategy.

Question 4

Infrastructure decisions within operations strategy include the selection of the logic associated with the planning and control systems

Question 5

The job of operations and supply chain strategy is to deliver the most feature-rich, highest quality product at the lowest price within specified parameters of delivery time and customization.

Question 6

An order winner is a set of criteria that differentiates the products or services of one firm from another.

Question 7

The process when a company seeks to match the benefits of a successful position while maintaining its existing position by adding new features, services, and technologies into its current portfolio it is called straddling.

Question 8

One of the competitive dimensions that form the competitive position of a company when planning its strategies is cost.

Question 9

An order qualifier is a set of screening criteria that permits a firm's products to be considered as possible candidates for purchase.

Question 10

An order winner is a set of screening criteria that permits a firm's products to be considered as possible candidates for purchase.

Question 11

Once an operations strategy is adopted and articulated, the primary emphasis becomes perfecting the system of activities that make up the strategy through detailed refinements over a long period of time.

Question 12

Infrastructure decisions within operations strategy include the selection of the appropriate technology, the role of inventory, and the location of facilities.

Question 13

One of the competitive dimensions that form the competitive position of a company when planning its strategies is delivery speed.

Question 14

An operations and supply chain strategy must be integrated with the organization's corporate strategy.

Question 15

Operations and supply strategy can be viewed as part of a planning process that coordinates operational goals with those of the larger organization.

Question 16

One of the competitive dimensions that form the competitive position of a company when planning its strategies is making the best trade-off.

Question 17

The process when a company seeks to match the benefits of a successful position while maintaining its existing position by adding new features, services, and technologies into its current portfolio is called flexibility.

Question 18

Activity-system maps depict the geographic reach of a company's business strategies.

Question 19

Activity-system maps show how a company's strategy is delivered through a set of tailored activities.

Question 20

An operations strategy must resist change because of the long-term nature of equipment and personnel investments.

Question 21

In development of an operations and supply chain strategy, which of the following may be an important product-specific criteria to consider?

A)Focus
B)Production lot size
C)Supplier after-sale support
D)Learning curve
E)Total quality management

Question 22

A firm's business practices toward its labor force pertain mainly to the economic aspect of the triple bottom line concept.

Question 23

Within a sustainability framework, the environmental dimension of the triple bottom line concept has to do with labor, the community, and the region in which a firm conducts its business.

Question 24

Which of the following is not a major strategic operational competitive dimension that forms a company's competitive position?

A)Cost or price
B)Delivery speed
C)Delivery reliability
D)Management acumen
E)Coping with changes in demand

Question 25

When a company seeks to match the benefits of a successful position while maintaining its existing position in offering customers a variety of differing services, what is this process called?

A)Operations capability analysis
B)Straddling
C)Order qualifying
D)Order winning
E)Inter-functional analysis

Question 26

Which of the following is a partial measure of productivity?

A)Output/Materials
B)Output/(Labor + Capital + Energy)
C)Output/All resources used
D)Output/Inputs
E)All of these

Question 27

In a multifactor measure of productivity, the numerator of the ratio would include all resources used or all inputs.

Question 28

Sustainability means meeting a firm's current needs without excessively compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Question 29

Which of the following is a total measure of productivity?

A)Output/Materials
B)Output/(Labor + Capital + Energy)
C)Output/Labor
D)Output/Inputs
E)All of these

Question 30

In a partial measure of productivity, the denominator of the ratio would include all resources used or all inputs.

Question 31

A major competitive dimension that forms a company's strategic operational competitive position in their strategic planning is which of the following?

A)Cost or price
B)Focus
C)Automation
D)Straddling
E)Activity-system mapping

Question 32

If all you knew about a production system was that total daily output was 400 units and the total labor necessary to produce the 400 units was 350 hours, what kind of productivity measure could you use to compute productivity?

A)Partial measure
B)Multifactor measure
C)Total measure
D)Global measure
E)All of these

Question 33

An activity-system map is which of the following?

A)A network guide to route airlines
B)A listing of activities that make up a project
C)A diagram that shows how a company's strategy is delivered to customers
D)A facility layout schematic noting what is done where
E)A timeline displaying major planned events

Question 34

According to the economic aspect of the triple bottom line concept, the firm is required to compensate shareholders by paying dividends and growing the value of their common stock faster than their competitors.

Question 35

If all you knew about a production system was that total daily output was 400 units and the total labor necessary to produce the 400 units was 350 hours, and the total materials used were 425 units, what kind of productivity measure could you use to compute productivity?

A)Partial measure
B)Multifactor measure
C)Total measure
D)Partial measure and Multifactor measure
E)Multifactor measure and Total measure

Question 36

Which of the following is a multifactor measure of productivity?

A)Output/(Materials)
B)Output/(Labor + Capital + Energy)
C)Output/All resources used
D)Output/Inputs
E)All of these

Question 37

When developing an operations and supply chain strategy, which of the following is an important product-specific criterion to consider?

A)Technical liaison
B)Learning curve
C)Competitor's product performance
D)Production lot size
E)Total quality management

Question 38

The social impact of the triple bottom line concept pertains to fair and beneficial business practices toward labor, the community, and the region in which a firm conducts its business.

Question 39

Within a sustainability framework, the economic dimension of the triple bottom line concept goes beyond just profit for the firm but also provides lasting economic benefit to society.

Question 40

The triple bottom line considers evaluating the firm against social, economic, and environmental criteria.

Question 41

Explain the role that "order qualifiers" and "order winners" play as the interface between marketing and operations.

Question 42

The total output from a production system in one day is 500 units and the total labor necessary to produce the 500 units is 350 hours.Using the appropriate productivity measure, which of the following numbers represents the resulting productivity ratio?

A)1.000
B)1.428
C)0.700
D)0.411
E)None of these

Question 43

Various financial data for SunPath Manufacturing for 2012 and 2013 follow. What is the percentage change in the labor partial productivity measure for SunPath between 2012 and 2013?

A)-9.22
B)2.33
C)-0.53
D)2.88
E)10.39

Question 44

Describe a specific example of the trade-offs between any two of the competitive dimensions.

Question 45

The triple-bottom-line evaluates the firm against what three criteria?
1._____________________
2._____________________
3._____________________

Question 46

Various financial data for SunPath Manufacturing for 2012 and 2013 follow. What is the percentage change in the multifactor labor and raw materials productivity measure for SunPath between 2012 and 2013?

A)-9.22
B)2.33
C)-0.53
D)-2.88
E)10.39

Question 47

Various financial data for SunPath Manufacturing for 2012 and 2013 follow. What is the percentage change in SunPath's total productivity measure between 2012 and 2013?

A)-9.22
B)2.33
C)-0.53
D)2.88
E)10.39

Question 48

Larry's Auto Body Repair Shop had revenues that averaged $60,000 per week in April and $50,000 per week in May.During both months, the shop employed six full-time (40 hours/week) workers.In April the firm also had four part-time workers working 25 hours per week, but in May there were only two part-time workers and they only worked 10 hours per week.What is the percentage change in labor productivity from April to May for Larry's Auto Body Repair?

A)-20.00%
B)-15.82%
C)8.95%
D)2.3%
E)-25.00%

Question 49

A diagram showing how a company's strategy is delivered through a set of tailored activities is called what? _____________________

Question 50

What is a criterion or product characteristic that differentiates a product from the products of competitors in a way meaningful to the market called? ____________________

Question 51

Individuals or organizations that are influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the firm are called: _____________________

Question 52

People who provide capital to the firm through stock purchases are called: _____________________

Question 53

Various financial data for SunPath Manufacturing for 2012 and 2013 follow. What is the percentage change in the energy partial productivity measure for SunPath between 2012 and 2013?

A)-9.22%
B)2.33%
C)-0.53%
D)2.88%
E)22.2%

Question 54

The total output from a production system in one day is 900 units and the total labor necessary to produce the 900 units is 900 hours.Using the appropriate productivity measure, what is the resulting productivity ratio?

A)1.000
B)1.428
C)0.700
D)0.411
E)None of these