Deck 25: Operations Consulting

Question 1

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.

Answer 1

True
Explanation: 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 2

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

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Fishbone diagrams (or cause-and-effect diagrams) are a great way to organize one's first cut at a consulting problem.

Question 3

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

Answer 3

False
Explanation: The issue tree is a problem definition tool in Exhibit 25.3.

Question 4

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 5

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

Question 6

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

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

Question 9

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

Question 10

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

Question 11

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Question 12

The goal of consulting firms is to satisfy a client's needs.

Question 13

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 14

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

Question 15

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

Question 16

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

Question 17

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 18

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

Question 19

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

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

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 23

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

Question 24

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 25

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

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

Question 26

In causal loop analysis, reinforcing loops generate increase or decrease in a measure in which the increase or decrease, if left unmodified, would continue at an ever-increasing rate.

Question 27

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 28

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

Question 29

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 30

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

Question 31

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 32

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 33

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)Analyze problem

Question 34

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 35

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

Question 36

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 37

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

Question 38

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 39

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

Question 40

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

Question 41

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

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

Question 42

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 43

Identify the seven principles of reengineering.(1) ___________________________
(2) ___________________________
(3) ___________________________
(4) ___________________________
(5) ___________________________
(6) ___________________________
(7) ___________________________

Question 44

List three managerial guidelines for implementation of reengineering.(1) ___________________________
(2) ___________________________
(3) ___________________________

Question 45

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 46

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

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

Question 47

What is the goal of consulting firms? _____________________________________

Question 48

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

A)Ensure 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 nonessential activities.

Question 49

Name the five Ps of production
(1) ___________________________
(2) ___________________________
(3) ___________________________
(4) ___________________________
(5) ___________________________

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 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 52

Identify the five forces that help evaluate a firm's competitive position in light of the structure of its industry.(1) ___________________________
(2) ___________________________
(3) ___________________________
(4) ___________________________
(5) ___________________________

Question 53

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 54

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

Question 55

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 56

Identify the two types of loops in causal loop analysis.(1) ________________________________
(2) ________________________________

Question 57

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 58

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 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

Flowcharts 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 61

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