Supply Chain Management

Each stage in a supply chain is connected through the flow of products, information, and funds. These flows often occur in both directions and are usually managed by

one of the stages.

A supply chain features a constant flow of

information, product and funds.

Which set of supply chain flows is correctly described?

Information and product both flow upstream and downstream in a supply chain.

Which statement about supply chains is best?

Flows in a supply chain may be managed by an intermediary.

Which sequence of stages is typical for product flow in a supply chain?

Supplier → Manufacturer → Distributor

Supply chain surplus involves what two parts?

Customer value and supply chain cost

For any supply chain, the source of revenue is generated by

the customer.

Customer value is

the sum of the supply chain surplus and supply chain cost.

The objective of every supply chain is to

maximize the overall value generated.

Retailing in the United States is largely

consolidated.

For any supply chain,

there is only one source of revenue, the customer.

Webvan designed a supply chain with large warehouses in several major cities in the United States, from which groceries were delivered to customer homes. They failed partly because of

higher labor costs for picking orders.

A key issue facing Toyota is

design of its global production and distribution network.

Walmart's supply chain features clusters of stores around distribution centers, which facilitates

frequent but inexpensive replenishment at the stores.

Which of these statements about Dell's supply chain is best?

Dell's initial success was largely driven by their Assembly→Customer supply chain linkage.

The decision phases in a supply chain include

supply chain operation.

A company would decide whether to outsource or perform a supply chain function in-house during the

design phase.

The supply chain strategy category would include a decision about

how large the warehouse in Kokomo should be.

The profitability of a supply chain is impacted primarily by the

design, planning and operation categories of decisions.

The time horizon of the operation phase is typically

weekly or daily.

The cycle view of a supply chain holds that

the processes in a supply chain are divided into a series of activities performed at the interface between successive stages.

The push/pull view of a supply chain holds that

the processes in a supply chain are divided into 2 categories depending on whether they are initiated in response to or in anticipation of customer orders.

The customer order cycle occurs at the

customer/retailer interface.

Customer arrival refers to

the point in time when the customer has access to choices and makes a decision regarding a purchase.

The objective of the customer arrival process is to

maximize the conversion of customer arrivals to customer orders.

Customer order entry is

the customer informing the retailer of what they want to purchase and the retailer allocating product to the customer.

The objective of customer order entry is to

ensure that orders are quickly and accurately entered and communicated to other affected supply chain processes.

Customer order fulfillment refers to

the process where product is prepared and sent to the customer.

The objective of customer order fulfillment is to

get the correct orders to customers by the promised due date at the lowest possible cost.

Customer order receiving is

the process where the customer receives the product and takes ownership.

The replenishment cycle occurs at the

retailer/distributor interface.

The processes included in the replenishment cycle include

retail trigger.

The manufacturing cycle occurs at the

distributor/manufacturer interface.

The processes involved in the manufacturing cycle include

production scheduling.

The production scheduling process in the manufacturing cycle is similar to the

order entry process in the replenishment cycle.

The manufacturing and shipping process in the manufacturing cycle is equivalent to the

order fulfillment process in the replenishment cycle.

The procurement cycle occurs at the

manufacturer/supplier interface.

The relationship between the manufacturer and supplier during the procurement cycle is very similar to the relationship between

distributor and manufacturer.

The cycle view of the supply chain is useful when considering operational decisions, because

it specifies the roles and responsibilities of each member of the supply chain.

The push/pull view of the supply chain is useful when considering strategic decisions relating to supply chain design, because

it categorizes processes based on whether they are initiated in response to or in anticipation of customer orders.

Which of the following statements about pull processes is accurate?

They may also be referred to as reactive processes.

Which of the following statements about push processes is accurate?

They may also be referred to as speculative processes.

Supply chain macro processes include which of the following?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Supply chain macro processes include which of the following?

Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)

Activities involved in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) macro process include

marketing.

Activities involved in the Internal Supply Chain Management (ISCM) macro process include

order fulfillment.

Activities involved in the Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) macro process include

supplier evaluation and selection.

A key supply chain difference between Gateway and Apple is that

Apple has always carried product in their stores while at one time Gateway stores carried no inventory.

Zara's supply chain strategy

results in supply more closely matching customer demand.

Toyota's global complementation strategy

mandates that plants can produce vehicles for export to markets that remain strong when the local market weakens.

A company's competitive strategy

defines the set of customer needs that it seeks to satisfy through its products and services.

The value that potential customers place on product cost and delivery time determines a company's

competitive strategy.

The value chain in a company begins with

new product development.

Seven-Eleven in Japan's operations and distribution strategy focuses on

being responsive and having an excellent information infrastructure.

Which element in the value chain is responsible for transforming inputs into outputs?

Operations

Which of these services facilitates the function of the value chain but is not considered a core element of the supply chain?

Information Technology

A company's product development strategy

specifies the portfolio of new products that it will try to develop.

A company's marketing and sales strategy

specifies how the market will be segmented and how the product will be positioned, priced, and promoted.

A company's supply chain strategy

determines the nature of procurement and transportation of materials as well as manufacture and distribution of the product.

The value chain consists of direct and indirect activities. Which of the following is an indirect activity for an enterprise?

Human Resources

A \________ strategy specifies the portfolio of new products that a company will try to develop.

Product Development

A \________ strategy specifies how the market will be segmented and how the product will be positioned, priced, and promoted.

Marketing and Sales

Which of the following determines the nature of procurement of raw materials, transportation of materials to and from the company, manufacture of the product or operation to provide the service, and distribution of the product to the customer along with follow-up service?

Supply chain strategy

Which of the following defines the set of customer needs that a company seeks to satisfy through its products and services?

Competitive strategy

Which of the following specifies the portfolio of new products that a company will try to develop?

Product development strategy

A supply chain strategy involves decisions regarding all of the following except

new product development.

The uncertainty of customer demand for a product is the

demand uncertainty.

The uncertainty that exists due to the portion of demand that the supply chain is required to meet is the

implied demand uncertainty.

Which of the following customer needs will cause implied uncertainty of demand to increase?

Lead time decreases

The first step in achieving strategic fit between competitive and supply chain strategies is to

understand customers and supply chain uncertainty.

The second step in achieving strategic fit between competitive and supply chain strategies is to

understand the supply chain and map it on the responsiveness spectrum.

The final step in achieving strategic fit between competitive and supply chain strategies is to

match supply chain responsiveness with the implied uncertainty of demand.

Supply chain responsiveness includes the ability to do which of the following?

Handle supply uncertainty

Supply chain responsiveness includes the ability to do which of the following?

Meet a very high service level

Supply chain responsiveness includes the ability to do which of the following?

Meet short lead times

The cost of making and delivering a product to the customer is referred to as

supply chain efficiency.

The curve that shows the lowest possible cost for a given level of responsiveness is referred to as the

cost-responsiveness efficient frontier.

A firm that is not on the cost-responsiveness efficient frontier can improve

both responsiveness and cost performance.

A graph with two axes with implied uncertainty along the horizontal axis and responsiveness along the vertical axis is referred to as the

uncertainty/responsiveness map.

The relationship where increasing implied uncertainty from customers and supply sources is best served by increasing responsiveness from the supply chain is known as the

zone of strategic fit.

The drive for strategic fit should come from

the highest levels of the organization, such as the CEO.

The preferable supply chain strategy for a firm that sells multiple products and serves customer segments with very different needs is to

tailor the supply chain to best meet the needs of each product's demand.

Which of the following would be a demand and supply characteristic toward the beginning stages of a product's life cycle?

Product availability is crucial to capturing the market.

Between 1993 and 2006, Dell's competitive strategy was to provide a large variety of customizable products at a reasonable price. Given the focus on customization, Dell's supply chain was designed to

be responsive.

For a company to achieve strategic fit, it must accomplish the following keys:

The overall supply chain must operate at the lowest cost possible to achieve success.

Efficient supply chains

maximize performance at a minimum cost.

The functions and stages that devise an integrated strategy with a shared objective are referred to as

scope of strategic fit.

With the \________ view, firms attempt to align all operations within a function. In this view, all supply chain functions including sourcing, manufacturing, warehousing, and transportation must align their strategy to minimize total functional cost.

Intraoperation scope

The key weakness of the \________ view is that different functions within a firm may have conflicting objectives.

Intrafunctional scope

Which of these has the broader range?

Intercompany scope

Scope of strategic fit refers to both the

function within the firm and stages across the supply chain.

The authors cite IKEA as achieving an intercompany scope of strategic fit which serves to

increase the supply chain surplus.

A company's partners in the supply chain determine

the company's success.

Company A and Company B of the same supply chain rely on market responsiveness to attract customers. Each company has access to the other company's designs, production schedules, and goals, and if Company A needs product overnight, Company B gladly ships it, knowing that in the long run it works to the benefit of both. Such an arrangement is an example of

intercompany scope.

Increased product variety and shrinking product life cycles usually result in

the deliberate phase-out of older products.

Risks and opportunities have increased for supply chains due to

increasing globalization.

Over the past several decades

the number of owners per supply chain has increased.

One motivation for companies to shed noncore functions to their supply chains has been to

take advantage of supplier and customer competencies that they did not possess.

49) Which of these examples ripped from the headlines of business periodicals is most accurate?

Netflix has two content delivery systems that are inexpensive to operate.

Concerns related to the environment and sustainability

are sometimes dictated by regulations and sometimes by perception.