EMAN 3310 Exam 1

Service often requires relatively greater labor content when compared to manufacturing.

True/False

(CH.1)

True

A systems approach emphasizes interrelationships among subsystems, but its main theme is that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

True/False

(CH.1)

True

Operations managers, who usually use quantitative approaches, are not really concerned with ethical decision making.

True/False

(CH.1)

False. (They are also concerned with ethical decision making.)

The optimal solutions produced by quantitative techniques should always be evaluated in terms of the larger framework.

True/False

(CH.1)

True

Many operations management decisions can be described as trade-offs.

True/False

(CH.1)

True

Lean production systems incorporate the advantages of both mass production and craft production.

True/False

(CH.1)

True

As an abstraction of reality, a model is a simplified version of a real phenomenon.

True/False

(CH.1)

True

Assembly lines improved productivity by using interchangeable parts and craft production.

True/False

(CH.1)

False. (They use interchangeable parts and MASS production.)

A systems approach means that we concentrate on efficiency within a subsystem and thereby assure overall efficiency.

True/False

(CH.1)

False. (A systems approach overviews the WHOLE.)

Business organizations consist of three major functional areas which, ideally...

A. exist independently of each other.

B. function independently of each other.

C. do not interface with each other.

D. support one another.

E. are mutually exclusive.

(CH.1)

support one another

Buying goods or services instead of producing or providing them in-house is called...

A. internationalization.

B. entrepreneurship.

C. outsourcing.

D. downsizing.

E. vertical integration.

(CH.1)

outsourcing

Dealing with the fact that certain aspects of any management situation are more important than others is called

A. analysis of trade-offs

B. sensitivity analysis

C. recognition of priorities

D. analysis of variance

E. decision table analysis

(CH.1)

recognition of priorities

Which of the following does not relate to system design?

A. physical arrangement of departments

B. selection and acquisition of equipment

C. inventory management

D. altering the system capacity

E. location of facilities

(CH.1)

inventory management

Some companies attempt to maximize the revenue they receive from fixed operating capacity by influencing demands through price manipulation. This is an example of...

A. collusion.

B. illegal price discrimination.

C. outsourcing.

D. revenue management.

E. volume analysis.

(CH.1)

revenue management.

Which of the following is not a benefit of using models in decision making?

A. They force the decision maker to take into account qualitative issues such as personalities and emotions

B. They offer insights into fundamental issues

C. They are easy to use and less expensive than reality

D. They provide a standardized format

E. They serve as a consistent tool

(CH.1)

They force the decision maker to take into account qualitative issues such as personalities and emotions.

Managing the supply chain has become more important as a result of firms increasing their levels of

A. overtime

B. outsourcing

C. marketing

D. promotions

E. shipping

(CH.1)

outsourcing

Which of the following would tend to increase the importance of supply chain management?

A. reduced competitive pressures

B. increased supply chain stability

C. increased globalization

D. greater emphasis on local markets

E. lower levels of outsourcing

(CH.1)

increased globalization

The responsibilities of the operations manager include...

A. analyzing investment proposals.

B. allocating financial resources.

C. assessing consumer wants/needs.

D. the creation of goods or provision of services.

E. promoting goods or services.

(CH.1)

the creation of goods or provision of services.

Which of the following is a system in which low-skilled workers use specialized equipment to produce high volumes of standardized goods?

A. supply chain

B. the Internet

C. craft production

D. mass production

E. lean systems

(CH.1)

mass production

Which is NOT an area of significant difference between manufacturing and service operations?

A. forecasting demand

B. uniformity of input

C. labor content of jobs

D. customer contact

E. measurement of productivity

(CH.1)

forecasting demand

Which of the following is essential to consider with respect to managing a process to meet demand?

A. advertising

B. trends in fashion

C. global economic trends

D. financial reporting standards

E. capacity

(CH.1)

capacity

Product design and process selection are examples

of _______ decisions.

A. financial

B. tactical

C. system design

D. system operation

E. forecasting

(CH.1)

system design

Which of the following is not a benefit of using models in decision making?

A. They provide a standardized format for analyzing a problem.

B. They serve as a consistent tool for evaluation.

C. They are easy to use and less expensive than dealing with the actual situation.

D. They force the decision maker to take into account qualitative issues such as personalities and emotions.

E. They offer insights into fundamental issues at play in a decision-making setting.

(CH.1)

They force the decision maker to take into account qualitative issues such as personalities and emotions.

Taking a systems viewpoint with regard to operations in today's environment increasingly leads decision makers to consider ______________ in response to the___________.

A. flexibility; pressure to be more efficient

B. offshoring; need to promote domestic production

C. sustainability; threat of global warming

D. technology; impact of random variation

E. forecasting; stabilization of demand

(CH.1)

sustainability; threat of global warming

Modern firms increasingly rely on other firms to supply goods and services instead of doing these tasks themselves. This increased level of _____________ is leading to increased emphasis on ____________ management.

A. offshoring; lean

B. downsizing; total quality

C. outsourcing; supply chain

D. optimizing; inventory

E. internationalization; intercultural

(CH.1)

outsourcing; supply chain

An example of a tactical operations management decision is determining employment levels.

True/False

(Ch.2)

True

Competitiveness relates to the profitability of an organization in the marketplace.

True/False

(Ch.2)

True

Tracking productivity measures over time enables managers to judge organizational performance and decide where improvements are needed.

True/False

(Ch.2)

True

An organization that is twice as productive as its competitor will be twice as profitable.

True/False

(Ch.2)

False

Wage and salary increases that are not accompanied by productivity increases tend to exert inflationary pressures on a nation's economy.

True/False

(Ch.2)

True

Global competition really only applies to multinational organizations.

True/False

(Ch.2)

False

The hierarchy and sequence of planning and decision making is: mission, organizational strategy, tactics, and operational decisions

True/False

(Ch.2)

True

Strategy includes both organizational and functional strategies

True/False

(Ch.2)

True

Improving efficiency will guarantee a similar improvement in productivity.

True/False

(Ch.2)

False

10. Traditional strategies of business organizations have tended to emphasize cost minimization or product differentiation.

True/False

(Ch.2)

True

Scheduling personnel is an example of an operations management:

A. mission implementation

B. operational decision

C. organizational strategy

D. functional strategy

E. tactical decision

(CH.2)

operational decision

Which of the following is not a factor that affects productivity?

A. computer viruses

B. design of the workspace

C. use of the Internet

D. standardizing processes

E. product price

(CH.2)

product price

For an organization to grow its market share, it must:

A. advertise using multimedia

B. reduce prices

C. exceed minimum standards of acceptability for its products or services

D. establish an Internet Web site

E. broaden its mission statement

(CH.2)

exceed minimum standards of acceptability for its products or services

The ratio of good output to quantity of raw material input is called

A. non defective productivity

B. process yield

C. worker quality measurement

D. total quality productivity

E. quantity or quality ratio

(CH.2)

process yield

A productivity increase in one operation that does not improve overall productivity of the business is not

A. worthwhile

B. trivial

C. competence-destroying

D. an order winner

E. an order qualifier

(CH.2)

worthwhile

With regard to operations, organization strategy should, ideally, take into account:

A. operations' strengths and weaknesses

B. inventory levels

C. labor productivity

D. product mix

E. production processes

(CH.2)

operations' strengths and weaknesses

Which of the following is not typically considered a cure for poor competitiveness?

A. Remove communications barriers within organizations

B. Minimize attention to the operations function

C. Put less emphasis on short-term financial results

D. Recognize labor as a valuable asset and act to develop it

E. Improve quality

(CH.2)

Minimize attention to the operations function

Which of the following is not a key factor of competitiveness?

A. price

B. product differentiation

C. flexibility

D. after-sale service

E. size of organization

(CH.2)

size of organization

Years ago in the overnight delivery business, providing package tracking capability gave some firms a competitive advantage. Now, all firms must offer this capability simply to be in this line of business. This is an example of __________ becoming __________ over time.

A. tactical implications; strategic

B. strategic implications; tactical

C. order winners; order qualifiers

D. profitability factors; productivity factors

E. order qualifiers; order winners

(CH.2)

order winners; order qualifiers

Increasing the service offered to the customer makes it more difficult to compete on the basis of:

A. order qualifiers

B. customization

C. quality

D. price

E. flexibility

(CH.2)

price

Where a firm locates would typically not affect that firm's

A. costs

B. convenience for customers

C. delivery times

D. strategy

E. transportation costs

(CH.2)

strategy

An organization's mission statement serves as the basis for:

A. environmental scanning

B. core competencies

C. operating procedures

D. distinctiveness

E. organizational goals

(CH.2)

organizational goals

Which of the following would be least important in the pursuit of a time-based strategy?

A. cost minimization

B. quick changeover times

C. operational agility

D. reduced complaint resolution times

E. flexible technology

(CH.2)

cost minimization

The Balanced Scorecard is a useful tool for helping managers translate their strategy into action in the following areas:

A. Sustainability; Flexibility; Efficiency; Technology

B. Customers; Financial; Internal Business Processes;Learning and Growth

C. Customization; Standardization; Efficiency; Effectiveness

D. The Environment; The Community; Suppliers; OtherStakeholders

E. Strategy; Tactics; Productivity; Profitability

(CH.2)

Customers; Financial; Internal Business Processes; Learning and Growth

Which of the following is not a key step toward improving productivity?

A. developing productivity measures for all operations

B. improving the bottleneck operations

C. establishing reasonable goals for improvement

D. converting bond debt to stock ownership

E. considering incentives to reward workers

(CH.2)

converting bond debt to stock ownership

For new products in a strong growth mode, a low alpha will minimize forecast errors when using exponential smoothing techniques.

True/False

(CH.3)

False

Organizations that are capable of responding quickly to changing requirements can use ashorter forecast horizon and therefore benefit from more accurate forecasts.

True/False

(CH.3)

True

The purpose of the forecast should be established first so that the level of detail, amount of resources, and accuracy level can be understood.

True/False

(CH.3)

True

Time-series techniques involve the identification of explanatory variables that can be used topredict future demand.

True/False

(CH.3)

False

A moving average forecast tends to be more responsive to changes in the data series when more data points are included in the average.

True/False

(CH.3)

False

Trend-adjusted exponential smoothing requires selection of two smoothing constants.

True/False

(CH.3)

True

The sample standard deviation of forecast error is estimated by the square root of MSE.

True/False

(CH.3)

True

Correlation measures the strength and direction of a relationship between variables.

True/False

(CH.3)

True

Seasonal relatives can be used to deseasonalize data or incorporate seasonality in a forecast.

True/False

(CH.3)

True

The best forecast is not necessarily the most accurate.

True/False

(CH.3)

True

Which of the following is not a step in the forecasting process?

A. Determine the purpose and level of detail required

B. Eliminate all assumptions

C. Establish a time horizon

D. Select a forecasting model

E. Monitor the forecast

(CH.3)

Eliminate all assumptions

Which phrase most closely describes the Delphi technique?

A. associative forecast

B. consumer survey

C. series of questionnaires

D. developed in India

E. historical data

(CH.3)

series of questionnaires

Using the latest observation in a sequence of data to forecast the next period is

A. a moving average forecast

B. a naive forecast

C. an exponentially smoothed forecast

D. an associative forecast

E. a regression analysis

(CH.3)

a naive forecast

Which is not a characteristic of simple moving averages applied to time series data?

A. smoothes random variations in the data

B. weights each historical value equally

C. lags changes in the data

D. requires only last period's forecast and actual data

E. smoothes real variations in the data

(CH.3)

requires only last period's forecast and actual data

Which of the following smoothing constants would make an exponential smoothing forecast equivalent to a naive forecast?

A. 0

B. 0.01

C. 0.1

D. 0.5

E. 1.0

(CH.3)

1

A persistent tendency for forecasts to be greater than or less than the actual values is called:

A. bias

B. tracking

C. control charting

D. positive correlation

E. linear regression

(CH.3)

bias

The two most important factors in choosing a forecasting technique are:

A. cost and time horizon

B. accuracy and time horizon

C. cost and accuracy

D. quantity and quality

E. objective and subjective components

(CH.3)

cost and accuracy

Customer service levels can be improved by better:

A. mission statements

B. control charting

C. short-term forecast accuracy

D. exponential smoothing

E. customer selection

(CH.3)

short-term forecast accuracy

Accuracy in forecasting can be measured by:

A. MSE

B. MRP

C. MPS

D. MTM

E. MTE

(CH.3)

MSE

Which forecast uses opinions gathered from consumer surveys, managers, sales staff,experts, and executives?

A. associative

B. time-series

C. judgmental

D. capacity

E. quantitative

(CH.3)

judgmental

Which of the following is not an example of forecasts being used in a business organization?

A. how the organization should be structured

B. equipment replacement needs

C. timing and amount of funding needs

D. hiring activities

E. pricing and promotion

(CH.3)

how the organization should be structured

Which of the following is not necessarily an element of a good forecast?

A. estimate of accuracy

B. timeliness

C. meaningful units

D. low cost

E. written

(CH.3)

written

One reason for using the Delphi method in forecasting is to:

A. achieve a high degree of accuracy

B. maintain accountability and responsibility

C. reduce the risk that one individual's opinion will prevail

D. be able to replicate results

E. prevent hurt feelings.

(CH.3)

reduce the risk that one individual's opinion will prevail

Which of the following would tend to decrease forecast accuracy?

A. a reduction in demand variability

B. a shortening of the forecast time horizon

C. an attempt to forecast demand for a group of similar items rather than an individual item

D. a change in the underlying causal system

E. an increase in the flexibility of the production system

(CH.3)

a change in the underlying causal system

Which of the following is not a step in the forecasting process?

A. Determine the purpose and level of detail required

B. Eliminate all assumptions

C. Establish a time horizon

D. Select a forecasting model

E. Monitor the forecast.

(CH.3)

Eliminate all assumptions

Putting forecast errors into perspective is best done using:

A. exponential smoothing

B. MAPE

C. linear decision rules

D. MAD.5. hindsight

(CH.3)

MAPE

The mean absolute deviation is used to:

A. estimate the trend line

B. eliminate forecast errors

C. measure forecast accuracy

D. seasonally adjust the forecast

E. compute periodic forecast errors

(CH.3)

measure forecast accuracy

Global teams provide diversity while eliminating conflicts and miscommunication.

True/False

(CH.4)

False (Global teams provide diversity, but conflicts and miscommunication can actually increase.)

Concurrent engineering is another term for sequential development.

True/False

(CH.4)

False (Concurrent engineering = working in parallel, not sequentially.)

Modular design increases the costs of purchasing and controlling inventory compared to non-modular.

True/False

(CH.4)

False (Modular design usually reduces purchasing and inventory costs.)

Product failures can be easier to remedy with modular design.

True/False

(CH.4)

True

The process of dismantling and inspecting a competitor's product to discover product improvement is called benchmarking.

True/False

(CH.4)

False (This is reverse engineering. Benchmarking compares performance against best practices.)

Companies wanting to do business in the European Union must not sell products that contain recycled materials.

True/False

(CH.4)

False (The EU encourages recycling and sustainability.)

Research and development (R&D) refers to organized efforts that are directed toward increasing scientific knowledge and product (or process) innovation.

True/False

(CH.4)

True

Robust design describes a product that will perform satisfactorily so long as it is used in a very narrow range of conditions.

True/False

(CH.4)

False (Robust design means it performs well across a broad range of conditions.)

Quality function deployment (QFD) is based on a set of standards which relate customer requirements to company capabilities.

True/False

(CH.4)

True

Reliability can be improved by the use of backup components.

True/False

(CH.4)

True

Which of the following is not one of the 3 R's?

A. reuse

B. reduce

C. reposition

D. recycle

(CH.4)

reposition

The research and development activity that starts after positive applied research results are available and attempts to turn these results into useful commercial applications is:

A. basic research

B. applied research

C. development

D. redesign

E. commercial research

(CH.4)

development

One possible disadvantage of modular design is that:

A. replacement and repair are more difficult

B. failure diagnosis is more complex

C. the number of configurations of modules decreases

D. individual parts lose their identities

E. inventory problems arise

(CH.4)

the number of configurations of modules decreases

The process of dismantling and inspecting a competitor's new or revised product for the purpose of gleaning design ideas is called:

A. design by imitation

B. product analysis

C. reverse engineering

D. benchmarking

E. disassembly

(CH.4)

reverse engineering

One structured approach for integrating customer requirements into every aspect of product development is:

A. total quality management

B. customer satisfaction

C. quality function deployment

D. customer integration

E. a product development team

(CH.4)

quality function deployment

Making plans for how products that have reached the end of their useful lives will be dealt with is the primary subject of:

A. cradle-to-grave assessment

B. end-of-life programs

C. life-cycle analysis

D. three R's programs

E. process mapping

(CH.4)

end-of-life programs

Which of the following is not true about remanufacturing?

A. Remanufactured products can be sold at lower cost

B. The process requires mostly unskilled and semiskilled workers

C. There is less depletion of natural resources

D. It produces high-quality products easily

E. Remanufacturing is made easier by Design for Disassembly (DFD)

(CH.4)

It produces high-quality products easily

Which of the following is not one of the phases of product design and development?

A. Specify product specifications

B. Conduct market test

C. Specify process specifications

D. Conduct design review

E. Perform applied research

(CH.4)

Perform applied research

Elements of the service process in which there is no contact with the customer are referred to as:

A. robust

B. delayed differentiators

C. back-of-the-house

D. user-friendly

E. mission-consistent

(CH.4)

back-of-the-house

Which of the following are not part of the activities and responsibilities of product and service design?

A. construct and test prototypes

B. development organizational strategy

C. refine existing products and/or services

D. formulate cost targets

E. document specifications

(CH.4)

development organizational strategy