Exam 1: Operations and Productivity

In the past half-century, while the number of people employed in manufacturing in the United States has decreased slightly, the output per worker has increased significantly.

Reasons to study Operations Management include learning about

The Ten Critical Decisions of Operations Management include

Manufacturing now constitutes the largest economic sector in postindustrial societies.

All of the following decisions fall within the scope of operations management except for

Gibson Products produces cast bronze valves for use in offshore oil platforms. Currently, Gibson produces 1600 valves per day. The 20 workers at Gibson work from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., with 30 minutes off for lunch and a 15 minute break during the morning work session and another at the afternoon work session. Gibson is in a competitive industry, and needs to increase productivity to stay competitive. They feel that a 20 percent increase is needed. Gibson's management believes that the 20 percent increase will not be possible without a change in working conditions, so they change work hours. The new schedule calls on workers to work from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., during which workers can take one hour off at any time of their choosing. Obviously, the number of paid hours is the same as before, but production increases, perhaps because workers are given a bit more control over their workday. After this change, valve production increased to 1800 units per day. a. Calculate labor productivity for the initial situation b. Calculate labor productivity for the hypothetical 20 percent increase c. What is the productivity after the change in work rules? d. Write a short paragraph analyzing these results.

An operations manager is not likely to be involved in

Gibson Valves produces cast bronze valves on an assembly line. If 1600 valves are produced in an 8-hour shift, the productivity of the line is

Measuring the impact of a capital acquisition on productivity is an example of multifactor productivity.

Among the ethical and social challenges facing operations managers are

Who among the following is associated with contributions to quality control in operations management?

"How much inventory of this item should we have?" is within the critical decision area of managing quality.

Operations management is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs.

The local fast food store experienced the following number of customers on the night shift Hour----------------Customers 12 AM 23 1 AM 20 2 AM 15 3 AM 5 4 AM 2 5 AM 1 If the store was staffed by two workers, what was the average productivity per worker, in customers/hour?

A knowledge society is one that has migrated from work based on knowledge to one based on manual work.

Current trends in operations management include all of the following except

A swimming pool company has 100,000 labor hours available per summer and with a labor productivity of 5 pools per 6,000 hours. a. How many pools can the company install this summer? b. Suppose the multifactor productivity was one pool per $25,000. How much should the company expect to spend this summer constructing the pools?

What is a knowledge society?

Productivity is more difficult to improve in the service sector.

Which of the following is the best example of a pure service?