Exam 9: Value Chain Management Functional Strategies for Competitive Advantage

A headphone manufacturer uses advancements in technology to continually improve the sound quality of its products. This is an example of

To realize improvements in ease of production, a company should

To achieve ________, managers must find a way to lower costs and/or increase differentiation.

As a member of the ________ function within his company, Arturo visits new businesses to educate them on the features and advantages offered by his company's products.

Six Sigma shares with TQM its focus on improving value chain processes to increase

The primary goal of flexible manufacturing is to

To speed product development and promote innovation, managers should avoid

For successful total quality management (TQM),

Define a value chain and the concept of value chain management. Select two functions within a value chain and provide an example of effective management for each.

Riya is assigned to a new project and has ownership for key project stages from planning, through development, to delivery. Riya is considered a ________ member of the project team.

A company that produces business telephones does an audit of customer complaints. The results reveal that the customer support department has the biggest share of complaints. This represents a ________ defect.

The goal of Six Sigma is to improve a company's quality to only three defects per million by

Miranda suggests to her company that they should introduce self-managed teams in order to

A recent review of the company's operational costs showed that it needed to achieve dramatic improvements in all aspects of performance to stay competitive. What should the CEO do to best improve performance?

Members of a self-managed team often

________ is the gradual improvement and refinement of existing products over time as existing technologies are perfected.

A local car dealership sells a minivan to a couple. Three days later, they call the couple to ensure they are happy with the purchase and to address any questions or concerns they may have regarding the new vehicle. This dealership is trying to gain a competitive advantage through superior

________ is a technique that focuses all functions within an organization on improving the design, features, reliability, and after-sales support of products.

________ management is the development of a set of functional-level strategies that support a company's business-level strategy and strengthen its competitive advantage.

To effectively implement total quality management, managers should