Exam 10: Operations Management, Productivity, and Quality

How are "fishbone diagrams" useful?

TQM starts by focusing on which of the following parts of the business? Employees Customers Suppliers Competitors Investors

How does a business firm plan for quality?

When steel is turned into a finished good like a car, ________ utility has been created. place time interval ownership form

What are the four major tools in production process control?

The 2011 OECD study showed that productivity was highest in _________ and lowest in _________. Belgium; Australia Norway; Mexico China; the United States Luxembourg; Chile Canada; France

What is the difference between soft manufacturing and lean manufacturing? Soft manufacturing relies less on computers than lean manufacturing does. Lean manufacturing has been shown to be more effective than soft manufacturing. Soft manufacturing is based on the idea that machines can generally do better work than humans, while lean manufacturing is based on the opposite assumption. Lean manufacturing emphasizes efficiency, while soft manufacturing emphasizes effectiveness. There are no differences between the two concepts.

Inventory control and materials management have essentially the same meaning and are used interchangeably.

Production managers are relatively easy to identify because almost all of them work in factories.

By accepting major credit cards, a retail outlet has created price utility. time utility. ownership utility. form utility. place utility.

Suppose that you have no clean clothes, but you have a job interview tomorrow. You normally never use any other type of laundry detergent other than your regular brand. You find that it is currently sold out at your local convenience store, so you decide to buy the store brand because it best satisfies your need for possession utility. place utility. time utility. interval utility. ownership utility.

"Fishbone diagrams" are designed to show the steps in the production process. measure the amount of process variation. identify management steps for ensuring quality. help employees investigate and track down causes of quality problems in their work areas. identify the inefficiency problems in the production process.

A soft drink manufacturer who has many outlets for its product is providing place utility. ownership utility. form utility. price utility. time utility.

A public transit system is an example of a _________ process, while a cheque processing operation at a bank is a __________ process. fabrication; chemical transport; fabrication high-contact; low-contact low-contact; high-contact goods producing; service producing

What is the difference between a Gantt chart and a PERT chart? Gantt charts are used for planning service activities, while PERT charts are used for planning production activities. PERT charts show the critical path for meeting project goals, but Gantt charts do not. Gantt charts focus more on efficiency, while PERT charts focus more on effectiveness. PERT charts were formerly used more widely than Gantt charts, but the reverse is now true. There actually is no difference between Gantt charts and PERT charts; they are both used to schedule activities.

The text describes Toyota's top priority as focusing on quality. Explain how Toyota's operations capability would match up with its business strategy if its top priority had been to compete as the low-price car in the industry.

Describe three ways that McDonald's restaurants create time utility for customers.

Which of the following are unique aspects that separate services from goods? Intangibility and warranties High-contact and low-contact Time and place utility Intangibility and unstorability Form and time utility

Identify the three qualities that distinguish services from goods.

Discuss the current concept of "production" including recent trends.