Exam 3: Process Thinking: Scms Foundation

The requirements for systems thinking are (a) a holistic view of the system, (b) access to accurate information, (c) functional organizational structure, (d) supportive measurement, and (e) rigorous systems analysis.

Fill in the Blank(s) -A______________ is a capability of the company that is so good at that it provides the company a competitive advantage.

Process mapping identifies individual activities, their specific roles, the people involved, and critical performance dimensions such as time taken by each step.

Fill in the Blank(s) -_______describes the radical redesign of business processes made possible by systems thinking and improved information technology.

Traditional organization structures drive systems thinking-managers begin to see the world from a narrow, functional perspective, acting as if their function were the company

Fill in the Blank(s) -_______identifies individual activities, their specific roles, the people involved, and critical performance dimensions such as time taken by each step of a process and can be used to make the process visible so that it can be redesigned.

At world class companies, education and training are the foundation for successful human resource policies.

To achieve cost leadership, a company must create an intrinsic advantage such as economies of scale, uniquely productive processes or low-cost factors.

Core competencies are rare and very hard for competitors to copy.

Defining the system boundaries is a prerequisite to identifying the process goal.

Fill in the Blank(s) -Michael Porter, professor at Harvard Business School and leading authority on competitive strategy and international competitiveness cites two strategies that should be considered when developing the overall business strategy: ______________and differentiation.

A process consists of a set of identifiable flows and value added activities. Three distinct flows define each process: an information flow, a ________ flow, and a financial flow.

Fill in the Blank(s) -_______thinking" is the holistic process of considering both the immediate local outcomes and the longer-term systems-wide ramifications of decisions.

A value proposition is something the company is so good at that it provides the company a competitive advantage.

Every system has constraints that limit available decision-making options.

"Functional Thinking" regarding process management seeks the local, departmental optimum, often at the expense of the overall ________ performance.

One of the pitfalls of functional thinking is that managers view every decision from their own function's perspective, ignoring other viewpoints.

Fill in the Blank(s) -Regarding the management of business resources, there are four resources as part of its own value-added system or as part of the larger supply chain. These resources are people,_______ , materials, and infrastructure.

Fill in the Blank(s) -The business resource of _______refers to the physical, bricks-and-mortar assets a company uses in the value creation process.

Usually decisions made in one area of process seldom affect performance in other areas.