Exam 19: Managing Operations

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Quality and Mass Customization (Scenario) Upon graduating from college, Steve Jungman began his career as a management trainee at Felcher & Sons Inc., a manufacturer of mid-priced office furniture. The firm has recently decided to expand overseas with manufacturing plants in Singapore and Thailand and sales offices in the Asia, Europe, and Australia. In conjunction with this investment in new plants and technologies, the firm plans develop an online presence that will enable customers to individually tailor the products they order from Felcher & Sons. Terry Tate, VP of operations for Felcher & Sons, is overseeing the development of these plants and the new production capabilities. Mr. Tate has asked that Steve be assigned to help him in this process. -Tate asks Steve to research other companies that use technology to maintain a dialogue with their customers. Steve discovers that Amazon.ca uses its website to __________.

_____ organization produces nonphysical outputs.

The key to effective job design in a value chain organization is _________.

The __________ chain is the entire series of organizational work activities that add value at each step beginning with the processing of raw materials and ending with finished product in the hands of end users.

Value chain management is internally oriented and focuses on efficient flow of incoming materials to the organization.

In managing the internal value chain, organizational leaders should clarify role expectations for ____________ as well as for ___________________.

In its entirety, the value chain can encompass everything from the supplier's suppliers to the customer's customers.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Quality and Mass Customization (Scenario) Upon graduating from college, Steve Jungman began his career as a management trainee at Felcher & Sons Inc., a manufacturer of mid-priced office furniture. The firm has recently decided to expand overseas with manufacturing plants in Singapore and Thailand and sales offices in the Asia, Europe, and Australia. In conjunction with this investment in new plants and technologies, the firm plans develop an online presence that will enable customers to individually tailor the products they order from Felcher & Sons. Terry Tate, VP of operations for Felcher & Sons, is overseeing the development of these plants and the new production capabilities. Mr. Tate has asked that Steve be assigned to help him in this process. -Steve tells Mr. Tate that he is excited to be working with him on this project. While he was in school, he did a research project on __________, which allows customers to tailor manufactured products to their individual specifications.

Which of the following statements is true about organizational productivity for individual organizations?

As part of refreshing her memory on operations management, Catrina analyzes value chains, and the requirements that are necessary for adopting a successful value chain strategy. She recognizes that the main goal of managing a value chain is to _________________.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Quality or Not? (Scenario) On Monday, the big news arrived. Top managers at Bob's company announced they would be implementing a new productivity improvement program. Their goals, they said, were to "plan for the now, impress shareholders, and use the program to increase short-term profits. Those who don't agree can begin looking for a new job." Bob, along with everyone else, grumbled under his breath. What in the world was top management thinking? Their "zero quality defects" program had failed and now they were jumping on this new bandwagon. Training was nonexistent in the company, and managers were fond of pushing responsibility for these programs down to the lowest level. Top management was not happy with the quality of the product, and now they wanted total quality concerning the employees too. At lunch, Bob read the notice board, which said, "Statistical process control classes will begin immediately, see your supervisor for a training date." Bob sighed and wondered what fad was next. -Although Bob was pleased to see the notice about the new training program, he was not sure that learning about statistical processes was the knowledge employees needed. But, he reasoned, any training would help make the employees __________.

Productivity is a composite of __________ and operational variables.

All organizations produce goods or services through a(n) ________ process.

Which of the following best describes organizational processes?

Which of the following statements about operations management is the most accurate?

Jack works for Synergy Today Inc. as a customer service representative. He is usually asked to take on other responsibilities such as packaging customer orders or checking the quality of the widgets that come from the factory. In order to be able to take on these additional responsibilities, he has asked his manager to ____________.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. TopCup Coffee (Scenario) Catrina has been working as a manager in TopCup Coffee for six months now. In that time she has noticed that the total sales have grown a scant half percent. The owner, who does not work in the business directly, commented in a recent meeting that unless the sales picked up over the next six months, he would consider closing the business. Catrina has since looked seriously into the operations and armed with a textbook on operations management from her college days, she is determined to change both the coffee shop operations and the sales picture. -Catrina knows from her course in operations management that when the employees have all the required knowledge and tools they will be able to ___________.

For the value chain to achieve its goal of exceeding customers' needs, __________ must be developed.

____________ is one important benefit of value chain management for manufacturers.

Operations management plays a strategic role in an organization's competitive success.