Deck 16: Operations Management

Question 1

The processes and procedures of converting labor, materials, money, and other resources into finished products or services available for consumer consumption are referred to as ______.

A) the supply chain function
B) the operations function
C) the marketing function
D) the input function

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The primary reason small businesses can now compete with larger businesses in the area of manufacturing is ______.

A) today's lower costs
B) today's more skilled worker
C) easy availability of financing
D) automation that makes flexible production possible

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The active practices such as concepts, procedures, and technologies that are implemented to produce outputs are the basis for ______.

A) inputs
B) the transformation processes
C) outputs
D) feedback

Answer 3

B

Question 4

______ are tangible or intangible products that a business produces.

A) Controls
B) Processes
C) Outputs
D) Inputs

Question 5

Social responsibility is a business's obligation to ______.

A) the competitors
B) the employees
C) the community
D) the government

Question 6

Communication tools that are used to connect control systems to the processes of business are known as ______.

A) inputs
B) the transformation processes
C) outputs
D) feedback

Question 7

______ is the measure of production, or output per worker.

A) Productivity
B) Quality control
C) Efficiency
D) Effectiveness

Question 8

Inputs are important to the ______ of the finished product.

A) quantity produced
B) quality
C) location
D) timing

Question 9

Raw materials, skills, knowledge, money, information, and energy are all ______ for a business to use in the process of producing a product.

A) inputs
B) transformation processes
C) outputs
D) feedback

Question 10

Inputs, transformation processes, outputs, control systems, and feedback are the five basic elements of ______.

A) human resource management
B) transformation management
C) operations management
D) time management

Question 11

Employee behavior in a service business would fall under which of the following?

A) inputs
B) the transformation processes
C) outputs
D) feedback

Question 12

What a business does to add value to inputs when converting them to outputs is known as which of the following?

A) inputs
B) transformation processes
C) outputs
D) feedback

Question 13

Microbreweries or winemakers use which of the following when producing goods?

A) an analytic system
B) a synthetic system
C) a continuous process
D) an intermittent process

Question 14

A production process that operates for long periods of time without interruption is known as a/an ______.

A) analytical thinking system
B) synthetic system
C) continuous process
D) intermittent process

Question 15

Reducing inputs into component parts to extract products is which of the following?

A) an analytic system
B) a synthetic system
C) a continuous process
D) an intermittent process

Question 16

UrbanSki Company manufactures skis and snowboards using polymers, plastics, and metals. The company employs trained workers to handle the production. All of these are examples of which operating system element?

A) controls
B) processes
C) outputs
D) inputs

Question 17

Restaurants that take food, music, lighting, and human resources and combine them into meals are using which of the following?

A) an analytic system
B) a synthetic system
C) a continuous process
D) an intermittent process

Question 18

In an effort to increase productivity, some service businesses like Merry Maids house cleaning service and Jiffy Lube auto service are switching from the intermittent operations management process to the ______ process.

A) individual customization
B) mass customization
C) continuous
D) intermittent

Question 19

Custom printing shops and custom jewelry makers use which of the following in order to produce their product?

A) an analytic system
B) a synthetic system
C) a continuous process
D) an intermittent process

Question 20

The process by which the input, transformation, and output phases are monitored in order to identify problems is known as ______.

A) a control system
B) the transformation process
C) output
D) feedback

Question 21

In the chocolate factory segment of a business, 4,000 pounds of candy can be produced from 1,750 pounds of chocolate. What is the chocolate productivity ratio?

A) 0.4375
B) 2.29
C) 2.67
D) 43.75

Question 22

When materials and resources are allocated for production when the job order comes in, which of the following types of scheduling is used?

A) forward scheduling
B) backward scheduling
C) horizontal scheduling
D) vertical scheduling

Question 23

The detailed breakdown of information explaining how the product or service is produced is called ______.

A) routing
B) sequencing
C) dispatching
D) controlling

Question 24

In the goal of keeping productivity high, a small business owner should look for ways to keep outputs constant while ______.

A) keeping inputs constant
B) increasing inputs
C) increasing expenses
D) decreasing inputs

Question 25

If a bagel company sold $400,000 worth of bagels and used $150,000 worth of resources, the productivity ratio would be ______.

A) 0.375
B) 2.67
C) 3.33
D) 37.5

Question 26

When production activities are arranged around the due date for product completion, which of the following types of scheduling is used?

A) forward scheduling
B) backward scheduling
C) horizontal scheduling
D) vertical scheduling

Question 27

Scheduling is necessary to maximize levels of ______.

A) efficiency and customer service
B) customer service and expense
C) sales and expense
D) efficiency and effectiveness

Question 28

What type of scheduling device enables a small business owner to see the time required for each step in the production process and to see the current status of a job?

A) the scheduling chart
B) a Gantt chart
C) a timing chart
D) the Herzberg chart

Question 29

When building a house or constructing an airplane that must be completed by a certain date, which type of scheduling should be used?

A) forward scheduling
B) backward scheduling
C) horizontal scheduling
D) vertical scheduling

Question 30

In a factory setting, which of the following would be an example of an output?

A) painting process
B) manufacturing process
C) waste product
D) raw material

Question 31

Many larger businesses are deciding that manufacturing is not their specialty, so they are doing which of the following?

A) changing the products they make
B) exporting the necessary parts
C) giving out production contracts to smaller businesses and letting them provide the parts
D) hiring manufacturing experts to help increase their skills in that area

Question 32

Scheduling is the basic operations management activity for both manufacturing and service businesses that involves ______.

A) the quality of the production
B) the quantity of production
C) the timing of production
D) the productivity level of the workers

Question 33

The ratio of inputs used to produce outputs is called ______.

A) efficiency
B) effectiveness
C) productivity
D) quality

Question 34

Routing sheets are ______ while routing files are ______.

A) current information; past-due information
B) expense information; sales information
C) the paper copy; the electronic version of the same information
D) management information; supervisory information

Question 35

Small business owners can increase the productivity of their business by ______.

A) increasing outputs
B) decreasing inputs
C) increasing outputs and decreasing inputs
D) decreasing outputs and increasing inputs

Question 36

Information that shows the steps required to produce a product is called which of the following?

A) routing
B) sequencing
C) dispatching
D) controlling

Question 37

A significant difference between service and manufacturing operations is ______.

A) the amount of customer contact involved
B) the expense of providing the product
C) the number of sales involved
D) the length of time required for production

Question 38

Productivity in service-related businesses has not grown as rapidly as in manufacturing businesses because service businesses are ______.

A) more capital intensive
B) more labor intensive
C) less labor intensive
D) more expensive to operate

Question 39

Total productivity can be determined by dividing total outputs by ______.

A) total expenses
B) total sales
C) total inputs
D) total assets

Question 40

In the goal of keeping productivity high, a small business owner should look for ways to increase outputs while ______.

A) keeping inputs constant
B) increasing inputs
C) increasing expenses
D) decreasing sales

Question 41

To monitor the quality of work in progress, many businesses are realizing the value of the international quality standards known as ______.

A) ISO 6000
B) ISO 9000
C) GATT 3000
D) GATT 9000

Question 42

Six sigma is the tolerance range in which only ______ defects per ______ are allowed.

A) 2.5; thousand
B) 3.4; million
C) 3.4; thousand
D) 2.5; million

Question 43

Companies that make a significant profit from completing more orders will use which dispatching rule?

A) shortest processing time
B) first-come, first served
C) earliest due date
D) longest processing time

Question 44

The number of goods produced that were out of the company's accepted tolerance range is known as the ______.

A) defect rate
B) unacceptable quality rate
C) zero defects rate
D) defect range rate

Question 45

Which of the following types of dispatching would a taxi company use?

A) first-come, first-served rule
B) earliest due date rule
C) longest processing time rule
D) shortest processing time rule

Question 46

How well a good or service meets or exceeds customers' expectations or the degree to which a product conforms to established tolerance standards is known as ______.

A) quantity produced
B) quality
C) surpassing customer expectations
D) total quality management

Question 47

The act of releasing work to employees according to previously established priorities is known as ______.

A) routing
B) sequencing
C) dispatching
D) controlling

Question 48

______ statistics summarizes data through the use of measures of central tendency, variance, and standard deviation.

A) Inferential
B) Qualitative
C) Descriptive
D) Quantitative

Question 49

The use of statistical analysis to determine the probability of a variation in a product being a random mishap or a continuous problem is known as which of the following?

A) ISO 9000
B) GATT 3000
C) statistical process control
D) random process control

Question 50

Perfection is not possible, but companies are striving for which of the following?

A) zero defects
B) minimum defects
C) one defect
D) two defects

Question 51

Which of the following is the critical step in scheduling because a holdup in one department could cause a shutdown in the rest of the plant?

A) routing
B) sequencing
C) dispatching
D) controlling

Question 52

______ is used to determine the magnitude of an effect and to identify potential causes of variation.

A) Analysis of variance
B) Applied analysis
C) Descriptive analysis
D) Regression analysis

Question 53

A company that assumes that orders that take the longest will be the largest and the most profitable would use the ______.

A) first-come, first-served rule
B) earliest due date rule
C) longest processing time rule
D) shortest processing time rule

Question 54

The set of standards that certify that a business is using processes and principles in order to assure the production of quality products is known as which of the following?

A) ISO 6000
B) ISO 9000
C) GATT 3000
D) GATT 9000

Question 55

Inspecting outputs is which of the following types of quality control?

A) feedforward quality control
B) concurrent quality control
C) feedback quality control
D) intermittent quality control

Question 56

______ statistics is the process of looking at a sample and then using statistical analysis to interpret results.

A) Inferential
B) Applied
C) Descriptive
D) Quantitative

Question 57

The boundaries that a manager sets in determining the acceptable quality of a product are known as the ______.

A) defect rates
B) tolerance ranges
C) zero defects
D) defect ranges

Question 58

In statistical terminology, sigma denotes the ______ of a set of data.

A) variance
B) mean
C) standard deviation
D) sum

Question 59

The process of comparing key points within one's own business with comparable points in another external entity is referred to as ______.

A) six sigma
B) feedback control
C) benchmarking
D) statistical process control

Question 60

Which form of control depends most strongly on total quality management principles?

A) feedforward control
B) concurrent control
C) feedback control
D) loop control

Question 61

What term is used to describe when you need to restock?

A) inventory cycle
B) reorder point
C) reorder quantity
D) lead time

Question 62

An important factor in considering the inventory needs of many small retail businesses is ______.

A) the time needed to manufacture parts
B) bulk ordering to maintain high stock of items
C) to fill backorders
D) the time needed to get new inventory and the cost of reordering

Question 63

Scenario 16-2. Shana's Chocolate Factory is currently making a profit. Shana, however, wishes to evaluate her scheduling methods and increase her efficiency. She feels that the process can be improved, which means more chocolates could be produced and sold. Christmas is nearing and she knows if she cannot keep up with demand, her customers may choose another chocolate factory. Chocolate and sugar are the major ingredients in her candies. She uses 2,000 pounds of sugar and chocolate combined to produce 10,000 pieces of candy.

-In Scenario 16-2, the processes used in making various candies differ. Some candies are dipped, some are rolled in nuts, and some are layered. In determining the order with which various chocolates will go through the production system, Shana is considering which stage of the scheduling process?

A) routing
B) sequencing
C) dispatching
D) forward scheduling

Question 64

All the outputs a business produces, including the unintentional outputs, must be considered in the output phase of operations management.

Question 65

What is the most apparent cost of inventory?

A) financing
B) shelf life
C) storage
D) shipping

Question 66

What is the small business manager's priority when purchasing?

A) best value
B) lowest price
C) highest quality
D) highest price

Question 67

The expenses incurred in producing inventory are called ______.

A) holding costs
B) stocking costs
C) ordering costs
D) shipping costs

Question 68

The purchase order represents a legal offer to buy, no purchase contract exists until the seller ______.

A) accepts the buyer's offer
B) sends a purchase contract
C) sends an invoice
D) receives payment

Question 69

The operations management system starts with inputs that are transformed into outputs using transformation processes.

Question 70

Scenario 16-1. Ron's Rifle Manufacturers is facing tough competition. Recently, their rifles have received bad publicity due to a faulty safety mechanism. Management is determined to increase the quality of the rifles and have the emphasis on quality become Ron's competitive advantage.

-In Scenario 16-1, there is no factor more important to businesses than that of ______.

A) price
B) consumer demand
C) quality
D) variety

Question 71

Scenario 16-2. Shana's Chocolate Factory is currently making a profit. Shana, however, wishes to evaluate her scheduling methods and increase her efficiency. She feels that the process can be improved, which means more chocolates could be produced and sold. Christmas is nearing and she knows if she cannot keep up with demand, her customers may choose another chocolate factory. Chocolate and sugar are the major ingredients in her candies. She uses 2,000 pounds of sugar and chocolate combined to produce 10,000 pieces of candy.

-In Scenario 16-2, to determine the materials productivity for the sugar and chocolate, Shana would use the formula and find that the ratio was ______.

A) 3
B) 5
C) 2
D) 4

Question 72

The outputs in an operations management system include all physical and intangible resources that come into a business.

Question 73

Feedback is the necessary written communication that links a control system to the other phases of operations management.

Question 74

Scenario 16-1. Ron's Rifle Manufacturers is facing tough competition. Recently, their rifles have received bad publicity due to a faulty safety mechanism. Management is determined to increase the quality of the rifles and have the emphasis on quality become Ron's competitive advantage.

-In Scenario 16-1, the customers view the quality of Ron's rifles based on ______.

A) how well the rifle satisfies their needs
B) how closely the rifle conforms to the standards Ron has set
C) how closely price mirrors performance
D) how expensive the rifle is compared to competitors' rifles

Question 75

Scenario 16-1. Ron's Rifle Manufacturers is facing tough competition. Recently, their rifles have received bad publicity due to a faulty safety mechanism. Management is determined to increase the quality of the rifles and have the emphasis on quality become Ron's competitive advantage.

-In Scenario 16-1, management feels very strongly that the concept of six sigma also needs to be applied to customer service. Many customers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the current level of customer service. The difference between three sigma and four sigma levels in customer service in a company with 1,000 employees and 10 stages would be which of the following?

A) 100 dissatisfied customers
B) 200 dissatisfied customers
C) 375 dissatisfied customers
D) 439 dissatisfied customers

Question 76

Scenario 16-2. Shana's Chocolate Factory is currently making a profit. Shana, however, wishes to evaluate her scheduling methods and increase her efficiency. She feels that the process can be improved, which means more chocolates could be produced and sold. Christmas is nearing and she knows if she cannot keep up with demand, her customers may choose another chocolate factory. Chocolate and sugar are the major ingredients in her candies. She uses 2,000 pounds of sugar and chocolate combined to produce 10,000 pieces of candy.

-In Scenario 16-2, to measure the productivity of her business, Shana would ______.

A) divide output by sales
B) divide input by sales
C) divide input by expenses
D) divide total outputs by total inputs

Question 77

Scenario 16-2. Shana's Chocolate Factory is currently making a profit. Shana, however, wishes to evaluate her scheduling methods and increase her efficiency. She feels that the process can be improved, which means more chocolates could be produced and sold. Christmas is nearing and she knows if she cannot keep up with demand, her customers may choose another chocolate factory. Chocolate and sugar are the major ingredients in her candies. She uses 2,000 pounds of sugar and chocolate combined to produce 10,000 pieces of candy.

-In Scenario 16-2, the detailed breakdown of information explaining exactly how each chocolate will be produced and the steps to be taken at each point in production is called which of the following?

A) routing
B) sequencing
C) dispatching
D) forward scheduling

Question 78

Scenario 16-2. Shana's Chocolate Factory is currently making a profit. Shana, however, wishes to evaluate her scheduling methods and increase her efficiency. She feels that the process can be improved, which means more chocolates could be produced and sold. Christmas is nearing and she knows if she cannot keep up with demand, her customers may choose another chocolate factory. Chocolate and sugar are the major ingredients in her candies. She uses 2,000 pounds of sugar and chocolate combined to produce 10,000 pieces of candy.

-In Scenario 16-2, with Christmas approaching, Shana can be relatively assured she will need 50,000 pounds of chocolates based on sales from the last three years. She also knows she needs this amount produced by December 15 in order to take advantage of Christmas shopping. Which of the following types of scheduling should Shana use?

A) forward scheduling
B) backward scheduling
C) routing
D) sequencing

Question 79

To standardize the purchasing process, the small business manager may want to use which of these tools?

A) invoice
B) receiving report form
C) purchase requisition
D) purchase order

Question 80

Scenario 16-1. Ron's Rifle Manufacturers is facing tough competition. Recently, their rifles have received bad publicity due to a faulty safety mechanism. Management is determined to increase the quality of the rifles and have the emphasis on quality become Ron's competitive advantage.

-In Scenario 16-1, Ron's Rifles decides to use the tolerance range of six sigma. This means there will be ______ defects per ______.

A) 2.5; 1,000
B) 6; 1,000
C) 3.4; 1,000,000
D) 4.5; 1,000,000