Deck 9: Technological Changeis the World Getting Smaller

Question 1

Computers first became widely available in the:

A) 2000s
B) 1990s
C) 1980s
D) 1970s
E) 1960s

Answer 1

1980s

Question 2

The "end of geography" has become synonymous with which other metaphor?

A) The "death of globalization"
B) The "death of distance"
C) The "birth of the future"
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Answer 2

The "death of distance"

Question 3

Many commentators have assumed that new technologies, and their associated benefits, are _________________________ and that there will be some kind of "leveling-out" of economic activities at the global scale as a result.

A) Locally available
B) Internationally unavailable
C) Universally available
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Answer 3

Universally available

Question 4

"Technological determinism" describes:

A) A fallacy that sees technology as a technical process that can itself drive economic processes
B) The physical landscapes that arise as a result of industrial clustering
C) Firm strategies with regard to the adoption of new labor-saving technologies in the production process
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 5

"Space-shrinking" transport and communications technologies help overcome the friction associated with:

A) Product life cycles
B) Employer-employee relations
C) Space and time
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 6

Space-shrinking technologies enable capitalists to speed up ____________________ in their pursuit of profits.

A) The spatial diffusion of workers
B) The spatial circulation of capital
C) Cost recovery
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 7

_______________________ are ongoing small-scale changes to existing products and production processes- such as adding more features to a mobile phone or using computer software to replace paperwork in an office environment.

A) Positive initiatives
B) Negative initiatives
C) Radical innovations
D) Incremental innovations
E) Best-practices
F) Worst-practices

Question 8

_______________________ are discontinuous events that significantly change an existing product or process. Examples here could include the invention of a new kind of television technology (e.g., flat-screen television).

A) Positive initiatives
B) Negative initiatives
C) Radical innovations
D) Incremental innovations
E) Best-practices
F) Worst-practices

Question 9

Changes in the techno-economic _______________ are revolutionary upheavals that have economy-wide effects.

A) Paradigm
B) Status of firms
C) Machinery
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 10

Kondratiev waves refer to:

A) An approach to transferring larger amounts of data through transatlantic optic cables
B) periods of economic growth and prosperity
C) Major innovations in the information and communication technology sectors
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 11

A term used to describe how the fortunes of certain places under conditions of technological change are partly determined by preexisting conditions.

A) Exogenous factors
B) Creative destruction
C) Path dependency
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 12

Which of these is a constituent element of a commodity chain?

A) Workers
B) Governments
C) Consumers
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 13

It was only in the late ___________ that commercial air travel took off as an affordable and widely available mode of transport.

A) 1990s
B) 1970s
C) 1950s
D) 1930s
E) 1910s

Question 14

The approximate total of global aircraft flights in 2009 was:

A) 74 million
B) 20 million
C) 5 million
D) 110,000
E) 45,000

Question 15

The approximate total of passengers handled by the world's airports in 2009 was:

A) 4.8 billion
B) 2.8 billion
C) 43.8 million
D) 13.8 million
E) 108,000

Question 16

The approximate total of air freight shipped worldwide in 2009 was:

A) 1 billion tons
B) 80 million tons
C) 20 million tons
D) 1 million tons
E) 500,000 tons

Question 17

This term refers to the adoption of standardized 20- and 40-foot- metal containers for land and sea freight:

A) Boxed shipping
B) Square transport
C) Containerization
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 18

The expansion of internet use over the last 15 years has been astounding, rising from 16 million in 1995 to _______________, or 33% of the global population, by late 2011.

A) 9,267 million
B) 2,267 million
C) 267,000
D) 67,000
E) 7,000

Question 19

Mobile phone subscriptions globally leapt from 1 billion in 2002 to _____________ by the end of 2010, the latter representing 77% of the world's population.

A) 20.3 billion
B) 15.3 billion
C) 10.3 billion
D) 5.3 billion
E) 1.3 billion

Question 20

Space-shrinking technologies allow the ____________________ of different elements of the production process (or commodity chain) both within and between countries.

A) Disintegration
B) Induction
C) Buffering
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 21

Lean distribution systems are based on:

A) Infrequent deliveries
B) Larger volumes in each delivery
C) Larger stockpiles of components and products
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 22

Effective logistics provision necessitates a mastery of _______________ space.

A) Company
B) Electronic
C) Both real and virtual
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 23

Integrated ______________ utilize refrigerated warehouses and trucks to allow transport of perishable goods across thousands of miles in line with international quality and safety standards.

A) Cool chains
B) Trade agreements
C) Social networks
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 24

There are ______________ limits to geographic markets, and hence product innovation focuses on trying to open up new kinds of market.

A) Finite
B) Infinite
C) Never
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 25

The notion of the product life cycle encapsulates the idea that:

A) Supply for any given product will decline over time
B) Demand for any given product will decline over time
C) Manufacturers eventually go out of business
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 26

Which of the following represent a standard phase in the simplified model of a product life cycle?

A) Growth
B) Maturity
C) Obsolescence
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 27

In seeking to overcome the constraints imposed by the product life cycle, firms can:

A) Introduce a new product once the existing one starts to decline
B) Extend the life of the existing product by making minor modifications or finding new uses for it
C) Find newly efficient ways of producing the existing product
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 28

It is clearly a(n) ___________________ to suggest that all products follow a similar trajectory, or product life cycle, over time.

A) Generalization
B) Political move
C) Empirically-supported argument
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 29

In general terms, product life cycles are becoming shorter and rates of innovation are:

A) Stabilizing
B) Increasing
C) Decreasing
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 30

Modern approaches to product innovation should be thought of as:

A) A linear process, with well-established procedures and standardized approaches to fostering innovation
B) A discrete process, divided into separate and well-defined research and manufacturing phases
C) An iterative process, with more fluid organizational structures allowing ongoing innovation
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 31

Fordist production is characterized by a distinctive division of:

A) Labor
B) Revenue
C) Taxation
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 32

Fordist production is a system in which the manufacture of parts and components is highly:

A) Disintegrated
B) Flexible
C) Standardized
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 33

Fordist production is organized with ________________ arranged in the correct sequence to manufacture a product.

A) Machines
B) Workers
C) Inputs
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 34

The various parts of the Fordist production process are linked together by _____________________ to facilitate the quick and efficient fulfillment of tasks.

A) Informal networks of individual craftsmen
B) Free Trade Agreements
C) An assembly line
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 35

This term refers to how a large volume of production reduces the cost of producing a single product:

A) Strength in numbers
B) Economies of scale
C) Productive capacity
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 36

Fordism remains the primary production regime in which of the following sectors?

A) Agriculture and food processing
B) Routinized services activities
C) Electronic component industries
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 37

______________ production systems seem to exhibit a newfound tendency for firms to agglomerate in particular clusters.

A) Fordist
B) Flexible
C) Nationalized
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 38

This form of cluster is based on the manufacture of one particular product type, and exhibits high levels of subcontracting relationships between dense networks of small and medium-sized firms:

A) Industrial districts
B) Mining regions
C) Artist collectives
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 39

Flexible mass production has inherent tendencies to the concentration of economic activity in clusters due to the imperatives of __________________ systems.

A) Distribution
B) Logistics
C) Just-in-time
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 40

Describe one incremental and one radical innovation in the production of the television set.

Question 41

Drawing on examples from the auto industry, provide four examples of how Fordist production and lean production principles differ in practice.