Question 1

The experience curve refers to the:

Accepted Answer

A)  learning by doing technique. 
B)  company's overall experience in a particular industry. 
C)  systematic lowering of the cost structure and unit cost reductions. 
D)  diseconomies of scale caused by inexperienced workers. 
E)  increases in unit costs experienced over time.

Question 2

Self-managing teams:

Accepted Answer

A)  are limited to only very large organizations. 
B)  require members to coordinate their own activities and make decisions. 
C)  typically increase the need for supervisors. 
D)  create a tall organizational structure. 
E)  show negligible increase in productivity and substantial decrease in product quality.

Question 3

Product attributes that collectively define product excellence include the form, features, performance, durability, and styling of the product.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

With regard to customer defection, which of the following statements is incorrect?

Accepted Answer

A)  Defection rates are determined by customer loyalty. 
B)  The longer a company holds on to a customer, the greater is the volume of customer-generated unit sales. 
C)  Lowering customer defection rates creates a higher cost structure. 
D)  The longer a company retains a customer the higher the average unit cost of each sale. 
E)  There is a positive relationship between the length of time that a customer stays with the company and profit per customer.

Question 5

The experience curve concept:

Accepted Answer

A)  helps a company realize both learning effects and diseconomies of scale. 
B)  suggests that unit manufacturing costs increase by a certain amount each time output is increased. 
C)  is very important in industries that mass-produce a standardized output. 
D)  suggests that achieving low costs allows a firm to charge a premium price. 
E)  is least likely to bottom out as long as the company does not stop production.

Question 6

Discuss why superior efficiency is important and the many ways that different parts of the organization can help achieve it.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss why superior efficiency is important and...

Question 7

Mass customization:

Accepted Answer

A)  limits a company's ability to customize products. 
B)  reduces the use of individual machines and hinders quality control at all stages of the manufacturing process. 
C)  increases the setup times for complex equipment. 
D)  is the use of technology to produce large quantities of a standardized output. 
E)  is a company's ability to reconcile low cost and differentiation that were once thought incompatible.

Question 8

While Information Systems have greatly improved productivity, they have had little impact on lowering costs.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

Pay for performance based on individual accomplishment of goals tends to:

Accepted Answer

A)  increase per-unit costs. 
B)  decrease employee productivity. 
C)  increase employee output. 
D)  have little effect on employee output. 
E)  facilitate teamwork.

Question 10

The failure rate of innovative products is:

Accepted Answer

A)  high. 
B)  low. 
C)  nil. 
D)  moderate. 
E)  too difficult to assess.

Question 11

Which of the following is a tactical step for getting down the experience curve ahead of competitors?

Accepted Answer

A)  Premium pricing to create an image of uniqueness in consumers' minds 
B)  Pursuing a distinctive competence in focused marketing 
C)  Constructing a manufacturing plant of less than minimum efficient scale 
D)  Using aggressive pricing and promotions to expand sales volume as rapidly as possible 
E)  Making the assembly of the product as complex as possible because this results in greater learning effects

Question 12

No matter how complex the task is, learning effects typically die out after a limited period of time.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

Customer defection rates are:

Accepted Answer

A)  not directly related to unit cost. 
B)  an indication of a company's ability to satisfy its customers. 
C)  irrelevant as they are unlikely to impact advertising and marketing costs. 
D)  unlikely to affect sales volumes. 
E)  not affected by cost of products.

Question 14

Through efficient logistics at Grasshopper Grocers, the stock in the stores is automatically replenished when the company receives an alert from customers that their stock is low. Management at Grasshopper Grocers uses a just-in-time inventory system.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a role played by infrastructure leadership in implementing reliability improvement methodologies?

Accepted Answer

A)  Providing leadership and commitment quality 
B)  Finding ways to manage quality 
C)  Setting goals and creating incentives 
D)  Soliciting input from employees 
E)  Lengthening production runs

Exam 4: Building Competitive Advantage Through Functional-Level Strategies

The experience curve refers to the:

Self-managing teams:

Product attributes that collectively define product excellence include the form, features, performance, durability, and styling of the product.

With regard to customer defection, which of the following statements is incorrect?

The experience curve concept:

Discuss why superior efficiency is important and the many ways that different parts of the organization can help achieve it.

Mass customization:

While Information Systems have greatly improved productivity, they have had little impact on lowering costs.

Pay for performance based on individual accomplishment of goals tends to:

The failure rate of innovative products is:

Which of the following is a tactical step for getting down the experience curve ahead of competitors?

No matter how complex the task is, learning effects typically die out after a limited period of time.

Customer defection rates are:

Through efficient logistics at Grasshopper Grocers, the stock in the stores is automatically replenished when the company receives an alert from customers that their stock is low. Management at Grasshopper Grocers uses a just-in-time inventory system.

Which of the following is NOT a role played by infrastructure leadership in implementing reliability improvement methodologies?