Deck 1: Introduction to Operations Management

Question 1

Operations management involves both system design and planning/control decisions.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Managing inventory levels is considered a planning/control operations decision area.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Value-added refers to the cost of the inputs required to produce goods and services.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

As long as a product is ready in advance of when customers demand it,the timing of when a product is manufactured does not influence the value-added.

Question 5

Design decisions are usually strategic and long term,while planning decisions are tactical and medium term.

Question 6

Service often requires a higher labour content,whereas the production of goods is more capital intensive.

Question 7

Effectiveness refers to achieving intended goals whereas efficiency refers to minimizing cost and time.

Question 8

As a service business,the operations management activities of an airline company have nothing in common with the operations management activities within a bicycle manufacturing company.

Question 9

Management information systems (MIS)are concerned with providing management with the information it needs to effectively manage.

Question 10

Service involves a much higher degree of customer contact than the production of goods.

Question 11

System design decisions have very little impact on planning/control decisions.

Question 12

Operations management pertains almost exclusively to the management of manufacturing operations.

Question 13

Measurement of productivity in service is more straightforward than in goods production due to the high degree of uniformity of inputs.

Question 14

The operations function exists only in firms that are goods-oriented.

Question 15

A basic difference between manufacturing and service organizations is that services are action-oriented and manufacturing is goods-oriented.

Question 16

An example of an operations control decision is the choice of location.

Question 17

Scheduling jobs is a system design decision and not a planning decision.

Question 18

Operations,marketing,and finance function independently of each other in most organizations.

Question 19

Operations managers are responsible for managing activities and resources that produce goods and/or provide services.

Question 20

Storing an item earlier than the scheduled delivery date is an example of a value adding activity.

Question 21

The impact of globalization for manufacturing companies has been reduced reliance on long international supply chains because of the increasing cost to ship components and finished goods to foreign markets.

Question 22

The Pareto phenomenon is one of the most important and pervasive concepts that can be applied at all levels of management.

Question 23

Which of the following is a reason for studying operations management?

A) A large percentage of a company's expenses occur in the operations management activities that are at the core of all business organizations.
B) Activities in all of the other areas of business organizations, such as accounting and marketing are interrelated with operations management activities.
C) Many management jobs are in operations management-related areas, such as production planning, inventory management, and more.
D) All of the choices are reasons.
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 24

A systems approach emphasizes interrelationships among subsystems,but its main theme is that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Question 25

Which of the following is not a type of service operations?

A) Retail trade
B) Transportation and warehousing
C) Fabrication of metals
D) Banking
E) Hotels and restaurants

Question 26

The moving assembly line introduced by Henry Ford is an example of the development of mass production based on large volumes of standardized goods produced using low or semi-skilled workers and highly specialized equipment.

Question 27

Prior to the Industrial Revolution,goods were produced primarily by craftsmen or their apprentices using custom made parts.

Question 28

Operations management encompasses all of the following EXCEPT:

A) buying materials.
B) capacity planning.
C) scheduling.
D) motivating employees and training.
E) preparing financial statements.

Question 29

Frederick Taylor is often referred to as the "father of scientific management".

Question 30

Many operations management decisions can be described as trade-offs.

Question 31

Operations managers,who usually use quantitative approaches,have no responsibility to make ethical decisions.

Question 32

A systems approach is to concentrate on efficiency within a subsystem and thereby achieve overall efficiency.

Question 33

Measurements taken at various points in the transformation process for control purposes are called:

A) plans.
B) directions.
C) controls.
D) feedback.
E) proposals.

Question 34

Models are simplified representations of something and thus ignore important aspects of a situation.

Question 35

The three primary functions that exist in most business organizations are:

A) manufacturing, production, and operations.
B) operations, marketing, and finance.
C) operations, accounting, and marketing.
D) operations, production, and finance.
E) none of the choices are correct.

Question 36

The three major functions of business organizations:

A) perform different but related activities.
B) are related indirectly only.
C) must work together, but not very closely.
D) function independently of each other.
E) perform similar and related activities.

Question 37

Quantitative techniques are often quick and practical techniques for many decisions.

Question 38

It is essential to use the systems approach when something is being designed,redesigned,implemented,improved,or otherwise changed.

Question 39

The Human Relations Movement,which emphasized the importance of the human element in job design,was replaced by the more technical aspects of Scientific Management.

Question 40

Queuing techniques are useful for analyzing situations in which waiting lines form.

Question 41

Which of the following is not true about the systems approach?

A) It recognizes the importance of taking into account the impact on all parts of the system.
B) It emphasizes interrelationships among subsystems.
C) It concentrates on efficiency within subsystems.
D) It becomes essential whenever something is being redesigned or improved.
E) The objectives of the whole take precedence over those of any one part.

Question 42

Value-added refers to:

A) the cost of inputs.
B) the price of outputs.
C) the difference between cost of inputs and what customers are willing to pay.
D) the extra profit obtained from increased productivity.
E) all of the choices are correct.

Question 43

Which of the following is not a general approach to decision-making?

A) Establishing priorities
B) Subjective approach
C) Analysis of trade-offs
D) Systems approach
E) Quantitative approaches

Question 44

Which of the following does not relate to system design?

A) Long term capacity
B) Location of facilities
C) Inventory management
D) Process design
E) Departmental layout

Question 45

Dealing with the fact that certain aspects of any management situation are more important than others is called:

A) analysis of trade-offs.
B) sensitivity analysis.
C) establishing priorities.
D) analysis of variance.
E) decision analysis.

Question 46

Tactical planning and control activities involve making decisions about all of the following EXCEPT:

A) location of facilities.
B) scheduling.
C) material requirements planning.
D) project management.
E) inventory management.

Question 47

The responsibilities of operations managers classified as controlling activities are:

A) inventory, production pace, quality, and costs.
B) organizing departments, subcontracting, supplier contracts, and staffing.
C) forecasting, planning, organizing, and directing.
D) scheduling, job assignments, purchasing, and logistics.
E) capacity, location, layout, and mix of products.

Question 48

System capacity and location of facilities are examples of:

A) financial decisions.
B) tactical decisions.
C) systems design decisions.
D) operational planning decisions.
E) forecasting decisions.

Question 49

Economic analysis of investment proposals,and provision of funds are activities associated with the:

A) operation function.
B) marketing function.
C) purchasing function.
D) finance function.
E) industrial engineering function.

Question 50

The marketing function's main concern is with:

A) producing goods or providing services.
B) assessing customer wants and needs.
C) procuring materials, supplies, and equipment.
D) performing economic analysis of investment proposals.
E) securing monetary resources.

Question 51

Which is not a quantitative technique to problem solving?

A) Linear programming
B) Queuing techniques
C) Statistical techniques
D) Heuristic approach
E) All of the choices are quantitative approaches.

Question 52

Planning decisions are usually __________ and __________ term.

A) strategic; long
B) tactical; medium
C) forecasting; short
D) strategic; short
E) tactical; long

Question 53

Which of the following is not a characteristic of models used to support decision making?

A) They provide a simplified representation of a design problem.
B) They ignore unimportant details, concentrating on the most important aspects of a situation.
C) They may be based on mathematical representations or graphical schematics.
D) They provide abstract representations of a design problem.
E) They are limited to representations of objective quantitative factors.

Question 54

The responsibilities of operations managers classified as planning activities include:

A) inventory, production pace, quality, and costs.
B) organizing departments, subcontracting, supplier contracts, and staffing.
C) forecasting, planning, organizing, and directing.
D) scheduling, job assignments, purchasing, and logistics.
E) capacity, location, layout, and mix of products.

Question 55

Of the following,which aspect of the evolution of operations management is affiliated with Japanese manufacturing companies?

A) total quality management
B) scientific management
C) the human relations movement.
D) the industrial revolution.
E) craft production

Question 56

Which of the following responsibilities of operations managers is considered a directing activity rather than a planning or control activity?

A) selecting production equipment
B) product mix decisions
C) scheduling workers
D) inventory management
E) layout of production facilities

Question 57

Which of the following is not a characteristic of service operations?

A) Intangible output.
B) High customer contact.
C) High labour content.
D) Easy measurement of productivity.
E) Low uniformity of output.

Question 58

Measuring process outputs at various points in order to compare outputs to previously established standards to determine if corrective action is needed is called:

A) planning and directing.
B) directing and conversion.
C) feedback and control.
D) controlling and leading.
E) leading and transformation.

Question 59

The fact that improvements in a few key areas of operations will have more impact than many improvements in less significant areas is referred to as the ___________.

A) forecasting approach
B) Pareto phenomenon
C) productivity challenge
D) analysis of trade-offs
E) ethical dilemma

Question 60

Which is not a significant difference between manufacturing and service operations?

A) Cost per unit
B) Uniformity of output.
C) Labour content of jobs.
D) Amount of customer contact.
E) Measurement of productivity.

Question 61

Which of the following developments related to the historical evolution of operations management is the oldest?

A) The human relations movement advocated by Mayo, Maslow, and Hertzberg.
B) The introduction of the moving assembly line by Henry Ford.
C) Scientific management principles espoused by Frederick Taylor.
D) The principle of division of labour documented in Adam Smith's book The Wealth of Nations.
E) The influence of Japanese management practices.

Question 62

Which of the following is not properly matched?

A) Mathematical model for inventory management-Elton Mayo
B) Division of labour-Adam Smith
C) Scientific Management-F. W. Taylor
D) Motion study-Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
E) Moving assembly line-Henry Ford

Question 63

Which of the following is not a major trend influencing the strategies of manufacturing organizations?

A) Globalization
B) The Internet and e-commerce
C) Introduction of mass production
D) Supply chain management
E) Technological advances