Felcher & Sons Goes Global
Upon graduating from university, Steve Bergman began his career as a management trainee at Felcher & Sons Ltd, 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 Far East, Europe and the United States.In conjunction with this investment in new plants and technologies, the firm plans to 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, has been tasked with overseeing the development of these plants and new capabilities.Mr Tate has asked that Steve be assigned to him to help him in this process.
-Refer to Felcher & Sons Goes Global (Scenario).Having been assigned to help Mr Tate bring new plants into compliance with ISO 9000 standards, Steve asks Mr Tate why obtaining ISO 9000 is so important to Felcher & Sons Ltd.Mr Tate responds that ________.
A)this type of certification is becoming a prerequisite for doing business internationally
B)quality is often a big problem for overseas plants because labour is less highly skilled
C)US law requires manufacturers bring their operations into compliance by 2007
D)this quality goal establishes a goal of no more than 3.4 defects per million units or procedures
E)if implemented by Felcher, they will be one of the first in their field to do so, which will give them a distinct marketing advantage

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Mr Tate's response indicates that obtaining ISO 9000 certification is important because it is becoming a requirement for international business. This suggests that the certification may be necessary to meet legal or industry standards in foreign markets, and failing to obtain it could result in lost business opportunities.