31.
Much time is lost when a washer ring manufacturer changes the settings in the equipment
from those for cars to those for trucks. Which of the following will help it save time?
A.
Flexible manufacturing
B.
Self-managed teams
C.
Process layout
D.
Product layout
Flexible manufacturing aims to reduce the time required to set up production equipment.
Redesigning the manufacturing process so that production equipment geared for
manufacturing one product can be quickly replaced with equipment geared to make
another product can dramatically reduce setup times and costs.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
32.
The management of any aspect of production that transforms inputs into finished outputs
is known as ________.
A.
B.
supply chain management
C.
operations management
D.
reengineering management
Operations management is the management of any aspect of the production system that
transforms inputs into finished goods and services.
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-01 Explain the role of operations management in achieving superior quality, efficiency, and
responsiveness to customers.
Topic: Inputs
33.
A system that an organization uses to obtain inputs, convert them into outputs, and then
dispose of these outputs is known as a ________.
A.
production system
B.
quality control management system
C.
reengineering system
D.
line management system
A production system is the system that an organization uses to acquire inputs, convert
inputs into outputs, and dispose of the outputs (goods or services).
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-01 Explain the role of operations management in achieving superior quality, efficiency, and
responsiveness to customers.
Topic: Inputs
34.
The managers who are responsible for managing the organization’s production system are
known as ________.
A.
TQM managers
B.
JIT managers
C.
operations managers
D.
inventory managers
Operations managers are managers who are responsible for managing an organization’s
production system. They do whatever it takes to transform inputs into outputs.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-01 Explain the role of operations management in achieving superior quality, efficiency, and
responsiveness to customers.
Topic: Inputs
35.
The main responsibility of operations managers is to manage the three stages of
production ranging from ________.
A.
acquisition of inputs to control of conversion processes
B.
acquisition of inputs to disposal of goods and services
C.
control of conversion processes to disposal of goods and services
D.
disposal of goods and services to customer relationship management
The job of operations managers is to manage the three stages of production—acquisition
of inputs, control of conversion processes, and disposal of goods and services—and to
determine where operating improvements might be made in order to increase quality,
efficiency, and responsiveness to customers and so give an organization a competitive
advantage.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-01 Explain the role of operations management in achieving superior quality, efficiency, and
responsiveness to customers.
Topic: Inputs
36.
Goods and services that are dependable, reliable, able to do what they were designed for
and satisfying characterize ________.
A.
efficiency
B.
conditioning
C.
warranties
D.
quality
“Quality” refers to goods and services that are reliable, dependable, or psychologically
satisfying.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-01 Explain the role of operations management in achieving superior quality, efficiency, and
responsiveness to customers.
Topic: Management
37.
“The actions taken to meet the needs of customers” refers to ________.
A.
efficiency
B.
quality
C.
quality control
D.
responsiveness
“Responsiveness to customers” refers to actions taken to meet the demands and needs of
customers.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Learning Objective: 14-01 Explain the role of operations management in achieving superior quality, efficiency, and
responsiveness to customers.
Topic: Management
38.
Operations managers are responsible for ________.
A.
setting sales quotas and reaching them
B.
designing a product distribution system
C.
establishing the company mission and vision
D.
designing saleable, low-cost products
Operations managers are responsible for ensuring that an organization has sufficient
supplies of high-quality, low-cost inputs, and they are responsible for designing a
production system that creates high-quality, low-cost products that customers are willing
to buy.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-01 Explain the role of operations management in achieving superior quality, efficiency, and
responsiveness to customers.
Topic: Inputs
39.
Management writers recommend that an organization should define its business in terms
of its ________.
A.
technology
B.
number of employees
C.
product mix
D.
customer needs
Because customers are vital to the survival of most organizations, managers must
correctly identify customers and promote organizational strategies that respond to their
needs. This is why management writers recommend that organizations define their
business in terms of the customer needs they are satisfying.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-02 Describe what customers want, and explain why it is so important for managers to be
responsive to their needs.
Topic: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
40.
Generally, other things being equal, most customers prefer products with ________.
A.
good after-sales service
B.
fewer and simpler features
C.
no customized features
D.
preferred attributes at any price
Generally, other things being equal, most customers prefer (1) a lower price to a higher
price, (2) high-quality products to low-quality products, (3) quick service to slow service,
(4) products with many useful features to products with few features, (5) products that
are, as far as possible, customized or tailored to their unique needs.
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Learning Objective: 14-02 Describe what customers want, and explain why it is so important for managers to be
responsive to their needs.
Topic: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
41.
The attributes of an organization’s outputs are determined by its ________.
A.
production system
B.
quality management program
C.
efficiency system
D.
distribution system
The attributes of an organization’s outputs—their quality, cost, and features—are
determined by the organization’s production system.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-02 Describe what customers want, and explain why it is so important for managers to be
responsive to their needs.
Topic: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
42.
A technique that uses IT to develop an ongoing relationship with buyers to maximize the
value an organization can deliver to them over time is ________.
A.
customer relationship management
B.
total quantity management
C.
customer experience management
D.
customer perception measurement
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technique that uses IT to develop an
ongoing relationship with customers to maximize the value an organization can deliver to
them over time.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-02 Describe what customers want, and explain why it is so important for managers to be
responsive to their needs.
Topic: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
43.
One of the reasons to increase product quality is that higher product quality can increase
efficiency, ________ operating costs, and ________ profits.
A.
increase; increase
B.
decrease; decrease
C.
decrease; increase
D.
increase; decrease
Achieving higher quality can lower operating costs because higher product quality can
mean less employee time is wasted in making defective products that must be discarded,
or in providing substandard service and fixing mistakes. Thus, higher product quality can
increase efficiency, lower operating costs, and increase profits.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-03 Explain why achieving superior quality is so important.
Topic: Total Quality Management (TQM)
44.
Total factor productivity is a measure of an organization’s ________.
A.
responsiveness
B.
process design standard
C.
efficiency
D.
raw material usage
Total factor productivity is a measure of an organization’s efficiency that looks at how well
an organization utilizes all of its resources—such as labor, capital, materials, or energy—to
produce its outputs.
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
45.
The outputs of an organization divided by all of its inputs is called its ________.
A.
total factor productivity
B.
total labor productivity
C.
partial productivity
D.
total capital productivity
Total factor productivity is a measure of an organization’s efficiency that looks at how well
an organization utilizes all of its resources—such as labor, capital, materials, or energy to
produce its outputs. Total factor productivity = outputs/all inputs.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
46.
Total factor productivity equals ________.
A.
raw materials divided by labor costs
B.
all inputs divided by outputs
C.
outputs divided by all inputs
D.
outputs times all inputs
Total factor productivity is a measure of an organization’s efficiency that looks at how well
an organization utilizes all of its resources—such as labor, capital, materials, or energy—to
produce its outputs.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Outputs
47.
In measuring the total factor productivity of an organization, which of the following is an
example of the contribution of the raw materials to output production?
A.
Number of tons of iron ore required to make one ton of steel
B.
Total number of units of energy consumed
C.
Number of man hours required to process raw materials
D.
Total number of employees required to operate the machinery
In defining total productivity, the contribution of materials is measured by the amount
consumed (for example, tons of iron ore required to make a ton of steel).
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
48.
In measuring the total factor productivity of an organization, an example of a measure of
the amount of energy consumed in output production is the number of ________.
A.
units produced
B.
hours worked
C.
kilowatt-hours consumed
D.
employees required
In defining total productivity, the contribution of energy is measured by the units of energy
consumed (for example, kilowatt-hours).
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
49.
The measure of the efficiency of a specific input in the production of a given output is
called _______.
A.
efficiency ratio
B.
partial productivity
C.
total factor productivity
D.
labor productivity
Though sometimes a useful measure of efficiency overall, total factor productivity
obscures the exact contribution of an individual—input such as labor—to the production of
a given output. Consequently, most organizations focus on specific measures of efficiency,
known as partial productivity, that measure the efficiency of an individual unit.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
50.
A problem associated with total factor productivity is that ________.
A.
some inputs cannot be factored in
B.
the calculation is too cumbersome
C.
it focuses on specific inputs
D.
each input is measured in different units
The problem with total factor productivity is that each input is typically measured in
different units. To compute total factor productivity, managers must convert all the inputs
to a common unit, such as dollars, before they can work the equation. It also obscures the
exact contribution of an individual input—such as labor—to the production of a given
output.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
51.
Which of the following calculates labor productivity?
A.
Outputs divided by direct labor
B.
Inputs divided by direct labor
C.
Direct labor divided by inputs
D.
Direct labor divided by outputs
The efficiency of labor inputs is expressed as outputs divided by direct labor.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Outputs
52.
Labor productivity is most commonly used to ________.
A.
calculate the total cost of production
B.
set wage standards per unit of production
C.
draw efficiency comparisons between different organizations
D.
define recruiting parameters for new candidates
Labor productivity is most commonly used to draw efficiency comparisons between
different organizations.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
53.
The efficiency of an organization with reference to the contribution of an individual input is
known as the ________.
A.
total factor productivity
B.
cumulative productivity
C.
partial productivity
D.
unit productivity
Organizations focus on specific measures of efficiency, known as partial productivity, that
measure the efficiency of an individual unit.
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
54.
Shawn, an executive with the Connoisseur’s Brewery, wants to compare his firm’s
efficiency against its competitors. To do so, he should ________.
A.
assess the financial ratios of the firm versus the competition
B.
compare the firm’s labor productivity to that of the competition
C.
compare the amount of materials used to that of the competition
D.
conduct a survey of customers’ opinions about the firm’s efficiency
Labor productivity is a measure of the efficiency of labor, and it is commonly used for
efficiency comparisons between different organizations.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
55.
In the typical organization, increased efficiency leads to ________.
A.
higher operating costs
B.
lower production costs
C.
lower partial productivity
D.
higher maintenance costs
The management of efficiency is an extremely important issue in most organizations,
because increased efficiency lowers production costs, thereby allowing the organization to
make a greater profit or to attract more customers by lowering its price.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
56.
The operations management technique that has a goal of designing the machine–worker
interface to increase production efficiency is _______.
A.
the facilities layout
B.
quality circles
C.
flexible manufacturing
D.
production system improvement
Facilities layout is the operations management technique whose goal is to design the
machine-worker interface to increase production system efficiency.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
57.
The way in which machines, robots, and people are grouped together in the production
process is known as ________.
A.
kanban
B.
facilities layout
C.
kaizen
D.
TQM
Facilities layout is the operations management technique whose goal is to design the
machine-worker interface to increase production system efficiency. The way in which
machines, robots, and people are grouped together affects how productive they can be.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs
58.
Organizing machines in the production process so that each operation is performed at
workstations in a fixed sequence is known as a ________.
A.
fixed-position layout
B.
hybrid layout
C.
product layout
D.
process layout
The three basic ways of arranging workstations are product layout, process layout, and
fixed-position layout. In a product layout, machines are organized so that each operation
needed to manufacture a product is performed at workstations arranged in a fixed
sequence.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 14-04 Explain why achieving superior efficiency is so important.
Topic: Inputs