Introduction to Operations and Supply Chain Management, 4e (Bozarth/Handfield)
Chapter 2 Operations and Supply Chain Strategies
Learning Objective 2-1
1) A business is defined by its structural and infrastructural elements.
2) Policies and decision rules are infrastructural elements.
3) Structural elements of a business include:
A) policies.
B) people.
C) decision rules.
D) computer systems.
4) A(n) ________ is an example of an infrastructural element.
A) building
B) organizational structure
C) office equipment
D) fleet of delivery trucks
5) ________ are tangible resources such as buildings, equipment, and computer systems.
6) ________ are the people, policies, and organizational structure choices made by a firm.
7) Define and describe the differences between structural and infrastructural elements of a
business.
1) A mechanism that identifies a firm’s targeted customers and sets time frames and performance
objectives for the business is called a mission statement.
2) The vision statement addresses a company’s reason for existence, core values, and domain.
3) As long as each functional area in a company operates efficiently, their strategies can be very
different.
4) In general, core competencies drive strategies.
5) A business’s core competencies can shift over time.
6) The firm’s targeted customers, time frames, and performance objectives are identified by their:
A) mission statement.
B) core competencies.
C) business strategy.
D) functional strategy.
7) Core competencies can be described as:
A) a declaration of mission that is focused on specific skills.
B) organizational strengths and abilities that have been developed over time.
C) only those processes that create products or provide services.
D) elements of the supply chain that create value.
8) The success of a strategy depends on doing many things well and:
A) adjusting the company mission to match what you excel at.
B) performing at a high level.
C) doing them better than your competitors.
D) integrating among them.
9) Which of the following statements about functional strategies is best?
A) Functional strategies are not impacted by the mission statement; instead they are impacted by
the overall business strategy.
B) Functional strategies determine the overall business strategy.
C) Many functional level strategies could readily be described as cross-functional.
D) A firm’s operations and supply chain strategy is more important than their marketing, finance
and engineering strategies.
10) No one could turn around a failing restaurant as expertly as Gordon, whose experience and
cadre of trained professionals was available at a moment’s notice should his services be needed.
This ability, some might call it a gift, was developed to such a level that other restaurant
consultants were unable to match his results. This ability is best described as his:
A) business strategy.
B) core competency.
C) mission statement.
D) operations and supply chain strategy.
11) The ________ explains why an organization exists.
12) Organizational strengths or abilities, developed over a long period of time that customers
find valuable and competitors find difficult or impossible to copy are ________.
13) The translation of an overall business strategy into a level of detail suitable for the marketing
area is a(n) ________.
14) Define mission statement and business strategy and describe the relationship between the
two.
1) An operations and supply chain strategy is a functional strategy that is, by definition, an
infrastructural strategy.
2) Conformance quality addresses whether the product was made or the service performed to
specifications.
3) If a logistics firm consistently makes deliveries within the agreed upon delivery window, they
are exhibiting delivery reliability.
4) Changeover flexibility refers to the ability of a company to change production quickly from
one product to another with a minimal downtime in production.
5) Volume flexibility is the term used to describe the ability of a producer to produce a dazzling
array of products or services.
6) Darrell and Dave were fierce competitors, which drove both of them to overpay for many of
their inputs, resulting in increased prices at their own stores. Dave realized this, and pondered
how he could be recognized as a cost leader by his customers and maintain his reputation for
quality merchandise. Sacrificing one element of his strategy at the expense of another is
recognized as a trade-off in operations management.
7) “I’ve never seen flavored marshmallows this size before!” Alice squealed as she emptied the
shelves at the local grocery store. The rest of the shoppers would have to make do with the other
seventy bags of miniature and standard-size marshmallows during this winter’s hot chocolate
festival. For Alice, the jumbo size feature is an order winner.
8) Your employer prepares a request for proposal that describes in vivid detail all of the
capabilities that a new computer system should possess. A software product that can meet this
request for proposal has performance characteristics that can be described as order qualifiers.
9) In the internally supportive stage of business strategy alignment, management merely attempts
to minimize negative potential in the operations and supply chain area.
10) You decide to open a bookstore with a wide selection, comfortable seating, and an internal
coffee shop because it has worked very well for other bookstores you have visited. Your strategy
could be described as externally neutral.
11) The externally supportive stage of alignment is more desirable than the externally neutral
stage of alignment.
12) The phrase “closing the loop” means that strengths and weaknesses, as well as core
competencies are fed back into the mission statement.
13) Which of these is NOT one of the primary objectives of an operations and supply chain
strategy?
A) To help management choose the right mix of structural and infrastructural elements, based on
a clear understanding of the performance dimensions valued by customers and the trade-offs
involved.
B) To ensure that the firm’s structural and infrastructural choices are strategically aligned with
the firm’s business strategy.
C) To support the development of core competencies in the firm’s operations and supply chains.
D) To align structural and infrastructural elements to convert order winners into order qualifiers
as determined by the mission statement.
14) Which of these is a major operations and supply chain structural decision category?
A) Organization
B) Planning and control
C) Capacity
D) Product and service development
15) Which of these is a major operations and supply chain infrastructural decision category?
A) Organization
B) Facilities
C) Capacity
D) Technology
16) Damron Inc. wants to purchase a shear for their sheet metal shop and chooses dimensions of
cost, reliability, and flexibility as critical to their long term success. They evaluate three different
shears and rate their performance on each criterion on a scale from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
What is the value index for the shear made by Belsky Manufacturing?
Dimension
Importance
Belsky Mfg.
Reber Ind.
Floyd Co.
Cost
4
1
5
3
Reliability
2
5
2
1
Flexibility
3
3
3
4
A) 9
B) 18
C) 23
D) 81
17) Damron Inc. wants to purchase a shear for their sheet metal shop and chooses dimensions of
cost, reliability, and flexibility as critical to their long term success. They evaluate four different
shears and rate their performance on each criterion on a scale from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
Which shear should be purchased?
Dimension
Importance
Belsky Mfg.
Reber Ind.
Estelle LLC
Floyd Co.
Cost
4
4
4
3
3
Reliability
2
3
2
3
1
Flexibility
3
2
3
3
4
A) Belsky
B) Reber
C) Estelle
D) Floyd
18) Electra wants to purchase a laptop for use in her MBA program so she can work on
assignments and surf the web while the professor drones on endlessly. After consulting with her
colleagues, she chooses the dimensions of cost, weight, processor speed, and touchscreen
capability as critical to her long term success and amusement. She evaluates four different
laptops and rates their performance on each criterion on a scale from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
Which laptop should Electra purchase?
Dimension
Sir Face
Toybook
Air
Knockoff
Weight
4
4
3
Speed
4
4
4
Cost
2
2
5
Touchscreen
5
2
3
A) Sir Face
B) Toybook Air
C) Knockoff
D) High Priced
19) Electra wants to purchase a laptop for use in her MBA program so she can work on
assignments and surf the web while the professor drones on endlessly. After consulting with her
colleagues, she chooses the dimensions of cost, weight, processor speed, and touchscreen
capability as critical to her long term success and amusement. She evaluates four different
laptops and rates their performance on each criterion on a scale from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
She is struggling with her assessment of the importance of the Cost criterion. As an avid lottery
player, she is pretty sure that tonight’s drawing will mean at least two numbers match on the
ticket she bought on the way to class and it could possibly mean a three-number match. Given
her uncertainty, she would like to choose the laptop that performs the best overall across the
entire spectrum of possibilities of the outcome of tonight’s lottery. Which would you
recommend?
Dimension
Sir Face
Toybook
Air
Knockoff
Weight
4
4
3
Speed
4
4
4
Cost
2
4
5
Touchscreen
5
2
3
A) High Priced
B) Knockoff
C) Toybook Air
D) Sir Face
20) Which of the following is NOT a generic performance dimension of operations and supply
chain activities?
A) quality
B) time
C) flexibility
D) social responsibility