Exercises on Fundamental Concepts of OM
Cht. 1, 2, and 3, MGMT4102
J. Wang
1. In the term ‘operations management’, “operation” refers to _____________ .
a. any business process such as marketing and finance processes
b. the process of making product in a business
c. the process of consuming products by customers
d. All of the above.
2. A business operation refers to a process of transformation inputs into the products.
a. True
b. False
3. Every business firm has a ‘product’, which can be tangible or intangible.
a. True
b. false
4. Every business firm has an operation to transform inputs into its products.
a. True
b. False
5. In term ‘operations management’, “management” refers to planning, controlling,
coordinating, …
a. True
b. False
6. ___________ is a study that focuses on developing and applying quantitative techniques to
solve problems in business management.
a. Scientific management
b. Management science
7. ___________ is a major objective of operations management.
a. Larger market
b. Efficiency
c. Return of investment
d. Political correctness
8. Industrial revolution started in 1770s was a movement ____________.
a. against replacing man power by machine power
b. of replacing man power by machine power
c. of using computers in production
d. of fighting for workers’ rights
9. ‘High customer contact’ means that ______________.
a. the product is designed by customers
b. the product is made by customers
c. customers has authority to determine how to make products
d. customers has a lot of influences on the process of making products
10. ____________ usually cannot be inventoried.
a. Tangible product
b. Intangible product
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11. Business in a service firm is usually ____________.
a. capital intensive
b. labor intensive
12. Hawthorne studies refers to the study in 1930s which studied ________________.
a. how to give more considerations to worker’s needs
b. human relations in production
c. the effects of environmental changes, such as room lighting and temperature, on the
productivity of workers
d. study environment of a work place to make it ‘green’
13. Which is the essential element of the philosophy of total quality management (TQM)?
a. Eliminating causes of product defects.
b. Making quality the responsibility of everyone in the organization.
c. Both a and b.
14. Flexibility of an operation refers to _____________.
a. the work time of a worker is flexible
b. the quality of the products in the process varies
c. the ability of offering varieties of product choices to the customers
d. uncertainty of productions in the operation
15. “Customization” refers to the concept that _______________.
a. products are designed and produced by customers
b. products are designed/produced according to the requirements and preferences of
individual customers
c. customers and the company work together in the operation
d. is same as the concept of “customer contact”.
16. ERP (enterprise resource planning) is _________.
a. a function of management
b. a method to do planning in business
c. large and sophisticated software systems for the entire business system.
17. Lean system is a concept that takes a total system approach to creating efficient operations.
The system approach includes ____________.
a. JIT (just-in-time)
b. TQM (total quality management)
c. SCM (supply chain management)
d. All of above
18. A common quest of JIT and lean system is ___________.
a. reducing waste
b. increasing production amount
c. reducing workload of workers
d. protecting environment
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19. B2B and B2C are terms used in _________.
a. manufacturing firm
b. service firm
c. electronic commerce
d. government offices
20. The business strategy of a business must support the operation strategy.
a. True
b. False
21. The purpose of ‘environmental scanning’ is ______________.
a. to determine business opportunities and threats
b. to evaluate the work of protecting natural resources
c. to make sure the laws of environment protecting are enforced
22. Every business company must take “cost” as its competitive priority.
a. True
b. False
23. “Time” is a competitive priority which focuses on ____________.
a. providing up-to-date products
b. speed and on-time delivery
c. doing business in designated times, such as winter time, summer time, day time.
24. Suppose computers are used for automation of making shoes. Such a technology use is
called ____________.
a. product technology
b. process technology
c. information technology
25. Product iPad of Apple Company reflects its competitive priority on _______.
a. cost
b. quality
c. time
d. flexibility
26. Building the assembly line to make Model-T cars in 1910s reflected Ford Company’s
competitive priority on _______.
a. cost
b. quality
c. time
d. flexibility
27. It was the competitive priority on _________ that drove FedEx to start the overnight delivery
service.
a. cost
b. quality
c. time
d. flexibility
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28. Is each of the following factors an order qualifier (Q) or an order winner (W) for Atlantic
City Casinos / Resorts in the gambling/entertainment industry around?
_____ Clean hotel rooms
_____ Ocean beach
_____ Local government support
_____ Boardwalk
_____ Safety inside and outside
_____ Variety of entertainments and night clubs
_____ Marketing
29. Productivity is calculated as _____________.
a. input / output
b. output / input
30. ___________ refers to the process of disassembling a product to analyze its structures and
features.
a. Engineering
b. Re-engineering
c. Reverse engineering
d. Concurrent engineering
e. Assembly line
f. Disassembly line
g. Remanufacturing
31. At the breakeven point, ___________ equals to zero.
a. total revenue
b. total profit
c. total cost
d. Both a and b.
32. Demand usually reaches the highest at _______ stage of a product’s life cycle.
a. introduction
b. growth
c. maturity
d. decline
33. To produce a product at the introduction stage of its life cycle, ________ process is usually
used.
a. an intermittent
b. a repetitive
34. ___________ is good for low variety and high volume production.
a. Intermittent process
b. Repetitive process
35. Hammer and screw driver are examples of ____________.
a. general purpose tools
b. specialize tools
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36. Facilities are grouped __________ in an intermittent process.
a. by function
b. by product
37. A hospital is an example of ______________.
a. intermittent process
b. repetitive process
38. In a hospital, facilities / offices are arranged _____________.
a. by function
b. by product
39. Compared to the repetitive process, in an intermittent process
(i) product variety is _________ (high, low);
(ii) production volume is __________ (high, low);
(iii) production flexibility is __________ (high, low);
(iv) product standardization is __________ (high, low);
(v) customization is ___________ (high, low);
(vi) ___________ (more, less) customer contacts are seen;
(vii) ___________ (more, fewer) general purpose facilities are used;
(viii) requirements for the skills of workers are _________ (high, low);
(ix) degree of automation is _________ (high, low);
(x) line production is __________ (more likely, less likely) to be used;
(xi) it is usually __________ (labor intensive, capital intensive);
(xii) its efficiency is ___________ (high, low).
40. For a continuous production line of making papers, facilities are grouped according to
_______.
a. function
b. product.
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41. Give two examples for each of the following process types:
(i) Project process (unit production):
(ii) Batch process:
(iii) Line process (mass production):
(iv) Continuous process:
42. The operation in a hospital is an example of ____________.
a. make-to-stock
b. assemble-to-order
c. make-to-order
43. Which of the following operation strategies tends to have shortest delivery time (time from
customer’s making order to customer’s receiving ordered product)?
a. make-to-stock
b. assemble-to-order
c. make-to-order
44. Which of the following operation strategies tends to best satisfy individual customer’s
preferences on the product?
a. make-to-stock
b. assemble-to-order
c. make-to-order
45. The time between a product being put in production and the product being finished is called
_______.
a. process velocity
b. set-up time
c. cycle time
d. throughput time
46. Which of the following types of process is most difficult to be automated?
a. Continuous process
b. Project process
c. Batch process
d. Line process
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Answer: 1.b 2.a 3.a 4.a 5.a 6.b 7.b 8.b 9.d 10.b 11.b 12.c 13.c 14.c 15.b
16.c 17.d 18.a 19.c 20.b 21.a 22.b 23.b 24.b 25.b 26.a 27.c
28. Q, W, Q(or W), W, Q, W, Q(or W)
29. b 30.c 31.b 32.c 33.a 34.b 35.a 36.a 37.a 38a
39. (i)high (ii)low (iii)high (iv)low (v)high (vi)more (vii)more (viii)high
(ix)low (x)less likely (xi)labor intensive (xii)low
40.b 42.c 43.a 44.c 45.d 46.b
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