Part 1 Multiple Choice Questions |Essential Operations Management, Second Edition by Alex Hill and Terry Hill

1. Which of the following is typically not the responsibility of the operations function:

Managing the inputs into the system Selling products to customers Managing the processes used for converting inputs into outputs that are then sold tocustomers

2. To cope with the complexity that comes with size, organizations tend to:

Continually develop new services and products Try to relocate certain activities to areas with low staff costs Separate the tasks involved in managing the business into functions

3. Typical inputs into an operations process are:

Services, Products and Information People, Materials, Energy, Capital and Data Performance Measurement and Control

4. Which of the following would be classified as a support function within a hospital:

Nurses Doctors Maintenance

5. Services are:

Tangible items purchased by individuals or organizations for subsequent use Intangible items that are consumed at the time of provision Both a and b

6. Which of the following affects the size of the operations task:

The number of people involved in the operations process The number of assets involved in the operations process Both a and b

7. Managing a cost centre in a business involves:

Understanding the business trade-offs that can be delivered by the technology involved Addressing the development needs and career expectations of the people involved Ensuring that budgets and output levels are met

8. An example of information processing is:

An insurance company A pharmaceutical company A beauty salon

9. Which of the following is not a key difference that affects the operations process within a business:

The nature of the service or product The level of customer involvement in the operations process The geographical location of customers

10. The nature of operations capacity when processing a customer:

Can be stored Is perishable Both a and b

11. Developing a strategy involves making decisions about:

Direction (what to do) Implementation (how to do it) Both a and b

12. Business-unit level strategy within an organization concerns:

How to support the competitive criteria in the market and determining development and investment policies Identifying the markets in which it competes, agreeing where it intends to grow, the nature of the competition and the relevant competitive criteria The direction of the business as a whole and issues such as investment and divestment priorities

13. The strategic role of executives concerns:

Managing and controlling the range of activities that fall within their area of responsibility How to support the competitive criteria in agreed markets and determining the development and investment priorities to meet these Both a and b

14. The marketing function typically has sole responsibility for:

Service and product design Brand name, customer relationships and pricing Systems developments

15. A market-driven strategy is based on:

Exploiting the potential of existing resources and capabilities within a business Identifying where advantage can be gained by outperforming current market norms on one or more competitive driver Understanding current and future markets and their relevant qualifiers and order-winners

16. Discussion and agreement about current and future markets:

Is the sole responsibility of the marketing function in a business Is the responsibility of all the functions within a business Is a corporate, not a functional responsibility

17. When developing strategy, it is important to realize that:

Markets are increasingly different Markets are increasingly similar It is most effective to apply a generic strategy to all markets

18. A typical area for review and improvement where price is a market order-winner would be:

Reducing costs in all areas particularly regarding materials and overheads Reviewing the elements of the operations process Reviewing current scheduling methods

19. An operations perspective on restricting the range of services and products offered by a business is that:

Customers typically seek variety and thus restricting range reduces segment coverage Restricting range enhances volumes, helps provide the opportunity to reduce costs and simplifies control Restricting range means that technical developments can be incorporated into new services or products

20. Delivery reliability is about:

providing a service or product by the agreed delivery date providing a service or product faster than competitors both a) and b)

21. The strategy-making group comprises:

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) The CEO and corporate specialist staff The CEO, corporate specialist staff and functional vice-presidents (the heads of functions)

22. An operations strategy would typically include investment in:

Delivery systems Infrastructure Both a and b

23. Price:

Is always an order-winner Can be either an order-winner or qualifier Is always a qualifier

24. Delivery reliability:

Is typically a qualifier Is typically an order-winner Can be either a or b

25. With regard to the use of resources to reduce costs, the intent is day-to-day if:

The benefits are retained in a business and used to increase profits The cost reduction benefits are passed onto customers in the form of a reduction in price The benefits reduce costs in the short term

26. When customers buy a service or product they are paying for:

A number of order-winners and qualifiers such as delivery reliability, quality conformance, delivery speed and price as well as the product itself The product/service alone Neither a nor b

27. Qualifiers are those competitive criteria that:

Get a service or product onto a customer's shortlist and keep it there Enable a company to win an order from competitors Achieve both a) and b)

28. Order-winners and qualifiers are:

Time-specific Market-specific Both time- and market-specific

29. Understanding markets is the first step in developing a strategy. When undertaking this task executives should:

Embrace general descriptions such as 'customer service' Distill and weight order-winners and qualifiers Both a) and b) are useful

30. The role of price in a market can be an order- winner where:

A company competes on price A company does not need to worry about price Price provides an opportunity for a company to gain entry into the market

31. The potential impact of Qualifiers:

Is order-losing in nature Is order-winning in nature Has no effect on whether orders are lost or won

Part One: Introduction