Process Strategy – First Half

Which one of the following statements concerning process management is best? a. Process management is a short-term decision, and thus it has a tactical rather than a strategic focus. b. Process changes should be made only when introducing new products or services. c. The variable underlying all four major process decisions is volume. d. A company's operations strategy is the primary output of its major process decisions.

Several key decisions must be made in building an effective process design. Which one of the following best identifies them? a. Capital intensity, resource flexibility, facility location, process reengineering, and process choice b. Product or service life cycle, capital intensity, process reengineering, process choice, and customer involvement c. Capital intensity, process choice, inventory placement, resource flexibility, and customer involvement d. Capital intensity, resource flexibility, customer involvement, and process structure

People processing services require: a. a high degree of process structure. b. high capital intensity. c. physical presence. d. hybrid low volume-capital intensive operations.

A college course taught in a case-discussion format is an example of: a. back office. b. passive contact. c. active contact. d. hybrid office.

A yacht maker produces customized yachts for a clientele that wants a one-of-a-kind watercraft. This process is said to be: a. divergent. b. complex. c. specialized. d. hybrid.

The process structure that best describes a waiter's position at a restaurant would be classified as: a. front office. b. back office. c. hybrid office. d. inner office.

Field service representatives are classified as a: a. back office. b. hybrid office. c. front office. d. mid office.

A process that is primarily back office is: a. a taxi driver. b. loan officer at a bank. c. the payroll clerk that calculates your paycheck. d. the hostess at a restaurant.

Front offices typically emphasize: a. low cost operations and on-time delivery. b. top quality and customization. c. on-time delivery and standardization. d. top quality and low cost operations.

Back offices typically emphasize: a. low cost operations and on-time delivery. b. top quality and customization. c. on-time delivery and customization. d. top quality and low cost operations.

Which of the following is sometimes called mass production? a. Batch process and make-to-order strategy b. Line process and make-to-stock strategy c. Continuous flow process and assemble-to-order strategy d. Job process and make-to-order strategy

A job process should be preferred when: a. workforce and equipment are specialized. b. products are made to stock type. c. customization is high and volume is low. d. customization is low and volume is high.

When the process choice is a job process, it requires: a. organizing the resources around the process. b. a line flow strategy. c. perfectly predictable customer demands. d. same sequence of processing steps for each job.

Which of the following statements about process choice is best? a. A batch process typically has a standard sequence of operations through the facility. b. Automobiles and appliances are examples of products created using a continuous flow process. c. Continuous flow processes are very capital intensive. d. A custom cake operation is an example of a batch process.

The product-process matrix used to analyze manufacturing operations brings together the elements of: a. volume, process, and intensity. b. process, intensity, and product design. c. intensity, volume, and process. d. customization, volume, and process.

Which one of the following statements about process management is best? a. When customization must be high, equipment should be general purpose, and employees need to perform a broader range of duties. b. The traditional relationship between capital intensity and resource flexibility is that if one is high, so is the other. c. Creating a more capital-intensive process tends to reduce the fixed cost and raise the variable unit cost. d. Economies of scope mean that a process should be devoted to a single product or service to achieve high volumes.

A manufacturer that produces standard products in large volumes is likely to be using a(n): a. make-to-stock strategy. b. make-to-order strategy. c. assemble-to-order strategy. d. engineer-to-order strategy.

The principle of postponement is employed by a producer using a(n): a. make-to-stock strategy. b. make-to-order strategy. c. assemble-to-order strategy. d. engineer-to-order strategy.

Combining a line process with the make-to-stock strategy is sometimes called: a. make-to-order. b. assemble-to-order. c. a hybrid process. d. mass production.

Which of the following statements about customer involvement is best? a. In service industries, customer contact is of minor importance. b. High task divergence and flexible process flows require more flexibility of the process's employees, facilities and equipment. c. A firm that produces standardized products often seeks customer specifications. d. When customer involvement is highly customized, a process is more likely to use a standardized-services process rather than a customized-services process.

Active customer contact and personalized attention can lower cost to the customer by: a. increasing the capital intensity. b. trading fixed costs for an equivalent variable cost. c. substituting customer efforts for those of the service provider. d. lowering the level of technology involved.

An advantages of customer involvement in a service process is that: a. if the customers are price sensitive, they might feel they are receiving more value. b. dealing with the unique needs of each customer make the process more capital intensive. c. accommodating the needs of each different customer can make the process less divergent. d. measurement of quality becomes more difficult. Answer: a Reference: Customer Involvement Difficulty: Moderate Keywords: customer involvement, price sensitivity, value

More fixed automation typically means: a. decreased labor productivity. b. longer cycle time. c. higher demand volumes. d. lower sales.

Which of the following statements regarding capital intensity is NOT true? a. Capital intensity can be a prohibitive investment for low-volume operations. b. Decreased amounts of automation increase capital intensity. c. Automation refers to a system or piece of equipment that is self-regulating and self-acting. d. Leasing is a method to acquire equipment while defraying financial risk.

Which one of the following statements about flexible automation is best? a. Investment cost is lower when a transfer machine handles many operations. b. Chemical processing plants and oil refineries mainly utilize programmable automation. c. It is an automatic process that can be reprogrammed to handle various products. d. It achieves top efficiency; accommodating new products is difficult and costly.

With flexible automation, the ability to reprogram instructions can be useful in: a. line flow, but not flexible flow, operations. b. flexible flow, but not line flow, operations. c. either line flow or flexible flow operations. d. situations in which top efficiency is mandatory, but only if volumes are high.

Higher volume in a process is generally associated with: a. more resource flexibility. b. more capital intensity. c. greater customer involvement. d. fewer opportunities for standardization.

Low capital intensity is generally associated with: a. low resource flexibility. b. high customer involvement. c. high levels of fixed automation. d. high volumes.

As it relates to process management, the concept of a flexible workforce is defined as: a. a labor force that often changes in size because of hirings and firings. b. workers who are willing to work large amounts of overtime when necessary. c. workers who are capable of performing many different tasks. d. a labor force with a high turnover rate.

Which of the following statements regarding resource flexibility is best? a. Training is a small part of worker flexibility. b. Specialization of employees is consistent with worker flexibility. c. Worker flexibility is not a priority if the process is subject to hourly or seasonal peaks in demand. d. Resource flexibility requires employees to be able to perform a broad range of duties, and equipment usually must be more general purpose.

Which of the following statements concerning resource flexibility is best? a. Flexible equipment is useful to companies with low production volumes and high customization. b. Investment in general-purpose equipment is warranted if the firm expects to sell more than the break-even amount. c. Manufacturing efficiency increases with general-purpose equipment. d. Resource flexibility is crucial for line-flow processing.

Suppose that competitive priorities call for offering a wide variety of customized services. Which of the following process decisions would be more likely? a. More capital intensity b. More resource flexibility c. More process automation d. Less customer involvement

Under which one of the following environments would you opt for a higher degree of resource flexibility? a. A firm using a flexible flow strategy b. A firm facing a stable demand c. A firm using a line flow strategy d. A firm producing only one product

Which statement about economies of scope is not true? a. Economies of scope are often attained through programmable automation. b. Economies of scope bring together two competitive priorities—customization and low price. c. Economies of scope reflect the ability to produce multiple products more cheaply in combination than separately. d. Economies of scope reflect low capital intensity and high resource flexibility.

Which one of the following statements on the concept of focused factories is best? a. Emphasizes economies of scale, rather than diseconomies of scale b. Prefers larger facilities producing all of the products or services the company offers c. Reduces the range of demands placed on an operation so management can concentrate on fewer tasks d. Emphasizes flexibility rather than cost

One method for a factory to gain operational focus is to: a. build large enough factories to produce all products and services the company offers. b. hire more specialists and supervisors to control the operations. c. reorganize existing facilities to the plant-within-plant approach. d. remodel stores to create the effect of many small boutiques under one roof.

Which one of the following statements on the concept of gaining focus is best? a. Focused factories maximize the amount of customization. b. Small sizes of many focused factories make it difficult to compete on the basis of shorter lead times. c. Plants within plants are different operations within a facility that can have individualized competitive priorities and processes. d. Focused factories are large factories producing all the products that the company offers

A plant that has separate operations that are relatively autonomous with individualized competitive priorities, processes, and workforces under the same roof are said to have: a. focused factories. b. economies of scale. c. plants within plants. d. matrix operations.

Which one of the following statements concerning process reengineering is not true? a. Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical design of business processes. b. Reengineering efforts should focus on functional departments. c. Information technology is a major enabler of reengineering. d. Reengineering requires a "clean slate" philosophy.

Which one of the following statements about reengineering is TRUE? a. It does not require much time or resources to implement. b. It can be done easily for any process. c. It only requires improving cross-functional processes. d. It is not appropriate for all organizations and all processes.

Which statement on reengineering and process improvement is best? a. Only process improvement programs make use of cross-functional teams. b. Process improvement focuses only on critical or core processes such as order fulfillment. c. Reengineering starts with a "clean slate" whereas process improvement looks for ways to incrementally improve. d. Only reengineering focuses on business processes.

A primary enabler of process reengineering is: a. the service-product matrix. b. a process flow chart. c. information technology. d. employee training.

A team consisting of members from each functional area affected by the process change is referred to as a(n): a. reengineering team. b. cross-functional team. c. process team. d. improvement team.

A process selected for reengineering should be a: a. core process. b. front-office process. c. hybrid office. d. back office process.