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HSC Business Studies > 3. Operations > Flashcards

3. Operations Flashcards

1
Q

What is the role of task design in the transformation process?

A
  • Task design involves classifying job activities in ways that make it easy for an employee to successfully perform and complete the task.
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2
Q

Provide a case study example relating to warranties and the recall of defective products.

A

CASE STUDY EXAMPLE - Consider the example of the 2016 and 2017 recall of cars carrying Takata airbags. The recall of tens of thousands of cars led to the replacement of the faulty bags. However, the rectification costs money. Operations managers needed to trace the source of the fault in manufacturing and rectify it. In this way, the warranty claims lead the business to improve transformation processes.

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3
Q

Describe the influence of corporate social responsibility on the operations function.

A

Corporate social responsibility refers to open and accountable business actions based on respect for people, community/society and the broader environment. The aim of corporate decision making is not simply profitability, but rather something that reflects a range of community concerns and social expectations.

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4
Q

What is the interdependence of operations with finance?

A

Finance requires operations to produce good quality, cost effective products that fulfil the needs/wants of consumers, facilitating the maximisation of profits. However, operations require finance to develop budgets + cost controls and allocate funds to successfully produce efficient goods/services.

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5
Q

What is the influence of visibility within the transformation process?

A
  • Customer contact or ‘feedback’ can directly affect transformation processes.
  • This is because customers and their preferences can shape what businesses make. Customer contact may be direct or indirect.
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6
Q

What is meant by the term product standardisation?

A

Standardisation involves the making of products that are identical. Typically, this involves mass producing items in high volume, with no variety and at a low cost per unit.

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7
Q

What are warranties?

A
  • A good way to assess the effectiveness of operations processes is to measure the number of warranty claims.
  • Warranty claims are made against goods that have defects arising from an issue in transformation.
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8
Q

What is meant by the term product differentiation in goods?

A

Refers to how goods may be differentiated in a number of different ways, including varying the actual product features, product quality and augment features.

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9
Q

Describe the influence of globalisation on the operations function.

A

In large corporations, the operations function is generally conducted overseas, in developing countries as the costs of production are cheaper. Without globalisation, outsourcing the production process to lessen costs would not be possible.

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10
Q

What is meant by ‘quality’ as a performance objective?

A
  • Quality refers to the standard of a good or service. It has many aspects and largely depends on the customer’s expectations.
  • Three quality performance objectives are quality of design, quality of conformance and quality of service.
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11
Q

What is the difference between legal compliance and ethical responsibility?

A

The main difference between legal compliance and ethical responsibility is that legal compliance is bound to obey whereas ethical responsibility is a choice.

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12
Q

What is one trend in supply chain management?

A

Supply rationalisation

  • Involves a business assessing the number and diversity of its suppliers and assessing their effectiveness.
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13
Q

What is the interdependence of operations with marketing?

A

Operations requires marketing to research and design products that are in high demand within current consumer markets; while marketing will require operations to - through the transformation process - generate this product in physical form.

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14
Q

What is self-service?

A

Self-service means encouraging the customers to take the initiative to help themselves - businesses can concentrate on customisation when a person cannot help themselves.

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15
Q

Describe the influence of quality expectations on the operations function.

A

The expectations that people have of businesses determine how products are designed, created and delivered to customers. This implies that operations processes must follow particular standards to ensure their product meets the quality expectations of consumers.

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16
Q

What are customised goods?

A

Those that are varied according to the need of customers - E.g Nutella added customization to their marketing strategy, allowing customers to add their name to the jar.

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17
Q

What is the influence of volume within the transformation process?

A
  • Volume refers to how much of a product is made.
  • Volume flexibility refers to how quickly the transformation process can adjust to increases or decreases in demand.
  • This responsiveness to the required changes in volume is essential to effectively managing lead times.
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18
Q

Define globalisation.

A

Globalisation refers to the integration between different countries and economies and the increased impact of international influences on all aspects of life and economic activity.

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19
Q

What is meant by the term product differentiation in services?

A

Refers to how services may be differentiated in a number of different ways, including varying the amount if time spent on a service, the level of expertise brought to the service and the quality of materials/technology used in service delivery.

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20
Q

What is the influence of variety within the transformation process?

A
  • Mix flexibility is the mix of products made, or services delivered through the information process.
  • The influence of variety on transformation processes is: the greater the variety made, the more the operations process needs to allow for variation.
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21
Q

What is the role of technology in the transformation process?

A
  • In the manufacturing sector, technology can be used to speed up (shorten) processes and enable fuller utilisation of raw materials.
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22
Q

What is the role of process layout in the transformation process?

A
  • The process layout is the arrangement of machines such that the machines and equipment are grouped together by the function (or process) they perform.
  • The process layout is sometimes called functional layout.
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23
Q

What is meant by ‘cost’ as a performance objective?

A
  • Cost as a performance objective refers to the minimisation of expenses such that operations processes are conducted as cheaply as possible.
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24
Q

What is one trend in supply chain management?

A

Flexible or Responsive Supply Chains

  • Including ‘lean’ production which refers to minimising waste and storage costs.
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25
Q

What is the role of controlling in the transformation process?

A
  • Control occurs when KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are assessed against predetermined targets and corrective action is taken if required. This means controlling compares what was intended to happen with what has actually occurred.
26
Q

What is the role of Gantt charts in sequencing and scheduling?

A
  • The Gantt chart was created by Henry Gantt in 1917.
  • The Gantt chart outlines the activities that need to be performed, the order in which they should be performed and how long each activity is expected to take.
27
Q

Describe the influence of environmental sustainability on the operations function.

A

Environmental sustainability (ecological sustainability) means that business operations should be shaped around practices that consume resources today without compromising access to those resources for future generations.

28
Q

What is meant by the term economies of scale in the operations function?

A

The concept that a firm needs to achieve a large scale of production in order to minimise costs is known as economies of scale.

29
Q

Describe the influence of legal regulations on the operations function.

A

Legal regulations such as the minimum wage ensure Australian firms are paying their domestic employees a sustainable income. Regulations on WHS are implemented by the Aus Gov to protect domestic employees for work place accidents, especially in the evident where heavy machinery is being used.

30
Q

What is supply chain management?

A
  • Supply Chain Management (SCM) involves integrating and managing the flow of supplies throughout the transformation processes to best meet the needs of customers.
31
Q

Describe the influence of cost-based competition on the operations function.

A

Cost-based competition is a feature of operations management when businesses implement a cost leadership approach. That is, they focus on reducing costs to a minimum while maintaining profit margins. Costs may be reduced by achieving economies of scale, eliminating waste, bulk buying input and automated production systems.

32
Q

Describe the influence of government policies on the operations function.

A

Policies such as taxation rates, work health and safety (WHS) standards, public health policies and environmental policies all influence the way a business carries out their operations process.

33
Q

What is the role of E-commerce in supply chain management?

A
  • Involves the buying and selling of goods and services via the internet.
34
Q

What are perishable goods?

A

A perishable good is any product in which quality deteriorates due to environmental conditions through time, such as meat.

35
Q

What is the role of monitoring in the transformation process?

A
  • Monitoring is the process of measuring actual performance against planned performance.
  • Monitoring involves the measuring of all aspects of operations, from supply chain management and the use of inputs, through to transformation processes and outputs.
36
Q

What is meant by ‘customisation’ as a performance objective?

A
  • Customisation refers to the creation of individualised products to meet the specific needs of the customers.
37
Q

What are Intermediate goods?

A

Products that are made during a manufacturing process but that are also used in the production of other goods.

38
Q

What are transformed resources?

A

Transformed resources are those inputs that are changed or converted in the operations process; they are transformed by the operations processes.

  • Materials
  • Information
  • Customers
39
Q

What is environmental sustainability and social responsibility?

A

Environmental sustainability is often sacrificed by firms for monetary gains, worsening pollution, waste, deforestation and climate change. However, customers eventually find out which businesses are acting responsibly and which are not. They may stop buying a business’s product if they learn that the business is exploiting employees and/or polluting the environment.

40
Q

What is meant by ‘flexibility’ as a performance objective?

A
  • Flexibility refers to how quickly operations processes can adjust to changes in the market.
  • Time and flexibility are related; the quicker the processing time the greater the likelihood that processes can be adjusted quickly.
41
Q

Describe the influence of technology on the operations function.

A

Technologies are generally implemented within the operations function to make production more efficient. They also used in logistics and distribution, quality management, all aspects of inventory management and supply chain management.

42
Q

What are transforming resources?

A

The other collection of inputs to any operations processes are transforming resources which are those inputs that carry out the transformation process. They enable the change and value-adding to occur.

  • Human resources
  • Facilities
43
Q

What are standardised services?

A

Standardised services are those that undertake the same processes to produce the same outcome each time they are performed.

44
Q

What is service design and development?

A
  • When designing a service it is important to consider the explicit and implicit nature of the service.
  • The explicit element of the service is the inputs such as time, expertise, skill and effort. The implicit element is the ‘feeling’ that a customer experiences as part of the service.
45
Q

What is the role of improvement in the transformation process?

A

Improvement refers to the systematic reduction of inefficiencies and wastage, poor work processes and the elimination of any bottlenecks.

46
Q

What is meant by the term balance between cost and quality in the operations function?

A

The direct relationship between cost and quality - if the costs of inputs is very low then it is likely that the final prices will reflect the lower quality of inputs and processes.

47
Q

what is the strategic role of operations?

A

The strategic role refers to the transformation process that converts resources into finished goods and services. It encompasses both services and manufacturing.

48
Q

What is the role of global sourcing in supply chain management?

A
  • Global Sourcing refers to business purchasing supplies from different locations depending on their production needs.
49
Q

What is customer service?

A
  • Customer service refers to how well a business meets and exceeds the expectations of customers in all aspects of its operations.
  • Recent market research has shown that businesses that provide superior customer service can charge an average of 10 per cent more for the same goods and services.
50
Q

what is cost leadership?

A

Cost leadership involves aiming to have the lowest costs or to be the most price-competitive in the market.

51
Q

What is one trend in supply chain management?

A

Backwards Vertical Integration

  • When a business buys a supplier to ensure supply. Many businesses do not own or control their source of raw materials or their distribution channel. This is an alternative to outsourcing, as it has greater control.
52
Q

What is cross branding?

A

Cross branding is an arrangement that associates a single product or service with more than one brand name to add value to the product.

53
Q

What are non-perishable goods?

A

They are inherently more durable than perishable goods and therefore the issues of inventory management arise for the operations function.

54
Q

What is the influence of variation in demand within the transformation process?

A
  • A variation in demand can impact significantly on transformation resources.
  • An increase in demand will require increased inputs from suppliers, increased human resources, increased energy use and increased use of machinery and technology.
55
Q

What is one trend in supply chain management?

A

Cost Minimisation

  • This includes taking operations offshore.
56
Q

What is new product design?

A

There are 2 types of approaches when it comes to design:

  1. The consumer approach - The preferences and desires of consumers, as identified by market research.
  2. The technology approach - changes and innovations in technology that enable new, appealing products to be made.
57
Q

What is the role of logistics in supply chain management?

A

Logistics is a term broadly referring to distribution but also includes:

  • transportation (including transportation modes)
  • the use of storage, warehousing and distribution centres
  • materials handling and packaging.
58
Q

What is the interdependence of operations with HR?

A

Operations requires HR to ensure there are enough skilled employees available for production tasks; while HR requires operations to complete those tasks efficiently, generating profit through the sale of quality goods.

59
Q

What is meant by ‘speed’ as a performance objective?

A
  • Speed refers to the time it takes for the production and the operations processes to respond to changes in market demand.
  • Goals for speed include reduced wait times, shorter lead times and faster processing times.
60
Q

What is the role of critical path analysis in sequencing and scheduling?

A
  • The critical path is the shortest length of time it takes to complete all tasks necessary to complete the process or project.
61
Q

What is meant by ‘dependability’ as a performance objective?

A
  • Dependability refers to how consistent and reliable a business’s products are - for example, doing things on time.

HSC Business Studies (6 decks)

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