Ch 2 book: competitiveness, strategic planning, and productivity Flashcards

1
Q

Competitiveness

A

the ability and performance of an organization in the market compared to other organizations that offer similar goods or services

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2
Q

Strategy

A

the long-term plans that determine the direction an organization takes to become (or remain) competitive

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3
Q

Strategic planning

A

the managerial process that determines a strategy for the organization

implements it through allocation of resources and action plans

mission, vision, and values can be very important for this in some organizations

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4
Q

productivity

A

a measure of productive use of resources

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5
Q

key purchasing criteria

A

The major factors influencing a purchase:

price

quality

variety

timeliness

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6
Q

In complex purchases, customers may use which two categories of purchasing criteria?

A

order qualifiers

order winners

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7
Q

order qualifiers

A

the purchasing criteria that customers perceive as minimum standards of acceptability for purchase

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8
Q

order winners

A

the purchasing criteria that cause the selling organization to be perceived as better than the competition

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9
Q

competitive priorities

A

The importance given to operations
characteristics:

cost

quality

flexibility

delivery

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10
Q

cost

A

the unit production cost of a good or a service to the organization

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11
Q

quality from an organization’s perspective

A

determining customers’ quality requirements

translating these into specifications for goods or services

consistently producing goods or services to these specifications

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12
Q

flexibility from an organization’s perspective

A

being able to produce a variety of goods or services

also includes customization

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13
Q

Delivery reliability and speed from an organization’s perspective

A

being able to consistently and promptly meet promised due dates by producing/delivering goods or services on time and quickly

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14
Q

quantity flexibility

A

the ability to increase or decrease the production quantity of goods or services

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15
Q

Strategic planning process

A
  1. starts with top management soliciting the performance of current strategy from stakeholders
  2. commissioning a market research study of the industry and where it is headed in the next five years or so
  3. the management team may form/adjust the organization’s mission and vision, determine a set of goals and objectives, and brainstorm and evaluate alternative ways (strategies) to achieve them
  4. the chosen strategy is implemented by determining a set of action plans at the department level
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16
Q

mission

A

where the organization is going now

its products

its markets

goals and objectives

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17
Q

Vision

A

where the organization desires to be in the future

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18
Q

Values

A

the shared beliefs of the organization’s stakeholders

should drive everything else such as culture, mission/vision, and strategy

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19
Q

Tactics

A

medium-term plans used as components of a strategy

more specific in nature than a strategy

they provide guidance for determining policies and carrying out an action plan

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20
Q

action plan

A

a medium- or short-term project to accomplish a specific objective

contains a deadline and the resources needed

assigned to an individual or a team

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21
Q

the hierarchy of strategic planning

A

is from top to bottom

Mission/Vision

Organizational strategy

functional strategies

tactics

policies and action plans

22
Q

The difficulty of implementing a strategy depends on what?

A

its scale (size)

complexity (the parts of the organization it affects)

uncertainty (how novel it is)

23
Q

Operations strategy

A

a set of well coordinated policies, objectives, and action plans

directly affects the operations function

this is aimed at securing along-term sustainable advantage over the competition

24
Q

operations’ objectives/performance measures are usually determined in which terms of competitive priorities? what must be made among these priorities? why?

A

cost

quality

delivery

flexibility

trade-offs must be made

because operations cannot excel in all of them simultaneously

25
Q

The operations policies, objectives, and action plans can be classified into which nine strategic decision categories?

A

Facility

Cαpαcity

vertical integration/outsourcing

Supplier relationship/partnership

Product mix and new products

Production process types and technology

Humαn resources

Quality

Operations infrαstructure and systems

26
Q

facility decision category

A

The number and location of facilities

how to specialize or focus each facility

27
Q

capacity decision category

A

related to the facility decision

size of plants and m勾or equipment

The main issue is whether and how to change the capacity in anticipation of future demand

28
Q

vertical integration or outsourcing decision category

A

Cost, coordination, and control are the important decision factors

29
Q

Supplier relationship and pαrtnership decision category

A

determines how the quality of purchased goods will be assured

30
Q

Product mix and new products decision category

A

can be used to relate product characteristics to production process characteristics

matrix shows the important trade-offs required in production process choice

determines the appropriate technologies and degree of automation

31
Q

Humαn resources decision category

A

responsible for hiring good employees

helps in training good employees

helps in motivating employees

helps in promoting employees

helps in rewarding employees

32
Q

Quality decision category

A

determines quality of product

decision is made during the design and production stages

33
Q

Operations infrαstructure and systems decision category

A

These decisions include planning and control

we need a software program for both

34
Q

Formulation of an Operations Strategy (basically the steps)

A
  1. Link the organizational goals to the operations strategy
  2. Categorize/segment the customers into types
  3. Group product lines into types
  4. Conduct an operations audit to determine the strengths/weaknesses of the current operations strategy in each of the nine strategic decision categories
  5. For a multi-plant corporation, assess the degree of focus at each plant
  6. Develop an operations strategy and reallocate product lines to plants if necessary
35
Q

Generic operations strategies

A

theme-based operations improvement programs and plans

ex: JIT or total quality management

frequently used irrespective of the market conditions and competitive situation

36
Q

Generic operations strategies

A

theme-based operations improvement programs and plans

ex: JIT or total quality management

frequently used irrespective of the market conditions and competitive situation

37
Q

why are generic operations strategies not considered strategies?

A

because, if every company in an industry uses the same generic strategy, every company becomes more efficient and/or more effective without gaining competitive advantage

38
Q

business process re-engineering (BPR)

A

Another generic strategy

a radical process redesign

involves:

process reorientation

breaking up functional silos

integrating operations into customer-focused processes

39
Q

enterprise resource planning (ERP)

A

automates business processes

can reduce cost and data entry errors

requires data to be entered in a central database as soon as a transaction occurs anywhere in the organization

40
Q

quality-based strategy

A

focuses on improving the quality of an organization’s goods or services

41
Q

quality-based strategy

A

focuses on improving the quality of an organization’s goods or services

42
Q

time-based strategy

A

focuses on reducing the time required to accomplish various activities

organizations seek to gain a competitive advantage over rivals that take more time to accomplish the same tasks

43
Q

productiνity

A

measures output per unit input

output/input

44
Q

rate of productiνity growth

A

(Current period productivity - Previous period productivity) / Previous period productivity

45
Q

how can productivity be measured?

A

single input (pαrtial productivity)

more than one input (multi-factor productivity)

on all inputs (total productivity)

46
Q

The unit of output used in a productivity measure depends on what?

A

the type of job performed

47
Q

how are labour productivity and average operation time for a task related? why?

A

inversely related

because the more productive your labor inputs are, the less time it should take to produce the same output

48
Q

how are labour productivity and average operation time for a task related? why?

A

inversely related

because the more productive your labor inputs are, the less time it should take to produce the same output

the more time it takes to produce, the less output you will have

49
Q

how are total productivity and profit of a company related? why?

A

the higher your productivity, the higher your profits

50
Q

aggregate measures of productivity

A

to measure the performance of an entire industry or a country as a whole

51
Q

why is it more difficult to measure output in service companies?

A

because output is intangible

52
Q

are workers the main determinant of productivity? why

A

nah bruv

equipment and technological improvements