KT14: 2.4 Production, productivity and efficiency

Question 1

fixed costs

Answer 1

those that do not change as the number of sales change

Question 2

variable costs

Answer 2

those that change in line with the amount of business

Question 3

Enterprise resource planning

Answer 3

planning that logs all of a firm’s costs, working methods and resources (machinery, labour, stocks of materials) within a piece of software; this provides a model of the business that can be used to answer questions such as ‘when do we need to start working to get stocks made in time for delivery before christmas?’

Question 4

Supply chain

Answer 4

the whole path form suppliers of raw materials through the production and storage onto customer delivery

Question 5

Barrier to entry

Answer 5

factors that make ti hard for new firms to break into an existing market (for example, strong brand loyalty)

Question 6

GDP

Answer 6

Gross domestic product is the value of all the goods and services produced in a country in a year

Question 7

Job enrichment

Answer 7

giving people the opportunity to use their ability

Question 8

lean production

Answer 8

focusing on minimising wastage of resources throughout the supply process

Question 9

working capital

Answer 9

the finance available for the day-to-day running of the business