Operations Exam #1 Flashcards
A set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs.
Operations Management
credited for early popularization of interchangeable parts, achieved through standardization and quality control
Eli Whitney (1800)
father of scientific management, contributed to personnel selection, planning and scheduling, motion study, and ergonomics.
Frederick W. Taylor (1881)
combined what they knew about standardized parts with quasi- assembly lines of meatpacking and mail-order industries and added the revolutionary concept of assembly lines where workers stood still and materials moved.
Henry Ford/Charles Sorensen
The ratio of outputs (goods/services) divided by one or more inputs (such as labor, capital, or management).
productivity
The ratio of goods and services produced (outputs) to one resource (input). Example: Units produced / labor hours used.
single-factor productivity
The ratio of goods and services produced (outputs) to many or all resources (inputs). Example: Output / (labor + material + energy + capital).
multifactor productivity
A metric that helps measure how efficiently inputs (like labor, time, or materials) are converted into outputs.
percentage change in productivity
The purpose or rationale for an organization’s existence; what the organization contributes to society.
Mission
An action plan detailing how an organization expects to achieve its mission and goals.
Strategy
Strategy that involves creating a new market space that is uncontested, making competition irrelevant through innovation.
Blue Ocean Strategy
Strategy that involves competing within an existing market space, outperforming rivals to capture a greater market share.
Red Ocean Strategy
A unique advantage over competitors.
Competitve Advantage
What competitive advantage strategy involves making products unique to add value.
Differentiation
What competitive advantage strategy achieving maximum value without implying low quality.
Low Cost
What competitive advantage strategy involves focusing on rapid, flexible, and reliable performance.
Response
Measurable values demonstrating how effectively an organization is achieving business objectives.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
SMART goals
Metrics that evaluate efficiency and effectiveness of processes, e.g., time taken to complete a task.
Process Metrics
Metrics that assess the results of processes, e.g., sales growth or customer satisfaction.
Outcome Metrics
- Empathize – Understand user needs.
- Define – Clearly articulate the problem.
- Ideate – Generate potential solutions.
- Prototype – Build tangible representations.
- Test – Gather user feedback and refine solutions.
Five stages of Design Thinking
A collaborative approach involving stakeholders in the design process.
co-design
- Encourage wild ideas.
- Defer judgment.
- Build on the ideas of others.
key ideation guidelines
- Introduction – Awareness and promotion.
- Growth – Rapid sales increase.
- Maturity – Market saturation and competition.
- Decline – Decreasing sales and market saturation.
Four stages of a product lifecycle
Diagram that is used to visualize and schedule tasks in a project.
AON diagram
A project management technique using a single time estimate per activity.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
A project management technique that uses three-time estimates for each activity (optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely).
PERT methodology
- List all activities and estimate durations.
- Create a network diagram (CPM or PERT).
- Calculate expected project duration and variance.
- Use statistical methods to compute probability.
determinining the probability of completing a project on time
A linear, step-by-step approach used for projects with known constraints (e.g., construction, aerospace).
Waterfall project management
A flexible, iterative approach requiring constant collaboration, commonly used in software development.
Agile project management
