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