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business studies > Topic 1- Operations > Flashcards

Topic 1- Operations Flashcards

1
Q

What does the term operations refer to?

A

The business processes that involve transformation or, more generally, ‘production’. It applies to manufacturing and the services sector.

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2
Q

What are the overarching goals of a business?

A
  • Increasing revenue

- Decreasing costs.

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3
Q

Distinguish between profit centres and cost centres.

A

Profit centres are aspects that directly derive from revenue and profits, whereas cost centres are sections of a business which costs can be directly attributed.

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4
Q

What is cost leadership?

A

Aiming to have the lowest costs or to be the most price competitive in the market.

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5
Q

What does economies of scale refer to?

A

Refers to cost advantages that can be created because of an increase in business operations.

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6
Q

What do the cost savings arise from in regards to economies of scale?

A

Lower cost per unit.

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7
Q

What is good/service differentiation?

A

Trying to distinguish your products from competitors to catch consumer attention.

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8
Q

Name one way a good can be differentiated?

A
  • Varying product features
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9
Q

Name one way a service can be differentiated?

A
  • Varying level of expertise
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10
Q

What is cross branding?

A

A strategic alliance of multiple brand names jointly used on a single product or service.

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11
Q

What’s the difference between standardised and customised goods?

A

Standardised goods are those that are mass produced and meet a predetermined level of quality. Customised goods are those that are varied depending on customer needs.

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12
Q

Give an example of a standardised and customised good and service.

A
  • Standardised good- water
  • Customised good- design your own shoes Nike
  • Standardised service- self checkout
  • Customised service- check out chick
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13
Q

How do perishable goods effect the operations process? Name an example of a perishable good.

A
  • Very short lead and distribution times
  • Appropriate packaging and short term storage
  • Fruit and vegetables.
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14
Q

How do non-perishable goods effect the operations process? Name an example of a non-perishable good.

A
  • Effective inventory management
  • Highly responsive to market demand
  • Car
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15
Q

What are intermediate goods?

Name an example.

A

Goods which are finished, but can be utilised to complete an unfinished product.
An example is a screw.

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16
Q

Why are standardised products associated with cost leadership?

A

Mass production without variation, so economies of scale can be achieved.

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17
Q

What is interdependence?

A

Mutual dependence that the key business functions have on one another.

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18
Q

What are the key business functions?

A

Operations, marketing, finance, human resources

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19
Q

How does finance, human resources and marketing all rely on operations?

A

Finance- to produce products to sell
Human resources- to provide employees jobs
Marketing- to produce products to promote

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20
Q

What does globalisation refer to?

A

The removal of barriers of trade between nations.

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21
Q

What are the two main impacts of globalisation on business operations?

A
  • Outsource

- Reach a global market

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22
Q

What is a global web strategy?

A

A web strategy is a long-term strategic business plan indicating how to create and develop a company’s online presence adhering to the business development strategy.

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23
Q

Name one advantage and disadvantage of Globalisation?

A
  • Advantage- lower costs

- Disadvantage- lack of control

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24
Q

Name and provide an example of three categories of technology?

A
  • Administrative purposes- computer
  • Planning purposes- gantt charts
  • Operational purposes- robotics
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25
Q

Name two ways in which a business may achieve cost- based competition?

A
  • Find cheaper products

- Decrease product range

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26
Q

Give one example of a government policy

A

Australian New Zealand Food Standards Code

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27
Q

Give three examples of a Legal regulation

A
  • Work Health and Safety Act
  • Equal Employment Opportunity Act
  • Anti-discrimination Act- ensures no minority will be discriminated agaisnt
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28
Q

Define environmental sustainability

A

Engaging in environmentally friendly business operations

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29
Q

Name three ways a business may engage in environmentally sustainable practices

A
  • Renewable sources
  • Install LED lights
  • Invest in high end- low power using equipment
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30
Q

What is the consequence of not adopting environmentally conscious practices?

A

Loss of customers, bad publicity, decline in profits

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31
Q

What is Corporate Social Responsibility? Name three ways in which a business may achieve it

A

Refers to open and accountable business actions based on respect for people and the environment.

  • Mental health day for workers
  • Make donations
  • Use ethically made inputs
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32
Q

What’s the difference between legal compliance and ethical responsibility?f

A

Legal compliance is the bare minimum- what you have to do. Whereas ethical responsibility is doing what is right- by choice.

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33
Q

What is the difference between onshore and offshore outsourcing?

A

Onshore occurs in domestic territory, whereas, offshore is international.

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34
Q

What ethical issues can arise from offshore sourcing?

A
  • Cheap labour

- Unfair working conditions

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35
Q

What is the ILO

A

International Labour Organisation and it sets labour standards.

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36
Q

What are inputs?

A

Resources that go into the transformation process.

37
Q

Into what two categories can inputs be put into?

A
  • Transforming

- Transformed.

38
Q

Transformed resources are those inputs that are changed or converted in the operations process. What are three examples of this?

A
  • Materials
  • Information
  • Customers.
39
Q

What is a source of internal information?

A

KPIs- Key performance indicators. These are specific criteria used to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the businesses performance.

40
Q

What is an example of a KPI?

A

Lead times.

41
Q

Transforming resources refers to those inputs that carry out the transformation process. What are two examples of this?

A
  • Human resources

- Facilities.

42
Q

What are the four V’s?

A
  • Volume
  • Variety
  • Variation in demand
  • Visibility.
43
Q

What is Volume and the influence of it?

A

Volume flexibility refers to how quickly the transformation process can adjust to demand.
This influences lead times.

44
Q

What is Variety and the influence of it?

A

Variety refers to the range of products made or services delivered.
The greater the variety there is, the more the operations process needs to allow for variation.

45
Q

What is Variation in demand and the influence of it?

A

Variation in demand refers to how quickly a business can create a range of products.
This can impact transformation resources.

46
Q

What is Visibility, how can it be attained and what is the influence of it?

A

Visibility is customer feedback. It can be attained either be direct (surveys) or indirect (sales data).
It affects the transformation process.

47
Q

Distinguish between sequencing and scheduling?

A

Sequencing refers to completing tasks in a specific order, whereas scheduling refers to the time it will take to achieve these tasks.

48
Q

What is the purpose of a Gantt chart?

A

They outline the activities that need to be performed, the order they should be performed and how long each activity is expected to take.

49
Q

What are two advantages of a Gantt chart?

A

They make is easy to monitor progress

Enable planning for future business activities

50
Q

What is the purpose of a critical path analysis?

A

It is to schedule a range of ways a task can be achieved, and figure out which path will take the least amount of time to achieve.

51
Q

Name one manufacturing technological device?

A

Robotics.

52
Q

What is task design?

A

Task design involves classifying job activities in ways that make it easy for employees to complete them.

53
Q

What are the three different types of plant layouts?

A
  • Process layout
  • Product layout
  • Fixed position layout.
54
Q

What is the process layout? Name an example.

A

The grouping together of machines by the function they perform.
Different wards in hospitals.

55
Q

What is the product layout? Name an example.

A

The sequence of tasks performed, like an assembly line.

Car assembly line.

56
Q

What is the fixed position layout? Name an example.

A

Product remaining in one location due to bulk or weight.

Construction of a bridge.

57
Q

What is monitoring?

A

Monitoring is the process of measuring actual performance against planned performance.

58
Q

What process is utilised when monitoring?

A

KPIs

59
Q

Give three examples of KPIs.

A
  • Lead and wait times
  • Inventory turnover rates
  • IT and maintenance costs
60
Q

What is control?

A

Control occurs when KPIs are assessed against predetermined targets and corrective action is taken if required.

61
Q

What is improvement?

A

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

62
Q

What is a bottleneck?

A

An aspect in the transformation process that slows down the processing speed.

63
Q

What are the three types of outputs a business will produce?

A
  • Customer service

- Warranties

64
Q

What is a warranty and how is it beneficial for a business?

A

A warranty is a promise made a business that they will correct any defects in a product. It allows a business to improve their operations process by correcting any faults.

65
Q

What are the performance objectives?

A
  • Quality
  • Speed
  • Dependability
  • Flexibility
  • Customisation
  • Cost.
66
Q

What are two approaches to product design and development?

A
  • Preferences and desires of customers

- Innovation of technology.

67
Q

What are four important factors of product design and development.

A
  • Quality
  • Supply chain management
  • Capacity management
  • Cost
68
Q

Why is service design and development different to a new product?

A

Services are intangible and tend to be customised.

69
Q

Define supply chain management.

A

Involves managing the flow of supplies throughout the inputs, transformation processes and outputs, in order to best meet the needs of customers.

70
Q

What are four factors that influence a businesses choice of suppliers?

A
  • Ethical production
  • Quality of inputs required
  • Flexibility and timeliness of supply
  • Cost of supplier
71
Q

Name three advantages and disadvantages to global sourcing.

A
  • Reduces costs
  • Allows access to ideas and technology
  • Accessed to skilled labour
  • Natural disasters
  • Unethical
  • Time delays.
72
Q

Define e-commerce.

A

Buying and selling goods over the internet.

73
Q

Name three risks considered with e-commerce.

A
  • Cyber security
  • Technology faults and malfunctions
  • Postage tracking errors.
74
Q

What are logistics? What do they include?

A

Refers to distribution. Includes, transportation, use of storage, warehousing, distribution, handling and packaging.

75
Q

Name an example of a distribution channel

A
  • Producer> wholesaler> retailer> consumer
76
Q

What are four factors to consider when outsourcing?

A
  • Cost and efficiency
  • Location
  • Vendors
  • Contract.
77
Q

Name, define and provide an example of leading edge and established technologies

A

Leading edge- innovative top of market- DOM pizza camera

Established- developed and widely used- robotics

78
Q

Name the three ways a business can manage their inventory

A
  • FIFO (first-in-first-out)
  • LIFO (last-in-first-out)
  • JIT (just in time)
79
Q

What are the three quality management strategies?

A
  • Quality control
  • Quality assurance
  • Quality improvement.
80
Q

Define quality control. What are the three topics associated with it?

A

Involves use of inspections at various points in the production process.

  • Inspection
  • Measurement
  • Intervention.
81
Q

Define quality assurance. What is the topic associated with it?

A

Involves the use of a system to ensure that set standards are achieved in production.
- Application of international quality standards

82
Q

What are the two topics associated with quality improvement?

A
  • Continuous improvement- ongoing commitment to improving goods and services
  • Total quality management- managing total business to deliver quality to customers.
83
Q

What are the four Financial reasons for resistance to change?

A
  • Purchasing new equipment
  • Redundancy payments
  • Retraining
  • Reorganising plant layout.
84
Q

What is one Psychological reason for resistance to change?

A
  • Inertia
85
Q

Name two advantages and two disadvantages of holding stock

A
  • Customer demand can be met
  • Lead times are reduced
  • Large costs for holding stock
  • Stock may need to be insured for theft
86
Q

Name the three aspects of quality management and define each

A
  • Quality control- inspections at various points of the production process
  • Quality assurance- system which ensures standards are met
  • Quality improvement- improvement on quality of products
87
Q

List the six aspects of resistance to change

A
  • Financial costs
  • Purchasing new equipment
  • Redundancy payments
  • Retraining
  • Reorganising plant layout
  • Inertia
88
Q

What are the four global factors?

A
  • Global sourcing
  • Economies of scale
  • Scanning and learning
  • Research and development.

business studies (4 decks)

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