Operations Mgt. Mid-term Exam 1.

The philosophy that seeks to improve all factors related to the process of converting inputs into outputs on an ongoing basis is called coninuous improvement. The Japanese refer to it as kaizen and it has become a cornerstone of the Japanese approach to production. Discuss: a. The management requirements of kaizen b. The continuous improvement process c. The methods and tools used in kaizen d. How can kaizen be applied in your place of work

2. Compare organization strategy and operations strategy. Explain why it is important to link them. If you were the Operations Manager of your company, describe how you will relate operations strategy to the overall business strategy. Be specific in your examples. 3. Many organizations offer a combination of goods and services to their customers. What are some key differences between production of goods and delivery of services? What are the implications of these differences relative to managing corporations? 4. The owner of a fast-food franchise has exclusive rights to operate in a medium-size metropolitan area. The owner currently has a single outlet open, which has proved to be very popular and there are often waiting lines of customers. The owner is therefore cosidering opening one or more outlets in the area. What are the key factors that the owner should investigate before making a final decision? What trade-offs would there be in opening one additional site versus opening several additional sites? 5. Explain why each of these is critical for a successful supply chain operation. a. Integrated technology b. information sharing

c. trust among trading partners d. real-time information availability

e. event-management capability

f. purchasing 6. As an operations manager, how would you go about evaluating the criticalness of an inventory shortage? 7. Service operations often face more difficulty in planning than their manufacturing counterparts. However, service does have certain advantages that manufacturing often does not. Explain service planning difficulty, and the advantages. 8. In operations management, as in life, a balanced approach is often the best policy. One of the best examples of the benefits in operations management is the JIT/lean approach. Explain the basic factors that must be in place in order to achieve a balanced JIT/lean system. 9. Project management techniques have been used successfully for a wide variety of efforts, including the many NASA space missions, huge construction profjects, implementation of major systems such as ERP, production of movies, deveolopment of new products and services, theatrical production, and much more. Why not use them for managing the operations of any business? Show how these can be applied to your place of work.