What is safety stock, and what is its purpose?
> While it is true that increases in efficiency generate productivity increases, it is possible to get caught in an “efficiency improvement trap.” Explain what this means.
> A U.S. company has two manufacturing plants, one in the United States and one in another country. Both produce the same item, each for sale in their respective countries. However, their productivity figures are quite different. The analyst thinks this is
> How would you formulate the constraint for material A if it was determined that there is a 5 percent waste factor for material A and equal quantities of each product are required?
> What is a possible qualitative issue that may very well influence productivity levels that the productivity ratios fail to take into account?
> What does sliding an objective function line toward the origin represent? Away from the origin?
> What is an iso-cost line? An iso-profit line?
> Explain the term redundant constraint.
> What is meant by the term feasible solution space? What determines this region?
> Should there be additional overtime and, if so, how much?
> Should additional wood be purchased and, if so, how much?
> Should additional laminate be purchased and, if so, how much?
> Who needs to be involved in assessing the cost of customers waiting for service if the customers are (a) the general public (b) employees of the organization?
> In a multiple-channel system, what is the rationale for having customers wait in a single line, as is now being done in many banks and post offices, rather than multiple lines? (Hint: The average waiting time is unaffected.)
> Under what circumstances would a multiple-priority waiting system be appropriate?
> Briefly describe the company’s strategy.
> Contrast finite and infinite population sources.
> What effect would decreasing arrival and service variability have on the effective capacity of a system?
> Why do waiting lines form even though a service system is under loaded?
> In what kinds of situations is queuing analysis most appropriate?
> What benefits do psychological approaches to waiting lines have over other approaches?
> Who needs to be involved in assessing the cost of a project?
> What trade-offs are associated with time and cost estimates for a proposed project?
> What is a work breakdown structure, and how is it useful for project planning?
> What is the main benefit of a project organization over more traditional forms of operations management for project work?
> Was Linderman Industries’ adoption of project organization an appropriate one for getting the Mexican subsidiary started?
> What advantages and what limitations stem from the company’s not using preservatives in cookies?
> Who needs to be involved in setting schedules?
> Explain the term makespan.
> What factors would you take into account in deciding whether to split a job?
> Explain forward and backward scheduling and each one’s advantage.
> What problems not generally found in manufacturing systems do service systems present in terms of scheduling the use of resources?
> What are the main decision areas of job-shop scheduling?
> Aside from cost reduction, what major value does IBM envision for its interaction with suppliers?
> What advantage did IBM’s use of the Internet have for small suppliers?
> Explain the benefit of cross-docking.
> Describe vendor analysis.
> As a consumer, what things do you consider in judging the quality of cookies you buy in a supermarket?
> Discuss the importance of RFID for supply chain management.
> Describe what purchasing managers do.
> Why is managing returns important?
> What impact has e-business had on supply chain management?
> What are the elements of supply chain management?
> What is a supply chain?
> Explain the key benefit of the revised approach, and the reason for the benefit.
> This reading offers one possible reason for the existence of a long supply process. Can you think of some other possible reasons for long supply processes?
> Describe the philosophy that underlies JIT (i.e., what is JIT intended to accomplish?).
> Which inventory models could be used for ordering the ingredients for bagels? Which model do you think would be most appropriate for deciding how many bagels to make in a given batch?
> What factors cause the company to carry minimal amounts of certain inventories? What benefits result from this policy?
> Can the optimal stocking level in the single-period model ever be less than expected demand? Explain briefly.
> Explain briefly how a higher carrying cost can result in a decrease in inventory.
> What are the primary reasons for holding inventory?
> Give two examples of unethical conduct involving inventory management and the ethical principle each one violates.
> What ordering system would be best for this situation?
> What are the primary advantages and limitations of informal graphic and charting techniques for aggregate planning?
> What aggregate planning difficulty that might confront an organization offering a variety of products and/or services would not confront an organization offering one or a few similar products or services?
> What are the most common decision variables for aggregate planning in a manufacturing setting? In a service setting?
> Why is there a need for aggregate planning?
> Hazel is thinking about the purchase of new equipment. One would be power sidewalk edger’s. She believes edger’s will lead to an increase in productivity. Another would be a chain saw, which would be used for tree pruning. What trade-offs should she cons
> What are the three phases of intermediate planning?
> Name several behaviors related to aggregate planning or master scheduling that you believe would be unethical, and the ethical principle that would be violated for each.
> Who needs to be involved in setting quality standards?
> What two basic assumptions must be satisfied in order to use a process capability index?
> If all observations are within control limits, does that guarantee that the process is random? Explain.
> Why is order of observation important in process control?
> What is the purpose of a control chart?
> In repetitive operations it is often possible to automatically check for quality and then reject parts that are unacceptable. In those situations, does that mean that control charts arent needed? Explain.
> Why are bar codes being used in hospitals?
> List the steps of problem solving.
> Why might some workers prefer not to work in a lean production environment?
> Describe the quality–ethics connection.
> Define the terms quality of design and quality of conformance.
> Name several ways that technology has had an impact on location decisions.
> Describe how those same tools can lead to store closings or store relocations.
> What community factors influence location decisions?
> In what ways can the location decision have an impact on the production system?
> Why do workers sometimes resent time studies?
> What are the main limitations of time study?
> If an average worker could be identified, what advantage would there be in using that person for a time study? What are some reasons why an average worker might not be studied?
> Could performance rating be avoided by studying a group of workers and averaging their times? Explain briefly.
> What competitive advantage does Hazel have over a professional lawn care service?
> How do customers judge the quality of a supermarket?
> If the interest rate is 10 percent, then the future value in 2 years of $100 today is a. $80. b. $83. c. $120. d. $121.
> If the interest rate is zero, then $100 to be paid in 10 years has a present value that is a. less than $100. b. exactly $100. c. more than $100. d. indeterminate.
> What factors should a stock analyst think about in determining the value of a share of stock?
> Ken walks into an ice-cream parlor. Waiter: “We have vanilla and chocolate today.” Ken: “I’ll take vanilla.” Waiter: “I almost forgot. We also have strawberry.” Ken: “In that case, I’ll take chocolate.” What standard property of decision making is Ken vi
> Comparing stocks and government bonds, which type of asset has more risk? Which pays a higher average return?
> What is diversification? Does a stockholder get a greater benefit from diversification going from 1 to 10 stocks or going from 100 to 120 stocks?
> According to an old myth, Native Americans sold the island of Manhattan about 400 years ago for $24. If they had invested this amount at an interest rate of 7 percent per year, how much, approximately, would they have today?
> A company faces two kinds of risk. A firm-specific risk is that a competitor might enter its market and take some of its customers. A market risk is that the economy might enter a recession, reducing sales. Which of these two risks would more likely caus
> From 2008 to 2012, the ratio of government debt to GDP in the United States a. increased markedly. b. decreased markedly. c. was stable at a historically high level. d. was stable at a historically low level.
> If the business community becomes more optimistic about the profitability of capital, the _________ curve for loanable funds would shift, driving the equilibrium interest rate _________. a. supply, up b. supply, down c. demand, up d. demand, down
> The government spends $3 billion to buy police cars. Explain why aggregate demand might increase by more than $3 billion. Explain why aggregate demand might increase by less than $3 billion.
> If a popular TV show on personal finance convinces more Americans about the importance of saving for retirement, the _________ curve for loanable funds would shift, driving the equilibrium interest rate _________. a. supply, up b. supply, down c. demand,
> A closed economy has income of $1,000, government spending of $200, taxes of $150, and investment of $250. What is private saving? a. $100 b. $200 c. $300 d. $400
> If the government collects more in tax revenue than it spends, and households consume more than they get in after-tax income, then a. private and public saving are both positive. b. private and public saving are both negative. c. private saving is positi
> Nina wants to buy and operate an ice-cream truck but doesn’t have the financial resources to start the business. She borrows $5,000 from her friend Max, to whom she promises an interest rate of 7 percent, and gets another $10,000 from her friend David, t
> The labor-supply curve slopes upward if a. leisure is a normal good. b. consumption is a normal good. c. the income effect on leisure is greater than the substitution effect. d. the substitution effect on leisure is greater than the income effect.
> What is investment? How is it related to national saving in a closed economy?
> What is a government budget deficit? How does it affect interest rates, investment, and economic growth?
> Describe a change in the tax code that might increase private saving. If this policy were implemented, how would it affect the market for loanable funds?
