CHAPTER 5: THE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CONCEPT

1. Discuss the differences between a supply chain and supply chain management.

2. What are four key attributes of supply chain management?

3. What is the difference between a lean supply chain and an agile supply chain? Under
which circumstances is each an appropriate supply chain approach to pursue?

4. What is the difference between relational and transactional exchanges? Which is more
relevant for supply chain management? Why?

5. Discuss some of the ways that inventory can be reduced in the supply chain.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. An underperforming supply chain is defined as one that exhibits poor service,

unproductive assets, and

a. High variable operating costs

b. Outdated information technology
c. Poor communication
d. Too many organizations (companies)

2. A ____________ encompasses all activities associated with the flow and

transformation of goods from the raw material stage, through to the end user, as well
as the associated information flows.

a. production line
b. supply chain
c. marketing channel
d. warehouse

3. Which of the following is not one of the processes in the SCOR model?

a. sell
b. plan
c. make
d. return

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4. An organizations ability to respond to changes in demand with respect to volume and
variety refers to ____.

a. responsiveness
b. leanness
c. agility
d. relevancy

5. Which of the following are not an attribute of partnerships?

a. Mutual trust
b. Compatible goals
c. High interdependence among supply chain participants
d. Shared information
e. All are attributes of partnerships

6. Positive, long-term relationships between supply chain participants refer to:

a. co-opetition
b. tailored logistics
c. partnerships
d. supply chain management

7. According to the text, ____________ has been at the center of the changes taking
place that affect the supply chain.

a. logistics
b. warehousing
c. technology
d. customer power

8. The variability in demand orders among supply chain participants:

a. cannot be controlled
b. refers to the bullwhip effect
c. can be controlled with electronic order placement
d. is more pronounced in relational exchanges

9. Which of the following is not a way to reduce inventory levels?

a. supply-push replenishment
b. smaller, more frequent orders
c. use of premium transportation
d. elimination of slower moving products

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10. The general idea behind ____ is that one company allows a specialist company to
provide it with one or more logistics functions.

a. Supply chain management

b. Multichannel marketing
c. Third-party logistics
d. Cross-organizational collaboration

True-False Questions

1. Research on underperforming supply chains suggests that logistics can be crucial to

achieving desired levels of performance.

2. Customers are not included as part of supply chains.

3. The SCOR model identifies four key processes associated with supply chain
management.

4. Because customer needs and wants change relatively quickly, supply chains should be
fast and lean.

5. With respect to supply chains, relevancy focuses on an organizations ability to

respond to changes in demand with respect to volume and variety.

6. Leagility refers to a supply chain that combines the lean and agile paradigms.
7. Relational exchanges cannot be successful without information sharing among
various participants.

8. Variability in demand orders among supply chain participants is known as the bubble
effect.
9. A primary objective of supply chain management is to optimize the performance of
the supply chain as a whole.

10. Tactical information sharing offers the best opportunity for improving supply chain
performance.

11. The general idea behind third-party logistics is that one company allows a specialist
company to provide it with one or more logistics functions.

12. Top management is sometimes hesitant to fully commit to supply chain management.