Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Quiz 1 Guideline
Chapter 1: Operation and Productivity
Basic concepts
What is production?
Creation of goods and service
What is operations management?
Activities that relate to the creation of goods and services through the transformation of inputs to
outputs
What is supply chain?
A global network of organizations and activities that supplies a firm with goods and services
What do operation managers do? What are ten strategic decisions they need to make?
They perform the basic functions of the management process including planning, organizing,
staffing, leading, and controlling.
Design of goods and services, managing quality, process strategy, location strategies, layout
strategies, human resources, supply chain management, inventory management, scheduling,
maintenance
What is the difference between good and service?
S: Intangible G: tangible /s: produced and consumed simultaneously g: products r kept in
inventory/ S: high customer interaction g: limited customer interaction/
s: inconsistent product definition g: product standardized /s: knowledge based, hard to automate
g: automation /s: services dispersed g: fixed facility /s: hard to evaluate quality g: easy to
evaluate /s: reselling is unusual g: has residual value
Productivity
How to calculate productivity? (Variables contributed to productivity) (*See the calculation on
p26)
Productivity=unites produced/input used (singlefactor)
Productivity=output/labor+material+energy+capital+miscellaneous (multifactor)
Chapter 2: Operations Strategy in a Global Environment
6 Reasons to globalize :
1.Improve the supply chain
2. Reduce costs (labor, taxes, tariffs, etc.)
3. Improve operations
4.Understand markets
5. Improve products
6. Attract and retain global talent
Risk of outsourcing and risk assessment rating metrics:
Four global operation strategy options:
Competitive strategies and ten OM decisions
Strategies for Competitive Advantage (differentiation, cost, responsiveness)
1.Differentiation – better, or at least different
2. Cost leadership – cheaper
3. Response – more responsive
Product life cycle (product strategies) v.s. Operation management strategies
SWOT analysis & Porter Five Forces
Porter’s Five Forces Mode l
Potential New Entrants Bargaining Power of
Customers
Barriers to entry Buyer’s price sensitivity
Brand equity Customer volume
Capital requirements Information asymmetry
Competitive Rivalry within Industry
Number of competitors
Rate of industry growth
Industry capacity
all four surrounding forces point to competitive rivalry within industry
Threat of Substitutes Bargaining Power of
Suppliers
Buyer propensity to substitute Presence of
substitute inputs
Buyer switching costs Threat of forward
integration
Product substitution for service Uniqueness of inputs
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
• What are your company’s advantages?
• What do you do better than anyone else?
• What unique resources do you have?
• What do people in your market see as your strengths?
Weaknesses
• What could you improve?
• What should you avoid?
• What factors lose sales?
• What are people in your market likely to see as a weakness?
Opportunities
• What are your competitors’ vulnerabilities?
• What are the current market trends?
• Does technology offer new service options?
• Are there niches in the market your organization can fill?
Threats
• What obstacles do you face?
• What are your competitors doing?
• Is your position threatened by changing technology?
• Do you have cashflow problems?
Marketplace v.s. marketspace (including service qualifier/winner/loser)
The Virtual Value Chain
Marketplace vs Marketspace
Marketspace: an information and communicationbased electronic exchange environment
an online space that facilitates bidirectional commerce
Example: Amazon, eBay, Facebook
Creating New Markets Using Information (Gather,Organize, Select, Synthesize, and Distribute)
Winning Customers in the Marketplace
Service Qualifier: To be taken seriously, a certain level must be attained on the competitive
dimension,as defined by other market players, e.g., cleanliness for a fast food restaurant or safe
aircraft for an airline.
Service Winner: The competitive dimension that is used to make the final choice among
competitors, e.g.,price.
Service Loser: Defined by failure to deliver at or above the expected level for a competitive
dimension,e.g., failure to repair auto (dependability), rude treatment (personalization), or late
delivery of package(speed).
Key success factors (10 OM decisions)
Cultural difference analysis and adaptation strategies
Hofstede’s Dimensions of IndividualismCollectivism and Power Distance ***
▶Individualism versus collectivism
Identifies whether a culture holds individuals or
the group responsible for each member’s welfare.
▶Power distance
Describes degree to which a culture accepts statusand power differences among its
members.
▶Uncertainty avoidance
Identifies a culture’s willingness to accept
uncertainty and ambiguity about the future.
▶Masculinityfemininity
Describes the degree to which the culture emphasizes competitive and
achievementoriented behavior or displays concerns for relationships.
Cultural difference comparison and cultural shock cycle ***
Coping strategies for cultural differences ***
Create “stability zones” that closely create home
▶Modify expectations and behavior
▶Redefine priorities and develop realistic expectations
▶Focus on most important tasks and relish small
accomplishments
▶Use project work as a bridge until adjusted to the new environment
▶Engage in regular physical exercise programs, practice meditation and relaxation exercises,and
keep a journal
Chapter 3: Project Management
Basic concepts ***
1. What is a project?
Project : A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result
i. Unique
ii. Temporary
iii.
Progressively elaborated
2. What is project management?
Project Management : The application of knowledge, skills and techniques to project
activities to meet project requirements
i.
A set of interrelated actions and activities performed to achieve a pre
specified product, result, or service
3. What are the five PM processes across nine areas?
Initiating
Planning
Executing
Monitor and control project
Closing
4. What are the triple constraints in PM?
Time
Cost
Scope
5. What are differences between project type and matrix type organizations?
∙ Project
Planning this includes goal setting, defining the project, and team organization
Scheduling this phase relates people, money, and supplies to specific activities and
relates activities to each other
Controlling
here the firm monitors resources, costs, quality, and budgets. It also revises
or changes plans and shifts resources to meet time costs demands
∙ Matrix
i.
various and complex
Time management techniques
Activities related:
6. What is WBS (work breakdown structure)? How many levels of WBS?
∙ WBS Defines a project by dividing it into more and more detailed components
Duration and sequence related:
7. What is PERT (program evaluation and review technique)?
(*see the formula on p99100)
∙ PERT : A project management technique that employs three time estimates for each
activity
8. What is AON?
How many types of AON network?
∙ Activity on Node (AON) : a network diagram in which nodes designate
activities
9. What is forward pass (early start/early finish) and backward pass (late start/late finish)?
∙ Forward pass : a process that identifies all the early times
∙ Backward pass an activity that finds all the late start and late finish
∙ Early start Earliest time at which an activity can start, assuming all predecessors have
been completed
∙ Earliest finish earliest time at which an activity can be finished
∙ Latest
start latest time at which an activity can start so as to not delay the completion
time of the entire project
∙ Latest finish latest time by which an activity has to finish so as to not delay the
completion time of the entire project
10. What is slack time?
∙ Slack time
free time for an activity. Also referred to as free float or free slack
∙ Slack= LS – ES or LF EF
11. What is CPM (critical path method
)? (*see review on p99100)
∙ CPM
a project management technique that uses only on time factor per activity
12. What is three time estimation? Computation of it? Variance computation
? (*see the formula
on p99100)
∙ Optimistic time
best activity completion time that could be obtained in a PERT network
∙ Pessimistic time
the worst activity time that could be expected in a PERT network
∙ Most likely time
the most probable time to complete an activity in a PERT network
∙ Expected activity time(t)
= (a + 4, + b)/6
∙ Variance of activity completion time = [(ba)/6)]^2
13. What is crash? How to calculate crash cost?
(*see the formula on p99100)
∙ Crashing : shortening activity time in a network to reduce time on the critical path so
total completion time is reduced
∙ Crash cost per period = (crash cost – normal cost) / (normal time – crash time)
14. Calculate the probability and interpretation of results
Time management tool related :
15. What is Ghant chart?
∙ Ghant chart planning charts used to schedule resources and allocate time