SOUTHVILLE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AND COLLEGES

MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
PRODUCTION OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
MAY 19, 2018
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Directions: Answer the following questions comprehensively. Use separate sheet for each question.
Show your calculations

1. The demand for rabies vaccine in Cardinal Santos Medical center has increased in the past 5 years.
The hospital administrator wants to know how many patients will avail for the said vaccine for 2019
using either the Delphi or Exponential smoothing forecasting method. The data are as follows: (4pts
each question)
Year Demand for Rabies Forecasted Values
Vaccine

2014 45 42

2015 50

2016 52

2017 56

2018 58

2019 -

a. What is forecasting?

b. What is the Delphi method?

c. What is the forecasted number of rabies vaccines to be administered in 2019 using exponential
smoothing given an alpha of 0.20? (the formula has been provided below)

Forecasted Value = previous forecast + alpha (previous actual – previous forecast)

d. What is the MAD (mean absolute deviation) based on forecast done?

e. Why is it important to identify the MAD?

2. Southville International School and Colleges has decided to add medicine as one of the courses it will
offer in school year 2020-21. This strategy is a perfect move for a school that has a formidable nursing
program and is a part owner of Las Pinas Doctors Hospital. In order to fully accomplish such a feat, the
project management team of the school has the following tasks: (4pts each question)

Activity Time Immediate Crash Normal Crash Crash Cost to

(mons) Predecessor/s Time Cost (‘000) Cost Period Crash
(‘000)
Available

A (get 3 100 120

accreditation
from CHED) 4

B (benchmark 2 200 250

with other
med schools 5

C (hire 5 150 190

professors/co
nsultants) 5 A, B

D (build the 3 180 230

main facility) 3 C

E (purchase 5 220 240

materials) 6 D

F (recruit 4 300 310

students) 4 D

a. How long will the overall project take to complete?

b. What is the critical path?

c. How much is the overall project cost if it’s crashed by 3 months?

d. Why is it important to know the critical path?

e. In choosing which tasks to crash, what is your main consideration? And why?
3. Shoe Factory XYZ has several branches in various locations as indicated in the table below. The owner
is trying to find the best place to warehouse his supplies given the coordinates of each branches.
(6.67pts per question)

Store Units sold in X Coordinate Y Coordinate

Locations a year

Cebu City 15000 70 -14

Davao 14700 50 -2

Bacolod 8000 30 5

Bicol 10500 50 20

a. Why is location important in every business?

b. Aside from cost, what other factors (give atleast 2) should an entrepreneur consider in choosing the
location of his/her business?

c. Given the data on the table, what are the coordinates of the possible warehouse location of the 4
branches of Shoe Factory XYZ?

4. Alex Tan, the owner of Company XYZ, wants to build his own warehouse for his products rather than
continue renting. He wants to figure out which is the better decision whether to build a small, medium
or a large one? (5pts per question)

High Med Low Maximax Maximin Regret

Small 500 300 100

Medium 1,000 500 80

Large 1,200 600 60

Nothing

a. Using the maximax technique, what would be the best decision of Alex?

b. Using the maximum approach, what would be the best decision of Alex?
c. Using the minimax regret technique, what would be the decision of Alex?

c.1. Show the regret table below.

5. Toyota is recognized for its reliable and efficient supply chain. The firm has used strategies that have
been admired and copied in various industries. Some of them includes Just-in-time; Keiretsu and
forward integration. (4pts each question)

a. Differentiate forward from backward integration

b. In deciding whether to make or outsource a certain component of a product, what should be the
considerations of a firm? (give at least 3)

c. What is keiretsu strategy?

d. What is just-in-time strategy?

e. What are the three ways in keeping a successful supplier-buyer relationship?

SUBMITTED BY: Dr. Victor C. Manabat

Graduate School of Business

NOTED BY: Dr. Marjorie Gutierrez-Tangog

Southville Graduate School