Midterm #1

Question 1

3 functions of business organizations

Answer 1

finance
operations
marketing

Question 2

what is operation

Answer 2

transformation process from input to output

Question 3

operations management

Answer 3

managaement of systems of processes that create goods and/or provide services

Question 4

5 Ms of the Input part of operations

Answer 4

Management
Methods
Material
Machines
Maintenance

Question 5

parts of the transformation process in operations

Answer 5

cutting
machining
storing
transporting
investing
...

Question 6

output part of operations

Answer 6

value is added

final good/service

Question 7

what does operations management include

Answer 7

forecasting
capacity planning
scheduling
managing inventories
assuring quality
motivating employees
...

Question 8

why is operations management important

Answer 8

operations contribute to economy

one of interval parts of any organization

Question 9

what does feedback do for operations

Answer 9

makes sure we stay on right track (internal or external)

Question 10

what is operations management

Answer 10

managing the process of transformation that creates products or services

Question 11

what are centerpieces of wal-marts competetive strategy

Answer 11

logisitcs
own warehouses
own transportation system
large database
...

Question 12

succesful operations of Southwestern Airlines

Answer 12

point-to-point service not Hub and Spoke
no frills
simple operations
high utilization

Question 13

hub

Answer 13

center of operations

Question 14

what are keys for successfully competing

Answer 14

understanding competetive issues helps managers develop successful strategies

Question 15

mission statement

Answer 15

reason for existence of organization

Question 16

goals

Answer 16

details and scope of mission

Question 17

what is strategy

Answer 17

plans for achieving organizational goals

provides focus for decision making

Question 18

what are tactics

Answer 18

methods/actions taken to acomplish strategies

provide guidance to operations

Question 19

what is an important part of strategy formulation

Answer 19

core competencies
environmental scanning
order qualifiers
order winners

Question 20

what is core competencies

Answer 20

what brand image a company wants to have

Question 21

part of environmental scanning

Answer 21

SWOT analysis

Question 22

what are order qualifiers

Answer 22

minimum standards of acceptability for a potential purchase

Question 23

what are order winners

Answer 23

goods or services that cause it to be better than the competitors

Question 24

what is productivity

Answer 24

measure of effective use of recources

Question 25

what is productivity expressed as

Answer 25

ratio of output to input | output/input

Question 26

examples for input

Answer 26

labor material energy ...

Question 27

examples for output

Answer 27

goods and services

Question 28

partial productivity measure

Answer 28

units of output/units of one input | e.g. labor productivity - unity per hour/shift

Question 29

what are multifactor productivitiy measures

Answer 29

multiple denomitators added together units of output/combined units of input e.g. output/labor + material

Question 30

importance for productivity measurements

Answer 30

include the units of measurements

Question 31

importance for multifactor productivity measures

Answer 31

added denominators need to be the same unit

Question 32

productivity growth equation

Answer 32

(current productivity - previous productivity) / previous productivity X 100

Question 33

what does productivity growth express

Answer 33

how productivity has changed over time + -> increase - -> decrease

Question 34

what is a forecast

Answer 34

statement about the future value of a variable of interest, such as demand

Question 35

what needs to be always added to a forecast

Answer 35

a # of potential error

Question 36

types of forcasting

Answer 36

qualitative | quantitative

Question 37

qualitative forecast

Answer 37

based on knowledge and intuition | judgemental

Question 38

quantitative forecast

Answer 38

time series | associative models

Question 39

what is judgemental forcast

Answer 39

uses subjective inputs

Question 40

examples of judgmental forecasts

Answer 40

``` executive opinions (longrange planning) sales force composite consumer surveys outside opinion opinions of managers and staff ```

Question 41

what are sales force composite

Answer 41

retailer forecasts for the manufacturer

Question 42

what are examples for outside opinions when it comes to judgemental forcasts

Answer 42

financial and consulting gurus and companies

Question 43

mentod that underlies opinions of managers and staff when it comes to judgemental forecasts

Answer 43

delphi method -> series of questionnaires developed sequentially

Question 44

subdivisions of time series forcasting

Answer 44

naive averaging trend seasonality

Question 45

what is time series forecasting

Answer 45

sequence of observations taken at regular intervals over a period of time future values estimated from past values

Question 46

types of variations in time series data

Answer 46

trend - longterm movement seasonality - short term regular variations cycles - longterm wavelike variations irregular variations - caused by unusual circumstances random variations - caused by chance

Question 47

what is Naive forecasts

Answer 47

previous period´s actual value = forecast for any period

Question 48

pros and cons of naive forecasts

Answer 48

pros: simple to use (no costs), easy understandable cons: no high accuracy

Question 49

techniques of averaging time series forecasting

Answer 49

moving average weighted moving average exponential smoothing

Question 50

moving averages

Answer 50

average a # of most recent actual data | needs to be updated as new values become recent

Question 51

what effect does n (time span) has on moving average

Answer 51

the larger n the smoother the average curve | the short n the closer average follows volatile trends

Question 52

pros and cons of moving average

Answer 52

pros: easy to compute and understand cons: all values are weighted equally

Question 53

weighted moving average

Answer 53

assigns more weight o recent values in time series

Question 54

what is important to remeber when choosing weight

Answer 54

needs to sum up to 1

Question 55

how to choose weight

Answer 55

experience and trial and error | most recent past gets highest weight

Question 56

how does weighted moving average have an advantage over normal moving average

Answer 56

it can vary the effects of past data points

Question 57

exponential smoothing

Answer 57

based on previous forecast plus a percentage of forecast error

Question 58

equation of exponential smoothiing

Answer 58

current forecast = previous forecast + alpha(actual - previous forecast)

Question 59

relation between alpha and the forecast curve at exponential smoothing

Answer 59

the larger alpha, the more responsive the smaller alpha, smoother the forecast curve alpha = 1 -> naive forecast

Question 60

models of seasonality

Answer 60

additive model | multiplicative model

Question 61

additive model

Answer 61

seasonality factor expressed as quantitive | add or subtract from series average

Question 62

multiplicative model

Answer 62

seasonality expressed as percentage of average amount

Question 63

what is important for forecast accuracy

Answer 63

calculate error

Question 64

measurements of forecasts accuracy

Answer 64

mean absoulte deviation (MAD) mean squarred error (MSE) Mean absolute percent error (MAPE)

Question 65

why do different measures of forecasting accuracy exist

Answer 65

they describe forecasts from different perspectives (percentage can be different)

Question 66

important factors that influence what forcasting technique is chosen

Answer 66

most important factors: cost, accuracy | other factors: availability of data, computer, time...

Question 67

which forecasting technnique has the lowest costs

Answer 67

naive technique | the more complex the forecast, the more expensive

Question 68

short term forecasting technique

Answer 68

moving average | exponential smoothing

Question 69

long term forecasting

Answer 69

trend the delphi method executive opinion method