Hill SM TB CH 04

1. Functional strategies play only a small role in organizational success because they occur at a low level in the finn.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SM IA.HILL.l5.04.01- Explain how an enterprise can use functional level strategies to
increase its efficiency
NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States- BUSPROG: Reflective Thin- BUSPROG: Analytic
KEYWORDS: Bloom's: Comprehension
2. Distinctive competencies shape the functional-level strategies that a company can pursue.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
KEYWORDS: Bloom's: Knowledge
3. Diseconomies of scale are the unit cost increases associated with a large scale of output.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
4. The concept of economies of scale suggests that unit costs continue to fall indefmitely as output volume increases.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
5. Learning effects tend to be more significant when a technologically complex task is performed only occasionally.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.HILL.l5.04.01- Explain how an enterprise can use functional level strategies to
6. No matter how complex the task is, learning effects typically die out after a limited period of time.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
7. All else being equal, if a company moves down the experience curve faster than its rivals, it should realize a lower
cost structure.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
8. Flexible production technologies allow a company to produce a wider variety of end products at a unit cost that at
one time could be achieved only through the mass production of a standardized output
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States- BUSPROG: Technology
9. Mass customization describes the ability of companies to use flexible manufacturing technology to reconcile the two
goals of low cost and differentiation through product customization.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
10. There is a negative relationship between the length of time that a customer stays with a company and profit per
customer.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
11. A benefit oflong-time customer loyalty is the free advertising that customers provide for a company tluough
referrals.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.IIILL.l5.04.01- Explain how an enterprise can use functional level strategies to
12. The challenge for a company's human resource function is to find ways to lower wage and benefits costs.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
13. While Information Systems have greatly improved productivity, they have had little impact on lowering costs.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
14. When Amber first started working at a car manufacturing plant assembling car doors, she was slower at the task
than her co-workers. As time passed, her speed at assembling the doors increased and she even taught others how
to perform the task more quickly. As a result of increased employee productivity, this particular plant experienced
cost savings. These cost savings can be attributed to learning effects.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.IIILL.l5.04.01- Explain how an enterprise can use functional level strategies to
NATIONAL STANDARDS: United States- BUSPROG: Reflective Thinking
KEYWORDS: Bloom's: Application
15. Through efficient logistics at Grasshopper Grocers, the stock in the stores is automatically replenished once every
week. Management at Grasshopper Grocers uses a just-in-time inventory system.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
16. Sherree works at Dustcloud Manufacturing where she is part of a seven member team. Her team coordinates its
own activities as well as makes its own hiring, training, work, and reward decisions. This type of team is referred to
as a virtual team.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: 1
17. Six Sigma is a quality and efficiency program derived from the concept of Total Quality Management, and was
widely used in Japan before acceptance in the U.S.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.IIILL.l5.04.02- Explain how an enterprise can use functional-level strategies to
increase its quality
18. Product attributes that collectively define product excellence include the form, features, performance, durability, and
styling of the product.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.HILL.l5.04.02- Explain how an enterprise can use functional-level strategies to
19. The "sigma" in the Six Sigma name refers to the Greek letter meaning standard deviation from the mean.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
20. A vital source of information about the causes of poor quality are the firm's own employees.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.IIILL.15.04.02- Explain how an enterprise can use functional-level strategies to
21. Six Sigma encompasses the activities necessary to get inputs and components to a production facility, through the
production process, and out through a distribution system to the end user.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.HILL.15.04.02- Explain how an enterprise can use functional-level strategies to
22. Poor commercialization occurs when there is definite customer demand for a new product, but the product is not
well adapted to customer needs because of factors such as poor design and poor quality.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.HILL.15.04.03- Explain how an enterprise can use functional level strategies to
increase its innovation
23. Poor positioning strategy arises when a company introduces a potentially attractive new product but sales fail to
materialize because it is poorly positioned in the marketplace.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
24. Although important, unfortunately, innovation plays a minor role in achieving competitive advantage.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
25. Close integration between research and development (R&D), production and marketing can help a company avoid
innovation failures.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
26. Customer focus in a function of only the lower levels of an organization.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: SMIA.IIILL.15.04.04- Explain how an enterprise can use functional level strategies to
increase its customer responsiveness
27. Strong brand loyalty leads to more sales and the ability to charge higher prices.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
28. Production and materials-management functions need not be changed in response to unanticipated customer
demands as they do not affect response time.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
29. One of the primary roles of research and development in achieving superior efficiency is:
a. facilitating cooperation among functions.
b. limiting customer defection rates by building brand loyalty.
c. designing products for ease of manufacture.
d. instituting training programs to build skills.
e. implementing pay for performance.
ANSWER: c
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Challenging
30. Learning effects are a result of:

a. automation.
b. knowledge acquired by doing.
c. sound product planning tactics.
d. diseconomies of scale.
e. outsourcing.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
31. The experience curve refers to the:

a. learning by doing technique.
b. company's overall experience in a particular industry.
c. systematic lowering of the cost structure and unit cost reductions.
d. diseconomies of scale caused by inexperienced workers.
e. increases in unit costs experienced over time.
ANSWER: c
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
32. Managers should not become complacent about efficiency-based cost advantages because:
a. both learning effects and economics of scale go on forever.
b. the experience curve is likely to bottom out at some point.
c. cost advantages gained from experience effects are not affected by the development of new technologies.
d. unit costs keep reducing as output increases.
e. the experience curve steadily rises after a certain threshold is reached indicating an increase in unit costs.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
33. Research suggests that the adoption of may increase efficiency and lower unit costs relative to what can be
achieved by the mass production of a standardized output.
a. just-in-time manufacturing
b. quick technology
c. flexible production technology
d. stable production
e. unscheduled manufacturing
ANSWER: c
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
34. The marketing strategy that a company adopts:

a. has little impact on the company's efficiency and cost structure.
b. aims at attaining superior efficiency of the company's operations.
c. should not take into account the impact the strategy has on the company's cost structure.
d. aims at automating much of the work in the production process.
e. refers to the position that the company takes with regard to a product's pricing and distribution.
ANSWER: e
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
35. Self-managing teams:
a. are limited to only very large organizations.
b. require members to coordinate their own activities and make decisions.
c. typically increase the need for supervisors.
d. create a tall organizational structure.
e. show negligible increase in productivity and substantial decrease in product quality.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
36. Self-managing work teams:

a. increase per-unit costs of manufactured items.
b. perform all workplace tasks except the making of hiring decisions.
c. increase the cycle time of manufacturing items.
d. require team members to learn only one task and specialize in that alone.
e. tend to increase productivity and product quality.
ANSWER: e
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
37. Pay for performance tends to:

a. increase per-unit costs.
b. decrease employee productivity.
c. increase employee output.
d. have little effect on employee output.
e. impede teamwork.
ANSWER: c
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
38. One of the primary roles of human resources in achieving superior efficiency is:
a. facilitating cooperation among various value creation functions.
b. adopting aggressive marketing to ride down the experience curve.
c. designing products for ease of manufacture.
d. using information systems to automate processes.
e. implementing self-managing teams.
ANSWER: e
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
39. Distinctive competencies shape the strategies that a company can pursue.
a. business-level
b. functional-level
c. corporate-level
d. global-level
e. industry-level
ANSWER: b
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
40. Economies of scale are:

a. unit cost increases associated with learning effects.
b. unit cost reductions due to inferior quality of products.
c. realized when output is reduced to a minimum.
d. realized when the selling price is equal to the cost price of the products.
e. unit cost reductions associated with a large-scale output.
ANSWER: e
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
41. refers to unit cost increases associated with a large scale of output.
a. Economies of scale
b. Learning effects
c. Diseconomies of scale
d. Flexible manufacturing
e. Mass customization
ANSWER: c
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
42. Learning effects:

a. result in unit manufacturing costs increasing by a certain amount each time output is increased.
b. suggest that production costs increase because of increasing labor productivity.
c. are more significant when simple steps in an assembly process are performed over and over again.
d. are more significant when a technologically complex task is repeated.
e. lead to diseconomies of scale.
ANSWER: d
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
43. The experience curve concept:

a. helps a company realize both learning effects and diseconomies of scale.
b. suggests that unit manufacturing costs increase by a certain amount each time output is increased.
c. is very important in industries that mass-produce a standardized output.
d. suggests that achieving low costs allows a firm to charge a premium price.
e. is least likely to bottom out as long as the company does not stop production.
ANSWER: c
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
44. Which of the following is a tactical step for getting down the experience curve ahead of competitors?
a. Premium pricing to create an image of uniqueness in consumers' minds
b. Pursuing a distinctive competence in focused marketing
c. Constructing a manufacturing plant ofless than minimum efficient scale
d. Using aggressive pricing and promotions to expand sales volume as rapidly as possible
e. Making the assembly of the product as complex as possible because this results in greater learning effects
ANSWER: d
POINTS: 1
KEYWORDS: Bloom's: Evaluation
45. Unlike traditional manufacturing, flexible manufacturing:

a. decreases efficiency.
b. lowers unit costs.
c. limits an organization's ability to customize products.
d. allows the production of only standardized products.
e. limits an organization's ability to offer greater product variety.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
46. Mass customization:

a. limits a company's ability to customize products.
b. reduces the use of individual machines and hinders quality control at all stages of the manufacturing process.
c. increases the setup times for complex equipment.
d. is the use of technology to produce large quantities of a standardized output.
e. is a company's ability to reconcile low cost and differentiation that were once thought incompatible.
ANSWER: e
POINTS: 1
47. With regard to customer defection, which of the following statements is incorrect?
a. Defection rates are determined by customer loyalty.
b. The longer a company holds on to a customer, the greater is the volume of customer-generated unit sales.
c. Lowering customer defection rates allows a company to achieve a lower cost structure.
d. The longer a company retains a customer the higher the average unit cost of each sale.
e. There is a positive relationship between the length of time that a customer stays with the company and profit
per customer.
ANSWER: d
POINTS: 1
KEYWORDS: Bloom's: Analysis
48. Just-in-time inventory systems:

a. are used only by manufacturing firms.
b. provide a buffer stock of inventory for a company.
c. are used to reduce inventory holding costs.
d. save costs by outsourcing inventory management to other companies.
e. always keep extra inventory on hand for emergencies.
ANSWER: c
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
49. Employee productivity is:

a. a function of employee socialization.
b. one of the key determinants of a company's efficiency.
c. not subject to measurement.
d. typically not sustainable in the long run.
e. a function that does not affect a company's profitability.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
50. A company's hiring strategy:
a. directly affects employee productivity.
b. has little effect on employee productivity.
c. does not relate to profitability.
d. is not part of the company's overall human resource strategy.
e. upgrades an employee's skill level.
ANSWER: a
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
51. The Mountain Ski Lodge spent $100,000 marketing and advertising its new ski trails and on-site spa. The money
used for marketing and advertising can be referred to as:
a. variable costs.
b. fixed costs.
c. ratio costs.
d. diseconomies of scale.
e. economies of scale.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: I
52. Cream Cups bakes cakes in several varieties dedicated to special occasions. It also allows its customers to
personalize the cakes according to their personal preferences. This is an example of:
a. learning effects.
b. just-in-time inventory.
c. customer defection.
d. mass customization.
e. diseconomies of scale.
ANSWER: d
POINTS: I
53. When credit card companies such as Visa and Mastercard allow an individual to put one of their own photos on their
account credit card, they are utilizing:
a. mass customization.
b. a flexible manufacturing system.
c. quality as reliability mantra.
d. supply-chain management.
e. a just-in-time inventory system.
ANSWER: a
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
54. Which of the following is not one of the principles commonly found in companies that have successfully embraced
the TQM philosophy?
a. Building an organizational commitment to quality
b. Finding ways to measure quality
c. Giving more time for supervisors to work with employees
d. Training new employees
e. Defming work standards only in terms of numbers or quotas
ANSWER: e
POINTS: I
55. Quality can best be thought of as:

a. a competency in investigating and identifying needs of customers.
b. the attributes that customers perceive as superior in a product.
c. product development projects driven by customer needs.
d. the quantity of inputs that it takes to produce a given output.
e. unit cost reductions associated with a large scale of output.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
56. Which of the following does the philosophy underlying TQM include?
a. Greater quantity results in cost decreases.
b. Better quality leads to higher market share.
c. Greater quantity increases a company's profitability.
d. Opinions of employees are irrelevant in manufacturing products.
e. Work standards should only be defined as numbers or quotas.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: I
57. Which of the following is NOT a role played by infrastructure leadership in implementing reliability improvement
methodologies?
a. Providing leadership and commitment quality
b. Finding ways to manage quality
c. Setting goals and creating incentives
d. Soliciting input from employees
e. Lengthening production mns
ANSWER: e
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
58. Which of the following is the fmal result of the five-step chain reaction on which the philosophy of the TQM is
based?
a. Better use of time and materials
b. Increase in profitability
c. Creation of more jobs
d. Higher market share
e. hnprovement in productivity
ANSWER: c
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
59. Which of the following is the first step in the five-step chain reaction, as articulated by Deming, with regard to the
philosophy underlying TQM?
a. hnprovement in productivity
b. Increase in a company's profitability
c. Higher market share due to superior quality of products
d. Reduction of costs due to improved quality
e. Creation of more jobs
ANSWER: d
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
60. Which of the following is not a product attribute?

a. Form
b. Features
c. Style
d. Price
e. Reliability
ANSWER: d
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
61. Research and development (R&D) can help a company improve quality by:
a. designing products that are easy to manufacture.
b. pursuing economies of scale.
c. developing strategies on how to market products.
d. upgrading employee skill levels.
e. creating teams whose members coordinate their own activities.
ANSWER: a
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
62. In spite of defmite customer demand, new products often fail due to:
a. faster cycle time.
b. low customer defection rate.
c. poor commercialization.
d. increased response time.
e. scramble to gain first-mover advantage.
ANSWER: c
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
63. If a product is to be properly commercialized, there must be integration between:

a. research and development and marketing.
b. R&D and materials management.
c. marketing and materials management.
d. fmance and marketing.
e. marketing and after-sales support.
ANSWER: a
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
64. Which of the following is not a benefit of tight cross-functional integration among research and development (R&D),
production, and marketing?
a. New products are designed for ease of manufacture.
b. Development costs are kept in check.
c. Product development projects are driven by company innovations.
d. Time to market is minimized.
e. Customer needs are considered in the product development process.
ANSWER: c
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
65. A video game console manufacturer hired scientists and engineers to work on ways to improve the video cards used
in their game systems. The main aim of the manufacturer was to enhance the utility of the products, as perceived by
the customers, above that of its rivals. This company aims to:
a. achieve superior innovation. b.
maintain a low cost position. c.
increase response time.
d. achieve a greater division oflabor.
e. minimize the time to market.
ANSWER: a
POINTS: I
KEYWORDS: Bloom's: Synthesis
66. The failure rate of innovative products is:

a. high.
b. low. c.
nil.
d. moderate.
e. too difficult to assess.
ANSWER: a
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
67. Which of the following statements about customer focus is false?

a. It must start at the top of the organization.
b. It is a central part of TQM.
c. It can be facilitated by soliciting feedback from the customer.
d. It requires that all employees see the customer as the focus of their activity.
e. It can be achieved solely by demonstrating leadership .
ANSWER: e
POINTS: I
DIFFICULTY: Easy
68. Which of the following trends has led to the fragmentation of many consumer markets?
a. Self-managing teams
b. Project management c.
TQM
d. Customization
e. Increased response time
ANSWER: d
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
69. Customer defection rates are:

a. not directly related to unit cost.
b. an indication of a company's ability to satisfy its customers.
c. irrelevant as they are unlikely to impact advertising and marketing costs.
d. unlikely to affect sales volumes.
e. not affected by cost of products.
ANSWER: b
POINTS: 1
DIFFICULTY: Easy
70. Cool Looks, Inc. is a local fashion design company that actively solicits comments from its customers about the
quality of its clothing and the kind of merchandise they want it to supply. Which of the following mechanisms for
focusing on the customer is Cool Looks utilizing?
a. Managing materials
b. Improving response time
c. Demonstrating leadership
d. Shaping employee attitudes
e. Knowing customer needs
ANSWER: e
POINTS: 1
71. Discuss why superior efficiency is important and the many ways that different parts of the organization can help
achieve it.
ANSWER: Superior efficiency can be an important source of competitive advantage because it

allows a company to reduce the amount of inputs that are required to produce a given
level of output. The more efficient a company is, the lower its cost structure should be.
There are ten possible routes to superior efficiency. First, efficiencies can come from
economies of scale. Unit costs decrease as output increases. Second, efficiencies can
come from learning effects. When a complex task is repeated, companies learn how to
perform it more efficiently. Third, efficiencies result from the experience curve. The
experience curve refers to the systematic lowering of costs over the life of a product.
Economies of scale and learning effects underlie the experience curve and the
strategic significance of the experience curve is clear D increasing a company's product
volume and market share will lower its cost structure relative to its rivals. A fourth path
to efficiency, especially for companies that produce a high degree of product variety, is
through flexible manufacturing technology. Flexible manufacturing allows companies to
reduce setup times, improve scheduling, and improve quality control. Fifth, marketing
can also affect efficiency if products are priced, promoted, and advertised aggressively
to help a company get further down the learning curve. It can also improve efficiency
by reducing customer defection rates.
A sixth area that can lead to efficiencies is materials management. Taking a supply-
chain management perspective, managers can improve the flow of inputs and
components from suppliers into the company's production processes to minimize
inventory holding and maximize inventory turnover. Seventh, research and development
(R&D) can contribute to efficiency by designing products that are efficient to
manufacture and processes that require fewer inputs. Eighth, human resources can
play a role in efficiency through hiring, training, self-managed teams, and pay for
performance. Ninth, information technology (IT) can help lead to efficiencies in
numerous activities up and down the value chain. Tenth, a company's
infrastructure D structure, culture, strategic leadership, and control systems D also plays
an important role because it provides the context in which all of the other activities take
place.
POINTS: I
72. Identify the two dimensions of quality and describe how companies can achieve them.
ANSWER: Quality can be thought of in terms of reliability (products do the job they were designed
to do) and excellence (superior attributes).
Superior reliability can result from internal initiatives such as adopting Six Sigma quality
improvement methodology. This requires a total value chain focus. Specific things that
companies can do include building an organizational commitment to quality, creating
quality leaders, focusing on customers, identifying processes and the sources of
defects, developing quality metrics, setting goals and creating incentives, soliciting input
from employees, improving supplier relations, designing for ease of manufacture, and
breaking down functional barriers.
Quality as excellence includes improving attributes such as form, features,
performance, durability, and styling of a product. For a product's quality to be viewed as
excellent, it must be perceived as being superior to its rivals. As such, managers must
collect marketing data to determine which attributes customers desire. Next, products
must be developed that contain these attributes. Then, the attributes must be promoted
so that it is clear how the product is positioned relative to those of competitors.
Companies must be aware that competitors engage in this activity as well, so they must
continually monitor competitors' products and be prepared to go through these steps
again and again.
POINTS: I
73. You are a consultant offering advice to a large manufacturing firm about ways to increase its distinctive competency
in innovation. What suggestions would you offer? Be specific and detailed in your answer.
ANSWER: Students' answers should point out that innovation is positive because it allows a finn to
develop something unique that can be a source of competitive advantage. However,
innovation should be focused on commercially viable products as well as on cost-
effective means for innovating. In order to reduce innovation failures, managers should
make sure there is tight integration between R&D, production, and marketing.
POINTS: I
74. Explain the process by which increased production volume leads to lower costs. Give an example from a real or
hypothetical firm. Can this process apply to a service organization as well as a manufacturing one? If so, give an
example. If not, explain why not.
ANSWER: Students should describe economies of scale, the cost savings that result from
spreading fixed costs over a large production volume and achieving greater
specialization oflabor. For example, when a sawmill is operating at half capacity, the
fixed costs of rent, utilities, administrative tasks, and so on, are spread over few
products, leading to high expenses per unit produced. But when that same sawmill
operates at full capacity, the costs are spread over more units, lowering per-unit costs.
Another process that leads to lower costs is learning effects, in which a firm that is
beginning to use a new, technologically complex process can learn to be more efficient
by performing the task repeatedly. For example, biotechnology fmns might spend
fifteen years developing their first commercially successful product. But as they learn
from that experience, they can reduce development time for subsequent new products.
These processes can apply to service firms just as readily as they do to manufacturing
fmns. For example, a hairstyling salon can spread the fixed costs of rent, utilities, and
administration over its customers in exactly the same way that the sawmill can. Also,
the salon can learn from experience how to style hair more efficiently, just as the
biotechnology firm can learn from experience.
POINTS: I
75. You are a consultant offering advice to a large manufacturing firm about ways to increase its distinctive competency
in customer responsiveness. What suggestions would you offer? Be specific and detailed in your answer.
ANSWER: In addressing customer responsiveness issues, students should highlight the importance
of the other three areas for distinctive competency. That is, one of the best ways to
improve customer responsiveness is through improvements in efficiency, quality, and
innovation. Another important consideration is that fmns must develop mechanisms for
gathering feedback from customers and then incorporating that feedback into their
operations throughout the fmn. Customization is one technique for satisfying unique
customer demands. Finally, the students should also mention that for many customers,
quick response is desirable.
POINTS: I

Hill SM TB CH 04

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Hill SM TB CH 04

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1. Functional strategies play only a small role in organizational success because they occur at a low level in the finn.

30. Learning effects are a result of:

31. The experience curve refers to the:

34. The marketing strategy that a company adopts:

36. Self-managing work teams:

37. Pay for performance tends to:

40. Economies of scale are:

42. Learning effects:

43. The experience curve concept:

45. Unlike traditional manufacturing, flexible manufacturing:

46. Mass customization:

48. Just-in-time inventory systems:

49. Employee productivity is:

55. Quality can best be thought of as:

60. Which of the following is not a product attribute?

63. If a product is to be properly commercialized, there must be integration between:

66. The failure rate of innovative products is:

67. Which of the following statements about customer focus is false?

69. Customer defection rates are:

ANSWER: Superior efficiency can be an important source of competitive advantage because it

You might also like