Operations management – questions for the final examination

Examination will be done in the form of discussion on 6 selected topics related to the
questions below (2 from each section) adjusted to the context of your project on Process
Analysis. Duration of the examination is max. 15 minutes. Questions are evaluated as equal
(10 points each).

Sample questions
Product design
1. What are the main components of transformation processes?
2. What is the difference between transformed and transforming inputs?
3. What is the position (level) of Operations strategy in the hierarchy of organisational
strategies?
4. What is the position of operations management in an organisational structure?
5. What was the primary objective of process approach?
6. For what purposes can the SIPOC method be used?
7. When and where in the transformation process can apply the environmental
influences?
8. What are the main components of operations management in the process approach?
9. What is a standard?
10. What are possible effects of standardization?
11. What are the possible drawbacks of standardization?
12. What types of standards do you know?
13. What are the main areas of standardization application?
14. What particular areas of standardization can be identified within the operation
process?
15. What is the NQF?
16. What is the objective of a national qualification framework?
17. What are the main methods for calculation of standards?
18. What is the difference between experimental-analytic and calculation-analytic
methods of calculating standards?
19. What is the difference between statistical, and expert methods of calculating
standards?
20. What is the normative basis of an organization?
21. What is the difference between fundamental and applied research?
22. What are the main objectives of product design?
23. What are the main stages of product design?
24. What types of operations do we differentiate from the continuousness viewpoint?
25. Characterize operation system of jobbing.
26. What is the difference between jobbing and batch production?
27. What is characteristic for mass production?
28. What do we focus on from the factual viewpoint of the operation process?
29. What is considered to be the most apposite synthetic indicator of the level of
operations management?
30. How does the Project value index extend the traditional criteria of investment decision
making?
31. What is a sensitivity analysis?
32. When can we use a sensitivity analysis?
33. What does CAD represent in the context of product design?
34. How would you explain the term “Concurrent engineering”?
35. What is “Reverse engineering”?
36. What is the key feature of Taguchi approach?
37. What are the components of the House of quality?
38. What levels of product parameters are differentiated in the Kano model?
39. What are the main differences between production and services?
40. Why do we use the term “Intensity of contact with the customer”?
Operation system design
41. What are the components of operation system design?
42. What are the different emphases put on location in production and services?
43. What groups of factors influence the decision on facility location?
44. What is the method of finding locus based on?
45. Which factors influence the facility layout?
46. What do material / input flows represent?
47. What are the main objectives of facility layout?
48. Describe particular types of facility layout.
49. What are the main advantages and disadvantages of particular types of facility layout?
50. What are the 5Ps of the summary model of Operations management?
51. What are the general performance objectives of operations?
52. What are the components of costs connected with processes?
53. Which of the cost components would be the most important one in mass production?
54. How is the total productiveness indicator constructed?
55. What is benchmarking?
56. What are the main disadvantages of the use of productiveness indicators for factual,
spatial, and time comparisons?
57. What are the main characteristics of operations strategy (4 V)?
58. If the process “visibility” is high, what would be the expected “volume” of the process
output?
59. Which of the facility layouts would best correspond with high variety of outputs?
60. Which facility layout represents the only option for a mass production system?
61. What are the typical characteristics of a project type of system?
62. Can project management principles be applied in organisations not dealing with
activities of a project character?
63. Explain the three-dimensional objective.
64. What are the specific stages of project management?
65. What are the main demands on a project manager?
66. What is the Gant diagram, and how is it used in project management?
67. What is a Work breakdown structure?
68. How is the CPM method used, and how does it overlap with the TOC?
69. How can we encourage motivation of employees in extensive and long-term projects?
70. What are the milestones and control meetings?
71. What are the main sources of influence of a project manager?
72. Which of the motivation theories (X/Y) is applicable in project management?
73. What are the differences in managing external and internal projects?
74. In what respects does the project management structure break the rules of organizing
defined by the school of administrative management?
75. How should a project plan be formed?
76. What belongs to the typical risks of project planning?
77. Which international organizations deal with project management?
78. What is the role of project priority for organization in the project management
process?
79. Which group of management techniques includes project management?
80. What are the main advantages of MBO?

Operations planning and management

81. What are the main components of operations planning and management system?
82. What is the push principle based on?
83. What is the pull principle based on?
84. What is the main weakness of the push-based systems?
85. What is the main weakness of the pull-based systems?
86. What is the bill of material (BoM) used for?
87. What are the main principles of JIT system?
88. What does the word KANBAN mean?
89. What is the implementation algorithm of TOC?
90. Explain the terms Drum-Buffer-Rope.
91. What does the “throughput” represent in the theory of constraints?
92. What is inventory?
93. What are the reasons for formation of inventory?
94. What are the main types of inventory from the viewpoint of their function in operation
process?
95. What are the main focuses when designing an inventory management system?
96. Why do we need to calculate unit costs of storage?
97. What is ABC analysis good for?
98. What is the key to differentiation of different types of inventory within the ABC
method?
99. What is quality?
100. What causes of not reaching required quality are identified by the concept of quality
gaps?
101. Which steps does the quality gaps concept propose in order to set the quality
management system?
102. What is KAIZEN?
103. What is the difference between the transformation approach and KAIZEN?
104. What is the basis of quality circles?
105. What is ISO?
106. How would you describe the process of preparation of international standards?
107. Which group of ISO standards focuses on quality management?
108. Which groups of standards together form the integrated management system?
109. What is the foundation of the ISO 9000 standards?
110. What were the main objectives of defining ISO 9000 standards?
111. What can be considered the main contemporary problem of ISO 9000
implementation?
112. How was the EFQM model formed?
113. What was the main objective of EFQM model formation?
114. What is the CAF?
115. What is the EQA?
116. What is the evaluation system used in the EFQM model within the self-assessment
process?
117. What is the focus of the DMAIC model?
118. What is the foundation of the Six Sigma approach?
119. Explain the term TQM.
120. What is the connection of the lean production concept with quality?