Which of the following terms does not describe one of the four broad categories of competitive priorities that a company can pursue?

A
Cost
B
Quality
C
Marketing
D
Time/delivery
E
Flexibility
A low-cost operations strategy can be achieved by all of the following except

A
investing in new and faster equipment
B
reducing scrap
C
finding new finance options
D
eliminating waste
E
eliminating unused capacity
Which of the following terms means offering something that customers will pay a premium for, or something that outshines the competition?

A
Flexibility
B
Superior quality
C
Exceptional reliability
D
Consistent quality
E
Low-cost supplier
On-time delivery describes a company’s ability to

A
decrease the time between major product changes
B
deliver a product when promised
C
make a product that exactly fits customer needs
D
handle a wide range of products without undue costs
E
set short-term objectives
Which of the following defines why a company exists, outlines a company’s core values, and positions the company within its market?

A
Mission statement
B
Functional strategy
C
Business strategy
D
Operations best practices
E
Competitive priorities
More specific details are provided by breaking the high-level business strategies into

A
mission statements
B
functional strategies
C
business strategies
D
operations best practices
E
competitive priorities
Which of the following is/are fundamental differences between services and manufacturing?

A
The nature of output
B
The degree of customer contact and co-production
C
Simultaneous production and consumption
D
A,B, and C are fundamental differences
E
A, B, and C are not fundamental differences
Of the following phrases, which is one of the most distinctive features of a service?

A
Customer involvement in the production process.
B
The lack of variability in the process
C
Site selection
D
The inability to customize the service bundle
E
The ability to easily standardize
Organizations are linked in a supply chain by the exchange or flow of all of the following except

A
physical goods
B
information
C
brand identity
D
monetary exchange
E
All of the above are exchanged in supply chains.
Which of the following is a strategic issue in operations management?

A
Supply chain strategy
B
Demand forecasting
C
Simulation modeling
D
Lean practices
E
Project management
Firms undertake quality and process improvement efforts to achieve all the following goals except

A
cost reduction
B
reduced profitability
C
customer satisfaction enhancement
D
increased customer loyalty
E
increased market share
In the long term which of the following is not the result of an organization’s quality improvement efforts?

A
Higher customer satisfaction
B
Positive word of mouth
C
Enhancement of a firm’s reputation
D
Increased market share
E
Employee turnover rate
Which of the following is not considered a dimension of product quality?

A
Performance
B
Communication
C
Reliability
D
Durability
E
Serviceability
Which term refers to a customer associating the quality of a product with the image of the company?

A
Reputation
B
Aesthetics
C
Special features
D
Durability
E
Conformance
Security as a dimension of service quality means

A
the willingness to assist customers
B
having the knowledge to perform the service
C
recognizing that confidentiality is important in service delivery
D
the service provider’s politeness and friendliness
E
physical characteristics of the service provider
The award created by the U.S. government in 1987 to help improve quality and competitiveness of U.S. companies by recognizing the highest performing organizations is the

A
Deming Prize
B
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
C
American Society for Quality Achievement Award
D
Lombardi Trophy
E
The Academy of Quality National Award
Which of the following is not one of the four quality absolutes as defined by Philip Crosby?

A
Quality is defined as conformance to requirements.
B
The system for causing quality is prevention, not appraisal.
C
Management must enforce quality levels.
D
The performance standard must be zero defects.
E
The measurement of quality is the price of nonconformance.
What percentage of the area of a normal curve is between +2 and -2 standard deviations?

A
0
B
0.683
C
0.955
D
0.997
E
1
Quality improvement efforts are often credited with reducing

A
the number of found defects
B
overall production costs
C
the number of sales personnel
D
quality initiatives
E
the required number of control charts
The Six Sigma approach is implemented using a structured five-step plan known as

A
ISO implementation procedure
B
Deming’s 14 points
C
the Taguchi function
D
DMAIC
E
MBNQA
Which of the following is not a common source of customer feedback?

A
Customer satisfaction measurement efforts
B
Customer choice analysis
C
Customer panels
D
Blogs
E
Advertising agencies
A structured process for comparing business practices is known as what?

A
Customer panels
B
Benchmarking
C
Quality circles
D
Brainstorming
E
Blogging
A quality circle is a way of getting feedback from what group?

A
Customers
B
Employees
C
Suppliers
D
Competitors
E
Supply chain members
Which of the following is a qualitative technique that provides a systematic method for generating a large number of creative problem solving ideas from many different individuals?

A
Quality circles
B
Brainstorming
C
Benchmarking
D
Customer satisfaction
E
Affinity diagrams
When one idea branches into two or more sub-ideas, each of which branches into further sub-ideas, the appropriate problem-solving technique is what?

A
Interrelationship diagram
B
Affinity diagram
C
Pareto diagram
D
Tree diagram
E
Fishbone diagram
Which of the following summarizes a large number of observations in a few data categories?

A
Bar chart
B
Histogram
C
Check sheet
D
Tree diagram
E
Scattergram
A scatter diagram is used to graph what?

A
Continuous data
B
Pareto data
C
Nonlinear data
D
Pairs of numerical data
E
Qualitative data
Which of the following is a quantitative quality improvement tool?

A
Affinity diagrams
B
Tree diagrams
C
Process decision procharts
D
FMEA
E
SPC chart
On a SPC chart, if a data point falls outside the control limits, the process is said to be what?

A
Random
B
Special
C
Capable
D
Out of control
E
Scattered
Typical control limits are how many standard deviations from the mean?

A
0
B
1
C
2
D
3
E
6
Making the size of a gas pump nozzle different from that of a diesel pump nozzle is an example of what technique?

A
Mistake-proofing
B
Benchmarking
C
Sampling
D
Brainstorming
E
FMEA
If you conclude that a soda-filling machine is not filling bottles completely, based on the results of a sample, when the bottles actually contain the necessary amount of liquid, is an example of what type of error?

A
Type II error
B
Beta error
C
A false positive
D
Sampling error
E
Standard error
What term describes a process for which a prespecified percentage of measurements fall inside the specifications limits?

A
Random
B
Special
C
Capable
D
Out of control
E
Scattered
Air pressure must be in a tight range for the proper performance of aerosol air fresheners. Engineering specifications call for 50 psi of pressure with an upper tolerance of 55 psi and a lower tolerance of 45 psi. A sample from the previous week’s production had a mean of 51 psi and a standard deviation of 1.5 psi. What is the capability of the process?

A
4.5
B
4
C
6
D
0.89
E
1.33
Attribute data can be tracked on what type of control chart?

A
X bar chart
B
P chart
C
R chart
D
SPC chart
E
Counting chart
Projects generally have all the following characteristics except

A
A well-defined goal
B
A specified beginning
C
A specified ending time
D
A specified budget
E
A repeated process
Being an expert in information integration, project scope, time management, quality management, human resources, communications, risk, and procurement are beneficial skills for what member of a project management team?

A
Project planner
B
Project sponsor
C
Project manager
D
Project accountant
E
Project auditor
Which of the following relationships between cost, time, and scope is not realistic?

A
Increased scope, decreased cost, and decreased time
B
Increased scope, increased cost, and increased time
C
Decreased time, increased cost, and decreased scope
D
Decreased cost, decreased time, and decreased scope
E
All of the above are realistic
Which of the following is not a project management tool?

A
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
B
Precedence analysis
C
Gantt chart
D
Activity ordering analysis (AOA)
A network diagram is used to show what?

A
Crashing costs
B
Precedence relationships
C
Human resource assignments
D
Equipment allocation
E
All of the above
Which is true about the critical path?

A
It is the longest network path
B
It has the most activities
C
It has the most risk
D
It has the highest quality implications
E
It can be crashed the most
The amount of leeway each activity has in its starting time and duration without delaying the project.

A
Standard time
B
Normal time
C
Crash time
D
Slack time
E
Critical time
Which of the following is not a time estimate used in PERT?

A
Critical time
B
Optimistic time
C
Pessimistic time
D
Most likely time
E
Expected time
When computing the expected time for a project, which time estimate is weighted the most?

A
Critical time
B
Optimistic time
C
Pessimistic time
D
Most likely time
E
Expected time
Which is not a general risk category for project management?

A
Financial resource risk
B
Supply risk
C
Human resources risk
D
Quality risk
E
Management risk
Project risk can be grouped into four categories. Which of the following is not one of the categories?

A
Severity
B
Probability
C
Timing
D
Dynamic risk
E
Personnel
The percentage of the project’s scope that will be affected by a problem defines which project risk classification?

A
Severity
B
Probability
C
Timing
D
Dynamic risk
E
Personnel
Which of the following is not a reason projects succeed?

A
Strong project leadership
B
Clear, measurable goals
C
Declining material prices
D
Well-defined implementation plan
E
A sense of urgency