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Questions per lecture + answers OSCM
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Questions per lecture with answersLecture 1
1. What is the definition of Operations Management (OM)?
Answer: Operations Management is the activity of managing resources and processes to
design, implement, and improve the production of products and services.
2. What are the primary functions of Operations Management?
Answer: The primary functions of Operations Management include managing resources,
transforming inputs into outputs, and ensuring that products and services are produced
efficiently to meet customer demands.
3. Why do companies focus on Operations and Process Management?
Answer: Companies focus on Operations and Process Management because it can be a key to
superior performance. Efficient operations can serve as a competitive weapon, whereas
inefficient operations may hinder a company’s success.
4. What is meant by the term "Process" in Operations Management?
Answer: A process in Operations Management refers to the arrangement of resources
(people, equipment, systems) that transforms inputs into outputs to satisfy customer demand.
5. What is the scope of Operations Management according to Slack et al. (2015)?
Answer: Operations Management involves operations research and analytics to transform
data into information, and information into insights, helping organizations make better
decisions and improve performance in areas like supply chain management and logistics.
6. How does Supply Chain Management (SCM) create value in contemporary business?
Answer: Supply Chain Management maximizes total supply chain surplus by managing the
flows of products, information, and funds across the supply chain. It ensures customer value
exceeds supply chain costs, thereby contributing to supply chain profitability.
7. What are some key challenges and disruptive trends affecting traditional supply
chains?
Answer: Key challenges include political instability, trade wars, administrative burdens,
post-COVID-19 disruptions, inflation, the risk of recession, and climate-related issues.
8. What is "digitalization" in the context of supply chains, and why is it important?
Answer: Digitalization is the use of digital technologies to transform business models,
enabling new revenue and value-creating opportunities. In supply chains, it helps improve
efficiency, responsiveness, and resilience.
9. What is the impact of the “one-size-fits-all” approach in supply chain management?
Answer: The one-size-fits-all approach leads to over- and under-servicing different customer
segments. It fails to utilize resources effectively and often results in lower customer
satisfaction and margins, especially in volatile and dynamic environments.
10. According to Fisher’s framework (1997), what are the two types of products and
how should their supply chains differ?
Answer: The two types of products are Functional and Innovative. Functional products
require efficient supply chains due to stable demand, whereas innovative products require
responsive supply chains because of variable demand and high forecast errors.
11. What are some characteristics of Functional and Innovative products?
Answer:
• Functional products: Stable demand, low margins, low forecast error.
• Innovative products: Variable demand, high margins, high forecast error, short life
cycles.
,12. What are the four supply chain strategies identified by Lee (2002) based on demand
and supply uncertainty?
Answer: The four supply chain strategies are:
• Efficient Supply Chain (Low demand & low supply uncertainty).
• Responsive Supply Chain (High demand uncertainty & low supply uncertainty).
• Risk-Hedging Supply Chain (Low demand uncertainty & high supply uncertainty).
• Agile Supply Chain (High demand and supply uncertainty).
13. What are the key competitive dimensions that companies can focus on in their
supply chain strategy?
Answer: The key competitive dimensions include cost or price, quality, delivery speed,
delivery reliability, coping with demand changes, flexibility, new product introduction, and
other product-specific features.
14. Explain the concept of the "SC triangle" and its importance.
Answer: The SC (Supply Chain) triangle balances three key pressures: service, cost, and
cash. Companies must manage trade-offs between these factors to achieve optimal
performance, as lowering costs can impact service quality or cash flow.
15. How does aligning a company's competitive strategy with its supply chain strategy
create value?
Answer: Aligning the competitive strategy (cost leadership, differentiation) with supply
chain strategy ensures that the company can meet customer needs effectively while
optimizing operations, which helps increase profitability, service quality, and efficiency.
Lecture 2
1. What is the concept of dynamic alignment in supply chain management?
Answer: Dynamic alignment refers to the approach of continuously aligning internal
strategies and capabilities with the changing market and customer needs. It emphasizes the
importance of adapting to shifts in buying behaviors and operating environments to maintain
performance.
2. What are the four behavioral forces identified by Gattorna and Ellis (2020) in supply
chain alignment?
Answer: The four behavioral forces are:
• Integration vs. Production
• Administration vs. Development These forces help categorize customers based on
their behavior and preferences.
3. What is the PADI coding system, and how does it relate to customer behavior?
Answer: The PADI coding system classifies customers based on four key forces: loyalty,
accuracy, innovation, and performance. This system is used to identify customer preferences
and develop supply chain strategies tailored to different customer archetypes.
4. How many customer archetypes are identified using the PADI coding system, and
why is it important?
Answer: There are 16 customer archetypes identified using the PADI coding system. This
helps organizations design customized supply chain strategies for different customer
segments based on their preferences and behaviors.
5. Why should companies segment customers based on behavior rather than size or
profitability?
Answer: Segmenting customers based on behavior allows companies to better match supply
chain strategies to customer expectations, leading to more efficient service and greater
, customer satisfaction. Traditional segmentation by size or profitability can overlook
important behavioral factors.
6. What are the risks of consolidated logistics channels, and how do they affect customer
service?
Answer: Consolidated logistics channels, which are based on average speed and cost, can
lead to under-servicing customers with specialized needs and overcharging customers who
require basic, commodity-like products.
7. What is meant by tailoring supply chains, and what are the steps involved?
Answer: Tailoring supply chains involves customizing logistics and service standards to
meet the specific needs of different customer segments. The steps include:
1. Segmenting customers by their logistics requirements.
2. Developing differential service standards for each segment.
3. Reconfiguring logistics pipelines to meet these standards.
4. Exploiting economies of scale where possible.
8. How do supply chain strategies differ across the product life cycle?
Answer: Supply chain strategies should evolve throughout the product life cycle. In the early
stages, responsiveness may be critical to meet demand, but as the product matures, efficiency
becomes more important. Toward the end of the cycle, responsiveness may again be
necessary as demand becomes less predictable.
9. What is the "end-to-end alignment" in supply chain management as proposed by
Gattorna and Ellis?
Answer: End-to-end alignment refers to ensuring that all stages of the supply chain, from
suppliers to retailers, are aligned in terms of responsiveness and efficiency, depending on
their role in managing demand uncertainty and maintaining overall supply chain
performance.
10. What is supply chain resilience, and what strategies can improve it?
Answer: Supply chain resilience is the ability of a supply chain to prepare for, respond to,
and recover from unexpected disruptions. Strategies to improve resilience include:
• Mapping vulnerabilities in the supply chain.
• Diversifying suppliers.
• Holding safety stock.
• Implementing process innovations such as automation and flexible manufacturing.
11. What role does automation play in improving supply chain resilience?
Answer: Automation enhances supply chain resilience by reducing manual processes,
increasing flexibility, and improving response times. Automation allows for quicker
adjustments to supply chain disruptions, helping maintain continuity.
12. How can companies balance product variety with capacity flexibility in their supply
chains?
Answer: Companies need to find the right trade-off between offering a wide range of
products and maintaining the ability to quickly switch production lines. Excessive product
variety can lead to inefficiencies, so companies may need to focus on streamlining their
product portfolio while maintaining flexible manufacturing capabilities.
13. What are the differences between efficient and responsive supply chain strategies?
Answer:
• Efficient supply chains focus on cost minimization, with low inventory and high
capacity utilization, typically used for products with stable demand.
• Responsive supply chains prioritize speed and flexibility, holding more inventory
and accommodating fluctuating demand, suitable for innovative or unpredictable
products.
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