Solution Manual for
Managing Operations Across the Supply Chain, 5th Edition Swink
Chapter 1-16
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Chapter 1
Introduction to Managing Operations Across the Supply Chain
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Suggested Answers to Discussion Questions
1. Review Fortune magazine’s ―Most Admired‖ American companies for 1959, 1979,
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1999, and the most current year. (The issue normally appears in August each year.)
Which companies have remained on the top throughout this period? Which ones have
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disappeared? What do you think led to the survival or demise of these companies?
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The companies that have stayed on top throughout this period are Southwest, Berkshire
Hathaway, and Proctor and Gamble. UPS, Coca Cola, and GE were some of the companies
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that disappeared. The companies that were able to stay at the top of the list were the ones able
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to deal with major changes in the industry easily. In order to stay afloat in harder times, they
were managed by people who understood operations management; they had a winning value
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proposition that was continually revitalized by the introduction of new products and services.
The companies that did not stay at the top unable to make the necessary changes so easily;
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perhaps their operations management was not at the caliber of the other companies able to stay
at the top of the list.
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2. Select two products that you have recently purchased; one should be a service and the
other a manufactured good. Think about the process that you used to make the decision
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to purchase each item. What product characteristics were most important to you? What
operational activities determine these characteristics?
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, Student answers to this question will vary. The following is an example from one student:
―Two products I have recently purchased were a sweater and a haircut. The process I used to
make the decision to purchase the sweater was trying on the sweater in different colors,
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contemplating the purchase at home, waiting for sweater to go on sale, and then purchasing it.
The process I used to make the decision about where to get my haircut included researching
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pictures of how I wanted my hair to look, asking advice about where to go from friends,
researching online for reviews about stylists, and getting my haircut by that stylist. I wanted to
make sure both products were going to satisfy me enough so that I wouldn’t regret either
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purchase. I had to be comfortable with both my sweater and my new hair style, luckily I was! I
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also wanted both my sweater and my hair style to last for a while to make them worth the cost.
The operational activities that determine these characteristics are the manufacturing, shipping
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and selling the sweater in stores. If the sweater was poorly made and didn’t fit correctly, I
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would not have purchased it. If it was not available (on the shelf) I could not have purchased it.
The operational activities that determine the characteristics of my hairstyle are the stylist
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arriving to work on time for my appointment, washing, cutting and blow drying my hair in a
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way that I was expecting (having sufficient capacity so that I did not have to wait too long).
Since my hair was cut and styled the way I requested, I will be returning to that hair stylist.
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3. What are the primary operations management decisions in each of the following
corporations?
Again, student answers will vary but may include the following elements.
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a. Marriott Hotels and Resorts: How to greet and treat customers during their stay, what
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services to supply to customers, how to check customers in so that they are not waiting for
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, long periods of time to get to their rooms, how to deal with unhappy customers in order to
keep them coming back, how to measure customer satisfaction.
b. A private golf and tennis club: How to serve customers while playing tennis/golf so they
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continue to spend their money and play at this private course, what services to offer in order to
keep customers happy. How to best manage the facilities and train employees.
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c. Ben & Jerry’s: What flavors to make, how much of each flavor to make, how to keep up
with demand, what suppliers to use, how to measure customer satisfaction.
d. ExxonMobil Corporation: How to manage exploration, extraction and refinement
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operations effectively and efficiently. What services are to be delivered, how to keep retail
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customers happy, how to deliver goods.
4. Consider the following processes that you frequently encounter as a college student.
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Describe each process and its input, activities, and outputs. What is being converted or
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transformed in each process? Who are the customers, suppliers, and stakeholders for
each process?
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a. Enrolling in classes: Classes must be scheduled so that students can enroll in them,
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students communicate with advisor about necessary classes, students sign onto website and
find suitable classes that fit together into schedule for each semester. The inputs of this process
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are the student’s and administrators’ time and problem solving effort. The activities are
decision making, communicating, and scheduling so that everyone has a chance to take the
classes they want each semester. The output is the student’s schedule and enrollment into
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classes. The student’s schedule is being transformed. The customer is the student, the
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stakeholders are the professors who get paid to teach the courses and the businesses that would
like to hire students once they complete their courses. The supplier is the university.
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, b. Taking a class: The process and activities of taking a class entail making it to class on
time every session, studying before class to be able to follow along and participate, arriving
with the correct materials in order to take notes and complete activities in class, and
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completing homework before it is due. The inputs are the knowledge of the professor and
information contained in course materials, along with the student’s hard work, studying,
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participating, and physically going to class. The outputs are friends and education. The student
is being transformed. The customer is the student. Or one might consider the business who
would like to hire the student to be the customer. The supplier is the university.
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c. Buying a ticket for a play, concert, or basketball game: The process and activities of
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buying a ticket entail making a decision to buy the ticket, saving up the money, either ordering
the ticket online or physically going to a ticket booth and purchasing the ticket. The inputs are
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time and money. The outputs are the experience of seeing a great play, concert, or basketball
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game and memories. The ownership of the ticket is being converted. The customer is the ticket
purchaser; the stakeholder is the owner of the basketball team, or the director of the play, or
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the manager of the band. If no one purchases tickets, those stakeholders may no longer have
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jobs. The supplier is the team, the actors, or the band.
5. Recall the last time you went to a fast-food restaurant such as McDonald’s. Describe
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all of the goods and services that make up your total product experience.
The goods that made up my experience were the actual food and drink that I purchased. The
services were being greeted when I walked up to the counter, ordering my food, receiving my
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food in a timely manner along with my order being correct. The service of a clean restaurant
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also added to my total product experience.
6. The following firms have long been seen as having strong competitive advantages.
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