Managers should not become complacent about efficiency-based cost advantages because:

( a) both learing effects and economics of scale go on forever.

b) the experience curve will bottom out at some point.

c) cost advantages gained from experience effects are not affected by the development of new technologie

d) unit costs keep reducing as output increases.

O e) the experience curve steadily rises after a certain thn "hold is reached, indicating an increase in unit costs

The marketing strategy that a company adopts:

a) has little impact on the company's efficiency and cost structure.

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b) aims at attaining superior efficiency of the company's operations.

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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.

) refers to the position that the company takes with regard to a product's pricing and distribution.

One of the primary roles of human resources in achieving superior efficiency is:

a) scheduling meetings among various value creation functions.

b) adopting aggressive marketing to ride down the experience curve

c) implementing self-managing teams.

) d) designing products for ease of manufacture.

e) using information systems to automate processes.

Economies of scale are

a) unit cost increases associated with learning effects.

) b) realized when output is reduced to a minimum.

C) unit cost reductions associated with a large-scale output.

d) realized when the selling price is equal to the cost price of the products.

E) unit cost reductions due to inferior quality of products.

The experience-curve concept.

a) suggests that achieving low costs allows a firm to charge a premium price.

b) is least likely to bottom out as long as the company does not stop production.

C) suggests that unit manufacturing costs increase by a certain amount each time output is increased.

d) is very important in industries that mass-produce a standardized output.

e) helps a company realize both learing effects and diseconomies of scale.

Just-in-time inventory (JIT) systems:

a) provide a buffer stock of inventory for a company:

b) are used to reduce inventory holding costs.

C) save costs by outsourcing inventory management to other companies.

d) are used only by manufacturing firms.

e) always keep extra inventory on hand for emergencies.

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.