Question $1.$ Offshoring and outsourcing. Select the best answer. Each of these questions is worth $2$ points.

$($a$)$ Which of the following statements is LEAST accurate?

$1.$ Offshoring to multiple regions can increase supply chain resilience.

$2.$ Near$-$shoring means that a business chooses suppliers in a nearby country,

rather than one that is geographically distant.

$3.$ Offshoring is synonymous with outsourcing.

$4.$ You can outsource part of your manufacturing. It does not have to be all or

nothing.

$($b$)$ Criteria that firms often use when making outsourcing decisions include all of the

following EXCEPT?

$1.$ Supplier labor costs.

$2.$ Proximity to the supplier.

$3.$ Environmental and social responsibility of the supplier.

$4.$ Transportation cost and timing.

$5.$ Intellectual property protection

$6.$ State and federal regulation and laws.

$7.$ Tariffs

$8.$ Actually, firms should consider all of the above.

Question $2.$ New Balance: culture and outsourcing. Select the best answer. Each of these questions is worth $2$

points.

$($a$)$ According to New Balance, they assemble some of their shoes in their own US

plants for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

$1.$ Developing lessons in manufacturing that they can share with their suppliers.

$2.$ Social responsibility

$3.$ Reducing production cost per pair of shoes.

$4.$ Respond more quickly to consumer trends.

$($b$)$ Which of the following is least accurate about New Balance?

$1.$ It focuses more on specialty and independent retail outlets than do Nike or

Reebok.

$2.$ It strives to fulfill retail outlets$$ orders for product within one day.

$3.$ It is investing in IT systems to help retailers to manage their orders and

inventory.

$4.$ It spends more on marketing than does Nike or Reebok.

$2$

$($c$)$ Anne Davis of New Balance believes that unionized labor would cause all of the

following problems EXCEPT?

$1.$ Interfering with the operations of cross$-$functional teams

$2.$ Restricting employees to only working in one area.

$3.$ Interfering with continuous process improvement

$4.$ Actually, she believes that all $3$ issues above will be problems.

$($d$)$ New Balance does all of the following to shape their culture EXCEPT?

$1.$ Pairs up new employees with experienced $$Buddies$$ during their training

period.

$2.$ Uses a rigorous selection process for hiring.

$3.$ Placing new employees in a training team.

$4.$ Compensates employees with hourly $($as opposed to piece$-$rate$)$ pay.

$5.$ Discouraging entrepreneurialism and innovation

$($e$)$ Goals of New Balance process improvement include all of the following EXCEPT?

$1.$ Reducing flowtime in their plants and supply chains.

$2.$ Limiting the number of their product offerings.

$3.$ Reducing lead$-$time from order to receipt for retail customers.

$4.$ Expanding continuous improvement ideas to product design to shorten

product development time.