Section A - Short answers

1.Discuss, with local examples, the contributions of Scientific Management to Operations Management.

2.Use examples of your choice to discuss why a quality focus is better than a quantity focus in managing operations.

Section B - Long answer

1.Discuss, using an example of your choice, why you think firms choose to internationalize operations.

Section C - Calculations

Question 1: Productivity

The following table shows data on the average number of customers processed by several vehicle service units each day. The hourly wage rate is $25, the overhead rate is 1.0 times labor cost, and material cost is $5 per customer.

Unit Employee Customers Processed/Day

A 4 36

B 5 40

C 8 60

D 3 20

a)Compute multi factor productivity for each unit. Use an 8-hour day for multi-factor productivity.

b)b)If UnitB is able to increase its number of customers processed per day from40to 50, what will its new multi-factor productivity be?

c)What is the percentage change in factor productivity?

Question 2: Forecasting

Paradise Foods Inc. sells canned fish. Monthly sales for a 7-month period are as follows:

Month February March April May June July August

Sales (1000 units) 19 18 15 20 18 22 20

Forecast sales for September using each of the following approaches:

1)Naive Forecasting

2)Weighted Moving Averages using 0.6, 0.3 and 0.1 as weights

3)Exponential Smoothing with a smoothing constant of 0.2, assuming a March forecast of 19000 units

4)Linear Regression

5)Which method do you consider the least appropriate? Why?