ManagingjOperationsjAcrossjthejSupplyjChain,j5thjEditionjSwink
Chapterj1-16
Chapterj1
IntroductionjtojManagingjOperationsjAcrossjthejSupplyjChain
SuggestedjAnswersjtojDiscussionjQuestions
1. ReviewjFortunejmagazine’sj―MostjAdmired‖jAmericanjcompaniesjforj1959,j1979,j1
999,jandjthejmostjcurrentjyear.j(ThejissuejnormallyjappearsjinjAugustjeachjyear.)jWhi
chjcompaniesjhavejremainedjonjthejtopjthroughoutjthisjperiod?jWhichjonesjhavejdisap
peared?jWhatjdojyoujthinkjledjtojthejsurvivaljorjdemisejofjthesejcompanies?jThejcomp
aniesjthatjhavejstayedjonjtopjthroughoutjthisjperiodjarejSouthwest,jBerkshirejHathaway,jandj
ProctorjandjGamble.jUPS,jCocajCola,jandjGEjwerejsomejofjthejcompanies
thatjdisappeared.jThejcompaniesjthatjwerejablejtojstayjatjthejtopjofjthejlistjwerejthejonesjablejtojd
ealjwithjmajorjchangesjinjthejindustryjeasily.jInjorderjtojstayjafloatjinjharderjtimes,jtheyjwerejma
nagedjbyjpeoplejwhojunderstoodjoperationsjmanagement;jtheyjhadjajwinningjvaluejpropositionjt
hatjwasjcontinuallyjrevitalizedjbyjthejintroductionjofjnewjproductsjandjservices.jThejcompaniesjt
hatjdidjnotjstayjatjthejtopjunablejtojmakejthejnecessaryjchangesjsojeasily;jperhapsjtheirjoperations
managementjwasjnotjatjthejcaliberjofjthejotherjcompaniesjablejtojstayjatjthejtopjofjthejlist.
j
2. Selectjtwojproductsjthatjyoujhavejrecentlyjpurchased;jonejshouldjbejajservicejandjthejo
therjajmanufacturedjgood.jThinkjaboutjthejprocessjthatjyoujusedjtojmakejthejdecisionjtojp
urchasejeachjitem.jWhatjproductjcharacteristicsjwerejmostjimportantjtojyou?jWhatjopera
tionaljactivitiesjdeterminejthesejcharacteristics?
12-1
©jMcGrawjHilljLLC.jAlljrightsjreserved.jNojreproductionjorjdistributionjwithoutjthejpriorjwrittenjconsentjofjMcGrawjHilljLLC.
,Studentjanswersjtojthisjquestionjwilljvary.jThejfollowingjisjanjexamplejfromjonejstudent:
―TwojproductsjIjhavejrecentlyjpurchasedjwerejajsweaterjandjajhaircut.jThejprocessjIjusedjtojmak
ejthejdecisionjtojpurchasejthejsweaterjwasjtryingjonjthejsweaterjinjdifferentjcolors,jcontemplatingj
thejpurchasejatjhome,jwaitingjforjsweaterjtojgojonjsale,jandjthenjpurchasingjit.jThejprocessjIjusedj
tojmakejthejdecisionjaboutjwherejtojgetjmyjhaircutjincludedjresearchingjpicturesjofjhowjIjwantedj
myjhairjtojlook,jaskingjadvicejaboutjwherejtojgojfromjfriends,jresearchingjonlinejforjreviewsjabo
utjstylists,jandjgettingjmyjhaircutjbyjthatjstylist.jIjwantedjtojmakejsurejbothjproductsjwerejgoingjt
ojsatisfyjmejenoughjsojthatjIjwouldn’tjregretjeitherjpurchase.jIjhadjtojbejcomfortablejwithjbothjmy
sweaterjandjmyjnewjhairjstyle,jluckilyjIjwas!jIjalsojwantedjbothjmyjsweaterjandjmyjhairjstylejtojla
j
stjforjajwhilejtojmakejthemjworthjthejcost.jThejoperationaljactivitiesjthatjdeterminejthesejcharacte
risticsjarejthejmanufacturing,jshippingjandjsellingjthejsweaterjinjstores.jIfjthejsweaterjwasjpoorlyj
madejandjdidn’tjfitjcorrectly,jIjwouldjnotjhavejpurchasedjit.jIfjitjwasjnotjavailablej(onjthejshelf)jIjc
ouldjnotjhavejpurchasedjit.jThejoperationaljactivitiesjthatjdeterminejthejcharacteristicsjofjmyjhair
stylejarejthejstylistjarrivingjtojworkjonjtimejforjmyjappointment,jwashing,jcuttingjandjblowjdryin
gjmyjhairjinjajwayjthatjIjwasjexpectingj(havingjsufficientjcapacityjsojthatjIjdidjnotjhavejtojwaitjtoo
long).
j
SincejmyjhairjwasjcutjandjstyledjthejwayjIjrequested,jIjwilljbejreturningjtojthatjhairjstylist.
3. Whatjarejthejprimaryjoperationsjmanagementjdecisionsjinjeachjofjthejfollowingjc
orporations?
Again,jstudentjanswersjwilljvaryjbutjmayjincludejthejfollowingjelements.
a. MarriottjHotelsjandjResorts:jHowjtojgreetjandjtreatjcustomersjduringjtheirjstay,jwhatjse
rvicesjtojsupplyjtojcustomers,jhowjtojcheckjcustomersjinjsojthatjtheyjarejnotjwaitingjfor
12-2
©jMcGrawjHilljLLC.jAlljrightsjreserved.jNojreproductionjorjdistributionjwithoutjthejpriorjwrittenjconsentjofjMcGrawjHilljLLC.
,longjperiodsjofjtimejtojgetjtojtheirjrooms,jhowjtojdealjwithjunhappyjcustomersjinjorderjtojkee
pjthemjcomingjback,jhowjtojmeasurejcustomerjsatisfaction.
b. Ajprivatejgolfjandjtennisjclub:jHowjtojservejcustomersjwhilejplayingjtennis/golfjsojtheyjco
ntinuejtojspendjtheirjmoneyjandjplayjatjthisjprivatejcourse,jwhatjservicesjtojofferjinjorderjtojkeepj
customersjhappy.jHowjtojbestjmanagejthejfacilitiesjandjtrainjemployees.
c. Benj&jJerry’s:jWhatjflavorsjtojmake,jhowjmuchjofjeachjflavorjtojmake,jhowjtojkeepjupjwit
hjdemand,jwhatjsuppliersjtojuse,jhowjtojmeasurejcustomerjsatisfaction.
d. ExxonMobiljCorporation:jHowjtojmanagejexploration,jextractionjandjrefinementjoper
ationsjeffectivelyjandjefficiently.jWhatjservicesjarejtojbejdelivered,jhowjtojkeepjretailjcustom
ersjhappy,jhowjtojdeliverjgoods.
4. Considerjthejfollowingjprocessesjthatjyoujfrequentlyjencounterjasjajcollegejstudent.
Describejeachjprocessjandjitsjinput,jactivities,jandjoutputs.jWhatjisjbeingjconvertedjorjtra
nsformedjinjeachjprocess?jWhojarejthejcustomers,jsuppliers,jandjstakeholdersjforjeachjpr
ocess?
a. Enrollingjinjclasses:jClassesjmustjbejscheduledjsojthatjstudentsjcanjenrolljinjthem,jstudentsj
communicatejwithjadvisorjaboutjnecessaryjclasses,jstudentsjsignjontojwebsitejandjfindjsuitablejc
lassesjthatjfitjtogetherjintojschedulejforjeachjsemester.jThejinputsjofjthisjprocessjarejthejstudent’sj
andjadministrators’jtimejandjproblemjsolvingjeffort.jThejactivitiesjarejdecisionjmaking,jcommun
icating,jandjschedulingjsojthatjeveryonejhasjajchancejtojtakejthejclassesjtheyjwantjeachjsemester.j
Thejoutputjisjthejstudent’sjschedulejandjenrollmentjintojclasses.jThejstudent’sjschedulejisjbeingjt
ransformed.jThejcustomerjisjthejstudent,jthejstakeholdersjarejthejprofessorsjwhojgetjpaidjtojteachj
thejcoursesjandjthejbusinessesjthatjwouldjlikejtojhirejstudentsjoncejtheyjcompletejtheirjcourses.jT
hejsupplierjisjthejuniversity.
12-3
©jMcGrawjHilljLLC.jAlljrightsjreserved.jNojreproductionjorjdistributionjwithoutjthejpriorjwrittenjconsentjofjMcGrawjHilljLLC.
, b. Takingjajclass:jThejprocessjandjactivitiesjofjtakingjajclassjentailjmakingjitjtojclassjonjtimeje
veryjsession,jstudyingjbeforejclassjtojbejablejtojfollowjalongjandjparticipate,jarrivingjwithjthejcor
rectjmaterialsjinjorderjtojtakejnotesjandjcompletejactivitiesjinjclass,jandjcompletingjhomeworkjb
eforejitjisjdue.jThejinputsjarejthejknowledgejofjthejprofessorjandjinformationjcontainedjinjcoursej
materials,jalongjwithjthejstudent’sjhardjwork,jstudying,jparticipating,jandjphysicallyjgoingjtojcla
ss.jThejoutputsjarejfriendsjandjeducation.jThejstudentjisjbeingjtransformed.jThejcustomerjisjthejst
udent.jOrjonejmightjconsiderjthejbusinessjwhojwouldjlikejtojhirejthejstudentjtojbejthejcustomer.jT
hejsupplierjisjthejuniversity.
c. Buyingjajticketjforjajplay,jconcert,jorjbasketballjgame:jThejprocessjandjactivitiesjofjbuyi
ngjajticketjentailjmakingjajdecisionjtojbuyjthejticket,jsavingjupjthejmoney,jeitherjorderingjthejtick
etjonlinejorjphysicallyjgoingjtojajticketjboothjandjpurchasingjthejticket.jThejinputsjarejtimejandjm
oney.jThejoutputsjarejthejexperiencejofjseeingjajgreatjplay,jconcert,jorjbasketballjgamejandjmem
ories.jThejownershipjofjthejticketjisjbeingjconverted.jThejcustomerjisjthejticketjpurchaser;jthejsta
keholderjisjthejownerjofjthejbasketballjteam,jorjthejdirectorjofjthejplay,jorjthejmanagerjofjthejband
.jIfjnojonejpurchasesjtickets,jthosejstakeholdersjmayjnojlongerjhavejjobs.jThejsupplierjisjthejteam
,jthejactors,jorjthejband.
5. Recalljthejlastjtimejyoujwentjtojajfast-
foodjrestaurantjsuchjasjMcDonald’s.jDescribejalljofjthejgoodsjandjservicesjthatjmakejupjyou
rjtotaljproductjexperience.
ThejgoodsjthatjmadejupjmyjexperiencejwerejthejactualjfoodjandjdrinkjthatjIjpurchased.jThejservic
esjwerejbeingjgreetedjwhenjIjwalkedjupjtojthejcounter,jorderingjmyjfood,jreceivingjmyjfoodjinjajti
melyjmannerjalongjwithjmyjorderjbeingjcorrect.jThejservicejofjajcleanjrestaurantjalsojaddedjtojm
yjtotaljproductjexperience.
12-4
©jMcGrawjHilljLLC.jAlljrightsjreserved.jNojreproductionjorjdistributionjwithoutjthejpriorjwrittenjconsentjofjMcGrawjHilljLLC.