ETI3647 Supply Chain Management Questions (35) – Decision Bias, Order Qualifiers, Core Capabilities & Supply Chain Strategy

This document contains 35 expert-verified exam questions with answers for the course ETI3647 Supply Chain Management. The material focuses on key supply chain strategy concepts, decision-making frameworks, and operational terminology commonly tested in university supply chain management and logistics courses. The questions are structured to test conceptual understanding of strategic planning, operational decision-making, supplier capabilities, and the management of complex supply chain networks. A major focus of the document is strategic decision-making in supply chain management, including the role of cognitive bias in business decisions and the use of objective data to guide operations. Topics such as diligence-based strategy emphasize how organizations rely on measurable performance metrics, operational data, and analytics to make rational decisions about sourcing, customer relationships, and supply chain management practices. The material highlights how companies use structured decision frameworks to overcome subjective judgement and improve operational performance. The document also explores key competitive strategy concepts, including order qualifiers and order winners. These ideas explain how companies position their products and services in the marketplace by ensuring they meet minimum customer requirements while also offering differentiating features that influence purchasing decisions. Related concepts such as core capabilities and system integrators demonstrate how organizations develop unique competencies and integrate supply chain activities to deliver greater value to customers. Another important section focuses on operational and tactical supply chain decisions, including planning production, labor, transportation, and inventory policies within specific time horizons. Tactical decisions typically address planning over several months, while operational decisions involve day-to-day activities such as scheduling production, managing customer orders, and coordinating supplier replenishment activities. Understanding these levels of decision-making is critical for effective supply chain coordination and operational efficiency. The document also introduces concepts related to supply chain complexity and supplier evaluation, including strategies for comparing supplier options, managing global supply chain networks, and outsourcing certain logistics activities to reduce complexity and cost. Concepts such as “options together” emphasize structured comparison of alternatives to support more accurate supplier selection and strategic decision-making. The concepts and terminology used in this document correspond closely with widely adopted supply chain management textbooks such as “Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation” by Sunil Chopra and Peter Meindl, which is commonly used in undergraduate business, logistics, and operations management programs. The material therefore reflects the type of theoretical knowledge and conceptual understanding typically assessed in university supply chain management exams. This document may be relevant for students enrolled in courses such as: Supply Chain Management Logistics and Distribution Management Operations Management Global Supply Chain Strategy Procurement and Supplier Management Digital Supply Chains It is particularly useful for students studying in programs including: Business Administration Supply Chain Management Logistics Management Operations Management Industrial Engineering Business Analytics Keywords: supply chain management, supply chain strategy, operational decisions, tactical decisions, order qualifier, order winner, core capability, system integrator supply chain, cognitive bias decision making, diligence based strategy, supplier evaluation methods, supply chain complexity, logistics strategy, supplier selection analysis, operations planning, supply chain analytics