WGU C720 Operations and Supply Chain
Management - Study Guide
Teamwork ✔✔Teamwork in operations benefit the customer when coordinated decisions within
an organization produce high quality products that customers value. Teamwork can help make
improvements to products. To remain competitive in the global marketplace, teamwork should be
utilized to help solve quality and productivity problems.
Product and process design ✔✔Product and process design are crucial and relate to both the design
of goods and services.
Product design ✔✔consideration of the characteristics, features, and performance of the product.
Product technology ✔✔application of knowledge to improve the product.
Process design ✔✔describes how a product will be made.
Process technology ✔✔application of knowledge to improve a process.
Common goals ✔✔Most organizations develop common goals during the budgeting and planning
process, which are done annually.
Most common type of organization ✔✔Many businesses are shifting to organization by process
due to today's fast paced environment.
Organizational structures ✔✔designed by process cross-functional lines.
Cross-functionality ✔✔a unique feature important to any organization.
,Eliminating functional silos ✔✔allows teams to share knowledge and understanding of decision-
making across the organization.
Decentralizing decision ✔✔making leads to more cross-functional teams.
Relative advantage ✔✔The difference between the lowest cost producer and the next-lowest cost
producer.
Ethics ✔✔A sense of what is right and wrong that guide behavior.
Sustainability ✔✔Reflects the efforts organizations are expected to make to balance their
interconnected obligations to economic viability, the societies in which they operate, and the
natural environment - the "triple bottom line."
Organizational focus points ✔✔Organizations need to focus on how a decision affects not just
profitability, but also employees, the community, and the environment, in the long and short term.
Competitive advantage ✔✔A capability that customers value that gives an organization an edge
against its competition.
VIRAL ✔✔VIRAL= Value to consumers, it should be Inimitable (not easily imitated), Rare, and
an organization should have the Aptitude and Lifespan to earn appropriate returns on the
advantage.
SWOT Analysis ✔✔Assists in planning to achieve objectives. Strength, Weakness, Opportunity
and Threat
Key processes organizations must have: ✔✔Strategy development, product development,
development of systems to produce services and goods, and order fulfillment to leverage impact.
, Systems development ✔✔Key to meeting strategic goals. Resources include: people, facilities,
equipment, materials, and energy.
Process redesign ✔✔Facilitates working toward a common goal in organizations.
Productivity ✔✔A mathematical calculation. It is the ratio of the outputs achieved divided by the
inputs consumed to achieve those outputs.
Productivity Formula ✔✔Productivity = Output / Input. Change in productivity = (new
productivity - old productivity) / old productivity.
Labor Productivity Formula ✔✔Labor productivity = Quantity or value of units produced divided
labor hours or labor cost.
Quality ✔✔Determined by the customer and how the customer will use a product.
Used to judge service quality: ✔✔Reliability- ability to perform the promised service dependably
and accurately.
Responsiveness- willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
Assurance- knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence.
Empathy- provision of caring, individualized attention to customers.
Tangibles- appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials.
Factors that determine quality for goods: ✔✔Performance- primary operating characteristic of a
product
Features- secondary characteristics that supplement the product's basic functioning.
Reliability- length of time a product will function before it fails or the probability it will function
for a stated period of time.
Conformance- degree to which a product's design and operating characteristics match pre-
established standards.
Management - Study Guide
Teamwork ✔✔Teamwork in operations benefit the customer when coordinated decisions within
an organization produce high quality products that customers value. Teamwork can help make
improvements to products. To remain competitive in the global marketplace, teamwork should be
utilized to help solve quality and productivity problems.
Product and process design ✔✔Product and process design are crucial and relate to both the design
of goods and services.
Product design ✔✔consideration of the characteristics, features, and performance of the product.
Product technology ✔✔application of knowledge to improve the product.
Process design ✔✔describes how a product will be made.
Process technology ✔✔application of knowledge to improve a process.
Common goals ✔✔Most organizations develop common goals during the budgeting and planning
process, which are done annually.
Most common type of organization ✔✔Many businesses are shifting to organization by process
due to today's fast paced environment.
Organizational structures ✔✔designed by process cross-functional lines.
Cross-functionality ✔✔a unique feature important to any organization.
,Eliminating functional silos ✔✔allows teams to share knowledge and understanding of decision-
making across the organization.
Decentralizing decision ✔✔making leads to more cross-functional teams.
Relative advantage ✔✔The difference between the lowest cost producer and the next-lowest cost
producer.
Ethics ✔✔A sense of what is right and wrong that guide behavior.
Sustainability ✔✔Reflects the efforts organizations are expected to make to balance their
interconnected obligations to economic viability, the societies in which they operate, and the
natural environment - the "triple bottom line."
Organizational focus points ✔✔Organizations need to focus on how a decision affects not just
profitability, but also employees, the community, and the environment, in the long and short term.
Competitive advantage ✔✔A capability that customers value that gives an organization an edge
against its competition.
VIRAL ✔✔VIRAL= Value to consumers, it should be Inimitable (not easily imitated), Rare, and
an organization should have the Aptitude and Lifespan to earn appropriate returns on the
advantage.
SWOT Analysis ✔✔Assists in planning to achieve objectives. Strength, Weakness, Opportunity
and Threat
Key processes organizations must have: ✔✔Strategy development, product development,
development of systems to produce services and goods, and order fulfillment to leverage impact.
, Systems development ✔✔Key to meeting strategic goals. Resources include: people, facilities,
equipment, materials, and energy.
Process redesign ✔✔Facilitates working toward a common goal in organizations.
Productivity ✔✔A mathematical calculation. It is the ratio of the outputs achieved divided by the
inputs consumed to achieve those outputs.
Productivity Formula ✔✔Productivity = Output / Input. Change in productivity = (new
productivity - old productivity) / old productivity.
Labor Productivity Formula ✔✔Labor productivity = Quantity or value of units produced divided
labor hours or labor cost.
Quality ✔✔Determined by the customer and how the customer will use a product.
Used to judge service quality: ✔✔Reliability- ability to perform the promised service dependably
and accurately.
Responsiveness- willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
Assurance- knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence.
Empathy- provision of caring, individualized attention to customers.
Tangibles- appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials.
Factors that determine quality for goods: ✔✔Performance- primary operating characteristic of a
product
Features- secondary characteristics that supplement the product's basic functioning.
Reliability- length of time a product will function before it fails or the probability it will function
for a stated period of time.
Conformance- degree to which a product's design and operating characteristics match pre-
established standards.
