Test Bank For Operations Management 1st Edition By Cachon

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Test Bank For Operations Management 1st Edition By Cachon

Chapter 06 Test Bank KEY

1. All learning curves have an exponential growth trajectory.
FALSE
There are at least three forms of learning curves: exponential growth, exponential decay, and diminishing return growth. [QUESTION]
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-01 Distinguish between various shapes of learning curves.
Topic: Various Forms of the Learning Curve

2. The power law assumes a constant rate of improvement with each doubling of cumulative experience.

TRUE
The power law assumes performance improves by a fixed percentage with each doubling of cumulative experience.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-02 Determine the unit cost of a process given a learning rate and an experience level.
Topic: The Power Law

3. A log-log plot of a learning curve that follows the power law shows a non-linear decrease.

FALSE
A log-log plot of a learning curve that follows the power law shows a non-linear decrease as a straight line.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-03 Estimate the learning rate using past cost dat
A.
Topic: Estimating the Learning Curve Using a Linear Log-Log Graph

4. For volumes greater than 1, the cumulative learning curve coefficients are always bigger than the learning curve coefficients.
TRUE
Both coefficients are equal to one for the first unit independent of learning rates. After this, the cumulative coefficients are bigger. [QUESTION]
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 06-05 Predict cumulative cost using the LCC method.
Topic: Using Learning Curve Coefficients to Predict Cumulative Costs

5. The average time an employee spends with a company before leaving is the average tenure of the employee.

FALSE
The average time employees spends with a company before leaving is twice the average tenure of the employees.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 06-06 Determine employee turnover and average tenure.
Topic: Employee Turnover and Its Effect on Learning

6. Standardization does not apply to service settings because of the high variability in processing times.
FALSE
There are three elements to standardization: processing time, work sequence, and inventory. Work sequence can be standardized in service settings.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-07 Understand the benefits of documentation and standardization.
Topic: Standardization as a Way to Avoid Relearning

7. The most common form of learning curves uses the following measures of performance to plot against process experience EXCEPT:

A. labor content.
B. unit cost.
C. processing time.
D. interest rate.
Interest rate is set by the financial market and is independent of the experience of a process.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-01 Distinguish between various shapes of learning curves.
Topic: Various Forms of the Learning Curve

8. Which of the following learning curves captures the relationship between the percentage of defects (y-axis) and the number of times an operation is performed (x-axis)?

A.

B
.
C.

D.

The number of defects decreases and levels off to zero with cumulative experience.AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-01 Distinguish between various shapes of learning curves.
Topic: Various Forms of the Learning Curve

9. A(n) ________ learning curve is indicative of a positive relationship between the experience with a process and its performance measure such as production yield or customer satisfaction score.

A. downward-sloping
B. upward-sloping
C. flat
D. bell-shaped
As experience with a process increases, so does performance. A higher production yield or customer satisfaction score is indicative of better performance. Therefore, the relationship between the two is positive, resulting in an upward-sloping learning curve.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-01 Distinguish between various shapes of learning curves.
Topic: Various Forms of the Learning Curve

10. A(n) ________ learning curve is indicative of a negative relationship between the experience with the process and its performance measure such as processing time or number of defects.

A. downward-sloping
B. upward-sloping
C. flat
D. bell-shaped
As experience with a process increases, so does performance. A lower processing time or number of defects is indicative of better performance. Therefore, the relationship between the two is negative, resulting in a downward-sloping learning curve.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-01 Distinguish between various shapes of learning curves.
Topic: Various Forms of the Learning Curve

11. Two different performance measures are used on the same process to demonstrate how the process improves with experience, as shown in the following learning curves. What conclusions can be drawn?

A. The amount of learning is higher when using capacity as a performance measure as opposed to processing time.
B. Processing time should not be used as a performance measure.
C. Capacity should not be used as a performance measure.
D. The amount of learning is exactly the same using either capacity as a performance measure or using processing time.
Both capacity and processing time are valid performance measures. Because both are measuring the same process, their underlying amount of learning should be the same.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 06-01 Distinguish between various shapes of learning curves.
Topic: Various Forms of the Learning Curve