Q&A Hero

Q: In the context of service-encounter design, high-contact systems would most commonly be found in: a. distribution systems. b. process designs. c. front office operations. d. construction services.

Q: Which of the following elements is included in the service-delivery system design? a. Prototype testing b. Service guarantees and recovery c. Company mission d. Facility location and layout

Q: There is no hard-and-fast rule regarding the number of classes that must be used when establishing a frequency distribution for a continuous variable.

Q: Which of the following requirements is an example of customer-contact requirements? a. Convenient facility location b. Ambient conditions c. Cross-selling d. Prominently displayed company logo

Q: Once you have determined the class width using the formula, high-low divided by the number of classes, it is appropriate to round to the nearest integer to make the analysis easier.

Q: The appropriate number of classes should generally be between 5 and 20.

Q: The bottom of a House of Quality identifies the technical features that: a. are interrelated to each other. b. have the highest competitive performance. c. are the weakest selling points. d. have the strongest relationships to customer requirements.

Q: In constructing a frequency distribution for the savings account balances for customers at a bank, the following class boundaries might be acceptable if the minimum balance is $5.00 and the maximum balance is $18,700: $0.00 - $5,000 $5,000 - 10,000 $10,000 - $15,000 $15,000 - $20,000

Q: _____ design focuses on the interaction, directly or indirectly, between the service provider(s) and the customer. a. Service process b. Service-encounter c. Lean servicescape d. Customer benefit package

Q: A cumulative frequency distribution shows the percentage of observations for the variable of interest with values less than or equal to the upper limit of each class.

Q: In the context of quality function deployment, building a House of Quality begins by identifying the: a. competitive priorities. b. voice of the customer. c. marketplace dynamics. d. service provider requirements.

Q: A study of 4000 Dell PC customers listed the age of the customer among other variables. The youngest customer was 14 years old and the oldest customer was 84 years old. If analysts for the company wish to develop a frequency distribution with 7 classes, the smallest value that the class width can be is 10 years.

Q: For manufactured goods, design blueprints specify a target dimension, along with a range of permissible variation called the _____. a. nominal b. buffer c. tolerance d. leeway

Q: There is no difference between cumulative frequency and relative frequency.

Q: The specifications for a refrigerator part (in cm) are 5.00 0.10, and the Taguchi loss function is estimated to be L(x) = 5,500 (x T) 2. Determine the estimated loss per part if the quality characteristic (i.e., actual process performance) under study takes on a value of 4.91 cm. a. More than $30 but less than or equal to $50 b. More than $50 but less than or equal to $70 c. More than $70 but less than or equal to $90 d. More than $90

Q: One way to develop a frequency distribution using Excel is to use the Frequency function.

Q: Prior to designing and configuring a customer benefit package, a firm should understand and develop its: a. goods, services, and process design in detail. b. processes and service encounter design. c. strategic mission and competitive priorities. d. marketplace deployment techniques.

Q: In a report describing the number of people in the family of each of the 400 employees at a manufacturing company, the frequency count at the value 3 was 220. This means that the relative frequency at the 3 level is .44.

Q: The _____ of the House of Quality shows the interrelationships between any pair of technical features. a. bottom b. left c. center d. roof

Q: It is often a good idea to convert frequency distributions to relative frequency distributions when you wish to compare two distributions with different amounts of data.

Q: When developing a frequency distribution, the following classes would be considered acceptable: 5 to < 10 10 to < 20 20 to < 40

Q: The _____ provides the behavioral setting where service encounters take place. a. facility location b. service process and job design c. servicescape d. value chain model

Q: _____ should begin immediately after a service upset occurs and when the customer is visibly upset. a. Service guarantee b. Servicescape design c. Service recovery d. Service process design

Q: Frequency distributions are specifically for analyzing discrete data.

Q: A critical part has a manufacturing specification (in cm) of 0.325 0.010. Based on this information, if this measurement is larger than 0.335 or smaller than 0.315, the product fails at a cost of $120. Determine the Taguchi loss function in the given scenario. a. L(x) = 1,200,000 (x 0.335) 2 b. L(x) = 1,200,000 (x 0.325) 2 c. L(x) = 1,200 (x 0.315) 2 d. L(x) = 1,200 (x 0.010) 2

Q: Recently a survey was conducted in which customers of a large insurance company were asked to indicate the number of speeding tickets they had received in the past three years. The minimum value in the data was zero and the largest was six tickets. If you wished to illustrate the proportion of people who had three or fewer tickets, you would most likely construct a cumulative relative frequency distribution.

Q: Mitch is the owner of GameOn, a popular sports bar. He personally trains his servers and then gives them autonomy to make on-the-spot decisions to resolve any customer complaints and issues. This is a form of _____. a. service guarantee b. assurance c. flexibility d. empowerment

Q: In the context of service-delivery system design, which of the following establishments depends on good location decisions? a. A health club b. An ice-cream factory c. An insurance claim processing center d. A distribution center

Q: When choosing class boundaries for a frequency distribution, classes such as 60-70, 70-80, 80-90 would be acceptable.

Q: Which of the following is true of the House of Quality? a. It contains supplier estimations. b. It fails to incorporate customer requirements. c. It contains key selling points and features. d. It does not incorporate competitive evaluations.

Q: For the same data, a graph of a relative frequency distribution will look exactly the same as a graph of the frequency distribution.

Q: A company has 400 employees. The manager of human resources has recorded the annual salary and wages for each employee. These value range from $17,500 to $67,800. Provide an example of a stem and a leaf that could be developed to describe the distribution of the salary and wage data.

Q: David runs a bed and breakfast in the outskirts of a big city. His employees are allowed to spend up to $200 to resolve any customer complaints, with no questions asked. This is an example of: a. service guarantee. b. assurance. c. flexibility. d. empowerment.

Q: Explain why a relative frequency histogram is sometimes preferable to a regular frequency histogram.

Q: In the context of designing manufactured goods, socially responsible designs are the ones that follow the concept of: a. Design for Environment b. Design for Reliability c. Design for Manufacturability d. Design for Accuracy

Q: Suppose that you have a data set of 512 observations and the data values range from 36 to 187. What classes would you choose for this data set? Explain why you would choose these values.

Q: Jones and Johnson, a law firm, is expanding to incorporate three conference rooms and two executive waiting lounges in its office. Which of the following dimensions of servicescape is the firm addressing? a. Ambient conditions b. Market deployment and evaluation c. Spatial layout and functionality d. Signs, symbols, and artifacts

Q: Why should a histogram contain no gaps between the bars but a bar chart may have gaps?

Q: _____ is the process by which a model (real or simulated) is constructed to assess a product's performance under actual operating conditions, as well as consumer reactions to the model. a. Quality function deployment b. Value engineering c. Detailed product design d. Prototype testing

Q: Explain why it is appropriate to connect the points on a line graph, but the points on a scatter plot should not be connected.

Q: Which of the following is true of Energy Star-certified products? a. They cannot be salvaged for reuse. b. They exert less demand on electrical power plants. c. They have a higher carbon footprint in the environment. d. They cannot be repaired easily since they use advanced technology.

Q: _____ allows all parts of the value chain to immediately recognize and react to changes in demand and supply. a. Super-precision manufacturing b. Rapid prototyping c. Descriptive analytics d. Electronic transaction capability

Q: Explain what information can be conveyed by a frequency histogram.

Q: The fixed costs of WeBuy&Sell.com, an e-commerce website, make up about 90 percent of the total costs incurred by the company. However, since its primary means of communication is web advertising, WeBuy&Sell.com has variable costs as low as 10 percent of its total costs. This allows WeBuy&Sell.com to earn high profits at a very low cost. According to the given scenario, WeBuy&Sell.com has _____ scalability. a. zero b. low c. infinite d. high

Q: Assuming you have data for a variable with 2,000 values, using the 2k≥ n guideline, what is the least number of groups that should be used in developing a grouped data frequency distribution? A) 9 B) 11 C) 13 D) 12

Q: _____ refers to using the Internet and technology to provide facilities that create and deliver time, place, information, entertainment, and exchange value to customers and support the sale of goods. a. Outsourcing b. Offshoring c. E-service d. E-readiness

Q: The Fitness Center manager has collected data on the number of visits to the club each week for the past 8 weeks. These data are shown as follows. Which of the following statements is most correct? Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 1415 1623 1934 1879 2102 2156 2511 2499 A) A histogram will illustrate whether a linear relationship exists between the number of visits and the week number. B) A scatter diagram would be useful for displaying these data. C) A line chart for these data will show that an upward trend in the number of visits to the club has occurred over two weeks. D) None of the above

Q: Which of the following is a difference between firms that have high scalability and firms that have low scalability? a. Firms with high scalability incur extremely low fixed costs, whereas firms with low scalability incur extremely high fixed costs. b. Firms with high scalability have variable costs as 80 to 85 percent of total costs, whereas firms with low scalability have variable costs as zero to five percent of total costs. c. Firms with high scalability serve additional customers at extremely low incremental costs, whereas firms with low scalability serve additional customers at high incremental variable costs. d. Firms with high scalability have a low contribution margin, whereas firms with low scalability have a high contribution margin.

Q: Consider the following chart. Which of the following statements is most correct?A) The values for the dependent variable are determined by the values for the independent variable.B) The values in a scatter plot should be connected by a straight line.C) The variable on the horizontal axis should be the independent variable.D) A scatter plot like this one shows the trend in the data over time.

Q: _____ technology refers to the application of the Internet, computer programs, and information systems to provide data, information, and analysis to facilitate the creation and delivery of goods and services. a. Hard b. Soft c. Assistive d. Adaptive

Q: Which of the following is true of customer relationship management (CRM)? a. A typical CRM system includes market segmentation and analysis. b. It helps firms gain competitive advantage by making counterfeit knock-offs of genuine products. c. It encourages the production of standardized goods for all customers to reduce manufacturing costs. d. A CRM system prohibits firms from bundling goods and services together.

Q: The sales manager at Western Furniture Company tracked data on the number of customers who came into the store each day and the total dollar volume of sales at the store during the same day. She is considering putting together a report for top management and wishes to show the relationship between these two variables. Which of the following graphs would likely be most useful? She has a sample of 36 days worth of data. A) Scatter diagram B) Bar chart C) Frequency histogram D) Pie chart

Q: _____ machine tools enable the machinist's skills to be duplicated by a programmable device that controls the movements of a tool used to make complex shapes. a. Virtual control (VC) b. Numerical control (NC) c. Revision control (RC) d. Movement control (MC)

Q: Which of the following questions CANNOT be answered using a scatter diagram? A) What is the trend over time of each of the 2 variables? B) Is there a curved or linear relation between the 2 variables? C) Is there a weak or strong relation between the 2 variables? D) Is there a positive or negative relation between the 2 variables?

Q: In constructing a scatter diagram: A) the independent variable should be on the vertical axis. B) the independent variable should be on the horizontal axis. C) the dependent variable should be on the horizontal axis. D) It does not matter which variable goes on which axis.

Q: Identify a benefit of adopting technology. a. Technology helps restructure old and less productive industries. b. The use of technology increases opportunities for employee empowerment. c. Technology increases opportunities for employee creativity. d. The use of technology does not require adherence to any laws or regulations.

Q: _____ consist of two or more computer-controlled machines or robots linked by automated handling devices such as transfer machines, conveyors, and transport systems. a. Computer-aided engineering (CAE) systems b. Computer-aided design (CAD) systems c. Enterprise planning systems (EPSs) d. Flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs)

Q: A scatter diagram can be used to do which of the following? A) Determine the trend in a variable B) Analyze the relationship between two variables C) Describe the basic distribution for a quantitative variable D) Show the percentage of a variable that is associated with each category into which that variable has been divided

Q: We Create Inc. is an electronics company. It designs, produces, and assembles desktop gadgets. The entire process is controlled by programmable robots, which are in turn linked to computers. These computers direct the robots to the appropriate task. In this context, We Create Inc. uses a(n) _____ system to produce its goods. a. partner relationship management b. enterprise resource planning c. employee experience management d. flexible manufacturing

Q: The managers at Harris Pizza in Boston have tracked the tips received by their drivers along with the total bill to the customer. An appropriate graph for analyzing the relationship between these two variables is: A) a scatter diagram. B) a line chart. C) a histogram. D) a pie chart.

Q: Which of the following is a challenge of adopting technology? a. Technology leads to job shift and displacement. b. The use of technology reduces product quality. c. Technology deteriorates the standard of living of the world. d. The use of technology disintegrates supply and value chain players.

Q: A line chart is most appropriate for: A) cross-sectional data. B) nominal level data. C) ordinal level data. D) time-series data.

Q: _____ is a measure of the contribution margin required to deliver a good or service as the business grows and volumes increase. a. Scalability b. Process capability c. Sustainability d. Operability

Q: To show how the price of a stock has changed over the last 3 months, the best type of chart to use is: A) a pie chart. B) a histogram. C) a line chart. D) a bar chart.

Q: _____ are tiny computer chips that can be placed on shipping containers, individual products, credit cards, prescription medicines, passports, livestock, and even people. a. Bar codes b. Radio-frequency identification tags c. Thermocouples d. Voice-recognition modules

Q: If two variables show a positive linear relationship in a scatter diagram: A) most of the data values will plot in the lower left-hand quadrant. B) most of the data values will plot in the lower left-hand and upper right-hand quadrants. C) most of the data values will cluster close to the x and y axes. D) the data will cluster in the center of the graph.

Q: Valuetronics, an electronics company, is currently in the preproduction stage of launching one of its new stereo systems. In order to analyze the feasibility of the product, Valuetronics adopts an integrated system that allows it to manufacture the product before it physically exists, that is, the system allows Valuetronics to finalize the design of the stereo, analyze it, and do a test-run. In this context, Valuetronics is using a(n) _____. a. enterprise resource planning (ERP) system b. flexible manufacturing system (FMS) c. computer-aided engineering (CAE) system d. computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) system

Q: One of the advantages that a stem and leaf diagram has over a histogram is: A) the detail of the data is preserved. B) it shows the general distribution of a quantitative variable. C) it can be used with nominal data. D) There are no advantages.

Q: Which of the following is a benefit of using technology? a. It increases the number of human service providers in firms. b. It increases quality and productivity of firms. c. It increases opportunities for employee empowerment. d. It makes it easy for customers to change decisions and return goods.

Q: A stem and leaf diagram is an alternative to using: A) a pie chart. B) a bar chart. C) a histogram. D) an ogive.

Q: Customer relationship management (CRM) helps firms gain and maintain competitive advantage by: a. encouraging them to produce standardized goods. b. merging all demographic-based and behavior-based segments of markets. c. studying which goods and services are purchased together. d. prohibiting them from bundling goods and services together.

Q: A stem and leaf diagram is used to: A) display the distribution of a quantitative variable. B) show the joint relationship between two variables. C) graph a joint frequency distribution. D) show relative cumulative frequency.

Q: _____ refers to equipment and devices that perform a variety of tasks in the creation and delivery of goods and services. a. Hard technology b. Soft technology c. A database system d. A neural network

Q: The Canyon Water Company collects data on the number of gallons of water consumed during a month for each customer. The production manager has divided the usage into 6 classes. To display these data effectively, she could use which of the following types of graphs to convey information about the water usage? A) A stem and leaf diagram B) A bar chart C) A histogram D) Either a histogram or a pie chart

Q: _____ are the modern successor to bar codes. a. Optical switches b. Artificial intelligence programs c. Electro-optical sensors d. Radio-frequency identification tags

Q: A bar chart possesses which of the following? A) Capability of displaying the distribution for a quantitative variable B) The option of displaying the data in scatter diagram form C) The option for displaying two or more variables on the same chart D) An easy method for displaying the general shape of a continuous variable

Q: The Carter Department Store has data on the sales volume by department for the past 200 days. The data are in an Excel spreadsheet where column A represents the department name and column B represents the sales for each day in that department. In order to construct a bar chart that illustrates the difference in total sales by department for the 200 days, a required step in Excel will be to: A) determine the total sales by department. B) use the frequency function to count the number of occurrences by department. C) group the data into 5 to 20 classes. D) determine the class widths.

Q: In the context of technology in value chains, customer relationship management (CRM): a. enables small firms to make counterfeit knock-offs of genuine products. b. prohibits firms from bundling goods and services together. c. encourages firms to produce standardized goods for all consumers to reduce manufacturing costs. d. exploits the vast amount of data that can be collected from consumers.

Q: Which of the following is true about the difference between stem and leaf diagrams and histograms? A) There is no difference. B) The stem and leaf diagram shows more information by showing the individual values. C) The histogram shows the shape center and spread of the distribution while the stem and leaf does not. D) The stem and leaf diagram shows less information than a histogram.

Q: _____ can be attached to objects and used to track and manage inventory and assets. a. Proximity cards b. Nanofountain probes c. Resistance-temperature detectors d. Radio-frequency identification tags