Q&A Hero

Q: What are multichannel marketing systems? a. channels that have multiple intermediaries between the producer and the consumer b. separate marketing channels that serve an individual customer c. channels that do business in multiple countries d. channels that combine horizontal and vertical marketing systems

Q: What component of customer service focuses on the ease of doing business with a seller? a. convenience b. dependability c. time d. communication

Q: The percentage of orders that can be completely and immediately filled from existing stock is the ____ rate. a. optimal inventory b. order cycle c. perfect order d. order fill

Q: Which of the following is not a dimension of customer service? a. time b. convenience c. dependability d. communication e. all of the above are dimensions

Q: The ability of logistics management to satisfy users in terms of time, dependability, communication, and convenience is the definition of ____. a. customer service b. the order cycle c. a perfect order d. customer satisfaction

Q: An unhappy customer will tell ____ other people about her/his unhappiness. a. seven b. nine c. twelve d. fifteen

Q: A commonly used rule of thumb is that it costs approximately ____ times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep an existing customer. a. three b. four c. five d. six

Q: The time span within which an order must arrive refers to ____. a. transit time reliability b. order delivery c. delivery window d. transit time

Q: The final phase of the order cycle is called order ____. a. picking and assembly b. delivery c. receiving d. replenishment

Q: Which of the following is not a characteristic of advances in order pick technology? a. fewer picking errors b. higher pick rates c. reduced employee turnover d. fewer employee accidents e. all of the above are characteristics

Q: Which of the following is not a characteristic of contemporary voice-based order picking systems? a. easily disrupted by other noises b. better voice quality than earlier systems c. more powerful than earlier systems d. less costly than earlier systems e. all of the above are characteristics of voice-based order picking systems

Q: The text suggests that ____ often represents the best opportunity to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of an order cycle. a. order transmittal b. order picking and assembly c. order delivery d. order processing

Q: Order picking and assembly is: a. the final stage of the order cycle b. the most important component of the order cycle c. the order cycle component that follows order processing d. the order cycle component that follows order transmittal

Q: Classifying orders according to pre-established guidelines so that a company can prioritize how orders are to be filled refers to ____. a. ABC analysis b. order management c. order processing d. order triage

Q: ____ refers to the time from when the seller receives an order until an appropriate location is authorized to fill the order. a. order processing b. order cycle c. order management d. order transmittal

Q: Which of the following is not a possible method of order transmittal? a. in-person b. mail c. fax d. electronic e. all of the above are methods of order transmittal

Q: In general, there are ____ possible ways to transmit orders. a. three b. four c. five d. six

Q: Order transmittal is ____. a. the same thing as an order cycle b. the series of events that occur between the time a customer places an order and the time the seller receives the order c. the series of events that occur between the time a customer perceives the need for something and the time the seller receives the order d. the series of events between the time a customer places an order and the time the order cycle begins

Q: Which of the following is false? a. some organizations have expanded the order management concept to include the length of time it takes an organization to receive payment for an order b. the order cycle should be analyzed in terms of total cycle time and cycle time variability c. order management has been profoundly impacted by advances in information systems d. the various activities associated with an order cycle are not uniformly agreed upon e. all of the above are true

Q: The order cycle is composed of each of the following except: a. order retrieval b. order delivery c. order picking and assembly d. order transmittal

Q: The order cycle is ____. a. the time that it takes for a check to clear b. the time that it takes from when a customer places an order until the selling firm receives the order c. also called the replenishment cycle d. also called the vendor cycle

Q: ____ refers to the management of various activities associated with the order cycle. a. logistics b. order processing c. demand management d. order management

Q: Which of the following is true? a. computer software for demand forecasting dates back over 40 years b. one challenge to collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment is getting supply chain partners to share data c. the Excel software package generates forecasts that have very little error d. SAP is the most widely used software package for demand forecasting e. all of the above are true

Q: Which forecasting technique tends to be appropriate when there is little or no historical data? a. exponential smoothing b. judgmental c. time series d. cause and effect

Q: Which forecasting technique assumes that one or more factors are related to demand and that this relationship can be used to estimate future demand? a. exponential smoothing b. judgmental c. cause and effect d. time series

Q: An underlying assumption of ____ forecasting is that future demand is dependent on past demand. a. trial and error b. time series c. judgmental d. cause and effect

Q: Surveys and analog techniques are examples of ____ forecasting. a. cause and effect b. time series c. exponential smoothing d. judgmental

Q: Which of the following is not a basic type of demand forecasting model? a. exponential smoothing b. cause and effect c. judgmental d. time series e. all of the above are basic types of forecasting models

Q: The creation across the supply chain and its markets of a coordinated flow of demand is the definition of ____. a. order cycle b. order management c. demand management d. supply chain management

Q: What is meant by service recovery? How is it relevant to logistics?

Q: Describe some of the key issues associated with measuring customer service.

Q: How do characteristics such as substitutability and product life cycle stage influence the development of customer service goals and objectives?

Q: Define and explain how organizations might engage in benchmarking.

Q: What is customer profitability analysis, and how might it be used in logistics?

Q: What are some advantages and disadvantages to technological advances designed to facilitate buyer-seller communications?

Q: List and discuss the three elements of the dependability dimension of customer service.

Q: How are macroenvironmental factors causing organizations and individuals to demand higher levels of customer service?

Q: How can customer service act as a competitive weapon?

Q: Discuss the order delivery stage of the order cycle.

Q: What is pick-to-light technology and how can it improve order picking?

Q: Discuss how the effectiveness and efficiency of order picking and assembly can be improved without large expenditures.

Q: Define order triage and explain how it can impact order processing.

Q: What are some advantages and disadvantages to checking all orders for completeness and accuracy?

Q: List the various methods of order transmittal and discuss relevant characteristics of each one.

Q: What are some causes of order cycle variability? What are the consequences of order cycle variability?

Q: Define and describe the order cycle. Why is it considered an important aspect of customer service?

Q: Discuss several demand forecasting issues.

Q: Discuss the three basic demand forecasting models.

Q: What is the relationship between demand management, order management, and customer service?

Q: Is it too late for Handy Andy to attempt service recovery with customers who reported a less-than-satisfactory installation experience? Why or why not?

Q: Discuss the pros and cons of allowing Handy Andy trash compactors to be sold only through licensed retailers (i.e., factory distributors would no longer be able to sell to the consumers).

Q: Bixby, Booher, and Ortega recognize that Handy Andy needs a better way to learn about the buyer's installation experience. One alternative is to add an open-ended question, dealing with the installation experience, to the warranty activation form. Another alternative is to e-mail a brief survey about the installation experience within three to five days of receiving a warranty activation form. Which of these should Handy Andy choose? Why?

Q: In the case is the statement, "The factory distributors in these few cities indicated that they, not Handy Andy, Inc., stood behind the 1-year warranty." Is this a problem for Handy Andy? Why or why not?

Q: What should Handy Andy's marketing Vice President do? Why?

Q: It appears that the factory distributors are exploiting the smaller dealers. Yet from what we can tell, Handy Andy in St. Louis has heard no complaints from the smaller dealers. Why would they not complain?

Q: Is this a customer service problem? Why or why not?

Q: Satisfactory service recovery tends to increase a customer's willingness to recommend the offending organization; unsatisfactory service recovery magnifies the initial failure.

Q: About 25% of customers who experience a problem with purchases of less that $5 will not do business with that company again.

Q: Customer profitability analysis is grounded in traditional accounting cost allocation methods.

Q: Customer profitability analysis explicitly recognizes that all customers are not the same, and some customers are more valuable than others to an organization.

Q: It is possible for organizations to use only one customer service metric to measure customer service.

Q: The customer service metrics that are chosen should be relevant and important from the customer's perspective.

Q: Leadership is the process of taking corrective action when measurements indicate that the goals and objectives of customer service are not being achieved.

Q: A product just being introduced needs a different level of service support than one that is in a mature or declining market stage.

Q: The nature of the product can affect the level of customer service that should be offered.

Q: Benchmarking should only involve numerical comparisons of relevant metrics.

Q: Continuous improvement refers to a process that continuously identifies, understands, and adapts outstanding processes found inside and outside an organization.

Q: Objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, and cost effective.

Q: Goals are the means by which objectives are achieved.

Q: Today's customer likes to have multiple purchasing options at her/his disposal, and organizations have responded by developing hybrid marketing channels, that is, separate marketing channels to serve an individual customer.

Q: The convenience component of customer service focuses on the ease of doing business with a seller.

Q: Text messaging and the Internet have lessened the need for telephone interaction and face-to-face contact between seller and customer.

Q: Order fill rate is the percentage of orders that can be completely and immediately filled from existing stock.

Q: Companies today will not accept slower order cycles in exchange for higher order cycle consistency.

Q: Dependability consists of consistent order cycles, safe delivery, and consistent delivery.

Q: The increased use of vendor quality-control programs necessitates higher levels of customer service.

Q: Consumers are demanding about the same levels of service today as in years past.

Q: Unhappy customers tell six people about their unhappiness.

Q: It costs about five times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep an existing customer.

Q: A key change in the order delivery component of the order cycle is that more and more shippers are emphasizing both the elapsed transit time and transit time variability.