MBA 685 Supply Chain Management

Week 2 Chapter 2 Supply Chain Challenge

In this document are True/False questions, Multiple Choice questions and a Case Study Exercise that uses Excel.

True/False Questions, worth 1 point each for a total of 10 points.

1) A company's competitive strategy defines the set of customer needs that it seeks to satisfy through its products and services.

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2) The value chain emphasizes the close relationship between all the functional strategies within a company.

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3) Supply chain strategy specifies what the operations, distribution, and service functions, whether performed in-house or outsourced, should do particularly well.

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4) A company's supply chain strategy determines the nature of procurement and transportation of materials as well as the manufacture and distribution of the product.

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5) To retain strategic fit, supply chain strategy must be adjusted over the life cycle of a product and as the competitive landscape changes.

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6) Having far more capacity than demand is helpful for a supply chain dealing with uncertainty.

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7. Operating with low levels of inventory helps a supply chain facing uncertainty because there is that much less product to flush out of the system before filling today's order

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8) Uncertainty is nothing but an absence of the right information.

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9) The interoperation scope has each stage of the supply chain devising its strategy independently.

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10) If all functional strategies are deliberately aligned with each other and with the overall competitive strategy, then the company profit will be maximized.

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Multiple Choice,worth 1 point each for a total of 6 points

11) A company's competitive strategy

A) defines the set of customer needs that it seeks to satisfy through its products and services.

B) specifies the portfolio of new products that it will try to develop.

C) specifies how the market will be segmented and how the product will be positioned, priced, and promoted.

D) determines the nature of procurement and transportation of materials as well as manufacture and distribution of the product.

Answer:

12) The value that potential customers place on product cost and delivery time determines a company's

A) customer needs.

B) competitive strategy.

C) supply chain surplus.

D) product life cycle.

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13) Which of these services facilitates the function of the value chain but is not considered a core element of the supply chain?

A) Marketing

B) Information Technology

C) Distribution

D) Service.

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14) Efficient supply chains

A) respond quickly to demand.

B) have higher margins because price is not a prime customer driver.

C) maintain buffer inventory to deal with demand/supply uncertainty.

D) maximize performance at a minimum cost.

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15) An aggressive investment in customer analytics represents the use of which lever to reduce supply chain uncertainty?

A) Information

B) Flexible capacity

C) Time

D) Inventory

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16) Scope of strategic fit refers to both the

A) function within the firm and the satisfaction of the customer.

B) satisfaction of the customer and the profits returned to the shareholders.

C) function within the firm and stages across the supply chain.

D) profits returned to the shareholders and the stages across the supply chain.

Answer:

Questions, worth 9 points, see page 36

Discussion Questions:

6. Give arguments to support the statement that Walmart has achieved very good strategic fit between its competitive and supply chain strategies. What challenges does it face as it works to open smaller format stores?