1, What is productivity and why is it important?

Who is primarily responsible for productivity in an

organization ?

Managers are responsible for companie's productivity. Productivity is an index that measures output
(goods and services) relative to the input (labor,materials,energy,and other resources) uswd to produce
them. It is usually expressed as the ratio of output.

Productivity measures can also be used to judge the performance of an entire industry productivity of
country as whole. productivity measurements serve as scorecards of the effective use of resourse.
Business leaders are concerned wih productivity as it relates to competitiveness.

2, List some factors that can affect productivity and some ways that productivity can be improved.

Factors that can affect productivity

-methods

-capital

-quality

-technology and

-management

Productivity can be improved in some ways

- by developing productivity measures for all operations

- look at the system in deciding which operation are most critical

- establish reasonable goals for improvemnt

- measure improvements and publicize them

3, It has been said that a typical Japanese automobile manufacturer produce more cars with fewer workers
than its US. Counterpart. What are some possible explanations for this? Assuming that US workers are as
hardworking as Japanese workers?

In 1980s Japanese companies became competitors in the market and also they were establish automobile
plants in US many US companies lost their comoetitive edge.. some reasons are mentioned for this

-Decision making based on short term horizons.overimphasis on short-term financial results has led to
underinvstment on research and development.

- Certain strategic weakness that failed to recognise threats posed by foriegn competitors.

- Lack of comparison among departments with in a firms that led to too little communication among them.
4, From time to time various groups clamor for import restrictions or tarrifs on foriegn produced goods,
particularly automobiles. How might these be helpfull? Harmful?

Ultimately tariffs benefit no one.the intent is to protect domestic producers. Whereas in reality it encourages
domestic manufacturers.

5, List the key ways that organizations compete.

-price

-Quality

- product differentiation

-flexibility

-Time

6, what are the key reasons for the poor competitiveness of some companies?

-Lack of quality.

-Poor location.

-Slow response to changing market needs.

-Inflexibility of design or services offered.

-Unmotivated/incompetent workers

7, The united States has the highest agricultural productivity of any country in the world. What are
primarily reasons reasons for this high productivity.

Mostly the Agricultural Extension Service and the cooperation between farm owners and scientists in
Universities, in chemical companies, and in the Department of Agriculture. Also the size of the valleys and
plains that allow for enormous farms. The full mechanization of every aspect of farming and the hard working
migrant farmers.

8, Most experts seem to agree workers are not primarily responsible for poor productivity. Who is?

The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the Manager.

For measuring the productivity of workforce, the workers can be divided into manual workers & knowledge
workers.

Productivity of a manual workers can be judged by the quantity and quality of the desired output produced
…. efficiency is the key factor here . The productivity of a manual workforce is more suitable for
manufacturing where their ability is required to do things right rather than to get the right things done.
9, what are distinictive competencies and how do they relate strategy formulation?

Distinctive competence refers to a superior characteristic, strength, or quality that distinguishes a company
from its competitors. This distinctive quality can be just about anything innovation, a skill, design, technology,
name recognition, marketing, workforce, customer satisfaction, or even being first to market. to formulate an
effective strategy,senior management must take into account.the distinctive competency of the
organization,and they must scan the environment.

The most effective organization seem to use an approach that develops distinctive competencies based on
customer needs. As well as what the competition is doing.

10, Contrast the term strategies and tactics.

Strategy

An organization's strategy has a long term impact on the nature and characterstics of the organization. In
large measure strategies affect the ability of an organization to compete.strategies are also plans for
achieving goals.

Tactics

are the methods and actions used to accomplish strategy. they are more specific in nature than strategies,
and they provide guidance and direction for carrying out actual operation.

11, Comtrast organization strategy and operations strategy

Organization strategy

An organizational strategy is a strategic plan generally developed by the leadership team detailing how your
business will allocate resources (like inventory, time, and funding) to support all its business activities.
General business activities might include: Creating or purchasing inventory to meet market demand.

Operations strategy

Is narrower than in scope, dealing primary with operations aspect of an organization.operation strategy
relates to products,process ,methods,operating resources,quality,cost,lead time,and scheduling.

12,Explain time-based strategy and give three examples

It focuses on reducing the time needed to conduct the various activities in a process. The rationale is that by
reducing time costs are generally less.

Examples for time-based strategy

- In an industry characterized by fast changing technology like mobile phones market, a firm wishing to
introduce new mobile phones would have to apply time-based strategies where it ensures that its product
reaches the market before that of the competitors
-In a market where competition depends of delivery time, a firm applies time-based strategies to ensure
products reach the customers at the right time and faster than the customers by reducing packaging and
dispatch time.

-A company planning to open a new branch in an upcoming up-market applies time-based strategies to
reduce the time it taken to finalize the planning process where it applies critical path method to identify the
activities that can be carried out simultaneously and those that cannot be delayed without delaying the
whole project.

13, Describe and contrast these forms of production: craft,mass production,and lean production

Craft production

Highly skilled workers using simple,flexible tools produced in small quantities according to customer
specifications.

Mass production

The mass production process constitutes assembly lines and automation technology to provide goods in bulk.
The main features of mass production include division of labor as each production process requires a
different machine, a smooth flow production with product flow clearly defined, standardization to achieve
high quality, and high startup costs due to the many resources required before operations.

Lean priduction

It is a new, time-based approach to the production of manufactured goods. the techniques of lean
manufacturing enable you to deliver higher quality products at significantly lower costs.Lean production is a
production methodology focused on eliminating waste, where waste is defined as anything that does not add
value for the customer. Although Lean's heritage is manufacturing, it is applicable to all types of organisation
and all an organisation's processes.

14, what are some possible reasons wgeorkers and manars might oppose lean production

-Insufficient management time to support lean

-Not understanding the potential benefits of applying lean

-Underestimating employee attitudes/resistance to change

-Insufficient workforce skills to implement lean

-Backsliding to the old inefficient ways of working