Supply Chain Analytics: Understanding the Business Context, by Nada R.

Sanders
©2019 Prospect Press

TEST BANK
Chapter 1
True or False Questions

1. Voice cannot be considered as big data. F

2. Applying math and statistics to big data to gain insights into the world around us is called big
data synthesis. F
3. Big Data and Analytics can help turn information into Intelligence. T
4. Murphy’s law states that the amount of computing power that can be purchased for the same
amount of money doubles about every two years. F
5. Predictive analytics uses a variety of techniques—such as statistics, modeling, and data mining—
to analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about the future. T
6. Planned Testing is a statistical method that involves conducting, analyzing, and interpreting tests
to evaluate which factors impact variables of interest. F
7. The number of RFID tags is projected to decrease from 12 million in 2011 to just 1 million in
2021. F
8. Data that is created as a by-product of other activities and is generated just by going about
everyday business is called Alternate Data. F
9. Data from sources such as text and voice messages, social net- works feeds, and blogs is called
unstructured data. T
10. Large amounts of data that enable the establishment of norms can help identify credit card
frauds. T

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following are forms in which one can find big data?
a. Point-of-sale (POS)
b. Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
c. Global Positioning System (GPS) data
d. Consumer blogs
e. All of the above

2. Partitions of a typical database which can be placed on separate hardware are called:
a. Drives
b. Servers
c. Database shards
d. Database blocks
e. Database sectors

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3. Which of the following sets are the characteristics of big data?
a. Volume, Variance, Vacancy
b. Velocity, Volume, Variety
c. Variety, Valency, Volume
d. Visibility, Volume, Variance
e. Volatility, Variance, Variety

4. Which of the following is the new age in which devices capture and communicate data?
a. Internet of Name
b. Internet of Place
c. Internet of Animal
d. Internet of Things
e. None of the above

5. Which of the following options is akin to the following statement: Using horseback when the
competitors are using trucks!
a. Using a full-grown donkey when others are using foals
b. Not using big data analytics in today’s business world
c. Using a table tennis ball when others are using a ping pong ball
d. Shouting “Hurray” when the competitors are shouting “Hip Hip…”
e. None of the above

6. Which of the following helps one understand the relationship between a set of variables?
a. Amazon’s Alexa
b. Professor Dumbledore
c. Correlation analysis
d. Dr. Watson
e. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo

7. Which of the following questions can big data analytics help answer reasonably well?
a. What’s going on in your mind right now?
b. How much cash does your friend have in her wallet?
c. What products are customers likely to buy on Amazon in the next year?
d. How many knots are there in your shoelace?
e. How many times will you Laugh Out Loud (LOL) while answering these questions?

8. Which of the following types of chains are optimized for all the supply chain decisions – from
customer fulfillment to inventory tracking to automatic purchase orders?
a. Bicycle and sprocket chains
b. Gold-plated chains
c. Data-driven supply chains
d. Chainsaw chains
e. Diamond-cut chains

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9. What is the long form of 3PA?
a. 3rd Party Analytics provider
b. 3rd Party Abilities provider
c. 3rd Party Analogy provider
d. 3rd Party Apples provider
e. 3rd Party Apricots provider

10. What is a digital trail?

a. Something that is created when a child holds a crayon for the first time.
b. Something that you can go for a run on, on a Sunday evening.
c. Something that is sold with caramel peanuts by the banks of the Amazon River.
d. Something that is created when consumers are texting, communicating, browsing,
searching, and buying online.
e. None of the above.

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Chapter 2
True or False Questions

1. It is the Make lever that captures and tracks demand through POS data.
2. Analytics applied exclusively to any single supply chain lever will optimize the supply chain.
3. Supply Chain Network Design, which includes the physical structure and business processes
included in a system, is one of the two key elements of Supply Chain Strategy.
4. A symbiotic network that individual companies use to collaborate with other stakeholders to
achieve success with analytics is called a biological ecosystem.
5. The Buy lever is essentially the function of applying data analytics for processing raw materials
into finished goods.
6. RFID tags and POS technologies are present only in an extremely small number of industries
across the globe and will die out soon.
7. One of the advantages of using RFID systems is that a line of sight is not required to read them,
making it easier to determine information from a pallet of stored parts no matter where the tag
is placed on the pallet.
8. To achieve a competitive advantage, analytics efforts need to be part of a coordinated and
integrated overarching strategy championed by top leadership and pushed down to decision
makers at all levels of the organization and across the supply chain. (True.)
9. Data and analytics automate decisions, technology communicates the process, and decisions are
optimized and analyzed from Sell to Buy.
10. The Move lever is all about how deeply the customer is moved with the company’s
advertisements and blog posts on social media websites.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is not one of the four levers of supply chain?
a. Buy
b. Make
c. Modify
d. Move
e. Sell

2. Which of the following is a classic example of how companies get into trouble, suboptimizing the
system?
a. When a company has just the right number of inventories needed.
b. When a company can accurately fulfill customer demand.
c. When the company’s logistics is prepared to deliver the products right on time!
d. When the customer is satisfied every single time.
e. None of the above

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3. Which of the following factors will you not consider when you (as a company) are deciding
whether or not to follow in the footsteps of the “supply chain master” (dominant companies in a
supply chain)? Consider the factors for both – your company’s and the master’s.
a. Market position
b. Size of the company
c. Long-term growth plans
d. Whether or not the owner of the company owns a smartwatch
e. None of the above

4. Which of the following levers does Multichannel Marketing belong to?

a. Buy
b. Make
c. Move
d. Sell
e. Modify

5. Which of the following activities will be part of the Make lever?

a. In-store behavior analysis
b. Distribution and logistics
c. Supplier characteristics
d. Facility layout
e. None of the above

6. POS captures data from stores and other selling channels in real time and in even more
sophisticated ways. What is the long form of POS?
a. Prayer of the Soul
b. Panda of Sahara
c. Pile of Soap
d. Point of Sale

7. When big data analytics is applied across all supply chain levers, it creates what?
a. An ironic supply chain
b. An intelligent supply chain
c. An over smart supply chain
d. A high-EQ-but-low-IQ supply chain
e. An interesting supply chain

8. Companies using big data analytics along this lever are going well beyond customer and market
segmentation. What is this lever called?
a. The lever of a horse
b. The lever of a gear in your car
c. The fulcrum lever (a mechanical machine)
d. The Sell lever
e. None of the above

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9. Which of the following options cannot be used for big data applications as part of the Move
lever?
a. Optimizing inventory
b. Replenishment
c. Identifying optimal distribution center locations
d. Minimizing transportation costs
e. Drawing a pencil sketch of Spiderman

10. Which of the following activities may not be performed with the help of data analytic techniques
such as optimization?
a. Labor optimization
b. Automating and tracking attendance
c. Singing while working on multiple choice questions on big data analytics
d. Improving labor scheduling
e. None of the above

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Chapter 3
True or False Questions

1. Through analysis of huge quantities of data, big data analytics provides hardly any competitive
advantage.
2. Servitization is a service component that leading manufacturers are using to expand their
product offerings.
3. Best-in-class companies are breaking down silos with big data sharing across the organization,
improved collaboration, and use of unifying metrics.
4. Pilots, Planets and Transformers are the three general categories of barriers to implementation
for big data analytics.
5. The best results can be obtained by investing completely in any of the above three categories
from question 4.
6. The creation of dashboards and taking advantage of data visualization is impossible if
aggregated data cannot be attained.
7. Lack of leadership, lack of analytical talent, and unsupportive culture are a few of the biggest
barriers to implementing big data analytics in an organization.
8. Analysis Paralysis is the term used when a company has just the right amount of data and
information to drive their set objectives.
9. Successful implementation of analytics depends on coordination, and aligned metrics help in
implementation.
10. Analytics-driven companies do all activities in a coordinated way as part of an overarching
strategy.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following statement/s is/are relevant for big data implementation and critical for
organizational success?
i. Setting up a good process before technology adoption.
ii. Setting up an infrastructure that can absorb the information generated by analytics
systems into organizational decision-making processes.
iii. Allowing the employees to take a vacation to the Caribbean islands as per their will.
iv. Setting up a pet-friendly environment at the company to keep the employees happy.
a. i and iv
b. ii and iii
c. i and ii
d. All of the above
e. None of the above

2. Which of the following is not included in improving a firm’s operational performance by

investing in analytics software?
a. Improving forecast accuracy
b. Reducing time to climb Mount Everest

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 c. Reducing demand variability
d. Improving supply chain visibility
e. Improving customer service

3. Which of the following is not required to be incorporated as a decision-making factor within

Sales & Operations Planning processes?
a. Pricing
b. Inventory
c. Risk
d. Harry Potter’s magic wand
e. None of the above

4. Fill in the blank using the following options: A common technological obstacle for many
companies is the existence of _____ that might have been installed decades ago.
a. IT legacy systems
b. Digestive systems
c. Nervous systems
d. Excretory systems
e. Circulatory systems

5. Which of the following is not a barrier in implementing big data analytics?

a. Lack of leadership
b. Lack of analytical talent
c. An unsupportive culture
d. Lack of skills to play Candy Crush on Android phones.
e. None of the above

6. Which of the following members are required to restructure processes for integrating IT into
decision making in a meaningful way?
a. An army of Minions
b. Functional Managers and IT Staff
c. All members of the Justice League
d. Spiderman, Batman, and Superman
e. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

Which of the following areas can be improved using predictive analytics?

f. Supply chain efficiency

g. Sales and Operations Planning
h. Competitive priorities and competitive advantage
i. Creation of new business ventures
j. All of the above

7. Which of the following are hurdles that prevent companies from taking advantage of the big
data revolution?

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 a. Using analytics randomly in search for causation and relationships with the hope that
something will eventually turn up.
b. Using analytics to optimize subprocesses which function efficiently but have little
bearing on optimizing the system.
c. Trying to measure everything.
d. Many companies are overwhelmed with the rapid change of technological capability;
they understand they must do something but are in a state of paralysis.
e. All of the above.

8. Which of the following cannot be a consequence of misaligned metrics for a firm?

a. Achieved low material cost but higher inventory costs.
b. Company decided to give a day off to all employees but then forgot to send the email.
c. Achieved lowest production costs but large volumes produced resulting in higher
inventory holding costs.
d. Achieved highest possible number of sales but resulted in stock out during peak season.
e. Achieved lowest freight costs but resulted in higher inventories at distributors and
retailers.

9. Fill in the blank using the following options. “Most supply chains are data-creating machines.
However, many organizations and their decision makers still don’t have _______.”
a. Access to plates and spoons in the cafeteria
b. Access to a computer, keyboard and mouse
c. Access to data
d. Access to the front gate of the building
e. None of the above

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Chapter 4
True or False Questions

1. Operations is the function responsible for linking the organization to its customers and is
concerned with the downstream part of the supply chain.
2. Target marketing recognizes the diversity of customers and does not try to please all of them
with the same product offering.
3. Just as the Sell lever drives the decisions of the organization to produce and deliver exactly what
customers want, it also drives supply chain decisions.
4. Big data analytics capabilities can enable companies to correlate customer preferences;
however, big data analytics cannot recommend to the customers what to buy.
5. It is not possible to have different pricing strategies using different marketing mediums for
different target groups.
6. Place deals with the selection of which products to sell and where on the product the tagline of
the company should be printed.
7. In Marketing, Big Data analytics can be used for merchandising, particularly price and
assortment optimization.
8. Regardless of the source and type of data, targeting is much more successful with identification
of unique customers at the individual or household level.
9. Analyzing data on in-store behavior can help improve store layout, product mix, and shelf
positioning.
10. Location-based marketing is a new and rapidly evolving big data application along the Move
lever.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Marketing is part of which of the following levers?

a. Sell
b. Make
c. Move
d. Buy
e. Modify
2. Which of the following is not a possible use of big data analytics under a Marketing function?
a. Capture customer demand
b. Create microsegmentation
c. Predict consumer behavior
d. Calculating the cost of a road trip to Las Vegas
e. None of the above
3. Which of the following questions can the Sell function help to answer?
a. What do customers really want—not just what they say?
b. How do we create value in each market segment?
c. How much are customers really willing to pay?
d. What product features result in Sell—and which ones don’t matter?
e. All of the above

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4. Which of the following is not a category of the marketing Mix (or 4Ps)?
a. Paragliding
b. Promotion
c. Product
d. Price
e. Place
5. Which of the following Marketing functions can be improved using big data analytics
applications?
a. In-store behavior analysis
b. Customer segmentation
c. Sentiment analysis
d. Multichannel marketing
e. All of the above
6. What is the marketing process of categorizing customers into an even more granular scale using
sophisticated analytical tools called?
a. Microprocessing
b. Microsegmentation
c. Microanalysis
d. Microcomputing
e. Microbiographing
7. Fill in the blank using one of the following options. The process of recommending products
based on what other customers who purchased a given product also bought is called -
_______________.
a. Collaborative filtering
b. By-pass filtering
c. Digital filtering
d. Chemical filtering
e. Tea-strainer filtering.
8. Fill in the blank using one of the following options. Using facial recognition technology and
customers’ shopping patterns such as footpath and time spent in different parts of a store is
called _____________.
a. Invading privacy analysis
b. In-store behavior analysis
c. Customers’ walking style analysis
d. Customers’ smiles comparison analysis
e. None of the above
9. Fill in the blank using one of the following options. ____________ is a tool for understanding
customer opinions that are expressed on Web sites and in communication centers—from e-
mails, forms, surveys, internal files, and reports.
a. Sentiment analysis
b. Sanity analysis
c. Serenity analysis
d. Sociability analysis

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 e. Safety analysis
10. What is the element of marketing that has been significantly impacted by big data that
essentially refers to the variety of products available for sale and the display of those products in
such a way that it stimulates interest and entices customers to make a purchase?
a. Mechanization
b. Merchandizing
c. Materialization
d. Marginalization
e. Mobilization

Chapter 5
True or False Questions

1. Operations Management, the function responsible for orchestrating the efforts needed to
transform inputs into finished products, falls under the Move lever.
2. Big data analytics has had a tremendous impact on improving decisions along the Make lever—
from product design to quality management.
3. Since the dawn of the computer era, manufacturing firms were using information technology
and automation to design, build, and distribute products.
4. Manufacturing and Service organizations both produce physical, tangible goods that can be
stored in inventory before they are needed.
5. Big data can help manufacturers reduce product development time by no more than 10 percent
and eliminate defects only during production.
6. Product design is the design of the production process needed to produce the desired product.
7. Big data on the Sell side helps identify the most important and valuable features that customers
want based on best guesses, institution and hunches.
8. When companies rely on outside inputs to drive innovation and develop products that address
emerging customer needs using innovative channels, it is called enclosed innovation
9. The Sell side has customer data that drives supply chains and needs to be combined with
operational data to drive decisions.
10. S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning) is an integrated business management process intended to
match supply and demand through functional collaboration.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is not part of the resources managed by the operations team?
a. People
b. Equipment
c. Technology
d. Information
e. Thor’s hammer

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2. Which of the following elements can be improved using big data analytics for operations?
a. The speed at which Flash (a superhero) can reach from Kuala Lumpur to Boston
b. The effectiveness of the spell – avada kedavra (Harry Potter escaped from it twice!)
c. The maximum height up to which Superman can fly
d. The efficiency with which vehicles are produced in a manufacturing facility
e. None of the above
3. The Make lever needs to coordinate with which other lever to understand and design the exact
products customers want?
a. The lever of a horse
b. The lever of a gear in your car
c. The Sell lever
d. The fulcrum lever (a mechanical machine)
e. None of the above
4. Which of the following areas of Production processes can big data analytics not improve?
a. Inventory management
b. Quality management
c. Labor utilization
d. Ideal number of nacho chips a customer would like to have in one packet
e. None of the above
5. What is the term used for the inventory management technique in use when companies engage
in real-time inventory tracking and are able to identify stocking level of any item at any location?
a. Adaptive Inventory
b. Adamant Inventory
c. Advertising Inventory
d. American Inventory
e. None of the above
6. Which of the following is the term used for better management of workforce scheduling? Note:
Big data analytics applications can help reduce the management time spent on the scheduling
task.
a. Optimizing Labor Utilization
b. Optimizing Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
c. Optimizing Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)
d. Optimizing Near Field Communication (NFC)
e. None of the above
7. Which of the following is not considered an emerging technology that is transforming
manufacturing?
a. 3D Printing
b. Intelligent Assembly Robot Systems
c. Open Source Hardware
d. Machines that are used for stitching clothes (sewing machines)
e. None of the above
8. Taking inputs from product development and historical production data (for example, order
data and machine performance), manufacturers can apply advanced computational methods to

13
 create a digital model of the entire manufacturing process. What name is suitable for such a
model?
a. Dynamic Factory
b. Dumb Factory
c. Digital Factory
d. Dumbledore’s Factory
e. Factory of the Dark Arts
9. Transformative technologies are removing all the physical constraints of the Make lever—
building molds, ordering parts, reconfiguring assembly machinery—and turning them into
processes that can be run through software. This is called the ________.
a. Applications based supply chain
b. Software-defined supply chain
c. The Avengers supply Chain
d. The Dementors supply chain
e. The uber-cool supply chain
10. Big data can be useful for all but which of the following applications of operations?
a. Quality management
b. Facility location
c. Facility layout
d. Number of donuts to serve on the inauguration day of a new facility
e. Labor utilization

Chapter 6
True or False Questions

1. Operations is the business function responsible for transporting and delivering products to the
right place at the right time throughout the supply chain
2. Analytics and IT are the lifeblood of coordinating customer requirements, production demands,
and inventory levels in real time. They must be integrated internally to take into account
marketing and production activities.
3. Logistics companies are hardly familiar with big data analytics applications even though they are
a cheap investment.
4. One big data application in transportation has to do with route optimization—selecting the best
route for a select criterion.
5. Forward logistics is the process of moving products upstream from the customer back toward
manufacturers and suppliers.
6. Move—or logistics—is a system of many intertwined activities, and they must be coordinated,
managed, and optimized in isolation.
7. Companies are using analytical applications to design supply chains that are more flexible,
optimized, and event-driven.
8. Customer service is the only ultimate goal of the Move lever and involves delivering the perfect
order.

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 9. Air transportation is the fastest mode but is expensive and has capacity constraints; water and
rail are the cheapest modes but are slow; pipeline has geographic limitations.
10. Two aspects that are changing location-based decisions are the quality and granularity of data
and the simultaneous decision-making process with regard to optimizing both the location and
format of the site.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is a term that means receiving the right product at the right place at the right time in the
right condition for the right cost?
a. The perfect order
b. The perfect recipe
c. The perfect delivery
d. The perfect dress
e. The perfect wedding
2. Which of the following activities does the logistics department not have to worry about while
coordinating?
a. Demand planning and forecasting
b. Materials handling
c. Order processing
d. Packaging
e. Number of customers who bought the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book on
the day it was released.
3. Analytics has been used to optimize inventory, determine product quantities, optimize locations,
identify optimal distribution center locations, minimize transportation costs, and even analyze
vehicle capacity and cost for each trip. Which of the following is the term used to develop the
above analytical approaches?
a. Photosynthesis
b. Nuclear reactions
c. Operations Research
d. Fermentation
e. None of the above
4. What programs enable centralized management of tasks such as tracking inventory levels and
stock locations and can be either stand-alone applications or part of an Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) system?
a. Warehouse Management Systems
b. Automatic Braking Systems in cars
c. Endocrine systems
d. Nervous systems
e. None of the above
5. What is the process for determining the best geographic location for a company’s facility called?
a. Speed optimization
b. Customer optimization
c. Location optimization

15
 d. Facility layout optimization
e. None of the above
6. Which of the following systems is important for improvising components of the Move lever
using analytics?
a. Warehouse Management Systems (WMSs)
b. Transportation Management Systems (TMSs)
c. Inventory optimization
d. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
e. All of the above
7. Which of the following criteria can big data applications optimize for the Move lever?
a. Delivery times for orders
b. Speed of delivery
c. Capacity of transportation vehicles
d. Cost of transportation
e. All of the above
8. Which of the following option/s should be considered when considering inventory
management?
I. Level of Inventory held
II. Frequency of orders
III. The number of burgers you can eat in one sitting
a.Only I
b.Only II
c. Only III
d.I and II
e.II and III
9. Which of the following issues does not contribute to the complexity of reverse logistics?
a. Cost of material handling
b. Cost of transportation
c. Handling the financials and cash flows once the items are returned
d. Arranging for warehouse and storage space in the reverse order
e. Cost of plane ticket from Hawaii to Himalayas
10. Which of the following sustainability goals can big data analytics help achieve?
a. Reducing the energy required to deliver to final consumer
b. Optimizing routes to reduce time spent in truck traffic
c. Recycling of resources to reduce energy consumption at a production facility
d. Minimizing use of water consumption to prevent wastage
e. All of the above

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Chapter 7
True or False Questions

1. Sourcing of goods and services is part of the Move lever.

2. Order processing is the cycle from order placement to order production at the facility.
3. Because new types of big data analytics applications enable visualization of large data sets and
relationships of variables, these applications help manage spend and improve the ability to use
existing applications.
4. An evolving supply process is one in which sources of supply are well established, manufacturing
processes are mature, and the underlying technology is stable.
5. Agile supply chains have both low demand and supply uncertainty and are the easiest to
manage.
6. Responsive supply chains are those with high uncertainty on the supply side and must do
everything possible to minimize risks of supply disruptions and inventory shortages.
7. The term that is often used for global sourcing is outsourcing.
8. Optimizing the mix of global versus local sourcing is most successful through big data analytics.
9. Criticality is a key dimension of outsourcing that refers to the degree of responsibility assigned
to the supplier.
10. Big data analytics has no application when it comes to analyzing risk of suppliers and monitoring
security risks.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the term used for the purchasing function that has evolved to include a much broader
and more strategic responsibility?
a. Strategic selling management
b. Strategic sourcing or supply management
c. Strategic production management
d. Strategic transportation management
e. None of the above
2. Which of the following characteristics can be studied using big data applications as part of the
Buy lever?
a. Supplier characteristics
b. Product characteristics
c. Sourcing channel options
d. Supplier integration level
e. All of the above
3. Which of the following are activities that big data impacts for the Buy function?
a. Order processing
b. Cost savings
c. Enabling co-creation
d. Developing the predictive edge
e. All of the above

17
4. Fill in the blank with one of the following options. Integrating and sharing sets of big data,
applications, and platforms can bring manufacturers and suppliers together in a process of
product ______.
a. Differentiation
b. Co-creation
c. Management
d. Design
e. All of the above
5. Which of the following is not part of the supply vs demand uncertainty matrix?
a. Efficiency focused supply chain
b. Responsive supply chain
c. Golden diamond chain
d. Risk-hedging supply chain
e. Agile supply chain
6. Which of the following is the most significant benefit of single sourcing as compared to multiple
sourcing?
a. Higher purchasing power
b. You have more dating options (since you are single)
c. You get to select the single options (vs. married) on the application form
d. You do not have to use double quotes (single quotes only)
e. None of the above
7. Which of the following is not a benefit of Nearshoring or backsourcing?
a. Domestic sources to reduce transportation costs
b. Monitor quality more closely
c. Have closer buyer-supplier relationships
d. You get to go on a weeklong vacation to Las Vegas.
e. None of the above
8. Which of the following cannot be the reason for outsourcing some of a business’
activities/tasks?
a. Lower costs
b. Access to technical skills
c. The ability to free themselves of doing noncore activities
d. Opportunity to learn about new cultures and languages while at work.
e. None of the above
9. Which of the following is the primary reason for outsourcing analytics?
a. Lack of access to data and software
b. Excess of analytical talent available
c. Lack of sleep due to working overnight on assignments/projects
d. Excess of availability of time
e. None of the above

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 10. Which of the following options, as defined by the key dimensions of outsourcing, requires
greater monitoring of outsourcing engagement?
a. Low Criticality and Low Scope
b. High Criticality and High Scope
c. High Criticality but Low Scope
d. Low Criticality but High Scope
e. None of the above

Chapter 8
True or False Questions

1. Leading companies do much more to be able to leverage big data analytics – they have the right
focus, their efforts are coordinated, and they build the right culture that enables them to make
optimal use of the data they are analyzing.
2. Alignment serves to disintegrate horizontally throughout the entire organization and supply
chain by isolating “intelligence” across functions through individualistic decision making.
3. The roadmap links the key elements of implementing big data analytics across the supply chain,
tying the operational concepts with tactical levers.
4. Factor analysis is the technique used for optimal segmentation of customers with clear
attributes.
5. Analytics enables demand sensing on the demand side and enables driving other supply chain
decisions on the supply side.
6. Big data analytics enables optimizing supply-and-demand forecasts and determining correlations
between options, makes and models, and customer profiles.
7. As more sophisticated automated statistical forecasting technologies are developed, companies
will increasingly rely on isolated manual statistical forecasts to drive their decisions.
8. A primary purpose of using metrics and taking measurements is to assess performance levels
and to analyze what is happening and where.
9. The first and most basic stage in the maturity map of data implementation is Basic Analytics.
10. To use analytics most effectively, companies are finding that they need to acquire or develop
personnel with a variety of psychological skills.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To achieve a competitive advantage companies must have efforts that need to be focused and
coordinated, following a three-step roadmap: “SAM.” What is the long form of SAM?
a. Segment, Align, and Measure
b. Surface to Air Missile
c. Separate, Alter, and Measure
d. Secure, Align, and Modify
e. None of the above

19
2. Which of the following is not an important aspect of Segmentation?
a. End of standardization
b. Focused competition
c. Customization
d. Joining different groups of people to form one large diverse group
e. None of the above
3. Firms have a computerized system in place to capture customer interactions and manage
customer relationships. What is this system called?
a. Consumerization
b. Commercialization
c. Clientelling
d. Circumvention
e. None of the above
4. Which of the following will the Alignment function of the roadmap not give you?
a. A plan
b. A direction
c. Focus
d. A free McDonald’s Happy Meal combo
e. None of the above
5. Which of the following are benefits of better forecasting?
a. Effective and efficient allocation of resources
b. Reduced inventory stock-outs and excess goods
c. Faster and more accurate management decision making
d. Enhanced coordination between functional groups, headquarters and stores, and with
external suppliers.
e. All of the above
6. Fill in the blank using one of the following options. _______ is any type of measurement used to
measure some quantifiable component of a company’s performance.
a. Metrics or KPI
b. Doughnut
c. Burger
d. Sandwich
e. Burrito or wrap
7. One of the key benefits of following the roadmap or using the SAM framework is to do which of
the following?
a. Prevent employees of the company from over-using coffee resources
b. Prevent customers from becoming loyal and making repeat purchases
c. Prevent falling in the trap of state of analysis paralysis
d. Prevent suppliers from achieving minimum delay in supply orders
e. None of the above
8. Which of the following is not a part of the four stages of the maturity map of data
implementation?
a. Data Structuring
b. Data Overloading

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 c. Data Availability
d. Basic Analytics
e. Advanced Analytics
9. What is the third stage of the maturity map of data implementation, which essentially covers a
range of methodologies such as basic data comparisons and correlations, called?
a. Data Structuring
b. Data Overloading
c. Data Availability
d. Basic Analytics
e. Advanced Analytics
10. Which of the following strategies can companies use to if they don’t have the capabilities for
building the analytical solutions themselves?
a. Employee forcing strategy
b. Asking the customers to analyze themselves for the company
c. Asking the competitors to do the analysis for them
d. Analytics outsourcing strategy
e. None of the above

Chapter 9
True or False Questions

1. A company’s analytics strategy provides a plan that clearly defines the company’s long-term
goals, how the company plans to achieve these goals, and the way the company plans to
differentiate itself from its competitors.
2. A common problem is that individual business units, in silos, develop their own data strategies
without planning to share or aggregate data across the organization.
3. The best strategy that companies can adopt to succeed using data analytics is to “follow the
leader.”
4. Two significant decisions that are vital to implementation of S&OP are determining what data
needs to be gathered and how that data should be aggregated.
5. The objective of S&OP is for the functional organization to reach a consensus regarding the
maximum number of operating plans possible in a month.
6. The transition to using big data analytics should begin with a firm-wide integration and then
scale down to pilot for confirmation.
7. Prescriptive is essentially used to summarize and describe a set of data and it tells us what
happened.
8. Large data—coupled with larger and affordable computing power—enables companies to do on
a larger scale what cannot be done on a smaller one.
9. Analytics has traditionally been integrated within particular functions and units within
organizations, and as companies increasingly become analytically driven, they are moving
toward decentralizing their analytical resources.
10. Analytics-driven companies have a companywide culture that has a respect for measuring,
testing, and evaluating quantitative evidence.

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Multiple Choice Questions

1. Fill in the blank using one of the following options. Companies focus and target their big data
analytics efforts on the areas that promise to create the greatest competitive advantage, and
this is defined by ______.
a. Mission
b. Vision
c. Logo
d. Tagline
e. Strategy
2. Which of the following issues is not necessary to consider in unison for an effective analytics
strategy?
a. Issues of data architectures
b. Issues of data models
c. Attributes of solutions
d. Security and compliance
e. None of the above
3. Which of the following is not a stage of the Sales and Operations Planning implementation?
a. “Siloed” Decision Making
b. Reactive Decision Making
c. Instantaneous Decision Making
d. Proactive Decision Making
e. Integrated Decision Making
4. Which of the following is the correct set of terms and sequence of steps to the monthly S&OP
cycle.
i. Supply Planning
ii. Alignment Meeting
iii. Executive S&OP Meeting
iv. Generation of Month-end Reports
v. Demand Planning

a. iv > v > i > ii > iii

b. i > v > iv > iii > ii
c. v > iv > ii > ii > i
d. iv > v > iii > i > ii
e. None of the above
5. Which of the following is a “Soft” benefit and not a “Hard” benefit of the Sales and Operations
Planning process?
a. Reduced inventory levels
b. Improved inventory turns
c. More effective communications
d. Improved plant efficiency
e. Reduced logistical costs

22
6. Fill in the blank using the following options: A company cannot do analytics without clean, high-
quality, integrated, and accessible _______.
a. Toilets
b. Gardens
c. Warehouses
d. Data
e. Kitchens
7. What is the term for a system comprised of various value-adding partners that is structured in
collaboration with the entire supply chain?
a. Freshwater ecosystem
b. Desert ecosystem
c. Marine ecosystem
d. Analytical ecosystem
e. None of the above
8. Which of the following are the building blocks that define the foundation of a company’s
analytical strategy?
a. People, Process, and Technology
b. Peanuts, Papayas, and Tomatoes
c. Project, Programs, and Techniques
d. People, Parrots, and Tigers
e. None of the above
9. Which of the following is the best option for companies to choose when they want to
strategically solve the problem of lack of analytical capabilities in the company?
a. Sit and cry in the corner of the biggest conference room in the company
b. Outsource the analytical capabilities
c. Order pizzas and eat till they are overstuffed
d. Ask the CEO if they can rejoin the company when the problem is solved
e. None of the above
10. Recruiting and having a core set of deep analytical talent is not enough to transform an
organization. What else does the company have to do to succeed on the analytical front?
a. Provide better catering services to the employees
b. Better manage the parking issues that arise in the morning
c. Better manage the analytical talent
d. Provide better healthcare benefits to the employees who no longer work with the
company
e. None of the above

23
Chapter 10
True or False Questions

1. Embracing big data analytics for supply chain management can be done without the need to
bring about any change in the way the organization is led.
2. The three categories of barriers to implementation - People, Process, and Technology - need to
be addressed simultaneously and their capabilities need to be matched to achieve synergies.
3. Instantaneous change occurs when an organization takes relatively smaller steps toward its goal.
4. The conventional perspective to change and learning is that it is essentially a bottom-up process.
5. Research comparing top-down leadership with participative approaches shows that when
leading change, participative and open dialogue among members are found to be essential in
gaining a commitment to change.
6. Presenting change with a positive, feel-good approach that presents a compelling picture of the
future, showing not only benefits to the organization, but also personal benefits of the change,
is better than presenting change as a threat
7. Once the company has undergone refreezing, it is ready for the actual change.
8. The most successful organizational change occurs when all three building blocks—technology,
processes, and people—are aligned.
9. Only senior leadership can spearhead the transformational change required to build and apply
analytical capabilities across their organizations, and the change will not happen if the
responsibility is abdicated to middle managers, professional analysts, or external consultants
10. A leader who wants to lead an analytics-driven organization needs to exhibit at least a
rudimentary level of analytical literacy.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Fill in the blank using one of the following options. ________ is any substantive modification to
an aspect of an organization. It may consist of a change in the workforce, technologies,
structure, work processes, culture, values, or strategic vision.
a. Environmental change
b. Economic changes
c. Developmental change
d. Organizational change
e. None of the above
2. Which of the following changes occurs when an organization changes its strategic direction or
reengineers its culture or operations in response to dramatic change, such as a technological
breakthrough or a merger?
a. Transformational change
b. Environmental change
c. Economic changes
d. Developmental change
e. Organizational change

24
3. Which of the following is not a stage of the transformational change process?
a. Recognize Need
b. Change
c. Refreeze
d. Unfreeze
e. Serve Need
4. Fill in the blanks using one of the following options. As big data is implemented, recognizing the
need to become a ______ organization is recognizing the need for transformational change.
a. Data-driven
b. Vast
c. Small
d. Basketball-oriented
e. Baseball-oriented
5. Which of the following types of responses can be described as being “frozen” to the current way
of doing their work in the context of implementing a transformational change?
a. Threat-rigidity response
b. Analytic response
c. Interpretive response
d. Reflective response
e. None of the above
6. Technological interventions toward organizational change focus on all but which of the following
options?
a. Workflows
b. Production methods
c. Equipment
d. Information systems
e. The number of magic spells Hermione Granger knows and remembers
7. Which of the following organizational areas require intervention alongside changes and
upgrades in the IT system at a company?
i. People
ii. Plants
iii. Processes
a. i and ii
b. ii and iii
c. i and iii
d. i, ii, and iii
e. None of the above
8. One way to begin to facilitate an understanding of supply chain analytics is through simpler
applications with narrow functionality. These are increasingly referred to as what?
a. Gaming apps
b. Entertainment apps
c. Analytical apps
d. Communication apps
e. Education apps

25
9. Which of the following terms refers to ensuring that a change becomes embedded in everyday
actions and habits by creating structures and systems that reinforce the change and
dismantling those that undermine it?
a. Anti-freezing
b. Unfreezing
c. Refreezing
d. Defrizzing
e. None of the above
10. Which of the following should not be a leadership behavior of a change agent at an
organization?
a. Transfigure into multiple four-legged animals every 6 hours of the day
b. Demonstrate credibility
c. Clarify expectations
d. Communicate intrinsic benefits
e. Select or promote positive attitudes

26