FILL-IN-THE-BLANK 74. FedEx schedules its aircraft using a __________ system, which it credits with reducing package mishandling and delay in transit. central hub (Global company profile, easy) 75. __________ costs are readily identifiable and can be measured with precision. Tangible (Factors that affect location decisions, easy) 76. When _________, in addition to creativity and R&D investments, is critical to operations strategy, cost may cease to be the primary focus of location criteria. innovation (The strategic importance of location, easy) 77. Political risk, cultural issues, and exchange rates are among those __________ that affect which country will be selected for a location decision. Critical Success Factors (Factors that influence location decisions, easy) 78. Labor cost per unit is also referred to as __________. labor content (Factors that influence location decisions, easy) 79. When firms build supply chains that include foreign firms, __________ and __________ are issues that raise ethical and legal concerns with operations managers. bribery, corruption (Factors that influence location decisions, easy) {AACSB: Ethical Reasoning} 80. __________ occurs when competing companies locate near each other because of a critical mass of information, talent, venture capital, or natural resources. Clustering (Methods of evaluating location alternatives, moderate) 81. The ___________ method is popular because a wide variety of factors, from education to recreation to labor skills, can be objectively included. factor-rating (Methods of evaluating location alternatives, moderate) 82. __________________ is a cost-volume analysis to make an economic comparison of location alternatives. Locational break-even analysis (Methods of evaluating location alternatives, moderate) 83. The ____________ is a mathematical technique used for finding the best location for a single distribution point that services several stores or areas. center-of-gravity method (Methods of evaluating location alternatives, moderate) 201 84. The ______________ is used to determine the best pattern of shipments from several points of supply to several points of demand. transportation method (Methods of evaluating location alternatives, moderate) 85. Industrial firms choose locations that minimize cost, but service firms look for locations with good demographics and traffic count because these variables are indicators of good __________. revenue or volume of business (Section, easy) 86. Databases containing such variables as street maps, utilities, population age and income, and the software that analyzes such data for location decisions, are referred to as __________. Geographic Information Systems or GIS (Service location strategy, easy) {AACSB: Use of IT} 202