Research the definitions of various production and operations management terms used in the textbook readings. Perform a literature search on one of these terms. Discuss how this term can impact the ability for an operation to be competitive in the 21st century. Do not use a term posted by another student.

Biochemical corp. requires $600,000 in financing over the next three years. the firm can borrow the funds for three years at 10.80 percent interest per year. the ceo decides to do a forecast and predicts that if she utilizes short-term financing instead, she will pay 7.50 percent interest in the first year, 12.15 percent interest in the second year, and 8.25 percent interest in the third year. assume interest is paid in full at the end of each year. a)determine the total interest cost under each plan. a) long term fixed rate: b) short term fixed rate: b) which plan is less costly? a) long term fixed rate plan b) short term variable rate plan

Imagine us is a startup that offers high definition 3d prenatal ultrasounds for high-end customers. the service process includes four activities that are conducted in the sequence described below. (the time required for each activity is shown in parentheses): activity 1: welcome a patient and explain the procedure. (20 minutes)activity 2: prep the patient (e.g., show them to the room, apply ultrasound gel). (17 minutes) (*your id number represents the amount of time needed to complete this task)activity 3: take images. (5 minutes)activity 4: discuss diagnostic with patient. (20 minutes)at each location there are employees (servers) s1, s2, and s3. the assignment of tasks to servers is the following: s1 does activities 1 and 2.s2 does activity 3.s3 does activity 4.a. what is the capacity of this process (in customers per hour)? b. suppose 3 patients arrive every hour on average. ignoring any “start of day” or “end of day” effects, what are the utilizations of all three servers (%)? c. suppose each activity can be done by any server and any server can do any set of activities. however, each activity is done by only one server. for example, a possible assignment includes: s1 does activity 1, s2 does activity 2, and s3 does activities 3 and 4. of course, the original assignment of servers to activities is also feasible. what is the maximum capacity of the process (in customers per hour)? d. now consider the capacity measures in (c) and (a), what is the percentage change? why can you improve capacity without using additional resources? (there is no free lunch, right? )note: for all hw assignments, show your process of getting the results. only providing the final answers is not acceptable and will get 0%. if necessary, use a separate sheet of paper to show your work.

Managers in a firm hired to improve the firm's profitability and ultimately the shareholders' value will add to the overall costs if they pursue their own self-interests. what does this best illustrate? a. diseconomies of scale b. principal-agent problem c. experience-curveeffects d. information asymmetries