•Read this text taken from an article about some key aspects of operations managemen

•Choose the best sentence to fill each of the gaps.

•For each gap 9—14, mark one letter (A—H) on your Answer Sheet.

•Do not use any letter more than once.

The Operations Function

Goods are tangible items purchased by individuals or organizations for subsequent use. Services are intangible items that are consumed at the time of being provided, with the customer taking away or retaining the benefit of that service. However, in many commercial situations, what is provided or produced by an organization can be a mixture of both goods and services. H

The operations function is the part of the organization that exists primarily to generate and produce the products. (9) . They have a conversion process, some resource inputs into that process, the outputs resulting from the conversions of the inputs, and the information feedback about the activities in the operations system. (10) . Economists refer to the transformation of resources into goods and services as the production function. (11) . This process is what creates the revenue for the company making the products or providing the services. (12) .

When considering the conversion process we must take into account that the process is subject to random change and fluctuations. Unplanned or uncontrolled influences may cause the actual output to differ from the planned output. (13) . If there is a circumstance in which the Yangzi River of China was to flood, the production of rice would suffer, therefore causing an increase fluctuation in the price of rice. (14) . Fluctuations may also tend to be caused by internal problems inherent in the conversion process. Faulty equipment, material imperfections, and of course human errors are only a few of the ideas that affect output quality.

A Other natural problems such as lightning, frost, drought, too much rain, etc., will tend to be the major reason for the fluctuation in product quality and price because of availability.

B All producers of whether it be a physical object or service have some basic elements in common.

C For example, all managers in any organization will need to know how to train their employees, appraise their performance, and so forth.

D The end product then becomes an idea where it is deemed a useful idea due to the form, the time, or the place of their availability from the conversion process.

E For example, such fluctuations in the product quality or price may be due to the growing weather conditions of many plants of fruit and vegetables.

F Once a product is made available to the consumer, that product is sold and converted into cash for that company and the cycle continues.

G The general goal for all production is to create some kind of value added, so the outputs are worth more to the consumer than just the sum of the individual inputs.

H In some situations the product will outweigh the service but in other situations it will be the opposite.

(9)