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CHAPTER 14—Building and Sustaining Quality and Performance Excellence
TRUE/FALSE
1. For quality and performance excellence to truly succeed in an organization, it must define and drive
the culture of the organization.
2. An example of a dysfunctional culture is a high-tech company that stresses on teamwork while
innovation depends on individuality.
3. As the firm grows, the process of creating and disseminating the desired culture tends to become
increasingly easy because the entrepreneur is no longer involved in the day-to-day activities of the
organization.
4. As performance excellence practices are used routinely within an organization, its people learn to
believe in the underlying principles of total quality, and cultural changes can occur.
5. Organizational changes result from strategy development and its implementation.
6. Strategic change is confined to a particular unit, division, or function while process change motivates
organization-wide changes in behavior.
7. Process changes within an organization are the ones that impact the organization’s culture the most
rapidly.
8. An accumulation of continuously improving process changes always leads to a positive and
sustainable culture change.
9. A well-aligned organization has its processes focused on achieving a shared vision and strategy.
10. All organizations must take the one best route to quality and performance excellence, which is Six
Sigma.
11. Impatient managers often seek immediate results by adopting off-the-shelf quality programs and
practices, or by imitating other successful organizations.
12. A process focus is not a necessary prerequisite for the effective implementation of Six Sigma within an
organization.
13. Sustainability requires continual learning.
14. Learning organizations have become skilled in creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and in
modifying the behavior of their employees and other contributors to their enterprises.
15. Welch’s process for continuous learning led to the discovery that business must automate
first, then simplify best practices that have been designed for robust performance in the face of
variation in business conditions.
16. A major benefit of Baldrige is that it naturally provides a framework for organizational learning and,
therefore, helps to enhance and sustain an organization, no matter what its current level of maturity.
17. The key to developing learning organizations is effective leadership.
18. In times of change, organizational learning benefits more from transactional leadership.
19. Transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organization is the basis for modern
knowledge management practices.
20. The Six Sigma program provides two simple instruments called Are We Making Progress?
21. Managers must take a positive approach to self-assessment findings, no matter how unpleasant they
might appear.
22. Small organizations and nonprofits have generally been quick to adopt quality initiatives.
23. The managers of small organizations and non-profits are wrapped up in entrepreneurial activities that
typically focus on sales strategies and market growth, day-to-day cash flow problems, and routine fire
fighting.
24. In viewing the three core principles of TQ, a focus on customers is clearly vital to small enterprises.
25. According to the observations of A.V. Feigenbaum and Donald S. Feigenbaum, quality has become
one of the twentieth century’s most important management ideas.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. _____ is the ability to address current needs and have the agility and management skills and structure
within an organization to prepare successfully for the future.
a.
Sustainability
b.
Integrity
c.
Self-assessment
d.
Accountability
2. _____ is an organization’s value system and its collection of guiding principles.
a.
Strategy
b.
Governance
c.
Culture
d.
Emotional intelligence
3. Culture is driven by:
a.
leadership.
b.
attrition.
c.
process variation.
d.
quality.
4. A $50 million information system has been upgraded by a healthcare organization as they discovered
weaknesses in the organization’s ability to collect and analyze information. This is an example of a
_____ change within the organization.
a.
policy
b.
strategic
c.
process
d.
tactical
5. With respect to American Express’s change process, which of the following steps answer the question
“What will the change look like?”
a.
Driving Commitment
b.
Creating a vision
c.
Sustaining momentum
d.
Accelerating the transition
6. With respect to American Express’s change process, which of the following steps answer the question
“What needs to happen to make the change work?”
a.
Creating a vision
b.
Sustaining momentum
c.
Accelerating the transition
d.
Driving commitment
7. With respect to American Express’s change process, which of the following steps answer the question
“How are we going to manage the effort on an ongoing basis?”
a.
Driving commitment
b.
Creating a vision
c.
Accelerating the transition
d.
Sustaining momentum
8. With respect to American Express’s change process, which of the following steps answer the question
“Why are we doing this?”
a.
Scoping the change
b.
Driving commitment
c.
Creating a vision
d.
Sustaining momentum
9. With respect to American Express’s change process, which of the following steps answer the question
“What have we learned and how can we leverage it?”
a.
Sustaining momentum
b.
Driving commitment
c.
Creating a vision
d.
Accelerating the transition
10. _____ refers to consistency of plans, processes, information, resource decisions, actions, results, and
analyses to support key organization-wide goals.
a.
Creativity
b.
Alignment
c.
Sustainability
d.
Perseverance
11. _____ refers to the harmonization of plans, processes, information, resource decisions, actions, results,
and analyses to support key organization-wide goals.
a.
Integration
b.
Interlinking
c.
Perseverance
d.
Accountability
12. Within GE, Six Sigma includes a diverse population of technical and nontechnical people, managers,
and others from key business areas who work together as a team to attack a problem using the _____
approach.
a.
DMAIC
b.
FADE
c.
TRIZ
d.
PDCA
13. With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, the implementation stage of a new quality
initiative is called:
a.
adoption.
b.
regeneration.
c.
maturation.
d.
energizing.
14. With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in which of the following stages is a new quality
initiative used in conjunction with an existing one to give rise to new energy and impact?
a.
Stagnation
b.
Adoption
c.
Maturation
d.
Regeneration
15. With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in which of the following stages is an existing
quality initiative refocused and given new resources?
a.
Decline
b.
Stagnation
c.
Energizing
d.
Adoption
16. With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in which of the following stages is quality
strategically aligned and deployed across the organization?
a.
Stagnation
b.
Maturation
c.
Regeneration
d.
Adoption
17. With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in which of the following stages has quality not
been strategically driven or aligned?
a.
Adoption
b.
Regeneration
c.
Stagnation
d.
Decline
18. With respect to the six stages of a quality life cycle, in which of the following stages has the quality
initiative had a limited impact, is failing, and is awaiting termination?
a.
Stagnation
b.
Maturation
c.
Decline
d.
Adoption
19. Which of the following is true about the stage 0 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence?
a.
At this stage organizations commit to a proactive approach to improvement.
b.
At this stage organizations opt to wait for mandates and regulations, and they implement
change when required to maintain compliance.
c.
At this stage senior leaders begin to experience traction on their organizational
transformation strategies.
d.
At this stage approaches of leadership, such as values deployment and culture building,
begin to link and align with the operational processes of the organization.
20. Which of the following is true about the stage 1 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence?
a.
At this stage projects succeed often enough for most of the organizations, but the overall
culture does not change and system-wide performance excellence is elusive.
b.
At this stage approaches of leadership, such as values deployment and culture building,
begin to link and align with the operational processes of the organization.
c.
At this stage organizations opt to wait for mandates and regulations, and they implement
change when required to maintain compliance.
d.
At this stage senior leaders begin to experience traction on their organizational
transformation strategies.
21. In which of the following stages of the Baldrige roadmap, visionary leaders recognize the inherent
limitations of a project-based approach to performance improvement?
a.
Stage 1
b.
Stage 4
c.
Stage 0
d.
Stage 3
22. Which of the following is true about the stage 2 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence?
a.
At this stage projects succeed often enough for most of the organizations, but the overall
culture does not change and system-wide performance excellence is elusive.
b.
At this stage approaches of leadership, such as values deployment and culture building,
begin to link and align with the operational processes of the organization.
c.
At this stage organizations opt to wait for mandates and regulations, and they implement
change when required to maintain compliance.
d.
At this stage senior leaders begin to experience traction on their organizational
transformation strategies.
23. Which of the following stages of the Baldrige roadmap marks the transition from the singular focus on
change through projects, however well executed, to systematic evaluation and improvement of
leadership approaches?
a.
Stage 4
b.
Stage 2
c.
Stage 1
d.
Stage 0
24. Which of the following is true about the stage 3 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence?
a.
At this stage approaches of leadership, such as values deployment and culture building,
begin to link and align with the operational processes of the organization.
b.
At this stage projects succeed often enough for most of the organizations, but the overall
culture does not change and system-wide performance excellence is elusive.
c.
At this stage senior leaders begin to experience traction on their organizational
transformation strategies.
d.
At this stage organizations opt to wait for mandates and regulations, and they implement
change when required to maintain compliance.
25. Which of the following phases of the Baldrige roadmap is characterized by action on the feedback,
usually by incorporating it into the strategic planning process?
a.
Traction phase
b.
Integration phase
c.
Sustenance phase
d.
False start phase
26. Which of the following is true about the stage 4 of the Baldrige roadmap to performance excellence?
a.
This project-focused phase brings new capabilities to execute initiatives that change
routine practices and processes for the better.
b.
At this stage organizations opt to wait for mandates and regulations, and they implement
change when required to maintain compliance.
c.
This stage can result in continued improvement or decline as organizations lose focus or
become distracted.
d.
At this stage senior leaders begin to experience traction on their organizational
transformation strategies.
27. Which of the following stages of the Baldrige roadmap can be rightly called the “sustaining” phase?
a.
Stage 2
b.
Stage 1
c.
Stage 0
d.
Stage 4
28. In times of change, organizational learning benefits more from _____ leadership.
a.
transactional
b.
transformational
c.
declining
d.
stagnant
29. When organizational learning processes serve to refresh and reinforce current learning, _____
leadership is best suited.
a.
transformational
b.
stagnant
c.
transactional
d.
declining
30. _____ is the basis for Deming’s plan-do-study-act cycle.
a.
Incremental gains
b.
Experimentation
c.
Stagnation
d.
Slow pace of change
31. Which of the following is reflected in benchmarking practices?
a.
Undergoing a slow pace of organizational process change
b.
Depleting organizational energy due to change in organizational practices
c.
Learning from experiences and best practices of others
d.
Avoiding change in routine practices and processes within an organization
32. Which of the following concepts and assumptions are included in GE’s virtuous teaching cycle?
a.
Leadership at all levels
b.
Passive aggressive behavior
c.
Rigid top-down process
d.
Boundary laden, turf-oriented organization
ESSAY
1. What are the three basic steps of an organizational change process?
2. Summarize a culture of performance excellence within an organization.
3. What are the five key behaviors as suggested by Juran and others, to develop a positive quality
culture?
ANS:
4. List the six stages of a quality life cycle.
ANS:
5. List a few characteristics of small firms that adversely affect the implementation of TQ principles.
ANS:
CASE
1. Which of the following companies merge with Honeywell in 1999 to form Honeywell International?
a. Oracle
b. AlliedSignal
c. Analog Devices
d. General Electric
2. How did Six Sigma Plus originate?
3. Describe the characteristics of Six Sigma plus.
4. The Six Sigma certification given to a Honeywell International employee working knowledge of Six
Sigma Plus methodology and tools, who has completed training and a project to drive high-impact
business results is:
a. Master Black Belt.
b. Green belt.
c. TPM Master.
d. Black Belt.
5. The Six Sigma certification given to a Honeywell International employee with working knowledge of
Six Sigma Plus methodology and tools, who is a highly skilled Six Sigma Plus expert, has completed
four weeks of classroom learning, and over the course of four to six months, demonstrated mastery of
the tools through the completion of a major process improvement project is a:
a. TPM Master.
b. Green Belt.
c. Master Black Belt.
d. Black Belt.
6. The Six Sigma certification given to a Honeywell International employee with working knowledge of
Six Sigma Plus methodology and tools, who has completed four weeks of lean training and one or
more projects that have demonstrated significant, auditable business results and the appropriate
application of Six Sigma Plus lean tools is:
a. TPM expert.
b. lean expert.
c. green belt.
d. lean master.
7. Describe the qualifications required for an employee at Honeywell International to get a Master Black
Belt Six Sigma certification.
8. Describe the ABM Expert Six Sigma certification offered by Honeywell International to its
employees.
9. Discuss the ABM Master Six Sigma certification offered by Honeywell International to its employees.
10. Describe the TPM Master Six Sigma certification offered by Honeywell International to its employees.
ANS:
11. Name the two companies that merged to form Veridian Homes.
12. What is the goal of Veridian Homes?
13. What is the structure and systems employed from a strategic and operational mindset by Veridian
Homes to achieve its goal of promoting and coordinating quality throughout the company?
14. How does linking strategic goals to each employee via the performance planning and development
(PPD) process help the employees of Veridian Homes?
15. List the performance improvements that resulted from Veridian’s quality initiatives.
