Chapter 2: Foundations of Quality Management
TRUE/FALSE
1. Deming laid out a “quality improvement program” for companies such as Ford, GM, and Procter &
Gamble, when invited to work with them to improve their quality.
2. Unlike other management gurus and consultants, Deming defined and described quality precisely.
3. Deming stressed that the lowest levels of operational staff in an organization must assume the
overriding responsibility for quality management.
4. Improvements in operations are achieved by reducing the causes and impacts of variation.
5. Deming emphasized that knowledge is not possible without theory, and experience alone does not
establish a theory.
6. Unlike Deming, however, Juran proposed a major cultural change in the organization, and did not take
up improving quality by working within the system familiar to managers.
7. Juran advocated the use of quality cost accounting and analysis to focus attention on quality problems.
8. Juran opposed Deming’s policy which stated that fear can bring out the best in people.
9. According to Crosby, quality is judged solely on whether requirements have been met and
nonconformance is the absence of quality.
10. Crosby’s philosophy demonstrates that quality management practices will not save, but cost money.
11. Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a quality philosopher, is best known for coining the phrase—total quality control.
12. A. V. Feigenbaum, a quality philosopher, promoted the use of quality costs as a measurement and
evaluation tool.
13. Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a quality philosopher, advocated collecting and analyzing factual data using
simple visual tools, statistical techniques, and teamwork as the foundations for implementing total
quality.
14. According to Dr. Ishikawa’s philosophy, data with dispersion information are false data.
15. According to Dr. Ishikawa’s philosophy, the ideal state of quality control occurs when inspection
becomes necessary.
16. The total quality philosophy was initially based on only one principle—customer focus.
17. One of the most important quality management techniques is basic statistics.
18. Setting simple goals and targets is one of the practices that are used for implementing leadership as a
quality management principle.
19. Variation in a production process increases capacity utilization.
20. Variation in a production process makes it easier to find the root cause of the process issues.
21. Common causes of variation in a production process are a result of the design of the product and
production system.
22. Special causes of variation in a production process arise from internal sources that are inherent in the
process.
23. A quality management system represents a specific implementation of quality concepts, standards,
methods, and tools, and is unique to an organization.
24. The core of a QMS is focused on creating the goods and services that customers want.
25. The ISO 9000:1994 series standards were intended to provide confidence to customers and other
stakeholders that quality requirements are being achieved in the delivered product.
26. The ISO 9001 requirement for audits forces an organization to review its quality system on a routine
basis.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Japanese scientists and Engineers established the Deming application prize in 1951 to recognize
companies that show a high level of achievement in:
a.
variation of production processes.
b.
human resource policies.
c.
quality practices.
d.
developing innovative products.
2. According to Deming, a product or service possesses quality if:
a.
the production process engages more workforce.
b.
the cost of the product or service exceeds its benefit.
c.
it enjoys a sustainable market.
d.
it shows variations in its production process.
3. In Deming’s view, _____is the chief culprit of poor quality.
a.
concurrent engineering
b.
variation
c.
agility of the production process
d.
low level of tolerance in manufacturing
4. The _____ theory states that improvements in quality lead to lower costs because they result in less
rework, fewer mistakes, fewer delays and snags, and better use of time and materials. Lower costs, in
turn, lead to productivity improvements.
a.
Quincunx
b.
Basic Elements of Improvement
c.
Absolutes of Quality Management
d.
Deming Chain Reaction
5. According to point one of Deming’s 14 points for quality improvement, the responsibility of
improving a firm’s competitive position lies with ______.
a.
top management
b.
suppliers
c.
middle management
d.
employees
6. A company and the people in the company need to continually renew themselves to take in new
approaches and relearn many older ones. This is called _____.
a.
organizational designing
b.
organizational learning
c.
organizational structuring
d.
organizational engineering
7. Deming synthesized the underlying foundations of the 14 Points of improving quality into four simple
elements which are called:
a.
basic elements of improvement.
b.
a system of profound knowledge.
c.
the four steps to total quality control.
d.
absolutes of quality management.
8. Which of the following is one of the four elements of Deming’s system of profound knowledge?
a.
Quality leadership
b.
Suboptimization
c.
Understanding variation
d.
Modern quality technology
9. A _____ is a set of functions or activities within an organization that work together for the aim of the
organization.
a.
quincunx
b.
schema
c.
hidden factory
d.
system
10. Which of the following terms refers to a device that illustrates a natural process of variation?
a.
Hidden factory
b.
Six sigma
c.
Quincunx
d.
Balanced scorecard
11. According to Peter Scholtes, a noted consultant, when people don’t understand systems:
a.
they try to resist the process of change.
b.
they are less likely to distinguish between fact and opinion.
c.
they see the symptoms but not the deep causes of problems.
d.
they don’t see events as individual incidents but assume it to be the combined result of
several independent forces.
12. According to Peter Scholtes, a noted consultant, when people don’t understand variation:
a.
they see trends where there are none.
b.
they are more likely to distinguish between fact and opinion.
c.
they know when expectations are realistic.
d.
they don’t see events as individual incidents.
13. Which of the following is the difference between Deming’s and Juran’s quality philosophy?
a.
Juran made top management commitment an absolute necessity.
b.
Juran sought to improve quality by working within the system familiar to managers.
c.
Juran demonstrated that quality management practices will save, not cost money.
d.
Juran viewed quality as imperative in the future competitiveness in global markets.
14. In Juran’s quality trilogy, the process of preparing to meet quality goals is called:
a.
quality leadership.
b.
quality control.
c.
quality improvement.
d.
quality planning.
15. In Juran’s quality trilogy, the process of meeting quality goals during operations is called:
a.
quality control.
b.
quality planning.
c.
quality leadership.
d.
quality improvement.
16. In Juran’s quality trilogy, the process of breaking through to unprecedented levels of performance is
called:
a.
quality improvement.
b.
quality control.
c.
quality planning.
d.
quality leadership.
17. In accordance with Juran’s breakthrough sequence, the path from problem to solution consists of two
journey’s and out of these two journeys, the one from symptom to cause is called:
a.
remedial journey.
b.
diagnostic journey.
c.
continuous improvement.
d.
breakthrough improvement.
18. According to _____, the only performance measurement is the cost of quality, which is the expense of
nonconformance and the only performance standard is “Zero Defects (ZD). ”
a.
Ishikawa
b.
Juran
c.
Deming
d.
Crosby
19. The essence of Crosby’s quality philosophy is embodied in what he calls the:
a.
absolutes of quality management.
b.
the breakthrough sequence.
c.
quality trilogy.
d.
Deming chain reaction theory.
20. Which of the following points about Crosby’s absolutes of quality management is true?
a.
Doing jobs right the first time is expensive.
b.
Quality means conformance to elegance, not requirements.
c.
The only performance measurement is the cost of quality.
d.
The burden of responsibility for solving quality problems falls only on the quality
department.
21. According to Crosby, _____ is a performance standard which involves concentrating on preventing
defects rather than just finding a fixing them.
a.
zero defects
b.
continuous improvement
c.
Baldrige criteria
d.
breakthrough improvement
22. Which of the following was one of Crosby’s basic elements of improvement?
a.
Agility
b.
Variation
c.
Implementation
d.
Suboptimization
23. Which one of the following Crosby’s basic elements of improvement means that the top management
must take quality improvement seriously?
a.
Determination
b.
Variation
c.
Implementation
d.
Suboptimization
24. Feigenbaum defined the term _____ as an effective system for integrating the quality development,
quality maintenance, and quality improvement efforts of the various groups in an organization so as to
enable production and service at the most economical levels which allow full customer satisfaction.
a.
absolutes of quality management
b.
basic elements of improvement
c.
quality trilogy
d.
total quality control
25. Feigenbaum popularized the term _____, which described the portion of plant capacity wasted due to
poor quality.
a.
exponential distribution
b.
hidden factory
c.
quincunx
d.
quality trilogy
26. Which of the following is one of the key elements of Dr. Ishikawa’s quality philosophy?
a.
Data with dispersion information are false data.
b.
Personnel management is the entrance and exit of quality.
c.
Remove the symptoms, not the root cause.
d.
Quality begins with education and ends with education.
27. Who among the following influenced the development of a participative, bottom-up view of quality,
which became the trademark of the Japanese approach to quality management?
a.
Joseph Juran
b.
A.V.Feigenbaum
c.
Kaoru Ishikawa
d.
Philip.B.Crosby
28. Dr. Ishikawa is best known for developing a popular quality improvement tool called _____.
a.
u-chart
b.
process capability index
c.
histogram
d.
cause-and-effect diagram
29. According to the characterization of total quality by James W. Dean, Jr. and David E. Bowen, _____
are considered the foundation of the quality philosophy.
a.
practices
b.
techniques
c.
principles
d.
variations
30. Which of the following principles supports statistical thinking, a philosophy of learning and action?
a.
Variations make it easy to understand root causes in a production process issue.
b.
Understanding and increasing variation are keys to success.
c.
Variation exists in all processes.
d.
All work occurs in a system of independent processes.
31. _____ are a result of the design of the product and production system and generally
account for about 80 to 95 percent of the observed variation in the output of a production
process.
a.
Remedial causes of variation
b.
Common causes of variation
c.
Assignable causes of variation
d.
Special causes of variation
32. The purpose of Deming’s _____ experiment is to show that people can and do affect the outcomes of
many processes and create unwanted variation by “tampering” with the process, or indiscriminately
trying to remove common causes of variation.
a.
red beads
b.
hidden factory
c.
quincunx
d.
funnel
33. With regard to quality management systems, _____ is a formal document that demonstrates a
commitment to achieving high quality and meeting customer expectations.
a.
quality policy
b.
quality memorandum
c.
quality trilogy
d.
quality minute book
34. With regard to quality management systems, a ______ serves as a permanent reference for
implementing and maintaining the system.
a.
quality minute book
b.
quality manual
c.
quality policy
d.
quality trilogy
ESSAY
1. The first point in Deming’s 14 points for improving quality is “Create a vision and demonstrate
commitment”. Explain this point.
ANS:
2. What is a quincunx?
3. List the steps taken by Japanese organizations as a result of Juran’s leadership.
ANS:
4. Describe the similarities in the quality improvement philosophies of Deming, Juran, and Crosby.
5. Describe the three steps to quality which summarize Feigenbaum’s quality philosophy.
CASE
1. Who among the following defined the concept of a luxury hotel in the 1890’s
a. Dr. W. Edwards Deming
b. Philip Crosby
c. Caesar Ritz
d. Joseph Juran
2. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC is known around the world for its:
a. increased turnover rate of front desk employees.
b. variation in the service process.
c. strict supervision and autocratic style of leadership.
d. exceptional service and attention to its guests.
3. Which of the following companies became the first hospitality organization to receive the Malcolm
Baldrige award?
a. Hawthorn suites
b. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC
c. America’s Best Value Inn
d. Biltmore hotels
4. Which of the following is the motto of Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC?
a. We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.
b. Have it your way, we serve it your way.
c. We love to see you smile.
d. We never forget you have a choice.
5. Briefly describe Ritz-Carlton’s recruiting process.
6. How are workers empowered to satisfy customers at the Ritz-Carlton?
7. The Ritz-Carlton’s three steps of service, motto, employee promise, credo, and service values are
collectively called the:
a. Open Standards.
b. Gold Standards.
c. Standards of Care.
d. Carlton Trilogy.
8. List the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s three steps of service.
9. At the Ritz-Carton, each production and support process is assigned a(n) _____ at the corporate office
who is responsible for the development and improvement of these processes.
a. technical owner
b. working owner
c. global owner
d. executive owner
10. At the Ritz-Carlton hotel, the _____, a handbook for employees, describes a nine-step quality
improvement process to guide the design, control, and improvement of all processes, and is
emphasized during new employee training and continual development.
a. PinkBook
b. GreenBook
c. Trilogy Book
d. Minute Book
11. By the end of 2002, all of the 32 carry in service centers of sears, Roebuck and Co., were registered to
_____.
a. ISO 9407
b. ISO 9141
c. ISO 9001
d. ISO 9126
12. What was the major hurdle faced by Sears during the implementation of ISO 9001?
13. Give an example to show that ISO 9001 became a fundamental tool that provides Sears a safe base for
continued improvements.
14. Give an example to show that the ISO 9001 implementation has helped Sears’ efficiency in completing
repairs.
15. With regard to Quality Management System, define recall rate. Explain with an example how the
technician recall rate has improved at Sears’ because of the quality management system.