CHAPTER 6: MANAGING QUALITY

TRUE/FALSE
1.

Productivity usually increases at the expense of quality.

False (Quality and strategy, moderate)

2.

Improving quality generally reduces costs.

True (Quality and strategy, moderate)

3.

An improvement in quality increases costs.

False (Quality and strategy, moderate)

4.

Quality can be used to differentiate products.

True (Quality and strategy, moderate)

5.

For most, if not all organizations, quality is a tactical rather than a strategic issue.
False (Quality and strategy, moderate)

6.

Production managers generally use a user-based definition of quality.

False (Defining quality, moderate)

7.

The definition of quality adopted by The American Society for Quality Control is a customeroriented definition.
True (Defining quality, moderate)

8.

Conforming to standards is the focus of the product-based definition of quality.

False (Defining quality, moderate)

9.

Internal failure costs are associated with evaluating products.

False (Defining quality, moderate)

10.

Prevention costs are associated with reducing the potential for defective parts or services.
True (Defining quality, moderate)

11.

A company's reputation can be impacted by its quality.

True (Defining quality, moderate)

12.

External costs are relatively easy to measure.

False (Defining quality, moderate)

13.

The ISO 9000 series standards say nothing about the actual quality of the product.
True (International quality standards, moderate)

14.

The December 2000 revision of ISO 9001 places more emphasis on customer requirements and
satisfaction.
True (International quality standards, moderate)

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15.

ISO 14000's primary focus is with environmental management standards.

True (International quality standards, moderate)

16.

Quality is mostly the business of the quality control staff, not ordinary employees.
False (Total quality management, moderate)

17.

TQM is important because quality influences all of the ten decisions made by operations managers.
True (Total quality management, moderate)

18.

Operations is concerned with TQM, but accounting need not be.

False (Total quality management, moderate)

19.

Six sigma refers to a TQM program with extremely high process capability.
True (Total quality management, moderate)

20.

Continuous improvement is based on the philosophy that any aspect of an organization can be
improved.
True (Total quality management, moderate)

21.

Kaizen is the Japanese word for the ongoing process of incremental improvements.
True (Total quality management, moderate)

22.

Kaizen is similar to TQM in that both are focused on continuous improvement.

True (Total quality management, moderate)

23.

Generally, the employees producing the product or providing the service are to blame for quality
problems.
False (Total quality management, moderate)

24.

The business literature suggest that approximately 85% of quality problems have to do with
material and processes.
True (Total quality management, moderate)

25.

The Japanese use the term "poka-yoke" to refer to continuous improvement.

False (Total quality management, moderate)

26.

Quality circles have not been shown to be cost effective.

False (Total quality management, moderate)

27.

Quality circles empower employees to improve productivity by finding solutions to work-related

problems in their work area.
True (Total quality management, moderate)

28.

Benchmarks are relevant only when the companies you compare yourself with are in the same
industry as your organization.
False (Total quality management, moderate)

29.

Just-in-time (JIT) is unrelated to quality.

False (Total quality management, easy)

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30.

Line employees need the knowledge of TQM tools.

True (Total quality management, easy)

31.

Target-oriented quality is a philosophy of continuous improvement to bring the product exactly on

target.
True (Total quality management, easy)

32.

The quality loss function indicates that costs related to poor quality are low as long as the product
is within acceptable specification limits.
False (Total quality management, moderate)

33.

The essence of Pareto's rule is that 80% of the causes are responsible for 20% of the problems.
False (Tools of TQM, moderate)

34.

Pareto charts are a graphical way of identifying the few critical items from the many less important
ones.
True (Tools of TQM, moderate)

35.

A fish-bone chart is also known as an Ishikawa diagram.

True (Tools of TQM, easy)

36.

A cause-and-effect diagram helps identify the source of a problem.

True (Tools of TQM, moderate)

37.

As long as sample measurements fall within the control limits, the process is in control.
False (Tools of TQM, moderate)

38.

Use of "poka-yoke" should lead to use of fewer inspection points.

True (The role of inspection, moderate)

39.

When and where to inspect depends upon the type of product involved.
True (The role of inspection, moderate)

40.

Quality characteristics can only be measured as attributes.

False (The role of inspection, moderate)

41.

Source inspection is inferior to inspection before costly operations.

False (The role of inspection, moderate)

42.

Customer expectation is the standard against which the service is judged.

True (TQM in services, moderate)

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MULTIPLE CHOICE
43.

"Quality is defined by the customer" is

a. an unrealistic definition of quality
b. a user-based definition of quality
c. a manufacturing-based definition of quality
d. a product-based definition of quality
e. the definition proposed by the American Society for Quality Control
b (Defining quality, moderate)

44.

Which of the following is not one of the major categories of costs associated with quality?
a. prevention costs
b. appraisal costs
c. internal failures
d. external failures
e. none of the above, they are all major categories of costs associated with quality
e (Defining quality, moderate)

45.

According to the manufacturing-based definition of quality,

a. quality is the degree of excellence at an acceptable price and the control of variability at an
acceptable cost
b. quality depends on how well the product fits patterns of consumer preferences
c. even though quality cannot be defined, you know what it is
d. quality is the degree to which a specific product conforms to standards
e. quality lies in the eyes of the beholder
d (Defining quality, moderate)

46.

All of the following costs are likely to decrease as a result of better quality except
a. customer dissatisfaction costs
b. inspection costs
c. scrap costs
d. warranty and service costs
e. maintenance costs
e (Defining quality, moderate)

47.

Inspection, scrap, and repair are examples of

a. internal costs
b. external costs
c. costs of dissatisfaction
d. prevention costs
e. societal costs
a (Defining quality, moderate)

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48.

ISO 9000 seeks standardization in terms of

a. products
b. production procedures
c. suppliers' specifications
d. procedures to manage quality
e. all of the above
d (International quality standards, moderate)

49.

Which of the following is true about ISO 14000 certification?

a. It is not a prerequisite for ISO 9000 certification.
b. It deals with environmental management.
c. It offers a good systematic approach to pollution prevention.
d. One of its core elements is life-cycle assessment.
e. All of the above are true.
e (International quality standards, moderate)

50.

Which of the following is true about ISO 14000 certification?

a. It is a prerequisite for ISO 9000 certification.
b. It indicates a higher level of adherence to standards than ISO 9000.
c. It is only sought by companies exporting their goods.
d. It deals with environmental management.
e. It is of little interest to European companies.
d (International quality standards, moderate)

51.

To become ISO 9000 certified, organizations must

a. document quality procedures
b. have an onsite assessment
c. have an ongoing series of audits of their products or service
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
d (International quality standards, moderate)

52.

Total quality management emphasizes

a. the responsibility of the quality control staff to identify and solve all quality-related problems
b. a commitment to quality that goes beyond internal company issues to suppliers and customers
c. a system where strong managers are the only decision makers
d. a process where mostly statisticians get involved
e. ISO 14000 certification
b (Total quality management, moderate)

53.

A successful TQM program incorporates all of the following except

a. continuous improvement
b. employment involvement
c. benchmarking
d. centralized decision-making authority
e. none of the above, a successful TQM program incorporates all of the above
d (Total quality management, moderate)

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54.

"Kaizen" is a Japanese term meaning

a. a foolproof mechanism
b. just-in-time (JIT)
c. a fishbone diagram
d. setting standards
e. continuous improvement
e (Total quality management, moderate)

55.

Based on his 14 Points, Deming is a strong proponent of

a. inspection at the end of the production process
b. an increase in numerical quotas to boost productivity
c. looking for the cheapest supplier
d. training and knowledge
e. all of the above
d (Total quality management, moderate)

56.

The philosophy of zero defects is

a. the result of Deming's research
b. unrealistic
c. prohibitively costly
d. an ultimate goal; in practice, 1 to 2% defects is acceptable
e. consistent with the commitment to continuous improvement
e (Total quality management, moderate)

57.

Quality circles members are

a. paid according to their contribution to quality
b. external consultants designed to provide training in the use of quality tools
c. always machine operators
d. all trained to be facilitators
e. none of the above, all of the statements are false
e (Total quality management, moderate)

58.

The process of identifying other organizations that are best at some facet of your operations and
then modeling your organization after them is known as
a. continuous improvement
b. employee empowerment
c. benchmarking
d. copycatting
e. patent infringement
c (Total quality management, moderate)

59.

Costs of dissatisfaction, repair costs, and warranty costs are elements of cost in the
a. Taguchi Loss Function
b. Pareto chart
c. ISO 9000 Quality Cost Calculator
d. process chart
e. none of the above
a (Total quality management, moderate)

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60.

A quality loss function utilizes all of the following costs except

a. the cost of scrap and repair
b. the cost of customer dissatisfaction
c. inspection, warranty, and service costs
d. sales costs
e. costs to society
d (Tools of TQM, moderate)

61.

Pareto charts are used to

a. identify inspection points in a process
b. outline production schedules
c. organize errors, problems, or defects
d. show material flow
e. all of the above
c (Tools of TQM, moderate)

62.

The "four Ms" of cause-and-effect diagrams are

a. material, machinery/equipment, manpower, and methods
b. material, methods, men, and mental attitude
c. named after four quality experts
d. material, management, manpower, and motivation
e. none of the above
a (Tools of TQM, moderate)

63.

Among the tools of TQM, the tool ordinarily used to aid in understanding the sequence of events
through which a product travels is a
a. Pareto chart
b. process chart
c. check sheet
d. Taguchi map
e. poka-yoke
b (Tools of TQM, moderate)

64.

The process improvement technique that sorts the "vital few" from the "trivial many" is
a. Taguchi analysis
b. Pareto analysis
c. benchmarking
d. Deming analysis
e. Yamaguchi analysis
b (Tools of TQM, moderate)

65.

A fishbone diagram is also known as a

a. cause-and-effect diagram
b. poka-yoke diagram
c. Kaizen diagram
d. Kanban diagram
e. Taguchi diagram
a (Tools of TQM, easy)

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66.

If a sample of parts is measured and the mean of the measurements is outside the control limits, the
process is
a. in control, but not capable of producing within the established control limits
b. out of control and the process should be investigated for assignable variation
c. within the established control limits with only natural causes of variation
d. monitored closely to see if the next sample mean will also fall outside the control limits
e. none of the above
b (Tools of TQM, moderate)

67.

A quality circle holds a brainstorming session and attempts to identify the factors responsible for
flaws in a product. Which tool do you suggest they use to organize their findings?
a. Ishikawa diagram
b. Pareto chart
c. process chart
d. control charts
e. activity chart
a (Tools of TQM, moderate)

68.

When a sample measurement falls inside the control limits, it means that
a. each unit manufactured is good enough to sell
b. the process limits cannot be determined statistically
c. the process output exceeds the requirements
d. if there is no other pattern in the samples, the process is in control
e. no investigation is necessary until another sample value falls outside the control limits
d (Tools of TQM, moderate,)

69.

Which of the following is true regarding control charts?

a. Values above the upper and lower control limits indicate points out of adjustment.
b. Control charts are built so that new data can be quickly compared to past performance data.
c. Control charts graphically present data.
d. Control charts plot data over time.
e. All of the above are true.
e (Tools of TQM, moderate)

70.

The goal of inspection is to

a. detect a bad process immediately
b. add value to a product or service
c. correct deficiencies in products
d. correct system deficiencies
e. all of the above
a (The role of inspection, moderate)

71.

Which of the following is not a typical inspection point?

a. upon receipt of goods from your supplier
b. during the production process
c. before the product is shipped to the customer
d. at the supplier's plant while the supplier is producing
e. after a costly process
e (The role of inspection, moderate)

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72.

A good description of "source inspection" is inspecting

a. materials upon delivery by the supplier
b. the goods at the production facility before they reach the customer
c. the goods as soon as a problem occurs
d. goods at the supplier's plant
e. one's own work, as well as the work done at the previous work station
e (The role of inspection, moderate)

73.

"Poka-yoke" is the Japanese term for

a. card
b. foolproof
c. continuous improvement
d. fishbone diagram
e. just-in-time production
b (The role of inspections, moderate)

74.

A worker operates a shear press. She notices that the metal sheets she is cutting have curled edges.
Who should get the first "shot" at solving the problem?
a. the foreman
b. a member of the quality control department
c. the operator herself
d. an engineer
e. the employee's supervisor
c (The role of inspection, moderate)

75.

A recent consumer survey conducted for a car dealership indicates that, when buying a car,
customers are primarily concerned with the salesperson's ability to explain the car's features, the
salesperson's friendliness, and the dealer's honesty. The dealership should be especially concerned
with which dimensions of service quality?
a. communication, courtesy, and credibility
b. competence, courtesy, and security
c. competence, responsiveness, and reliability
d. communication, responsiveness, and reliability
e. understanding/knowing customer, responsiveness, and reliability
a (TQM in services, moderate)

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FILL-IN-THE-BLANK
76.

___________ costs result from production of defective parts or services before delivery to the
customer.
Internal failure (Defining quality, moderate)

77.

_______ is a set of quality standards developed by the International Standards Organization.

ISO 9000 (Defining quality, moderate)

78.

_______ is a set of environmental standards developed by the International Standards

Organization.
ISO 14000 (Defining quality, moderate)

79.

_________ is the Japanese word for the ongoing process of incremental improvement.
Kaizen (Total quality management, moderate)

80.

Enlarging employee jobs so that the added responsibility and authority is moved to the lowest level
possible in the organization is called ______________.
employee empowerment (Total quality management, moderate)

81.

_________ selects a demonstrated standard of performance that represents the very best
performance for a process or activity.
Benchmarking (Total quality management, moderate)

82.

________ is a philosophy of continuous improvement to bring the product exactly on target.

Target-oriented quality (Total quality management, moderate)

83.

________ diagrams show the relationship between two measurements.

Scatter (Tools of TQM, moderate)

84.

___________ diagrams use a schematic technique to discover possible locations of quality

problems.
Cause-and-effect (Tools of TQM, moderate)

85.

__________ are a graphical method to identify the critical few from the trivial many.
Pareto charts (Tools of TQM, moderate)

86.

__________ use symbols to analyze the movement of people or materials.

Process charts (Tools of TQM, moderate)

87.

___________ show the range of values of a measurement and the frequency with which each value
occurs.
Histograms (Tools of TQM, moderate)

88.

________ are graphical presentations of data over time that show upper and lower control limits for
processes we want to control.
Control charts (Tools of TQM, moderate)

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89.

________ is a means of ensuring that an operation is producing at the quality level expected.
Inspection (The role of inspection, moderate)

90.

A(n) _________ is a foolproof device or technique that ensures production of good units every
time.
poka-yoke (The role of inspection, moderate)

SHORT ANSWER
91.

Of the four costs of quality, which one is hardest to estimate? Explain.

The hardest to estimate are external costs, or cost that occur after delivery of defective part
or services. These costs are very hard to quantify. (Defining quality, moderate)

92.

List four ways in which quality affects a company.

Quality affects strategy through costs and market share; company's reputation, product
liability, and international implications. (Defining quality, moderate)

93.

State the ASCQ definition of quality. Of the three "flavors" or categories of quality definitions,
which type is it? Explain.
Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its
ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. This is user-based, as evidenced by the reference to
needs, not to specifications or ingredients. (Defining quality, moderate)

94.

Quality has at least three categories or types of definitions; list them. Provide a brief explanation of
each.
The three categories of quality are user-based (in the eyes of the beholder), manufacturingbased (conforming to standards), and product-based (measurable content of product).
(Defining quality, moderate)

95.

Identify four costs associated with quality.

Thefourcostsassociatedwithqualityare:prevention,appraisal,internalfailure,and
externalfailure.(Defining quality, moderate)

96.

Why is target-oriented performance better than conformance-oriented performance?

Targetorientedperformanceistobepreferredoverconformanceorientedperformance
becauseittendstoproducefewerproductsfartherfromthetarget.(Defining quality,
moderate)

97.

List the five core elements of ISO 14000.

The five core elements of ISO 14000 are environmental management, auditing, performance
evaluation, labeling, and life cycle assessment. (International quality standards, moderate)

98.

What is the focus of the ISO 9000 standards?

The focus of the standards is to establish quality management procedures through detailed
documentation, work instructions, and record keeping. These procedures say nothing about
the actual quality of the product. (International quality standards, moderate)

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99.

What are four advantages of the ISO 14000 standard?

Four advantages of ISO 14000 are positive public image and reduced exposure to liability,
good systematic approach to pollution prevention through the minimization of ecological
impact of products and activities, compliance with regulatory requirements and opportunities
for competitive advantage, and reduction in the need for multiple audits. (International
quality standards, moderate)

100. What were the basic revisions made to the ISO 9000 standards in December 2000?
They made the ISO 9000 standards more of a quality management system. They also
emphasized top management leadership, and customer requirements and satisfaction, while
documented procedures received less emphasis. (International quality standards, moderate)
101. What steps can be taken to develop benchmarks?
The steps taken to develop benchmarks are determine what to benchmark, form a
benchmarking team, identify benchmarking partners, collect and analyze benchmarking
information, and take action to match or exceed the benchmark. (Total quality management,
moderate)
102. Why is employee empowerment important to TQM programs?
Employees that deal with a system on a daily basis have a better understanding of the system
than anyone else. Consequently, they are very effective at improving the system. (Total
quality management, moderate)
103. What is a quality circle?
A quality circle is a group of employees that meet on a regular basis with a facilitator to solve
work-related problems in their work area. (Total quality management, easy)
104. Explain how just-in-time processes relate to the quality of an organization's outputs.
JIT relates to quality by cutting costs of quality, by lowering waste and scrap; by improving
quality by shortening the time between error detection and error correction; and better
quality means less inventory and better JIT system. (Total quality management, moderate)
105. What is a quality robust design?
A quality robust design is a product that is consistently built to meet customer needs in spite
of adverse conditions in the production process. (Total quality management, moderate)
106. What is target-oriented quality?
Target-oriented quality is a philosophy of continuous improvement to bring the product
exactly to its target. (Total quality management, moderate)
107. What are the major concepts of TQM?
The major concepts of total quality management are continuous improvement, employee
empowerment, benchmarking, just-in-time (JIT), knowledge of TQM tools. (Total quality
management, moderate)
108. How can a firm build a climate of continuous improvement?
Howtobuildaclimateofcontinuousimprovement:Byhavingleaderswhobelievethatevery
project,product,andprocesscanbeimprovedandareeffectiveincommunicatingthatbelief
toothersintheorganization.(Total quality management, moderate)

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109. What are the three basic concepts of the Taguchi technique?
The three basic concepts in the Taguchi method are quality robustness, quality loss factor,
and target specification. (Total quality management, moderate)
110. What is the quality loss function (QLF)?
Thequalitylossfunctionidentifiesallcostsconnectedwithpoorqualityandshowshowthese
costsincreaseastheproductmovesawayfrombeingexactlywhatthecustomerwants.(Total
quality management, moderate)
111. Explain how a Pareto chart can identify the most important causes of errors in a process.
There will generally be some causes with much higher frequencies than others. The frequency
plot will clearly show which cause has the highest frequency.
(Tools of TQM, moderate)
112. List four benefits associated with the use of process charts.
Process charts help identify the best data collection points, isolate and track the origin of
problems, identify the best place for process checks, and identify opportunities for travel
distance reduction. (Tools of TQM, moderate)
113. What are the four Ms of a cause-and-effect diagram?
The four Ms of a cause-and-effect diagram are methods, manpower, machines, and material.
(Tools of TQM, moderate)
114. State the two basic decisions associated with inspection.
The two basic decisions associated with inspection are when to inspect, and where to inspect.
(The role of inspection, moderate)
115. What are the two types of sampling? Name them; provide a brief description or example of each.
The two types of sampling are attribute sampling (present or absent); variables sampling
(measured amount). (The role of inspection, moderate)
116. What is a poka-yoke? Give an example.
A poka-yoke is a foolproof device or technique that ensures production of good units every
time. Examples will vary, but include McDonald's French fry scoop and standard sized bags
used to ensure the correct quantity, and prepackaged surgical coverings that contain exactly
the items needed for a medical procedure. (The role of inspection, moderate)

115

PROBLEMS
117. Perform a Pareto analysis on the following information:
Reason for unsatisfying stay at
hotel
Unfriendly staff
Room not clean
Room not ready at check-in
No towels at pool
No blanket for pull-out sofa
Pool water too cold
Breakfast of poor quality
Elevator too slow or not working
Took too long to register
Bill incorrect
Total

Frequency
6
2
3
33
4
3
16
23
7
3
100

Solution

100

100

80

60
50
40
33
20

23
16

116

Percent

120

118. Perform a Pareto analysis on the following information:

Reason for unsatisfying check-out at
store
Unfriendly cashier
Incorrect change
Cashier too slow
Price check
Poorly bagged merchandise
Slow receiving check approval

Frequency
27
4
9
34
2
3

Solution
Percent

100

80

100

60

40

50
34
27

20

9
0

0
Price check

Cashier too slow

Unfriendly cashier

Slow receiving check

Incorrect change

Poorly bagged mercha

119. Construct a cause-and-effect diagram showing why a student might be dissatisfied with the
cafeteria.
Solution: (Note that answers may vary considerably)

117

118