Q&A Hero

Q: Six sigma programs involve both __________ and __________ components. A. probabilistic; deterministic B. logistical; managerial C. statistical; probabilistic D. managerial; technical E. local; global

Q: ISO certification differs substantially from the Baldrige Award in that it: A. focuses primarily on quality teams. B. emphasizes self-appraisal. C. is an ongoing process. D. is customer-driven. E. is national rather than international.

Q: ISO certification is similar to the Baldrige Award in its emphasis on: A. statistical tools. B. self-appraisal. C. teamwork. D. outsourcing. E. services.

Q: The quality certification that deals primarily with conformance to customer requirements is ISO __________; ISO __________ is concerned primarily with the organization's effect on the environment. A. 9000; 14000 B. 24700; 9000 C. 14000; 9000 D. 9000; 24700 E. 14000; 24700

Q: When an organization comes to the realization that there are quality problems in products that are already in service, ethical approaches include: (I) divulging the information to the public at large. (II) recalling, if possible, affected products. (III) handling complaints on an individual rather than a systemic basis. A. I and III B. I and II C. II and III D. I, II, and III E. Neither I, II, nor III

Q: In addition to correcting substandard work, employees have an ethical obligation to __________ whatever led to the quality problem as well. A. prevent B. offset C. report D. standardize E. redesign

Q: ISO standards aid in transferring technology to developing countries.

Q: The expression "quality at the source" refers primarily to the practice of requiring each of our vendors to provide quality parts and materials.

Q: There is a positive link between quality and productivity.

Q: Total quality management attempts to involve everyone in an organization in the effort to achieve quality.

Q: A quality circle is a cross-functional team focused on quality.

Q: Your benchmark organization must be chosen from your industry in order for its methods to be applicable to your business.

Q: TQM expands the traditional view of quality beyond looking only at the quality of the final product or service to looking at the quality of every aspect of the process.

Q: The purpose of benchmarking is to establish a standard against which the organization's performance can be judged and to identify a model for possible improvement.

Q: A control chart is a visual representation of the various states in a process.

Q: The PDSA cycle forms the conceptual basis for continuous improvement.

Q: Zero defects requires 100 percent inspection of the final product.

Q: Suppliers are not included in quality assurance and quality improvement efforts in TQM; they should worry about their own problems.

Q: Three key philosophies in TQM are continuous improvement, involvement of everyone in the organization, and customer satisfaction.

Q: So long as quality input resources are used to make a product, we can expect quality output from the process.

Q: Continuous improvement attempts to achieve major breakthroughs in product or service quality.

Q: Firms that wish to do business with the European Community can benefit from having a quality management system that meets ISO 9000 standards.

Q: Serviceability, conformance, and reliability are dimensions of product quality.

Q: When considering service quality, convenience often is a major factor.

Q: The customer is the focal point and customer satisfaction is the driving force in quality management.

Q: Quality certification refers to a process of 100 percent inspection to catch all defective products before they leave the company; this allows every item to be certified defect free.

Q: The causes of variation in any process can be identified through the general categories of people, procedures, education, and age.

Q: Crosby's concept of "quality is free" means that it is less expensive to do it right initially than to do it over.

Q: Six sigma programs have both management and technical components.

Q: Quality at the source means returning all defects to the sourceour vendors.

Q: Juran describes quality management as a trilogy that consists of quality planning, control of quality costs, and quality improvement.

Q: Juran describes quality management as a trilogy that consists of quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement.

Q: According to Deming, it is the systems that management puts into place that are primarily responsible for poor quality, not employees.

Q: Deming stresses that workers are primarily responsible for poor quality because very often they fail to follow instructions.

Q: Modern quality management emphasizes finding and correcting mistakes before they reach the customercatching the errors before they are shipped.

Q: Cost of inspectors, testing, test equipment, and labs are examples of appraisal costs.

Q: Cost of inspectors, testing, test equipment, and labs are examples of prevention costs.

Q: Customer expectations tend to change over time, affecting their perception of service quality.

Q: The primary difference between internal failures and external failures is time and place of discovery of the failure.

Q: If the majority of service customers are satisfied, it is likely that all service customers will be satisfied.

Q: Poor quality has a positive effect on productivity because it usually takes longer to produce a good part.

Q: Convenience, reliability, and assurance are dimensions of service quality.

Q: Medical malpractice claims are an example of how poor quality can affect an organization through liability.

Q: The degree to which a product or service satisfies its intended purpose is determined by service after delivery, ease of use, design, and conformance to design.

Q: The degree to which a product or service satisfies its intended purpose is determined by design, conformance to design, cost, and reputation of the producer.

Q: The dimensions of product and service quality are too abstract to be used as parameters for product or service design.

Q: Product design choices are usually the result of inputs from accounting and human resources.

Q: Reducing the variations in our product or service is an important key to perceived quality.

Q: User instructions and follow-up services after delivery are important elements of overall product or service quality.

Q: Business organizations that achieve good quality benefit in a variety of ways, including a positive reputation for quality, increased customer loyalty, and lower production costs.

Q: In market research, a group of consumers who express their opinions about a product or service is called a steering committee.

Q: Quality of design refers to the degree to which goods and services achieve the intent of the designers based on marketing and other information.

Q: Quality of conformance refers to the degree to which goods and services conform to the intent of the designers as documented in the specifications.

Q: The Baldrige award can only be won by manufacturing organizations.

Q: High quality and low prices are both considered to be dimensions of quality.

Q: Regardless of superior quality, consumers will not pay premium prices.

Q: The dimensions of quality are important for products but are not applicable in service organizations.

Q: Recent changes to ISO guidelines stress continuous improvement regardless of how good you currently are.

Q: Because courtesy is subjective, it cannot be considered a factor in service quality.

Q: An organization achieves quality by consistently meeting its competitors' standards.

Q: Broadly defined, quality refers to the ability of a product or service to occasionally meet or exceed customer expectations.

Q: When making location decisions, nonprofit organizations differ from for-profit ones in seeking a balance between: A. profits and opportunities. B. costs and revenues. C. costs and customer service. D. growth and stability. E. stability and opportunity.

Q: When service firms such as retailers or banks make growth-spurred location decisions, typically these involve: A. finding new sources of resources to replace exhausted ones. B. adding new locations rather than expanding existing ones. C. closing down existing locations and opening new ones elsewhere. D. expanding existing locations rather than adding new ones. E. downsizing existing locations and opening new ones elsewhere.

Q: For service firms such as banks and supermarkets, location decisions are critical elements of __________ strategy. A. marketing B. pricing C. promotional D. efficiency E. effectiveness

Q: Factor rating is limited to quantitative information concerning location decisions.

Q: Technology has made communication with global operations as easy as local communication.

Q: Retail businesses generally prefer locations that are not near other retailers, as this reduces their competition.

Q: For service and retail stores, a prime factor in location analysis is customer access.

Q: Web-based, retail businesses should be located near the customer to reduce their long distance phone charges.

Q: Labor laws are an important site-related factor.

Q: Global positioning systems (GPS) use the center of gravity method to establish starting grid coordinates.

Q: For service organizations, the dominant factors in location analysis usually are market-related.

Q: A strategy that emphasizes convenience for the customers would probably select a single very large facility.

Q: An example of a regional factor in location planning is the location of our markets (either existing or potential).

Q: The first step in developing location alternatives is identifying important factors.

Q: Advanced communications has aided globalization.

Q: You cannot make a mistake by locating where labor costs are low.

Q: The fact that most types of firms are located in every section of the country suggests that in many cases, location decisions are not overly important; one location typically is as good as another.

Q: Location decisions are basically one-time decisions usually made by new organizations.

Q: Consider the following information about sites A, B, and C: For the preferred site for 20,000 units per year, what would be your cost savings compared to each of the other two sites?