Deck 6: Managing Quality

Question 1

Xanadu Inc. decided to increase the training received by new employees. The expense of this training is an example of which of the following costs of quality:

A)Appraisal costs
B)External failure costs
C)Internal failure costs
D)Prevention costs
E)Quality control costs

Answer 1

Prevention costs

Question 2

ISO 9000 defines a set of internationally accepted standards for:

A)Product quality.
B)Quality control.
C)Operations management quality.
D)Business quality management.

Answer 2

Business quality management.

Question 3

Sanford Corp. bought new technological systems to inspect the quality of products as they come off the production line. The expense of operating these systems would be an example of which of the following types of quality-related costs?

A)Internal failure cost
B)Appraisal cost
C)External failure cost
D)Prevention cost

Answer 3

Appraisal cost

Question 4

At the heart of the Six Sigma program is a five-step process called D-M-A-I-C. These letters denote a major activity that must be completed to achieve the objectives of Six Sigma. These activities are:

A)Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control.
B)Define, Measure, Analyze, Inquire, and Compare.
C)Define, Measure, Analyze, Involve, and Cost.
D)Define, Measure Analyze, Improve, and Compare.

Question 5

What decisions do supply managers make that potentially impact quality?

A)Design of manufacturing and service processes
B)Design of contracts and associated incentives and penalties
C)Design of packaging
D)Design of product prototyping procedures

Question 6

Variability as the source of most quality problems was a major contribution of which quality management thought leader?

A)Juran
B)Imai
C)Crosby
D)Deming

Question 7

In its promotional material for bed linens, Scarsdale Corporation states that all sheets and pillowcases sold to customers should have and actually do have a thread count of exactly 600 threads per inch. Scarsdale is apparently emphasizing:

A)Design quality.
B)Conformance quality.
C)Product quality.
D)Reliability.
E)Total quality management.

Question 8

Phil Bord is a CEO for a large auto manufacturer and is interested in improving the product quality. Phil had overheard his friend mention Six Sigma. Considering that Phil has no idea what Six Sigma is, what are some key points to help Phil out?

A)Six sigma quality means that he would have exactly half as many quality defects as he would have with three sigma quality.
B)To achieve truly world-class quality and performance, we need to focus on individual employee job functions.
C)Six sigma quality is the result of a well-defined and structured process.
D)All of these.

Question 9

If a tangible good or service performs the promised function dependably, we say that it has high:

A)Conformance.
B)Durability.
C)Reliability.
D)Perceived quality.

Question 10

If a product includes features that customers care most about, we would say that it has high:

A)Conformance quality.
B)Design quality.
C)Reliability.
D)Aesthetics.

Question 11

The TQM view of organizational structure states that

A)Employees must support management decisions.
B)Management must support employees.
C)Customers want quality products.
D)Middle management must support and enforce top management decisions.

Question 12

Why is product quality sometimes poorly defined in a firm?

A)Managers do not know how to measure customer service.
B)Holistic measures of quality are difficult to develop.
C)Managers in different functional areas tend to emphasize different dimensions of quality.
D)Both B and C are correct.

Question 13

"Zero defects" is a concept of quality management of which thought leader?

A)Deming
B)Juran
C)Crosby
D)Imai

Question 14

Which is the most important category (as evaluated in terms of weightings used by the outside assessors) of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program?

A)Leadership
B)Strategic Quality Planning
C)Management of Process Quality
D)None of these is the most important for the award.

Question 15

Which of the following statements is false?

A)Quality dimensions are easy to measure for tangible goods, while they are difficult to measure for services.
B)Dimensions of service quality are similar to the dimensions of quality for tangible goods.
C)Some firms still have a poor understanding of quality and quality management.
D)All of these are false.

Question 16

Stu Johnson, CEO of Johnson, Inc., attended a seminar on Total Quality Management. Which of the following is NOT something he is likely to have learned at that seminar?

A)Some aspects of quality are difficult to measure because they depend on customers' judgments.
B)Quality is primarily the responsibility of operations management.
C)Quality results from design as well as operations and delivery.
D)Cross-functional teams are important in TQM decision making.
E)He is likely to have learned all of these things.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT a core value of TQM?

A)Prevention is better than inspection.
B)Problem solving should occur at the lowest organizational levels possible.
C)Quality assurance managers should have the most power in the organization.
D)Product quality should be viewed holistically.

Question 18

All of the following represent external failure cost EXCEPT the cost of:

A)Scrapping defective raw material.
B)Repairing items covered by warranty.
C)Replacing defective items found by customers.
D)Loss of goodwill and reputation.

Question 19

Which of the following statements that might be made by a business executive best expresses the overall philosophy of Total Quality Management?

A)"We've achieved Six Sigma. That's good enough."
B)"There's always room for improvement."
C)"The workers need to work harder to prevent quality problems."
D)"We never sell defective products to customers."

Question 20

"Quality at the source" suggests quality should be:

A)Built into the product.
B)Inspected at multiple points.
C)Ensured by the quality control lab.
D)An inspector's function.

Question 21

An application of the DMAIC process to product design is known as:

A)Design for Six Sigma.
B)Design for Quality.
C)Quality Function Deployment.
D)None of these answers are correct.

Question 22

Maxmo Corporation identified the following costs for the most recent fiscal year: Vendor evaluation = $20,000
Design engineering = $100,000
Scrap = $15,000
Training = $30,000
Warranty = $40,000
What was Maxmo's total prevention cost for the year?

A)$205,000
B)$85,000
C)$55,000
D)$150,000

Question 23

The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is best defined as:

A)A rigorous procedure for strategic planning.
B)A method used to guide problem identification and solution.
C)A method first proposed by Joseph Juran.
D)All of these statements apply to the definition.

Question 24

If a company spends more on prevention, what would be the expected impact on other costs of quality?

A)Appraisal costs will go up.
B)Failure costs will go down.
C)Failure costs will go up.
D)Other costs will be unaffected.

Question 25

The initial focus of the DMAIC process is on:

A)Process variability.
B)Cost.
C)Critical-to-quality characteristics.
D)Problem solving.

Question 26

The types of costs included in a cost of quality analysis include:

A)Production, delivery, and marketing.
B)Internal and external.
C)Direct and indirect.
D)Prevention, appraisal, and failure.

Question 27

A process with Six Sigma quality is expected to produce how many defects?

A)3.4 defects per million opportunities
B)6 defects per million opportunities
C)66,807 defects per million opportunities
D)Zero defects

Question 28

XYZ distribution center receives 1,000 deliveries each day. Arrivals are on time if they are within plus or minus 10 minutes of the targeted arrival. In order to have only 3.4 late or early arrivals per million deliveries, what would the standard deviation of arrival times need to be?

A)3.33 minutes
B)0.83 minutes
C)1.67 minutes
D)6.67 minutes

Question 29

Implementation of a Six Sigma program typically involves:

A)Applying for the Malcolm Baldrige Award.
B)Setting up training at various levels including green belt and black belt training.
C)A cost of quality analysis.
D)None of these are usually involved in implementing Six Sigma.

Question 30

The managers of a production line that fills cereal boxes would like to reach a Six Sigma level of quality in terms of product weight. The desired range of output extends from 10 to 16 ounces. In order to reach Six Sigma quality, what would the maximum standard deviation of output need to be?

A)1 ounce
B)2 ounces
C)0.5 ounces
D)Not enough information is given to answer the question.