Exam 6: Managing Quality

Enlarging employee jobs so that the added responsibility and authority is moved to the lowest level possible in the organization is called ________.

Pretend that you have just come from a relative's wedding reception. It didn't turn out as well as it should have, and the bride's parents are pretty mad at how things turned out. Use the supplied template to construct a conventional cause-and-effect diagram. Identify twelve sources of defects for the issue "dissatisfied customer of wedding reception caterer." (Your dozen need not be exactly three per main cause, but should be a balanced treatment.) Categorize each cause onto a main cause. Provide brief support for each of your choices.

What steps can be taken to develop benchmarks?

The philosophy of zero defects is:

Identify two non-governmental organizations that provide guidance to businesses for reducing environmental impacts from disposal of materials to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

A refrigeration and heating company-one that installs and repairs home central air and heating systems-has asked your advice on how to analyze their service quality. They have logged customer complaints. Here's a recent sampling. Use the supplied template to construct a conventional cause-and-effect diagram. Place each of the complaints onto a main cause; justify your choice with a brief comment as necessary. 1. "I was overcharged-your labor rates are too high." 2. "The repairman left trash where he was working." 3. "You weren't here when you said you would be. You should call when you must be late." 4. "Your repairman smoked in my house." 5. "The part you installed is not as good as the factory original." 6. "Your repairman was here for over two hours, but he wasn't taking his work seriously." 7. "You didn't tighten some of the fittings properly-the system's leaking." 8. "Your estimate of repair costs was WAY off." 9. "I called you to do an annual inspection, but you've done more-work that I didn't authorize." 10. "Your mechanic is just changing parts-he doesn't have a clue what's really wrong." 11. "Your bill has only a total-I wanted to see detail billing." 12. "Your testing equipment isn't very new-are you sure you've diagnosed the problem?" 13. "One of the workmen tracked mud into my living room."

Technologies today allow consumers, communities, public interest groups, and regulators to be well informed about an organization's performance.

State the American Society for Quality's definition of quality. Of the three "flavors" or categories of quality definitions, which type is it? Explain.

Explain how to improve the triple bottom line with sustainability.

What does ISO stand for?

One study found that companies with the highest levels of quality are how many times more productive than their competitors with the lowest quality levels?

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

A customer service manager at a retail clothing store has collected numerous customer complaints from the forms they fill out on merchandise returns. To analyze trends or patterns in these returns, she has organized these complaints into a small number of sources or factors. This is most closely related to the ________ tool of TQM.

What refers to training and empowering frontline workers to solve a problem immediately?

Dow Chemical finding both profit and social benefits in canola and sunflower seeds is an example of the concept of ________.

Describe some ways in which operations managers should address employee working conditions.

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

What is the most critical phase in product life cycle assessment?

Scatter diagrams are a graphical way of identifying the few critical items from the many less important ones.

The European Union Emissions Trading System works on the ________ principle.