Chapter 02 - Ensuring Quality and Productivity
Chapter 02
Ensuring Quality and Productivity
Multiple Choice Questions
1.The amount of results (output) an organization gets for a given amount of inputs is defined as:
A.productivity.
B.the same as idle time.
C.detour behavior.
D.overhead.
2.The product's primary operating characteristic, such as an automobile's acceleration or the picture clarity of a television set explains which dimension of quality?
A.Aesthetics
B.Reliability
C.Durability
D.Performance
3.In terms of the dimensions of quality, which of the following explains reliability?
A.Supplements to the product's basic operating characteristics.
B.The probability that the product will function properly and not break down during a specified period.
C.The speed and ease of repairing the product.
D.The degree to which the product's design and operating characteristics meet established standards.
4.Poor quality work can lead to all of the following except:
A.customers looking for alternatives.
B.organization developing a negative image.
C.low costs.
D.organization having a harder time recruiting superior employees.
5.Quality control is defined as:
A.a company's efforts to prevent or correct defects in its goods or services or to improve them in some way.
B.a team of employees who plan ways to improve quality.
C.the same as a "benchmark."
D.the degree of excellence or superiority that an organization's product possesses.
6.Process control has been defined as:
A.when a company considers how to do things in a way that leads to better quality.
B.the prevention and the detection of quality problems.
C.when a company considers how to improve its product.
D.the act of looking for defects using a sampling technique.
7.What is statistical quality control?
A.The use statistics to monitor production quality on an ongoing basis.
B.Focusing the whole organization on continuously improving every business process so it satisfies customers.
C.Looking for defects in parts, finished goods, or other outcomes selected through a sampling technique.
D.It is based on the view that everyone in the organization should work toward delivering such high quality that all aspects of the organization's goods are free of problems.
8.An operator who periodically measures some aspect of ongoing production and plots the results on a control chart is using:
A.statistical quality control.
B.statistical process control.
C.statistical analysis.
D.benchmarking.
9.Zero-defects approach is defined as:
A.the prevention or correction of statistical errors.
B.the quality control technique where an organization should work toward making its products and services free of problems.
C.the quality control technique that emphasizes how to do things in a way that leads to better quality.
D.identification of the top performer of a process and imitating that performance.
10.As the supervisor of an airplane brake installation company, you want to discuss the importance of proper autopilot installation, especially since the rework ratio has increased dramatically. You invite the union representative and five of your employees to discuss this problem. You are practicing the concept of:
A.employee involvement teams.
B.covering yourself.
C.team effort.
D.communications within the department.
11.In a typical process, which would be the first step the members of an employee involvement team might take?
A.Select the problems to focus on first.
B.Identify quality problems related to the employees' areas of responsibility.
C.Analyze the problem to identify its causes.
D.Identify possible solutions and select one to recommend to management.
12.Employee involvement teams are most successful when:
A.they have support from supervisors and higher-level managers.
B.supervisors apply the principles of problem solving.
C.all group members are eager to participate.
D.supervisors apply the guidelines for supervising groups.
13.A process-oriented quality control method designed to reduce errors to 99.9997 percent perfect is called:
A.the Baldrige Award.
B.ISO 9000.
C.benchmarking.
D.Six Sigma.
14.The objective of total quality management (TQM) is to:
A.meet or exceed customer expectations.
B.make money for the company and the employees.
C.be implemented all at once.
D.identify the top performer of a process and then learn and carry out the top performer's practices.
15.Joseph M. Juran taught quality concepts to the Japanese, and he said that management should seek to maintain and improve quality through two missions. One of those missions was to:
A.have only one department maintain and improve high quality.
B.promote the Deming Prize.
C.have only the most productive departments in the company achieve high quality.
D.have the entire organization maintain and improve high quality.
16.Nikki, a supervisor in the local telephone company was swamped with work. She had schedules to write, reports to prepare, and performance evaluations to give. Even though she knew everyone was to attend the new total quality management (TQM) training seminars, she decided to skip them. She is violating this TQM phrase:
A."Quality only happens when people start caring."
B."It's a business philosophy."
C."Walking the talk."
D."It is a tool, like a computer."
17.Jolene manages a division of a toy manufacturing company making purple dinosaurs. This toy manufacturer measures divisional quality performance in several different categories, such as leadership, strategic planning, process management, and so forth. This company is using which guideline to measure quality improvement?
A.Process control
B.ISO 9000
C.The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
D.Benchmarking
18.A series of standards adopted by the International Organization of Standardization, which spelled out acceptable criteria for quality systems, is called:
A.ISO 9000.
B.process control.
C.The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
D.benchmarking.
19.Joanne manages a supermarket that had such high retail sales for the year that the company president decided to use her store as the "premier store" for comparisons, not only in terms of gross sales, but also for efficiency in all areas of operations. The company president is practicing which guideline in measuring quality improvement?
A.Process control
B.Benchmarking
C.The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
D.ISO 9000
20.Identifying the top performer of a process, then learning and carrying out the top performer's practices is called:
A.diversity training.
B.quality performance.
C.total quality management.
D.benchmarking.
21.At Pop-Right Popcorn Company, employees became frustrated when the company continued accepting corn with moisture levels of up to 23 percent when only 17 percent was acceptable. This violates which guideline in quality control?
A.Emphasize prevention
B.Insist on quality from suppliers
C.Set and enforce variances
D.Reward high-quality performance
22.At State National Bank, newly hired loan collectors are teamed with an experienced, loan collector who takes them out on collection calls. In addition to "how to collect on loans," newly-hired loan collectors are taught how "not to collect on loans." These procedures teach new loan collectors the importance of collecting on loans without jeopardizing the image of the bank and are an example of which type of guideline in quality control?
A.Emphasize prevention
B.Insist on quality from suppliers
C.Set and enforce standards
D.Reward high-quality performance
23.The most important way supervisors can overcome the productivity constraint of management limitations is to:
A.collaborate with the labor union.
B.set a good example.
C.follow government regulations.
D.help employees overcome resistance to change.
24.Culture shock is defined as:
A.the set of physical and emotional discomforts people tend to experience when they move from one cultural environment to another.
B.a state of mind that occurs when people find themselves immersed in a different but familiar culture.
C.a state of mind that occurs when people find themselves immersed in the same culture they live in now.
D.ways of postponing or avoiding work.
25.Seth, the U.S. production manager of an international corporation, was transferred to their France facility. In France, he soon found that others did not respond to his behavior in expected ways and that he no longer knew how he was expected to behave. He is suffering from:
A.relocation trauma.
B.culture shock.
C.downtime.
D.second thoughts about the transfer.
26.Which of the following statements about union rules is false?
A.If an organization explains how everyone will benefit from changes, the union may agree to revise the contract, especially if the alternative is employee layoffs.
B.Supervisors must do their best to get work done as efficiently as possible under the existing work rules.
C.Even though a supervisor can propose changes, it is not part of a supervisor's job to remove these constraints.
D.When employers and unions collaborate on a solution, they overcome constraints, usually in a quick and efficient manner.
27.Mary processes 96 permit applications in an eight-hour day at the secretary of state's office. If Mary earns $6 per hour, what would be her productivity measure?
A.2
B.6
C.16
D.48
28.Juan supervises a group of tax preparers specializing in corporate income taxes. He found numerous errors made by the group. He discovered that the group was receiving inadequate documentation from corporate clients. Group members were trained to learn what documentation was needed from each client. Juan was trying to improve productivity by:
A.controlling quality of work.
B.trying to keep his job.
C.controlling the clients.
D.controlling quantity of work.
29.Before a supervisor can make intelligent decisions about how to trim costs, he/she has to know where the money is going. The most important source of such information is:
A.auditor's reports.
B.earnings reports.
C.budget reports.
D.focus reports.
30.Increasing output without increasing costs makes employees:
A.happy that they were chosen to improve productivity.
B.unhappy that they are asked to work harder without additional pay.
C.understand that productivity must be increased for the good of the company.
D.want to adopt the principles of job enlargement and job enrichment.
31.A tactic used for postponing or avoiding work that results in wasted time is:
A.detour behavior.
B.idle time.
C.downtime.
D.uptime.
32.A supervisor can take all of the following steps to regulate departmental work flow except:
A.if the work flow must remain even, a supervisor may find that the best course is to use temporary employees during peak periods.
B.a supervisor should first make sure that adequate planning has been done for the work required.
C.a supervisor may find it helpful to work with his/her manager and peers.
D.a supervisor may find it helpful to form teams of employees to examine and solve work-flow problems.
33.Gates, a full-time student, is faced with a computer purchase decision. The cost of a new personal computer is $2,000 and Gates estimates that he would save $400 per year by paying someone else to have his term papers typewritten. The payback period for this decision is
A..20 or 20 percent of a year.
B.five years.
C.$800,000 in 10 years.
D.unable to be calculated, based on the information given.
34.When layoffs occur, the people who are left behind:
A.want to increase their productivity because they are so glad to still have their jobs.
B.do not mind receiving less pay to save their jobs.
C.often struggle to keep up with the work that still has to be done.
D.quit their jobs and work elsewhere.
35.When supervisors are asked questions about productivity improvements, and the supervisor cannot answer all the questions, he/she should:
A.make up the answers he/she does not know.
B.promise to get answers but do not and hope the employees will forget they asked.
C.promise to get answers and do so.
D.try to answer as many as possible and forget the rest.
True / False Questions
36.Productivity is outputs divided by inputs.
TrueFalse
37.One of the dimensions of quality is the serviceability of the product.
TrueFalse
38.Attracting new customers costs less than keeping existing customers satisfied.
TrueFalse
39.Two types of quality control are reliability and durability.
TrueFalse
40.Supervisors need to remember that the quality control technique itself will not guarantee high quality.
TrueFalse
41.Statistical quality control is quality control that focuses on ways to improve the product itself.
TrueFalse
42.In implementing a zero-defects approach, only top managers seek to build quality into every part of their work.
TrueFalse
43.Teams of employees who plan ways to improve quality in their area of the organization are known as employee involvement teams.
TrueFalse
44.In a typical employee involvement team, the process includes a step to select which problems to focus on first.
TrueFalse
45.Six Sigma is defined as an organization-wide focus on satisfying customers by continuously improving every business process for delivering goods or services.
TrueFalse
46.Focusing on improving the processes used for delivering goods and services, rather than on the products themselves, is a strategy for implementing TQM.
TrueFalse
47.A company may seek ISO 9000 certification because a nation may require it before the company can do business in that nation.
TrueFalse
48.Benchmarking is a process-oriented quality control method designed to reduce errors to 99.9997 percent perfect.
TrueFalse
49.Quality improvement should be directed toward delivering greater customer value.
TrueFalse
50.Building on the benefits of diversity is one guideline for quality control.
TrueFalse
51.Standards of quality control should be written, measurable, clear, specific, and challenging, but achievable.
TrueFalse
52.The amount of goods and services produced by the average U.S. worker is the same as that of most other industrialized nations.
TrueFalse
53.Operative employees will contribute to improve productivity regardless of how committed management is to this objective.
TrueFalse
54.To overcome the productivity constraint of employee attitudes and skills, supervisors should set a good example.
TrueFalse
55.Improving productivity can involve changing employee attitudes and skills.
TrueFalse
56.The use of building codes and setting minimum safety standards are examples of government regulations.
TrueFalse
57.Overcoming union rules is an easy task, because union contracts do not specify what tasks particular employees may do, what hours they may work, and how organizations may use employees.
TrueFalse
58.Protection of public safety is an input of a police force.
TrueFalse
59.To increase productivity, a supervisor needs to either increase outputs or reduce inputs, but not both.
TrueFalse
60.The process of gathering information about costs and working with employees to identify needed improvements is part of a supervisor's planning function.
TrueFalse
61.One way to increase productivity is to increase output without boosting costs.
TrueFalse
62.Keiretsu is a process in which teams map the details of each work process, looking for ways to eliminate waste.
TrueFalse
63.Waste seldom occurs in business operations.
TrueFalse
64.Idle time refers to the tactics for postponing or avoiding work.
TrueFalse
65.When work levels are low, the result is uptime.
TrueFalse
66.Lack of motivation is often the problem underlying time lost to tardiness and absenteeism.
TrueFalse
67.Absenteeism may be the first step to leaving the company.
TrueFalse
68.When managers start talking about productivity improvements, employees react with excitement.
TrueFalse
69.Employees are fearful of productivity improvements due to possible layoffs.
TrueFalse
70.When a supervisor gives information about productivity improvement, employees should have an opportunity to ask questions.
TrueFalse
Essay Questions
71.Describe some of the consequences suffered by organizations, due to poor-quality work.
72.Compare and contrast product quality control and process control.
73.Compare and contrast the zero-defects approach to total quality management (TQM).
74.Define "value" and describe how a full-service commercial bank could improve customer value.
75.List any two productivity constraints and then describe how these constraints limit supervisors and managers.
76.Define culture shock and describe how supervisors can overcome it.
77.You are the supervisor of two employees who process loan applications. Employee 1 can process 36 applications in a six-hour day, whereas Employee 2 can process 40 applications in an eight-hour day. Calculate their productivity in terms of applications processed per hour. Which employee is more productive and why?
78.Productivity can be improved by two methods, of which cutting costs is one. What is the other? Develop your own example of the second method.
79.Identify and describe three of the eight cost-control strategies in the chapter. How can the supervisor use the three strategies you chose?
80.Why do employees fear productivity improvements?
Chapter 02 Ensuring Quality and Productivity Answer Key
Multiple Choice Questions
1.(p.32)The amount of results (output) an organization gets for a given amount of inputs is defined as:
A.productivity.
B.the same as idle time.
C.detour behavior.
D.overhead.
Difficulty: Easy
2.(p.32)The product's primary operating characteristic, such as an automobile's acceleration or the picture clarity of a television set explains which dimension of quality?
A.Aesthetics
B.Reliability
C.Durability
D.Performance
Difficulty: Easy
3.(p.32)In terms of the dimensions of quality, which of the following explains reliability?
A.Supplements to the product's basic operating characteristics.
B.The probability that the product will function properly and not break down during a specified period.
C.The speed and ease of repairing the product.
D.The degree to which the product's design and operating characteristics meet established standards.
Difficulty: Easy
4.(p.33)Poor quality work can lead to all of the following except:
A.customers looking for alternatives.
B.organization developing a negative image.
C.low costs.
D.organization having a harder time recruiting superior employees.
Difficulty: Easy
5.(p.34)Quality control is defined as:
A.a company's efforts to prevent or correct defects in its goods or services or to improve them in some way.
B.a team of employees who plan ways to improve quality.
C.the same as a "benchmark."
D.the degree of excellence or superiority that an organization's product possesses.
Difficulty: Easy
6.(p.35)Process control has been defined as:
A.when a company considers how to do things in a way that leads to better quality.
B.the prevention and the detection of quality problems.
C.when a company considers how to improve its product.
D.the act of looking for defects using a sampling technique.