BMT1150 Flashcards
Continuous improvement is essential to total Quality.
T/F
True
The TQ ideal is not to make a big splash by improving a system only to operate in the same “new and improved” manner for years to come.
T/F
True
Control is removing the causes of abnormal conditions and maintaining level performance.
T/F
True
Improvement means changing the performance to a new level.
T/F
True
To improve a process, it must be repeatable and measurable.
T/F
True
Repeatability means a process must recur over time.
T/F
True
The Kaizen stragety has been called “the single most important concept in Japanese management key to Japanese competitive success.”
T/F
True
In the Kaizen approach, financial investment is minimal, everyone participates in the process, and improvements result from the know-how and experience of workers.
T/F
True
The most important ingredient for continuous improvement is an appropriate organizational culture.
T/F
True
A kaizen event or blitz, is an intense and rapid improvement process in which a team or a department throws all of its resources into an improvement project over a short time period.
T/F
True
The PDCA stands for plan, do, check, act.
T/F
True
Deming reintroduced PDCA as PDSA for plan, do, study, act.
T/F
True
The Deming Cycle is based on the premise that improvement comes from the application of knowledge.
T/F
True
Six Sigma uses a systematic improvement approach known as DMAIC.
T/F
True
DMAIC stands for define, measure, analyze, improve, control.
T/F
True
The seven QC (quality control) tools are flowcharts, check sheets, histograms, Pareto diagrams, cause and effect diagrams, scatter diagrams, and control charts.
T/F
True
The most useful tool for identifying the causes of problems is a cause and effect diagram.
True
The cause and effect diagram is also known as a fishbone or Ishikawa diagram
True
The Ishikawa diagram is named after the Japanese quality expert who popularized the concept.
True
A cause and effect diagram is a graphical representation of an outline that presents a chain of causes and effects.
True
A flowchart is a picture of a process that shows the sequence of steps performed.
True
Check sheets are data collection forms that facilitate the interpretation of data.
True
Histograms are graphical representations of the variations in a set of data.
true
A Pareto diagram is a histogram of data analyzed from check sheets
true
Pareto analysis is a technique for prioritizing types or sources of problems.
true
In a Pareto distribution, the characteristics are ordered from largest frequency to smallest.
true
Scatter diagrams illustrate relationships between hypothesized causes and effects.
true
Control charts are the backbone of statistical process control (SPC).
true
Control charts were first proposed by Walter Shewhart in 1924.
true
Root cause analysis is an approach using statistical, quantitative or qualitative tools to identy and understand the root cause of a problem.
true
Waste is the enemy of effective processes.
true
Poor processes waste time, money, material, effort and customer goodwill.
true
A simple way to define lean is “getting more done with less”.
true
Lean involves identifying and eliminating non-value added activities throughout the entire value chain to achieve faster customer response, reduced inventories, higher quality, and better human resources.
true
Lean is facilitated by a focus on measurement and continuous improvement, cross-trained workers, flexible and increasingly automated equipment, efficient machine layout, rapid setup and changeover, just-in-time (JIT) delivery and scheduling, realistic work standards, worker empowerment to perform inspections and take creative actions, supplier partnerships, and preventive maintenance.
true
General principles of lean include: reducing handoffs, eliminating steps, performing steps in parallel rather than in sequence, and involving key people early.
true
Tools used in lean thinking include: The 5S’s, visual controls, efficient layout and standardized work, pull production, single minute exchange of dies (SMED), total productive maintenance, and source inspection.
true
The 5S’s are sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain.
true
The 5S’s are derived from Japanese terms seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke.
true
SMED refers to rapid changeover of tooling and fixtures in machine shops so that multiple products in smaller batches can be run on the same equipment.
true
Six Sigma is a useful and complementary approach to lean production.
true
Lean and Six Sigma are driven by customer requirements, focus on real dollar savings, have the ability to make significant financial impacts on the organization, and can be used in nonmanufacturing environments.
true
Differences between Lean and Six Sigma include: they attack different types of problems. Lean addresses visible problems and Six Sigma is concerned with less visible problems. Lean approaches are more intuitive and easier to apply by anybody in the workplace, whereas Six Sigma tools require advanced training and expertise.
true
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is an integrated improvement approach to improve goods and services and operations efficiency by reducing defects, variations, and waste.
true
Four key measures of performance driving services are: accuracy, cycle time, cost, and customer satisfaction.
true
Breakthrough improvement refers to discontinuous change as opposed to the gradual, continuous improvement philosophy of kaizen.
true
Breakthrough improvements result from innovative and creative thinking.
true
Breakthrough improvements are often motivated by stretch goals, or breakthrough objectives.
true
Stretch goals force an organization to think in a radically different way, and to encourage major improvements as well as incremental ones.
true
Two approaches that help companies achieve breakthrough improvement are benchmarking and reengineering.
true
Benchmarking is the search for best practices that will lead to superior performance.
true
Benchmarking helps a company learn its strengths and weaknesses.
true
Best practices refers to approaches that produce exceptional results, are usually innovative in terms of the use of technology or human resources, and are recognized by customers or industry experts.
true
Benchmarking process is to determine which functions to benchmark, indentify key performance indicators to measure, identify the best in class companies, measure the performance of the best in class companies and compare the results to your own performance, and define and take actions to meet or exceed the best performance.
true
Reengineering is also known as process redesign.
true
Reengineering is focused on breakthrough improvement to dramatically improve the quality and speed of work and to reduce its cost by fundamentally changing the processes by which work gets done.
true
Reengineering asks why do we do it and why is it done this way.
true
Two factors critical to the long-term success of reengineering initiatives are breadth and depth.
true
Creativity and innovation are fundamental to improving both products and processes and need to be understood, developed and supported within any organization.
true
Creativity is often motivated by an individual’s or group’s need to invent solutions from limited resources.
true
Innovation and creativity are important aspects of the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.
true
Mechanisms used to encourage innovation and creativity within the criteria include: nonprescriptive nature of the criteria, customer driven quality, continuouse improvement, strong emphasis on cycle time reduction, focus on future requirements of customers.
true
Because management designs the organizational systems, management is responsible for developing a climate conducive to creativity and innovation.
true
Recommendations for fostering creativity include: Remove or reduce obstacles to creativity within the organization, match jobs to individuals’ creative abilities, tolerate failures and establish direction, improve motiviation to increast productivity and solve problems creatively, enhance the self-esteem and build the confidence of organization members, improve communications to share ideas better, and place highly creative people in special jobs and provide training.
true
Fear is a creativity killer.
true
Cognitive style is the natural orientation or preferred means of problem solving.
true
People with innovative cognitive style seek and integrate diverse information, redefine posed problems and generate novel ideas.
true
People with adaptive cognitive styles tend to use data within a well-established domain, accept problems as defined, and generate ideas consistent with accepted convention.
true
A team is a group of people who work together and cooperate to share work and responsibility.
true
Types of teams are: Leadership teams, Problem-solving teams, natural work teams, self-managed teams, virtual teams, and project teams.
true
Leadership teams are often referred to as steering committees or quality councils. The lead quality initiatives in an organization and provide directions and focus.
true
Steering committess are responsible for establishing overal quality policy and for guiding the implementation and evolution of quality throughout the organization.
true
Quality improvement teams provide the leadership for quality at mid and lower levels of the organization.
true
Steering committees have the overall responsibility for the progress and success of the entire performance excellence effort.
true
Problem-solving teams work to improve quality by identifying and solving specific quality-related problems facing the organization. Also referred to as corrective action teams or quality circles.
true
Two basic types of problem solving teams are departmental and cross functional teams.
true
Natural work teams are organized to perform a complete unit of work.
true
Natural work teams replace rather than complement the traditional organization of work.
true
Self-managed teams (SMTs) are natural work teams with broad responsibilities, including the responsibility to manage themselves.
true
SMTs are empowered to take corrective action and resolve day to day problems.
true
SMTs have direct access to information that allows them to plan, control, and improve their operations.
true
Virtual teams are groups of people who work closely together despite being geographically separated.
true
Virtual teams are becoming important because of increasing globalization, flatter organizational structures, and increasing shift to knowledge work and the need to bring diverse talents and expertise to complex projects.
true
Project teams are charted to perform one-time tasks.
true
Project teams are fundamental to Six Sigma.
true
Six Sigma teams are comprised of: champions, master black belts, black belts, green belts, and team members.
true
Champions are senior-level managers who promote and lead the deployment of Six Sigma.
true
Champions work toward removing barriers (organizational, financial, personal) that might inhibit the successful implementation of a Six Sigma project.
true
Master black belts are full-time Six Sigma experts who are responsible for Six Sigma stsrategy, training, mentoring, deployment and results.
true
Master black belts are typically not members of Six Sigma project teams.
true
Black belts are fully trained Six Sigma experts who perform much of the technical analysis required of Six Sigma projects. They have advanced knowledge of tools and DMAIC methods. Black belts mentor and develop green belts. Are often targeted by the organization as future business leaders.
true
Green belts are functional employees who are trained in introductory Six Sigma tools and methodology. They work on projects on a part-time basis. One of the requirements for receiving a green belt designations is to successfully complete a Six Sigma project.
true
Team members are individuals from various functional areas who support specific projects.
true
Natural work teams, self-managed teams, and problem-solving teams typically usually come from the same department or function.
true
Leadership teams, virtual teams, and project teams are usually cross-functional. They work of specific tasks or processes the cut across boundaries of several different departments.
true
Cross-functional teams come from several departments or functions, deal with problems that involve a variety of functions and typically dissolve after the problem is solved.
true
Teams are the main struture of many high-performing organizations.
true
Criteria for team effectiveness include: team must achieve its goals of quality improvement, teams that improve quality performance quickly are more effective than those that take a long period of time to do so, team must maintain or increase its strength as a unit, team must preserve or strengthen its relationship with the rest of the organization
true
Peter Scholtes 10 ingredients for a successful team:
Clarity in team goals, improvement plan, clearly defined roles, clear communication, benefical team behaviors, well-defined decision procedures, balanced participation, established ground rules, awareness of group process, and use of the scientific approach
People join teams because: they want to be progressive in making decisions that affect their work, they believe that being involved in teams will enhance their potential for promotion, believe that teams will be privy to information that is typically not available to indiviudals, enjoy the feeling of accomplishment, want to use team meetings to address personal agendas, are genuinely concerned about the future of the organization, enjoy the recognition and rewards associated with team activity, and find teams to be a comfortable social environment.
true
People refuse to join teams because: outside commitments, fear or embarrassement, overwhelming workload, mistrust of management, fear of failure or losing job, or an “I don’t care” attitude.
true
Interpersonal skills are of critical importance in a team.
true
Team processes: problem selection, problem diagnosis, work allocation, communication, coordination, organizational support and team charters.
true
Juran refers to problem diagnosis step as the diagnostic journey and explains it has 3 parts: understanding the symptoms, theorizing as to causes, and testing the theories.
true
Organization support is the foundation for effective teamwork.
true
Management must provide the following if a team is to be successful: describe what the group is and is not expected to do, human resources management systems often must be adjusted, provide the team with the resources necessary to be successful, must respond swiftly and constructively.
true
Conventional HRM systems may be barriers to effective teamwork that will undermine TQ if not changed
true
Performance appraisal and reward systems are designed to reward individual effort rather than teamwork.
true
Team responsibilities and processes are often summarized in a team charter.
true
A team charter is an explicit, written document that offers guidelines, rules, and policies for team members.
true
Team charters often include a mission statement, value that guide behavior, structural issues, methods for group decision making, processes for dealing with conflicts, and methods for resolving problems with team members.
true
Little conflict exists between the use of teams in TQ and theories of organizational behavior, but there are differences in emphasis.
true
Along with social psychology and sociology, organization behavior (OB) is the source of much of what is know about groups or teams.
true
The sociotechnical systems (STS) approach is devoted to the effective blending of both the technial and social aspects of the work environment.
true
Most team based practices in TQ come from organization development (OD).
true
Businesses have learned that to satisfy customers they must first satisfy the workforce.
true
Workforce engagement refers to the extent of workforce commitment, both emotional and intellectual to accomplishing the work, mission, and vision of the organization
true
Workforce engagement means workers have a strong emotional bond to the organization, are actively involved in and committed to their work, feel that their jobs are important, know that their opionions and ideas have value, and go beyond their immediate job responsbilities for the good of the organization.
true
Workforce engagement improves organization performance.
true
Four key employee attitudes that correlate strongly with higher profits include: workers feel they are given the opportunity to do what they do best eery day, believe their opinion counts, sense their fellow works are committed to quality, and made a direct connection between their work and the company’s mission.
true
Employee engagement is rooted in the psychology of human needs and supported by the motivation models of Maslow Herzberg, and McGregor.
true
Employee engagement offer advantages over traditional management practices such as: replaces adversarila mentality with trust and cooperation, develops skills and leadership capabilities creating a sense of mission and fostering trust, increases employee morale and commitment to the organization, fosters creativity and innovation, helps people understand quality principles, allows employees to solve problems at the source immediately, improves quality and productivity.
true
Engagement begins with involvement.
true
Easy way to involve employees on an individual basis is the suggestion system.
true
Empowerment means granting authority to do whatever is necessary to satisfy customers, and trutssing employees to make the right choices without waiting for management approval.
true
The objective of empowerment is to tap the creative and intellectual energy of everybody in the company.
true
Empowerment allows organizations to flatten their organizational structure because fewer managers are needed to direct and control employees.
true
Five of Deming’s 14 points relate directly to the notion of empowerment: Point 6 - institute training, Point 7 - teach and institute leadership, Point 8 - drive out fear, create trust, create a climate for innovation, Point 10 - eliminate exhortations for the workforce, Point 13 - encourage education and self-improvement
true
For empowerment to occur managers must undertake 2 major initatives: identify and change organization conditions that make people powerless and increase people’s confidence that their efforts to accomplish something important will be successful.
true
The principles of empowerment are: empower sincerely and completely, establish mutual trust, provide employees with business information, ensure that employees are capable, Don’t ignore middle management, change the reward system.
true
Among the roles for middle managers with empowered workforces are: maintaining focus on the organization’s values, managing solutions to system-level problems, and acting as teachers and coaches.
true
Reasons empowerment fails: management support and commitment is nonexistent or not sustained, it is used as a manipulative tool to ensure employees complete tasks on time, managers use empowerment to abdicate responsibility and task accountability, empowerment is deployed selectively, and managers fail to provide feedback and don’t recognize achievements.
true
The TQ perspective of employee engagement and empowerment are consistent with organizational behavior (OB) theory.
true
Job characteristics theory (JCT) states that people will be more motivatead to work and more satisfied with their jobs to the extent that their jobs possess certain core characteristics such as skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.
true
JCT theory was developed by Hackman and Oldham.
true
Task significance - feel that they have a substantial impact on the organization.
true
Task identity - degree a worker can perceive a task as a whole
true
Skill variety - the degree to which a job requires the worker to use a variety of skills and talents
true
Autonomy - degree to which the task permits freedom, independence and personal control.
true
Feedback from the job - degree to which clear, timely information about the effectiveness of performance is available.
true
High autonomy drives the psychological state of experienced responsibility.
true
Feedback from the job creates the psychological state of knowledge of results.
true
Empowerment should increase the degree of autonomy people feel they have in doing their work.
true
Growth need strenth is rooted in people’s personalities and unlikely to be affected by TQ.
true
Three factors indentified to influence the way people react to jobs that have a high level of job characteristics of: knowledge and skill, growth need strenth, and satisfaction with contextual factors
true
Aquired needs theory states people are motivated by work that fulfills their needs. The need for achievement, the need for affiliation, and the need for power.
true
People who have a strong need for achievement will work hard to reach a high standard of excellence.
true
The need for affiliation refers to the desire to have close relationships with other people.
true
The need for power is the desire to have influence over one’s environment and the people in it.
true
Goal setting theory states that people whose goals are clear will work more quickly, perform better, and be more motivated than those who lack clear goals.
true
Goals should be specific and difficult but attainable.
true
Goals that are specific, challenging and seem impossible are demotivating.
true
In traditional management, when an acceptable level of performance is reached people try to maintain it. In a quality focused environment and acceptable performance level would be a stepping stone to further improvements.
true
