Why is it important to personalize quality principles?
> How might your school use the gap model in Figure 3.5? Figure 3.5:
> What types of questions should be included in customer satisfaction surveys?
> Why should an organization measure customer satisfaction? Describe the key steps that must be addressed in designing customer satisfaction surveys.
> How can customer relationship management (CRM) software help organizations develop and improve a focus on customers?
> Why are strategic partnerships and alliances useful to an organization?
> List the key factors that should be included in a good service recovery.
> Why should a company make it easy for customers to complain? Describe the features of an effective complaint management process.
> What are customer contact requirements? Provide some examples different from those in the book.
> What specific issues of customer focus are addressed in the ISO 9000 framework?
> Explain the role of training and empowerment of customer-contact employees in achieving customer satisfaction.
> Who are customer contact employees? Why are they critical to an organization?
> In the context of a fast-food restaurant, make a list of different characteristics that might describe “freshness.” Classify them by means of an affinity diagram. What does your response mean for measuring satisfaction of this attribute?
> Explain the importance of commitments to building customer relation
> What is the Zero Moment of Truth? How does it influence customer purchasing decisions and, ultimately, satisfaction
> What is a moment of truth, and how can this concept be used to improve quality?
> Explain the gap model shown in Figure 3.5. What do expected quality, actual quality, and perceived quality mean, and how do they relate with one another? Figure 3.5:
> Describe how affinity diagrams are used to organize and work with customer-related information.
> What is the voice of the customer? List the major listening and learning approaches used to gather voice of the customer information. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
> What is the Kano model, and what are its implications for quality management?
> Explain the two classifications of quality dimensions for goods and services. Contrast the similarities and differences between the two classifications for services.
> What factors influence customer value and satisfaction?
> Summarize the breakthrough sequence that Juran advocated for quality improvement.
> In a typical Baldrige assessment, examiners identify strengths and opportunities for improvement based on an applicant’s response to the Baldrige Criteria questions. Read the response to the Criteria questions in Category 6, Operations, for Arroyo Fresco
> Explain Juan’s Quality Trilogy
> Explain the implications of not understanding the components of Profound Knowledge as suggested by Peter Scholes.
> Why is it important to understand variation from a statistical perspective?
> What is a system? Why is “systems thinking” important to quality management?
> Summarize the four components of Profound Knowledge. How do they mutually support each other?
> Summarize Deming’s 14 Points. How does each point relate to the four components of Profound Knowledge?
> Explain the Deming chain reaction.
> Explain the difference between common and special causes of variation.
> What are the operational problems created by excessive variation?
> What is statistical thinking? Why is it important to managers and workers at all levels of an organization?
> In a typical Baldrige assessment, examiners identify strengths and opportunities for improvement based on an applicant’s response to the Baldrige Criteria questions. Read the response to the Criteria questions in Category 5, Workforce, in the Arroyo Fres
> State two or three practices associated with each principle of quality management.
> List and briefly explain the seven principles of quality management.
> Explain the differences among quality principles, practices, and techniques.
> Summarize the key contributions of Feigen Baum and Ishikawa to modern quality thinking.
> What are Crosby’s Absolutes of Quality Management and Basic Elements of Improvement? How are they similar to or different from Deming’s 14 Points?
> How is Juran’s philosophy similar to or different from Deming’s?
> How does Deming’s definition of quality—“A product or a service possesses quality if it helps somebody and enjoys a good and sustainable market”—compare with the definitions discussed in Chapter 1?
> Why are all quality management systems not effective? What can be done to make them effective?
> What are the principal benefits of ISO 9000?
> Briefly summarize the rationale behind ISO 9000. What are the objectives of the standards?
> In a typical Baldrige assessment, examiners identify strengths and opportunities for improvement based on an applicant’s response to the Baldrige Criteria questions. Read the response to the Criteria questions in Category 3, Customers, in the Arroyo Fres
> Deere & Company (http://www.deere.com) (also known as John Deere, after its founder) is a world-leading manufacturer, distributor, and financier of equipment for agriculture, construction, forestry, and commercial and consumer applications (lawn and grou
> What is a quality management system (QMS)? Describe the features that a good QMS should have.
> What are the lessons of the red bead and funnel experiments? Can you cite any examples in your experience where someone acted counter to these lessons?
> Explain the two fundamental mistakes that managers make when attempting to improve a process. Can you cite any examples in your personal experience in which such mistakes were made?
> What evidence exists to counter the claim that “Quality does not pay”?
> Explain the role of both design and conformance quality in improving a firm’s profitability.
> What did Philip Crosby mean by “Quality is free”?
> How does quality support the achievement of competitive advantage?
> How can business support activities help to sustain quality in an organization? Give examples of some key business support activities and their role in quality
> Explain the roles of people and information technology in providing quality service. How does The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC use employees and information technology for quality service?
> The Baldrige Materials folder on the Student Companion Site contains a document called “Baldrige Excellence Builder,” which is an abbreviated version of the Baldrige Criteria. It also contains a case study of a fictitious organization, Arroyo Fresco. Thi
> Discuss the differences between manufacturing and service organizations. What are the implications of these differences for quality management?
> Why is service quality especially important in today’s business environment?
> Explain the role of the quality function in a typical company.
> Explain how each major function of a manufacturing system contributes to total quality.
> Define the following terms: a. quality assurance b. total quality c. performance excellence d. competitive advantage
> Briefly summarize the history of quality before and since the industrial revolution. What caused the most significant changes?
> Explain why a single quality definition is not sufficient.
> Examine the annual reports of one company over a period of years. Summarize how quality is discussed or implied in the company’s statements and philosophy. Are any changes in the perspectives of quality evident over time?
> Choose an organization of interest, conduct appropriate research, and write a case similar to the Xerox Quality in Practice in this chapter, documenting their quality journey and practices.
> Develop a portfolio of advertisements from newspapers and magazines and illustrate how quality is used in promoting these products. How do the ads imply the different definitions of quality?
> Consolidated Metal Works (CMW) was founded in the mid-1940s in a 3,000-square-foot building with nine people as a small family business to produce custom machined parts. In the 1960s, as business grew, the company expanded its facilities and its capabili
> Does your state have a quality award program? If so, obtain some current information about the program and report on it. If not, try to find a neighboring state with an award program and report on it.
> Obtain the current Baldrige Excellence Frame work document for business and nonprofit organizations. For each numbered set of questions in Categories 1–6 of the Baldrige Criteria, determine whether each of the core values and concepts are reflected (a) s
> Find the application summary for a recent Baldrige recipient on the Baldrige website, and identify at least three “role-model” practices among the first six categories. Justify why you consider them “role model”
> Visit the Baldrige Program website (http://www .nist.gov/baldrige) and write a report on the information that can be found there.
> Try to identify and contrast the core competencies of two different organizations within the same industry, such as Dell and Apple, Toyota and General Motors, or Sears and Walmart, for example. Does your research suggest that these competencies are refle
> Compare the organizational structures of several manufacturing or service firms. What differences are reflected in their quality approaches and results?
> In your role as a student, develop your own statements of mission, vision, and guiding principles. How would you create a strategy to achieve your mission and vision?
> Research the strategic planning practices of recent Baldrige Award winners. Discuss different approaches that these firms use and why they seem appropriate for their organizations. How do they reflect the leading practices described in this chapter?
> Does your university or college have a mission and strategy? How might policy deployment be used in a university setting? Discuss with a senior executive administrator at your college or university (such as the VP of administration or the VP of academic
> Find several examples of mission and vision statements for Fortune 500 companies. Critique these statements with respect to their usefulness, relevance to the organization, and ability to inspire and motivate employees.
> An international bottle manufacturer produces glass containers for customers that include condiment producers, breweries, and wineries. The growing demand for plastic containers, and a history of higher production costs due to high scrap and return rates
> Interview managers at some local organizations to determine whether they have well-defined missions, visions, and guiding principles. If they do, how are these translated into strategy? If not, what steps should they take?
> Use the Baldrige Organizational Profile questions to prepare an organizational profile for your college or a local organization that would be willing to provide you with the information. Use the format of the Arroyo Fresco case study in the Baldrige Mate
> Work with teachers at a local high school or grade school to identify some students who are having difficulties in school. Apply quality tools to help find the source of the problems and create an improvement plan.
> Search the Internet for websites that contain descriptions and examples of quality improvement methodologies. How do they compare with the ones described in this chapter?
> In small teams, develop cause-and-effect diagrams for the following problems: a. Poor exam grade b. No job offers c. Late for work or school
> Develop a flowchart of the process you use to study for an exam. How might you improve this process?
> Find a local company that is using Six Sigma or lean principles. Write a case study of their experiences, focusing on the challenges they faced during their implementation efforts.
> Identify an important problem around your school or in some related function, such as a student organization, and apply the DMAIC process to develop an improved solution. Use whatever process improvement tools are appropriate.
> Three popular websites for Six Sigma are http:// www.ge.com/sixsigma, http://www.isixsigma.com, and http://asq.org/sixsigma. Explore these sites and consider the following questions. a. How does GE use Six Sigma to enhance customer perception of its pro
> Investigate design-for-environment practices in some of your local industries. Describe company policies and the methods and techniques that they use to address environmental concerns in product design.
> Senior managers at The Morgan Company had developed a new and inspiring mission statement—one that set a new direction for the company with ambitious strategic goals. Management continually emphasized the new strategy and asked employees what they needed
> Prepare a full DFMEA for a casual dining restaurant. Consider failure modes that might occur both in food preparation and in service. Clearly explain and justify your choices for the severity, likelihood, and detection ratings.
> Fill in the following relationship matrix of a House of Quality for a screwdriver. By sampling your classmates, develop priorities for the customer attributes and use these and the relationships to identify key technical requirements to deploy.
> Most children (and many adults) like to assemble and fly balsa-wood gliders. From your own experiences or from interviews with other students, define a set of customer requirements for a good glider. (Even better, buy one and test it to determine these r
> Suppose that you were developing a small pizza restaurant with a dining area and local delivery. Develop a list of customer requirements and technical requirements and try to complete a House of Quality. What service standards might such an operation hav
> Using whatever “market research” techniques are appropriate, define a set of customer attributes for a. Purchasing books at your college bookstore b. A college registration process c. A hotel room used for business d. A hotel room used for family lei
> The web site http://www.paperhelicopterexperiment.com/ describes how to build a paper helicopter to conduct a designed experiment. Choose only 3 factors from the list provided, and build helicopters to identify the best design that keeps the helicopter a
> Devise an experiment similar to the battery performance test case (see the Battery Experiment case that follows) to test different levels of some factor and conduct a statistical analysis of the results. Write up your experiment and results in a report a
> Find some examples of supplier certification processes used by major companies and summarize your findings, focusing on the criteria used and how the processes are implemented.
> Interview a plant manager or quality professional at one or more local companies to see whether they use any poke-yoke approaches to mistake-proof their operations.
> Identify several sources of errors as a student or in your personal life. Develop some poka-yokes that might prevent them.
> Fred Read, the owner of the Freadilunch (pronounced Freddylunch) Restaurant, a suburban, quick service restaurant, was concerned about the loss of several regular customers. He measured the number of empty lunch tables from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. over a fo
