Total Quality Management Multiple Choice Questions on “Definition of Quality”.
1. Choose the incorrect statement regarding the need for quality.
a) Markets have become more competitive
b) Quality provides sustained performance
c) Quality provides customer satisfaction
d) It is the trend nowadays to introduce quality
Answer: d
Clarification: Due to an increase in marketing competitiveness, quality is desired in any organization. Due to systematic standards and procedures involved, it will provide sustained performance. Consequently, we will have customer satisfaction. It is wrong to interpret that quality is necessary because it is a global trend.
2. Michael bought a new washing machine which is not performing its primary function of washing clothes properly. What should the executive at customer care suggest Michael?
a) To sell the washing machine
b) To buy a new washing machine
c) To assure the customer that a specialist will visit their house the following day
d) To lease the washing machine
Answer: c
Clarification: A new washing machine is not washing clothes properly is definitely a disappointment for the customer. To ensure customer satisfaction the executive at customer care very rightly assured that the specialist will look into the reasons for malfunctioning of the washing machine. It is incorrect to suggest selling, buying or leasing the washing machine without even looking at the problem.
3. Quality is fitness for use. Identify the quality guru who said this.
a) Deming
b) Crosby
c) Juran
d) Taguchi
Answer: c
Clarification: Juran said that quality is fitness for use. The concept of fitness for use is applied to all products and services.
4. How can quality be quantified? (Q=Quality, P=Performance, E=Expectations)
a) Q=P/E
b) Q=P+E
c) Q=P-E
d) Q=P*E
Answer: a
Clarification: Mathematically, quality can be quantified as Q=P/E. Here, if Q is greater than 1, the customer has a good feeling about the performance of the product or service.
5. Quality is conformance to requirements. Identify the quality guru who said this.
a) Ishikawa
b) Crosby
c) Ohno
d) Deming
Answer: b
Clarification: Crosby said that quality is conformance to requirements. Here, requirements mean both product requirements and customer requirements.
6. Quality is a predictable degree of uniformity and dependability at a low cost and suited to the market. Identify the quality guru who said this.
a) Ishikawa
b) Shingo
c) Deming
d) Harrington
Answer: c
Clarification: Deming said that quality is a predictable degree of uniformity and dependability at low cost and suited to the market. Deming’s ‘14 points’ is widely used in quality improvement.
7. What does the abbreviation A.S.Q stand for?
a) American Society for Quality
b) American Standard of Quality
c) Asian Society for Quality
d) Asian Standard for Quality
Answer: a
Clarification: A.S.Q. stands for American Society for Quality. It is a community of quality professionals. It was established on February 16, 1946. George D. Edwards was its first president.
8. According to Deming’s Quality Chain Reaction, quality improvement results in decreased productivity.
a) True
b) False
Answer: b
Clarification: According to Deming’s Quality Chain Reaction, quality improvement results in improved productivity, profits, customer satisfaction, and market share. It also results in reduced prices and costs.
9. Quality is in its essence, a way of managing the organization. Identify the quality guru who said this.
a) Deming
b) Juran
c) Feigenbaum
d) Shingo
Answer: c
Clarification: Feigenbaum said that quality is in its essence, a way of managing the organization. He developed the concept of Total Quality Control which in turn led to the concept of Total Quality Management.
10. Quality is the minimum loss imparted by a product to society from the time product is shipped. Identify the quality guru who said this.
a) Shingo
b) Taguchi
c) Crosby
d) Juran
Answer: b
Clarification: Taguchi said that quality is the minimum loss imparted by a product to society from the time product is shipped. He also introduced the concept of the loss function.
11. According to ISO, Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs of the customer.
a) False
b) True
Answer: b
Clarification: This definition is given by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization). It is a universally accepted definition of quality.
12. Shawn ordered pizza online. He received the pizza 15 minutes before the scheduled delivery time. He also received cash back on the amount he had paid for the pizza. What can you infer?
a) Customer expectation of the service is less than customer perception of the service
b) Customer expectation of the service is equal to the customer perception of the service
c) Customer expectation of the service is greater than customer perception of the service
d) Customer expectation of the service and customer perception of the service cannot be compared
Answer: a
Clarification: The primary service was to deliver the pizza within the scheduled delivery time in good condition. By arriving early and providing cash back, the customer expectation of the service must be less than the customer perception of the service.
13. The systematic activities and planned activities which provide adequate confidence that the manufactured products are meeting the requirements is called ______
a) Quality assurance
b) Quality control
c) Inspection
d) Sampling
Answer: a
Clarification: Quality assurance is the systematic activities and planned activities which provide adequate confidence that the manufactured products are meeting the requirements. Quality control is a system of routine technical activities to measure and control the quality of products. Inspection is the formal evaluation of certain characteristics in a product to determine its acceptability. Sampling is a statistical analysis process.
14. Choose the incorrect statement related to quality improvement.
a) Reduces rework
b) Leads to greater uniformity of product
c) Increases output with lowered cost
d) Increases machine time
Answer: d
Clarification: Quality improvement reduces rework. It leads to greater uniformity of product. It increases output with lowered cost as all the unnecessary cost involved is removed and productivity also increases. It reduces machine time through proper quality management.
15. A senior quality engineer during a training session trains his juniors about a particular common defect that has been found in their assembly. He has formulated a plan which will rectify the defect and ensure that the same defect does not pass further to the customers. Which of the following inference is incorrect?
a) The organization has ensured that customer satisfaction is retained
b) The juniors will be capable of preventing the defect to pass further to the customers
c) The senior has understood that quality is correcting and preventing the loss, not living with loss
d) The customer forced them to rectify the defect
Answer: d
Clarification: Quality is basically customer satisfaction. The training will help in correcting and preventing the defect to not reach further to the customers. The loss involved in passing a defective product is also scraped off. We cannot definitely conclude that the customer has forced them to rectify the defect as nothing is mentioned about the same.