D469 OA Exam Prep Questions with Verified
Correct Answers
[Quality] Who ultimately defines quality?
The customer. Quality is fitness for use: satisfying the needs and values of the intended
customer, not necessarily being expensive or luxurious.
[Quality] Customer perspective vs. producer perspective?
Customer: fitness for use and acceptable value. Producer: quality of conformance—
consistently meeting design specifications.
[Fill-in] Quality of ____ measures whether actual output meets the intended design
specifications.
Conformance. Quality of design chooses the intended characteristics for the target customer.
[Quality] What are the nine product-quality dimensions?
Performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, safety,
and other perceptions such as brand or reputation.
[Quality] Performance vs. reliability?
Performance is how well the product performs its main function; reliability is the probability
it keeps operating correctly for the expected period.
[Quality] What are the seven service-quality dimensions?
Time/timeliness, completeness, courtesy, consistency, accessibility/convenience, accuracy,
and responsiveness.
[Quality] Why is service quality often harder to measure and control?
,Services are intangible, variable, often produced and consumed simultaneously, and strongly
affected by customer contact and expectations.
[Quality History] What is Walter Shewhart best known for?
Control charts and the technical foundation of statistical quality control.
[Quality History] What is W. Edwards Deming best known for?
Reducing variation, prevention instead of final inspection, leadership responsibility, training,
organization-wide improvement, and PDCA/PDSA.
[Quality History] What is Joseph Juran best known for?
Strategic quality planning, project-by-project breakthrough improvement, and Pareto
analysis—the vital few causes create most problems.
[Quality History] What is Philip Crosby best known for?
Quality as conformance to requirements, prevention, zero defects, and "quality is free"
because avoided failures can repay improvement costs.
[Quality History] What is Kaoru Ishikawa best known for?
The cause-and-effect/fishbone diagram, quality circles, and the internal-customer concept.
[Quality] Common-cause vs. special-cause variation?
Common cause is random variation inherent in the current system and usually needs
management/system change; special cause is an identifiable nonrandom event that should be
investigated and corrected.
[Quality] What are the four PDCA steps?
, Plan the improvement; Do it on a limited basis; Check/Study the results; Act by standardizing
success or revising and cycling again.
[Quality] TQM vs. QMS?
TQM is a broad companywide quality-centered management philosophy; a QMS is the
formal system of policies, responsibilities, procedures, and controls used to achieve quality.
[Quality Tools] A team needs to map steps, decisions, and handoffs. Which tool?
Process flowchart.
[Quality Tools] A team needs to brainstorm and organize possible causes. Which tool—
and what can it not do?
Cause-and-effect/fishbone diagram; it organizes theories but does not prove the root cause.
[Quality Tools] A team must rank possible inputs against weighted critical-to-quality
outputs. Which tool?
Cause-and-effect matrix.
[Quality Tools] A team must tally defects as they occur. Which tool?
Checksheet; it standardizes data collection.
[Quality Tools] Histogram vs. Pareto chart?
A histogram shows the distribution of continuous measurements; a Pareto chart ranks
categories from most to least frequent or costly.
[Quality Tools] A team wants to see whether two variables move together. Which tool—
and what is the caution?
Scatter diagram; association or correlation alone does not prove causation.
Correct Answers
[Quality] Who ultimately defines quality?
The customer. Quality is fitness for use: satisfying the needs and values of the intended
customer, not necessarily being expensive or luxurious.
[Quality] Customer perspective vs. producer perspective?
Customer: fitness for use and acceptable value. Producer: quality of conformance—
consistently meeting design specifications.
[Fill-in] Quality of ____ measures whether actual output meets the intended design
specifications.
Conformance. Quality of design chooses the intended characteristics for the target customer.
[Quality] What are the nine product-quality dimensions?
Performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, safety,
and other perceptions such as brand or reputation.
[Quality] Performance vs. reliability?
Performance is how well the product performs its main function; reliability is the probability
it keeps operating correctly for the expected period.
[Quality] What are the seven service-quality dimensions?
Time/timeliness, completeness, courtesy, consistency, accessibility/convenience, accuracy,
and responsiveness.
[Quality] Why is service quality often harder to measure and control?
,Services are intangible, variable, often produced and consumed simultaneously, and strongly
affected by customer contact and expectations.
[Quality History] What is Walter Shewhart best known for?
Control charts and the technical foundation of statistical quality control.
[Quality History] What is W. Edwards Deming best known for?
Reducing variation, prevention instead of final inspection, leadership responsibility, training,
organization-wide improvement, and PDCA/PDSA.
[Quality History] What is Joseph Juran best known for?
Strategic quality planning, project-by-project breakthrough improvement, and Pareto
analysis—the vital few causes create most problems.
[Quality History] What is Philip Crosby best known for?
Quality as conformance to requirements, prevention, zero defects, and "quality is free"
because avoided failures can repay improvement costs.
[Quality History] What is Kaoru Ishikawa best known for?
The cause-and-effect/fishbone diagram, quality circles, and the internal-customer concept.
[Quality] Common-cause vs. special-cause variation?
Common cause is random variation inherent in the current system and usually needs
management/system change; special cause is an identifiable nonrandom event that should be
investigated and corrected.
[Quality] What are the four PDCA steps?
, Plan the improvement; Do it on a limited basis; Check/Study the results; Act by standardizing
success or revising and cycling again.
[Quality] TQM vs. QMS?
TQM is a broad companywide quality-centered management philosophy; a QMS is the
formal system of policies, responsibilities, procedures, and controls used to achieve quality.
[Quality Tools] A team needs to map steps, decisions, and handoffs. Which tool?
Process flowchart.
[Quality Tools] A team needs to brainstorm and organize possible causes. Which tool—
and what can it not do?
Cause-and-effect/fishbone diagram; it organizes theories but does not prove the root cause.
[Quality Tools] A team must rank possible inputs against weighted critical-to-quality
outputs. Which tool?
Cause-and-effect matrix.
[Quality Tools] A team must tally defects as they occur. Which tool?
Checksheet; it standardizes data collection.
[Quality Tools] Histogram vs. Pareto chart?
A histogram shows the distribution of continuous measurements; a Pareto chart ranks
categories from most to least frequent or costly.
[Quality Tools] A team wants to see whether two variables move together. Which tool—
and what is the caution?
Scatter diagram; association or correlation alone does not prove causation.
