1.

List and briefly explain:

a. The dimensions of service quality.
 The dimensions of product quality don’t adequately describe service quality. Instead, service
quality is often described using the following dimensions:
 Convenience—the availability and accessibility of the service
 Reliability—the ability to perform a service dependably, consistently, and accurately
 Responsiveness—the willingness of service providers to help customers in unusual
situations and to deal with problems
 Time—the speed with which service is delivered
 Assurance—the knowledge exhibited by personnel who come into contact with
a customer and their ability to convey trust and confidence
 Courtesy—the way customers are treated by employees who come into contact
with them
 Tangibles—the physical appearance of facilities, equipment, personnel, and
communication materials
 Consistency—the ability to provide the same level of good quality repeatedly
 Expectations—meet (or exceed) customer expectations

b. The determinants of quality

 The degree to which a product or a service successfully satisfies its intended purpose has four
primary determinants:
1.Design
2.How well the product or service conforms to the design
3.Ease of use
4.Service after delivery

2. Define the terms quality of design and quality of conformance.

 Quality of design refers to the intention of designers to include or exclude cer-tain features in a
product or service.
 Quality of conformance refers to the degree to which goods and services conform to
(i.e., achieve) the intent of the designers.

3. What are some possible consequences of poor quality?

1.Loss of business
2.Liability
3.Productivity
4.Costs

4. Use the dimensions of quality to describe typical characteristics of these products and services:
a. A television set
Performance - all features and claims are working such as the multi-view screen and the
adaptive sound and screen.
Aesthetics - a sleek and slim design that blends into the wall seamlessly
 Features - faster and smarter 4k quantum processor, action tracking surround sound, multi-
view screen, voice and command assistance
Conformance - tv conforms to the designers’ specifications
Reliability - low complaint or repair rate
Durability - Resolution, surround sound, and other features are maintained and don’t slow
down over time
Perceived quality - best-selling in today’s market
Serviceability - can be brought to any branch if need repairs
Consistency - customer reviews for the tv are all positive

b. A restaurant meal (product)

Performance - tastes fresh and delicious
Aesthetics - the dish looked well-plated and appetizing
Features - the meal was accompanied by a drink which complemented the meal
Conformance - the meal was made according to the chef’s order
Reliability - the taste and look of the dish was exactly like on the menu
Durability - n/a
Perceived quality - ranked as the best meal
Serviceability - the staff was quick to attend to customers’ needs
Consistency - the quality had not changed

c. A restaurant meal (service)

Convenience - all items on the menu are available and the restaurant is located easily
Reliability - received all the right orders with no need to repeat
Responsiveness - personnel were quick to assist
Time - the meals were served in a reasonable amount of time
Assurance - personnel explained what the dishes are made of
Courtesy - all the staff are friendly and attentive
Tangibles - the restaurant has a historical feel to it, and everything was clean
Consistency - from stepping inside to leaving the restaurant, the staff were all smiles
Expectations - when a customer is craving for a Japanese experience, the restaurant is sure
to satisfy.

d. Painting a house
Convenience - appointments should be made
Reliability - the paint job is commendable and will last as long it dries completely before
being rained on
Responsiveness - the worker was quick to answer when questions are raised
Time- the job was finished in a decent amount of time
Assurance - the worker had proper training and was an expert in painting houses
Courtesy - the painter was courteous and made customers feel assured
Tangibles - the painter did not make any unnecessary mess and wore the right attire for
painting houses
Consistency - the paint throughout the house was admirable and no mistakes were made
 Expectations - customers expressed gratitude to the painter for a job well done

e. Surgery and post-surgery care

Convenience - the hospital offered comfortable rooms for surgery patients
Reliability - doctors were happy with results but still need to monitor the patients
Responsiveness - personnel explained everything the patient and their company need to
know about the procedure.
Time - doctors require all the time they need to ensure a successful surgery
Assurance - doctors, and nurses who handle surgery patients are skilled and trained
Courtesy - hospital personnel handle work professionally
Tangibles - surgery and after-surgery equipment are all sanitized and hospitals prioritize
cleanliness
Consistency - service quality is required to be perfect when performing surgeries

5. Many product reviews are available on the Internet. Two examples are reviews on electronics
products such as DVD players and high-definition television. There are often both positive and
negative reviews.
a. Do such reviews (positive and negative) influence your purchasing decisions? Why or why
not?
 It is influencing my purchasing decisions because if the reviews were good, then I
would choose that store to buy from. This means that their services and products
satisfied the expectations of the other customers that they were able to sell to. If
the reviews were bad, then I would find another store that has good reviews to buy
from. Because of the bad reviews, they don’t meet the expectations of their
previous customers, they do not perform their service well enough, and their
products might need to improve in quality.
b. Why do you suppose consumers take the time effort to write such reviews?
 Some take the time and effort to write such reviews to inform other consumers to
be wary or to choose the online store to buy from. Some do write such reviews to
prove their claims, either positive or negative, about the store.
c. There is often a feedback button asking if you found the review helpful. Do you usually
respond? Why or why not?
 I usually respond if it is my first time buying from that online store. If I have more
than once ordered from that online store, have already received more good
reviews, and have nothing to complain about their parcel, then I don’t write
anymore reviews.
6. Describe the quality-ethics connection.
 A major component of the quality-ethics interface involves firms knowingly allowing
substandard products to be manufactured and sold or organizations knowingly
providing substandard service to customers. The substandard production can take place
as a result of poor workmanship; improper or inadequate training of employees; poor
product or process design; low quality parts, raw materials, or components; poor
maintenance policies and systems; and equipment or machinery problems. Each of
these reasons for substandard quality may involve possible unethical behavior. The
 consequences of delivering substandard or poor-quality products range from increased
warranty and liability costs for companies to inconvenience or injuries to customers.
When the firm learns about the quality problem, the way in which it deals with it may
be considered unethical if the response to the problem is unreasonably slow, and/or if
the remedies are either nonexistent or considered to be inadequate.

7. Select one of the quality gurus and briefly describe his major contribution to quality
management.
 Armand Feigenbaum. Feigenbaum was instrumental in advancing the “cost of
nonconformance” approach as a reason for management to commit to quality. He
recognized that quality was not simply a collection of tools and techniques, but a “total
field.” According to Feigenbaum, it is the customer who defines quality.

8. A. What is ISO 9000, and why is it important for global business to have ISO 9000 certification?
 ISO 9000 is a set of international standards on quality management and quality
assurance, critical to international business. The ISO 9000 certification and registration
process is particularly helpful for companies that do not currently have a quality
management system; it provides guidelines for establishing the system and making it
effective.

B. Compare the Baldrige Award and ISO certification. If an organization were going to seek both,
which one should it seek first? Why?
 One is an award; the other certifies a level of competence. The Baldrige Award is
designed to stimulate quality improvement efforts and to recognize achievements in
U.S. companies. ISO certification implies a certain level of quality competence in
products or services that is recognized internationally. If a U.S. company wanted to
pursue both, the logical first choice would be the Baldrige Award, because it would help
the company focus on its processes, which is a key step for ISO certification.
9. Briefly explain how a company can achieve lower production costs and increase productivity by
improving the quality of its products or services?
 Quality management emphasizes preventing mistakes or correcting them after they
occur. There is a direct trade-off between investment in quality programs and
investment in failure costs. If the quality is poor, the failure costs will be high.
Productivity can be harmed significantly due to having to rework defective parts. Injuries
can occur also because of neglected machinery and defective output (internal failure
costs). Increases in warranty costs, service costs, repair costs, discount costs, and
payments to customers to offset the inferior quality are examples of external failure
costs. The emphasis on quality can lead to a significant reduction of both internal and
external failure costs, thereby reducing production costs for the company.

10. What are the key elements of the TQM approach? What is the driving force behind TQM?
 TQM is a quest for quality that involves everyone in the organization. The key elements
of the TQM approach are: asking customers what they want, designing a product or
service that will meet (or exceed) customer expectations, designing processes that
 facilitate doing the job right the first time, keeping track of results and using them to
guide improvement, extending TQM concepts throughout the supply chain, ensuring
that top management is involved with the TQM effort, driving continuous improvement,
benchmarking other companies, empowering employees, using a team approach,
making decisions based on facts, acquiring knowledge of quality tools, ensuring supplier
quality, having a TQM champion, enforcing quality at the source, and treating suppliers
as partners in the TQM process.
 The driving force behind TQM is that it is an attitude toward quality. The company
culture must be willing to change and to embrace TQM. Embracing TQM is necessary for
a company because quality is an important determinant of a company's viability now
and in the future.

11. Briefly describe each of the seven quality tools.

 Flowcharts is a diagram of the steps in a process.

 Check sheet is a tool for recording and organizing data to identify a problem.
 Histograms is a chart of an empirical frequency distribution.
 Pareto analysis is a technique for classifying problem areas according to degree of
importance and focusing on the most important.
 Scatter diagram is a graph that shows the degree and direction of relationship between
two variables.
 Control charts is a statistical chart of time-ordered values off a sample statistic.
 Cause-and-effect diagrams is a diagram used to search for the cause(s) of a problem;
also called fishbone diagram.

12. Briefly define or explain each of these tools:

a. Brainstorming – is a technique for generating a free flow of ideas in a group of people.

b. Benchmarking – is the process of measuring performance against the best in the same or another
industry.

c. Run charts – can be used to tracking results over a period of time.

13. Explain the plan-do-study-act-cycle.

 The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) method is a way to test a change that is implemented. Going
through the prescribed four steps guides the thinking process into breaking down the task into
steps and then evaluating the outcome, improving on it, and testing again.

14. List the steps of problem solving.

15. Select four tools and describe how they could be used for process solving.

 Check sheets are used to collect data, most often, defects or failures at specific steps in the
process. This allows problem identification, and may also determine why they occur. When the
problem is recognized, resolving it is the next step.
 The Pareto analysis involves classifying problems according to their degree of significance. When
the most important problem area is identified, resolving will begin there to obtain the maximum
benefit.
 The control chart is useful for monitoring process output variability. Control charts have upper
control limits and lower control limits. When an output passes the limit, this means a problem
has occurred. The data from the chart can provide insight into the possible cause of the
problem.
 Cause-and-effect diagrams are a way to identify and organize potential causes of a problem and
then eventually, identify the appropriate solutions for the problem.

16. List the steps off process improvement.

a. Map the process: Identify each step in the process along with its input and outputs, the people
involved, and the decisions that are made. Document measures such as time, cost, space used,
employee morale, turnover, accidents, working conditions, revenues, profits, quality, and customer
satisfaction. Prepare a flowchart of the process.

b. Analyze the process: Ask questions about the process: Is it logical? Are any steps missing? Is there any
duplication of steps? Ask questions about each step: Does the step add value? Could the step be
eliminated? Does any waste occur at the step? Could the process time be shortened? Could the cost to
perform the step be reduced? Could two (or more) steps be combined?

c. Redesign the process: Using the results of the analyze step, redesign the process and document
improvements.

17. Select four tools and describe how they could be uses for process improvement.
 Flowcharts can visually represent the processes of an organization, showing the steps and flow
of activities and decisions involved. This allows the individual activities or decisions to be
scrutinized and reveal inefficiencies for process improvement efforts.
 Scatter diagrams show the correlation of 2 variable which is useful to confirm whether any
change in one of the variables will affect the other. This enables the identification of significant
factors that have an effect on the process and removes non-critical factors for improvement.
 Histograms are graphs that show the frequency of continuous data values which is helpful in
many ways such as; identifying whether certain statistical tests can be applied for potential
improvements; analyzing improvements using before and after data; and identification of
variation, capability, and shifts in the process.
 Cause-and-effect diagrams are often used in problem-solving, but it can also be used for process
improvement because it categorizes the people’s knowledge of a process and narrows down the
area of analysis for possible improvements. The categories can also be used to prevent future
problems and risks.