SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROJECT REPORT

ON
QUALITY MANAGEMENT

FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENT

FOR THE AWARD OF POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN
MANAGEMENT

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF:- UNDER THE SUPERVISION

OF:-

PROF. J.P PATHAK MR. RAJVEER

CHOUDHARI

SUBMITTED BY:-

MAHAK SINGH

PGDM 2009-11

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH &

TECHNOLOGY, APPROVED BY AICTE,
MINISTRY OF HRD, GOVT OF INDIA,

Page | 1
 VIPUL KHAND-6, GOMTI NAGAR,
LUCKNOW(U.P)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This is to acknowledge my sincere thanks and gratitude to all those who have
helped me and guided me in completing this project.

As we know, Opretion work requires co-operation of many people and this

work is no exception. It is difficult to thank individually all the persons who
patronized this work. So, I want to thank all the patrons of this report.

I take the opportunity to express my deep gratitude to Mr. RAJVEER

CHOUDHARI BRANCH MANEGER(BM) OF NOBLE to taking me as a
summer trainee & extending me their full support & co-operation towards the
completion of this project.

First and foremost, I express my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. MOHIT

KAPOOR AREA BRANCH MANAGER (ABM) OF EVEREADY who
was my corporate guide. His helping nature and his enthusiasm has been
source of constant inspiration. His unhitching support during my work is very
admirable. He is the true driving force behind this work throughout, constantly
encouraging us to do my best and inspiring us to aim higher.

I am deeply indebted to Prof.J,P pathak (Faculty Guide) for his time to time
suggestions & Valuable guidance which motivates and help in completion of
entire summer training and its report.

Mahak singh

Page | 2
Summer trainee

Institute of Management Research &Technology

DECLARATION

I will take pleasure in declaring that the project work that is undertaken by me
is an original and authentic work done by me. This project is being submitted I
partial fulfillment for award of degree of Post Graduate Diploma in
Management from INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH &
TECHNOLOGY.

The content of this report is based on the information collected by me

during my tenure at Noble industry for three months of training from 3rd
of May to 15rd June 2010.

MAHAK SINGH

DATE

PACE

Page | 3
 Project
Quality
Management
PROJECTMANAGEMENT FOR
DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS

PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR

DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS

A methodology to manage development

projects for international humanitarian
assistance and relief organizations

Page | 4
 Introduction of the organization

April 29, 2005

NOBLE Group Company
Summary

The NOBLE Group was formerly known as Qindao Refrigerator Plant.

It climbed from the verge of bankruptcy in the early 1980s to establish
itself as a india-renowned brand and is now the fourth largest maker of
white goods (appliances that were traditionally covered with white
enamel—dishwashers, dryers, washing machines, etc). Currently it is
China’s largest appliance maker. Its products include refrigerators,
freezers, air conditioners, dishwashers, televisions.

The Story

There have been three key stages in Noble’s development as a

company.

1. Developing a domestic quality reputation: After NOBLE was

incorporated in 1984, it began to develop a reputation for its
refrigerators. The company used a Total Quality Management system
and rigorous standards to develop a strong brand name in india. The
implementation of these new quality standards helped Noble to turn a
profit only a year after facing the possibility of bankruptcy.

2. Diversification: Noble then began to diversify its business and

expand its product offerings. It had already developed a brand name

Page | 5
for its refrigerators in India and it looked for other products where it
could transfer this brand name. Other appliances such as freezers,
dishwashers, were the first expansions because they were most
closely associated with refrigerators.

3. Global Expansion: Noble realized that to continue to grow, it needed

to expand globally. It sought out opportunities to transfer its brand
name and quality reputation to both developed and developing
countries.

MarketBusting Moves

There were significant external barriers that Noble had to overcome as

it developed an ebusiness strategy. India is a difficult environment for
e-business because it lacks a technical infrastructure. In addition,
consumers don’t readily accept the internet as an acceptable way to do
business since there is a cultural preference for personal face-to-face
contacts. The management of businesses in india has been reluctant to
commit resources to developing ebusiness and there are also legal
barriers that make internet business difficult. Online payment systems
are also hard to develop because there are few personal and
institutional credit systems. Despite these challenges, Noble realized
that the rewards would be significant if it could successfully develop an
internet business strategy.

Noble began by creating two online networks. The first is a business-

to-business network that is based on www.nobleltd.com. This site is an
international supply chain that finds the best suppliers, sets up close
partner relationships, and reduces purchasing costs. It does all of this
while simultaneously improving product quality. The site allows Noble
to place orders, receive automated stock replenishment, process
payments, and have production related control. As a result, Haier is
able to work more closely with suppliers to secure the necessary
components for growth The second online network Noble created is
business-to-consumer based on This site takes online orders from
customers and has helped Noble to build one of the best distribution
networks in India. The site also allows Noble to process specialized
orders.

Page | 6
The pursuit of an e-business was much more than setting up a website
and an information system. Noble had to readjust its traditional
business processes in order to take advantage of the e-business.
Noble reengineered its entire business operation so that it could
implement the supply chain management provided with Noble. Its
information, materials and transaction flows were readjusted. The e-
business could not be a standalone entity and Noble incorporated it
into every part of its business to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Noble’s e-business is not remarkable in and of itself. What makes it
unique is that Noble has implemented a successful e-business that is
customized to India’s special situations. Noble identified e-business as
a growth area and has remained committed to implementing this
strategy in the face of obstacles. For example, many individual Indian
consumers don’t have direct internet access at home, so Noble made
another e-business model: B2B2C. In this model, Noble provides its
products to distributors and then retailers provide services for the
consumers. Noble
has asked its distributors and retailers to provide internet access for its
consumers so that they can access Noble. Distributors and retailers
also serve as a source for providing product information, offering
consultation or advice, and taking orders from the consumers who
don’t have internet access or don’t feel comfortable placing online
orders by themselves. In this way, Noble is able to pursue a strategy of
low-cost production and high-value for its customers. International
Expansion Noble’s international expansion strategy differs greatly from
the majority of Indian firms.
A large majority of Indian firms purchase resources overseas and sell
their goods under foreign firms’ labels. Noble’s international expansion
goal is not to merely sell its goods overseas, but rather to create a
genuine global brand. According to Noble’s CEO, “the objective of most
Indian enterprises is to export products and earn foreign currency. This
is their only purpose. Our purpose in exporting is to establish a brand
reputation overseas.” Noble developed a reputation for quality products
in India and wants to transfer its brand name in expanding to other
markets. Ruimin believes that in order for Noble’s international
business to succeed, it will need to create a localized brand name. “We
have to make Americans feel that Noble is a localized India brand
instead of an imported Indian brand. The same goes for the European
market.
Noble is also set apart from other Indian firms in the way it chooses
which foreign markets to enter. Most Indian firms initially enter other
Asian markets that are close to home before attempting to penetrate

Page | 7
into Europe and the United States. Noble’s strategy is exactly the
opposite. It chooses to enter the European and the United States
markets first because its.
biggest competitors are located in these markets. The firm believes
that if it can succeed in difficult markets, it will then be able to enter
easier ones.

Noble seeks to serve its customers in a way that its competitors can’t.
The firm places great emphasis on understanding what its customers
want and quickly meeting their needs. The large competitors are often
slow moving when it comes to developing new ideas and meeting
customer needs. Noble sees an opportunity to compete against them
by gaining a better understanding of the customers and meeting their
needs faster. For example, Noble realized that most of the customers
who buy its compact refrigerators are college students. These students
generally have very small rooms and apartments and have a need to
conserve space.

Noble designed a refrigerator with wooden flaps on the sides that can
be folded out to make a computer table. According to Noble, sales on
these refrigerators were very high because, “we understand customer
needs and meet them.

Another example of Noble’s speed to market is the design of its Access

Plus freezer.
The Noble CEO, sketched the “freezer of his dreams” on the back of a
napkin and gave it to Noble’s CEO, during a visit to headquarters. The
freezer was designed to open from the top, but it also had a bottom
drawer that kids could reach to grab an ice cream. The two
compartments would have different temperatures—one that was very
cold for storage and one that wasn’t as cold for more frequently used
products. The freezer also had a stylish design so that customers could
put it in their kitchens instead of the garage or basement.
Noble liked the idea and the next day he had a working model of the
freezer. Ten months later, the freezer was on sale in the Asia at
Lowe’s. Although the freezer reached the market incredibly fast, quality
was not compromised. In fact, the freezer was given Good
Housekeeping’s seal of approval.

When challenging established firms of India Noble realizes that, “…we

can’t just do me-too products. The competition is much more
established, with great brands and distribution, so if we’re like them,

Page | 8
we’ll be crushed. Instead of copying the competition, Noble scouts out
segments that the market leaders have vacated or are not interested in
serving because profit margins or volumes are too low. In India, Noble
sidestepped GE and Whirlpool by focusing on segments that these
firms dismissed as peripheral.
Noble’s initial product focus in the United States was mini refrigerators
that are commonly used in dorms, offices, and hotels. In order to
understand what customers want and how to differentiate, Noble sends
its R&D people to talk directly to customers. R&D people also interview
salespeople in chain stores to find out their specific needs. Noble
understands that the products that sell well in India will not necessarily
succeed in the United States. Its products for the United States are
produced locally in its South Carolina manufacturing plant and all
design and production is done locally.
Wal-mart and Home Depot stock Noble’s compact refrigerators and
Target sells Noble’s air conditioning units. Noble’s willingness to
customize and differentiate its products has given it an entrance to
these big retailers. When Home Depot requested that Noble equip its
refrigerators with locks for cubicle and dorm room security, Noble
responded immediately by developing a new model. A Target customer
once suggested that Noble replace text descriptions on its air
conditioning units with easy-to-read icons. Instead of dismissing this
idea, Noble listened and developed a new model fitting the customer’s
description.

Key Lessons

Many believe that Noble could break into America the way Sony did in
the 1950s or Samsung did in the 1980s. Like these firms, Noble has
good quality products that are priced just below the competition. Yet
Noble has an additional advantage that other Asian firms did not have.
Because India has such a vast geography, disparate markets, and
many national and local authorities, Noble has dealt with many of the
problems of globalization without leaving home.

The firm has proved that it can adapt to local preferences, therefore, its
international expansion is just an extension of its strategy in the home
market.

Noble is content to enter the market with brands that have lower prices
and dependable quality. The strategy is to, “start with low-end items

Page | 9
that high-cost Asian companies can’t profitably produce and then, as
consumers grow accustomed to the brand, gradually work up toward
the top. Our strategy is good, better, best.

Noble has already entered the Asia with its niche products. The next
step in its expansion plan is to start competing with the large,
established competitors by introducing full sized refrigerators and other
white appliances in the Asia. Noble’s plan for entering the Asia is to
gradually build up its brand with niche products so that consumers will
recognize the quality and dependability of its products as they shop for
other appliances. When asked what the future holds for Noble, replies,
“The question I think about almost every day is how to avoid the
disadvantages of a large enterprise. In large companies, sometimes
people don’t notice a problem until it has gone beyond being solvable.
To avoid this, we have to consider how to make every person respond
very quickly to the market. We are trying to make each employee at
Noble work like an SBU, a strategic business unit. This way, pressure
from the market is the driver of our development. I don’t want Noble to
become like the Titanic. I want everyone to share responsibility with the
captain instead of the captain bearing the responsibility alone.

External

Powerful Incumbents , established, white goods manufacturers from

asia Inertia Continuing to find ways to innovate its product offering and
differentiate itself from its large competitors. Add value to its products
to serve niche markets better than the competition.
Disruption of customer’s Must prove to its customers that it is a trusted
system or process brand name and can provide the same quality (or
better quality) as its competitors.Changes in standards NA or
regulations required

Internal

Internal political The Noble Group is a highly diversified company and

as it maneuvering continues to diversify, it must ensure that it can
manage all its products effectively.
Reluctance or resistance Must continue to break the mold of the
traditional Indian firm by those needed for in its international expansion.
Also must defy the traditional active implementation business norms in
Noble to fuel its growth.

Page | 10
Resource Constraints As the Noble Group diversifies, it must be able to
provide quality management and employees for all of its divisions.

Platform changes required

Human resource and Managing a diverse company can present HR

challenges; also skills platforms must manage employees across many
different countries. Logistics platforms Keep looking for cheaper and
faster ways to deliver products to the consumer; increase the speed of
the supply chain. Distributor platforms NA IT and database platforms
Increase the use of the ebusiness in India and in foreign markets.
Technology platforms Use technology to improve the features of its
products Assets, operations, and Increased interaction between the
supply chain links to systems platforms eliminate bottlenecks and
deliver products faster to the consumer.

Marketbusting Kite

Element Needed to Support the Marketbusting System

Agenda
The key things that the critical people spend time on
1. International Expansion
2. Developing a reputation for quality in India and in foreign markets
3. Commitment to quality manufacturing standards
4. Market research to understand customer needs
5. Developing new products
6. Strategic product distribution

Norms
What principles and behaviors are valued?
1. Efficiency
2. High quality manufacturing
3. Being responsive to customer needs
4. Innovative ideas

News
What information and measures are paramount?

Page | 11
1. Market share in india
2. Market share in foreign markets
3. Customer satisfaction/comments

Allocations
What gets resourced and how are people rewarded?
Resources go to
1. International expansion
2. Diversifying into new markets
3. Purchasing links of the supply chain Rewards and recognition for
successes go to
1. Efficient manufacturing
2. Innovative ideas for new products

History
Key routines that have developed and drive activities
1. Focus on quality because this was how the firm turned around from
near bankruptcy
2. Listening and responding to customer feedback/requests
3. Relationships with large distributors such as Wal-mart, Lowe’s, Best
Buy, Target, etc.

PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Quality management is the process for ensuring that all project
activities necessary to design, plan and implement a project are
effective and efficient with respect to the purpose of the objective and
its performance.

Project quality management (QM) is not a separate, independent

process that occurs at the end of an activity to measure the level of
quality of the output. It is not purchasing the most expensive material
or services available on the market. Quality and grade are not the same,
grade are characteristics of a material or service such as additional
features. A product may be of good quality (no defects) and be of low
grade (few or no extra features).

Quality management is a continuous process that starts and ends with

the project. It is more about preventing and avoiding than measuring

Page | 12
and fixing poor quality outputs. It is part of every project management
processes from the moment the project initiates to the final steps in the
project closure phase.

QM focuses on improving stakeholder’s satisfaction through continuous

and incremental improvements to processes, including removing
unnecessary activities; it achieves that by the continuous improvement
of the quality of material and services provided to the beneficiaries. It is
not about finding and fixing errors after the fact, quality management is
the continuous monitoring and application of quality processes in all
aspects of the project.

Definition of Quality

Quality has been defined as "the totality of characteristics of an entity

that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs." 1 The stated
and implied quality needs are the inputs used in defining project
requirements from the donor and the beneficiaries. It is also defined\ as
the “Conformance to requirements or fitness for use” 2; which means
that the product or services must meet the intended objectives of the
project and have a value to the donor and beneficiaries and that the
beneficiaries can use the material or service as it was originally
intended. The central focus of quality management is meeting or
exceeding stakeholder’s expectations and conforming to the project
design and specifications.

The ultimate judge for quality is the beneficiary, and represents how
close the project outputs and deliverables come to meeting the
beneficiaries’ requirements and expectations. How a beneficiary defines
quality may be completely subjective, but there are many ways to make
quality objective; by defining the individual characteristics and
determine one or more metrics that can be collected to mirror the
characteristic. For instance, one of the features of a quality product may
be that it has a minimum amount of errors.
This characteristic can be measured by counting errors and defects after
the product is used.

Quality management is not an event - it is a process, a consistently high

quality product or service cannot be produced by a defective process.
Quality management is a repetitive cycle of measuring quality, updating
processes, measuring, updating processes until the desired quality is
achieved.

The Purpose of Management of Quality

Page | 13
The main principle of project quality management is to ensure the
project will meet or exceed stakeholder’s needs and expectations. The
project team must develop a good relationship with key stakeholders,
specially the donor and the beneficiaries of the project, to understand
what quality means to them. One of the causes for poor project
evaluations is the project focuses only in meeting the written
requirements for the main outputs and ignores other stakeholder needs
and expectations for the project.

Quality must be viewed on an equal level with scope, schedule and

budget. If a project donor is not satisfied with the quality of how the
project is delivering the outcomes, the project team will need to make
adjustments to scope, schedule and budget to satisfy the donor’s needs
and expectations. To deliver the project scope on time and on budget is
not enough, to achieve stakeholder satisfaction the project must develop
a good working relationship with all stakeholders and understand their
stated or implied needs.

Project management consists of four main processes:

Quality Definition
Quality Assurance
Quality Control
Quality Improvements
Inputs Process Outputs

Inputs Process Outputs

WBS Plan - Define the standards Quality Standards

for Quality

Scope Statement Do – Assurance that quality Quality Plan

is followed

Policies Check –Quality control

Adapt–Quality improvements

Page | 14
QUALITY DEFINITION

The first step on the quality management is to define quality, the project
manager and the team must identify what quality standards will be used
in the project, it will look at what the donor, beneficiaries, the
organization and other key stakeholders to come up with a good
definition of quality. In some instances the organization or the area of
specialization of the project (health, water or education) may have some
standard definitions of quality that can be used by the project.
Identifying quality standards is a key component of quality definition
that will help identify the key characteristics that will govern project
activities and ensure the beneficiaries and donor will accept the project
outcomes.
Quality management implies the ability to anticipate situations and
prepare actions that will help bring the desired outcomes. The goal is
the prevention of defects through the creation of actions that will ensure
that the project team understands what is defined as quality.

Sources of Quality Definition

One source for definition of quality comes from the donor; the project
must establish conversations with the donor to be familiar with and
come to a common understanding of what the donor defines as quality.
The donor may have certain standards of what is expected from the
project, and how the project delivers the expected benefits to the
beneficiaries. This is in line with the project’s ultimate objective that the
project outcomes have the ability to satisfy the stated or implied needs.

Another source for quality definition comes from the beneficiaries; the
project team must be able to understand how the beneficiaries define
quality from their perspective, a perspective that is more focused on
fitness for use, the project outcomes must be relevant to the current
needs of the beneficiaries and must result in improvements to their
lives. The team can create, as part of the baseline data collection,
questions that seek to understand how the beneficiaries define the
project will meet their needs, and a question that also helps define what
project success looks like from the perspective of a beneficiary. The
development organization may have its own quality standards that can
reflect technical and managerial nature of the project. The organization
may require from the project timely and accurate delivery of project
information needed for decision making, or compliance to international
or locally recognized quality standards that define specific technical
areas of the project, this is quite often in health, water and nutrition
projects.

Page | 15
A worldwide recognized standard for project is the Sphere Standard
used for emergency projects whose aim is to improve the quality of
assistance provided to people affected by disasters. This guideline
defines the minimum standards for water, sanitation, health, shelter,
food security, nutrition, shelter and settlement.

Quality Characteristics

All material or services have characteristics that facilitate the

identification of its quality. The characteristics are part of the conditions
of how the material, equipment and services are able to meet the
requirements of the project and are fit for use by the beneficiaries.
Quality characteristics relate to the attributes, measures and methods
attached to that particular product or service.

Functionality is the degree, by which equipment performs its

intended function, this is important especially for clinical equipment, that
the operation should be behave as expected.

Performance, its how well a product or service performs the

beneficiaries intended use. A water system should be designed to
support extreme conditions and require little maintenance to reduce the
cost to the community and increase its sustainability.

Reliability,
it’s the ability of the service or product to perform as
intended under normal conditions without unacceptable failures. Material
used for blood testing should be able to provide the information in a
consistent and dependable manner that will help identify critical
diseases. The trust of the beneficiaries depend on the quality of the
tests

Relevance, it’s the characteristic of how a product or service meets

the actual needs of the beneficiaries, it should be pertinent, applicable,
and appropriate to its intended use or application

Timeliness, how the product or service is delivered in time to solve

the problems when its needed and not after, this is a crucial
characteristic for health and emergency relief work.

Suitability, defines the fitness of its use, it appropriateness and

correctness, the agriculture equipment must be designed to operate on
the soul conditions the beneficiaries will use it on.

Completeness, the quality that the service is complete and includes

all the entire scope of services. Training sessions should be complete
and include all the material needed to build a desired skill or knowledge.

Page | 16
Consistency, services are delivered in the same way for every
beneficiary. Clinical tests need to be done using the same procedure for
every patient.
Quality characteristics are not limited to the material, equipment or
service delivered to the beneficiaries, but also applies to the material,
equipment and services the project staff uses to deliver the project
outputs. These include the vehicles, computers, various equipment and
tools and consulting services the project purchases and uses to carry out
its activities.

Quality characteristics must be included in all material, equipment and

services the project will purchase, the procurement officers must have a
complete description of what is required by the project, otherwise a
procurement office may purchase the goods or services based on her or
his information of the product.

Quality plan

Part of defining quality involves developing a quality plan and a quality

checklist that will be used during the project implementation phase. This
check list will ensure the project team and other actors are delivering
the project outputs according to the quality requirements.

Once the project has defined the quality standards and quality
characteristics, it will create a project quality plan that describes all the
quality definitions and standards relevant to the project, it will highlight
the standards that must be followed to comply to regulatory
requirements setup by the donor, the organization and external
agencies such a the local government and professional organizations
(health, nutrition, etc). The quality plan also describes the conditions
that the services and materials must posses in order to satisfy the needs
and expectations of the project stakeholders, it describes the situations
or conditions that make an output fall below quality standards, this
information is used to gain a common understanding among the project
team to help them identify what is above and what is below a quality
standard.

The quality plan also includes the procedure to ensure that the quality
standards are being followed by all project staff. The plan also includes
the steps required to monitor and control quality and the approval
process to make changes to the quality standards and the quality plan.

Quality management evolution

Quality management is a recent phenomenon. Advanced civilizations

that supported the arts and crafts allowed clients to choose goods
meeting higher quality standards than normal goods. In societies where

Page | 17
art responsibilities of a master craftsman (and similarly for artists) was
to lead their studio, train and supervise the on, the importance of
craftsmen was diminished as mass production and repetitive work
practices were instituted. The aim was to produce large numbers of the
same goods. The first proponent in the US for this approach was Eli
Whitney who proposed (interchangeable) parts manufacture for
muskets, hence producing the identical components and creating a
musket assembly line. The next step forward was promoted by several
people including Frederick Winslow Taylor a mechanical engineer who
sought to improve industrial efficiency. He is sometimes called "the
father of scientific management." He was one of the intellectual leaders
of the Efficiency Movement and part of his approach laid a further
foundation for quality management, including aspects like
standardization and adopting improved practices. Henry Ford also was
important in bringing process and quality management practices into
operation in his assembly lines. In Germany, Karl Friedrich Benz, often
called the inventor of the motor car, was pursuing similar assembly and
production practices, although real mass production was properly
initiated in Volkswagen after World War II. From this period onwards,
North American companies focused predominantly upon production
against lower cost with increased efficiency.

Walter A. Shewhart made a major step in the evolution towards quality

management by creating a method for quality control for production,
using statistical methods, first proposed in 1924. This became the
foundation for his ongoing work on statistical quality control. W.
Edwards Deming later applied statistical process control methods in the
United States during World War II, thereby successfully improving
quality in the manufacture of munitions and other strategically
important products.

Quality leadership from a national perspective has changed over the

past five to six decades. After the second world war, Japan decided to
make quality improvement a national imperative as part of rebuilding
their economy, and sought the help of Shewhart, Deming and Juran,
amongst others. W. Edwards Deming championed Shewhart's ideas in
Japan from 1950 onwards. He is probably best known for his
management philosophy establishing quality, productivity, and
competitive position. He has formulated 14 points of attention for
managers, which are a high level abstraction of many of his deep
insights. They should be interpreted by learning and understanding the
deeper insights and include:

 Break down barriers between departments

 Management should learn their responsibilities, and take on
leadership
 Improve constantly

Page | 18
  Institute a programme of education and self-improvement

In the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese goods were synonymous with

cheapness and low quality, but over time their quality initiatives began
to be successful, with Japan achieving very high levels of quality in
products from the 1970s onward. For example, Japanese cars regularly
top the J.D. Power customer satisfaction ratings. In the 1980s Deming
was asked by Ford Motor Company to start a quality initiative after they
realized that they were falling behind Japanese manufacturers. A
number of highly successful quality initiatives have been invented by the
Japanese (see for example on this page: Taguchi, QFD, Toyota
Production System. Many of the methods not only provide techniques
but also have associated quality culture (i.e. people factors). These
methods are now adopted by the same western countries that decades
earlier derided Japanese methods.

Customers recognize that quality is an important attribute in products

and services. Suppliers recognize that quality can be an important
differentiator between their own offerings and those of competitors
(quality differentiation is also called the quality gap). In the past two
decades this quality gap has been greatly reduced between competitive
products and services. This is partly due to the contracting (also called
outsourcing) of manufacture to countries like India and China, as well
internationalization of trade and competition. These countries amongst
many others have raised their own standards of quality in order to meet
International standards and customer demands. The ISO 9000 series of
standards are probably the best known International standards for
quality management.

There are a huge number of books available on quality. In recent times

some themes have become more significant including quality culture,
the importance of knowledge management, and the role of leadership in
promoting and achieving high quality. Disciplines like systems thinking
are bringing more holistic approaches to quality so that people, process
and products are considered together rather than independent factors in
quality management.

The influence of quality thinking has spread to non-traditional

applications outside of walls of manufacturing, extending into service
sectors and into areas such as sales, marketing and customer service.

Principles

Page | 19
Quality management adopts a number of management principles [2] that
can be used by upper management to guide their organisations towards
improved performance. The principles cover:

 Customer focus
 Leadership
 Involvement of people
 Process approach
 System approach to management
 Continual improvement
 Factual approach to decision making
 Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

Quality standards

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) created the

Quality Management System (QMS) standards in 1987. They were the
ISO 9000:1987 series of standards comprising ISO 9001:1987, ISO
9002:1987 and ISO 9003:1987; which were applicable in different types
of industries, based on the type of activity or process: designing,
production or service delivery.

The standards are reviewed every few years by the International

Organization for Standardization. The version in 1994 was called the ISO
9000:1994 series; comprising of the ISO 9001:1994, 9002:1994 and
9003:1994 versions.

The last major revision was in the year 2008 and the series was called
ISO 9000:2000 series. The ISO 9002 and 9003 standards were
integrated into one single certifiable standard: ISO 9001:2008. After
December 2003, organizations holding ISO 9002 or 9003 standards had
to complete a transition to the new standard.

ISO released a minor revision, ISO 9001:2008 on 14 October 2008. It

contains no new requirements. Many of the changes were to improve
consistency in grammar, facilitating translation of the standard into
other languages for use by over 950,000 certified organisations in the
175 countries (as at Dec 2007) that use the standard.

The ISO 9004:2000 document gives guidelines for performance

improvement over and above the basic standard (ISO 9001:2000). This
standard provides a measurement framework for improved quality
management, similar to and based upon the measurement framework
for process assessment.

Page | 20
The Quality Management System standards created by ISO are meant to
certify the processes and the system of an organization, not the product
or service itself. ISO 9000 standards do not certify the quality of the
product or service.

In 2005 the International Organization for Standardization released a

standard, ISO 22000, meant for the food industry. This standard covers
the values and principles of ISO 9000 and the HACCP standards. It gives
one single integrated standard for the food industry and is expected to
become more popular in the coming years in such industry.

ISO has also released standards for other industries. For example
Technical Standard TS 16949 defines requirements in addition to those
in ISO 9001:2008 specifically for the automotive industry.

ISO has a number of standards that support quality management. One

group describes processes (including ISO 12207 & ISO 15288) and
another describes process assessment and improvement ISO 15504.

The Software Engineering Institute has its own process assessment and
improvement methods, called CMMi (Capability Maturity Model —
integrated) and IDEAL respectively

Quality software

The software used to track the three main components of quality

management through the use of databases and/or charting applications.

Quality terms

 Quality Improvement can be distinguished from Quality Control in

that Quality Improvement is the purposeful change of a process to
improve the reliability of achieving an outcome.
 Quality Control is the ongoing effort to maintain the integrity of a
process to maintain the reliability of achieving an outcome.
 Quality Assurance is the planned or systematic actions necessary
to provide enough confidence that a product or service will satisfy
the given requirements.

Quality Planning

 The process of identifying which quality standards are relevant to the

project and determining how to satisfy them.
 Input includes: Quality policy, scope statement, product
description, standards and regulations, and other process Output.

Page | 21
 Methods used: benefit / cost analysis, benchmarking, flowcharting,
and design of experiments
Output includes: Quality Management Plan, operational definitions,
checklists, and Input to other processes.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Assurance is the activity of providing evidence to create confidence

among all stakeholders that the quality-related activities are being
performed effectively; and that all planned actions are being done to
provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy the
stated requirements for quality.

Quality Assurance is a process to provide confirmation based on

evidence to ensure to the donor, beneficiaries, organization
management and other stakeholders that product meet needs,
expectations, and other requirements. It assures the existence and
effectiveness of process and procedures tools, and safeguards are in
place to make sure that the expected levels of quality will be reached to
produce quality outputs.

Quality assurance occurs during the implementation phase of the project

and includes the evaluation of the overall performance of the project on
a regular basis to provide confidence that the project will satisfy the
quality standards defined by the project.

One of the purposes of quality management is to find errors and defects

as early in the project as possible. Therefore, a good quality
management process will end up taking more effort hours and cost
upfront.

The goal is to reduce the chances that products or services will be of

poor quality after the project has been completed.
Quality assurance is done not only to the products and services
delivered by the project but also to the process and procedures used to
manage the project, that includes the way the project uses the tools,
techniques and methodologies to manage scope, schedule, budget and
quality. Quality assurance also includes the project meets any legal or
regulatory standards.

Page | 22
  The process of evaluating overall project performance on a
regular basis to provide confidence that the project will satisfy the
relevant quality standards.
 Input includes: Quality Management Plan, results of quality
control measurements, and operational definitions.
 Methods used: quality planning tools and techniques and quality
audits.
Output includes: quality improvement

Quality Audits

Quality audits are structured reviews of the quality management

activities that help identify lessons learned that can improve the
performance on current or future project activities. Audits are performed
by project staff or consultants with expertise in specific Project Schedule
Management areas. The purpose of quality audit is to review how the
project is using its internal processes to produce the products and
services it will deliver to the beneficiaries. Its goal is to find ways to
improve the tools, techniques and processes that create the products
and services.
If problems are detected during the quality audits, corrective action will
be necessary to the tools, processes and procedures used to ensure
quality is reestablished. Part of the audit may include a review of the
project staff understanding of the quality parameters or metrics, and
skills expertise and knowledge of the people in charge of producing or
delivering the products or services.
If corrective actions are needed, these must be approved through the
change control processes.

The PDCA Cycle

The most popular tool used to determine quality assurance is the

Shewhart Cycle. This cycle for quality assurance consists of four steps:
Plan, Do, Check, and Act. These steps are commonly abbreviated as
PDCA.

The four quality assurance steps within the PDCA model stand for:

Plan:Establish objectives and processes required to deliver the

desired results.

Do: Implement the process developed.

Check: Monitor and evaluate the implemented process by

Page | 23
testing the results against the predetermined objectives

Act:Apply actions necessary for improvement if the results

require changes.
The PDCA is an effective method for monitoring quality assurance
because it analyzes existing conditions and methods used to provid the
product or service to beneficiaries. The goal is to ensure that excellence
is inherent in every component of the process. Quality assurance also
helps determine whether the steps used to provide the product or
service is appropriate for the time and conditions. In addition, if the
PDCA cycle is repeated throughout the lifetime of the project helping
improve internal efficiency.

The PDCA cycle is shown below as a never-ending cycle of

improvement; this cycle is sometimes referred to as the Project
Schedule Management Shewart/Deming3 cycle since it originated with
Shewart and was subsequently applied to management practices by
Deming.

Plan Do

Act Check

Figure x The Shewart/Deming Cycle

Quality assurance demands a degree of detail in order to be fully

implemented at every step. Planning, for example, could include
nvestigation into the quality of the raw materials used in manufacturing,
the actual assembly, or the inspection processes used.

The Checking step could include beneficiary feedback or surveys to

determine if beneficiary needs are being met or exceeded and why they
are or are not. Acting could mean a total revision in the delivery process
in order to correct a technical flaw. The goal to exceed stakeholder
expectations in a measurable and accountable process is provided by
quality assurance.

Assurance vs. Control

Page | 24
Quality assurance is often confused with quality control; quality control
is done at the end of a process or activity to verify that quality
standards have been met. Quality control by itself does not provide
quality, although it may identify problems and suggest ways to
improving it. In contrast, quality assurance is a systematic approach to
obtaining quality standards.
Quality assurance is something that must be planned for from the
earliest stages of a project, with appropriate measures taken at every
stage. Unfortunately far too many development projects are
implemented with no quality assurance plan, and these projects often
fail to meet quality expectations of the donor and beneficiaries. To
Project Schedule Management avoid problem the project must be able to
demonstrate the consistent compliance with the quality requirements for
the project.

QUALITY CONTROL

Quality control is the use of techniques and activities that compare

actual quality performance with goals and define appropriate action in
response to a shortfall. It is the process that monitors specific project
results to determine if they comply with relevant standards and
identifies different approaches to eliminate the causes for the
unsatisfactory performance.
The goal of quality control is to improve quality and involves monitoring
the project outputs to determine if they meet the quality standards or
definitions based on the project stakeholder’s expectations. Quality
control also includes how the project performs in its efforts to manage
scope, budget and schedule.

Acceptance; The beneficiaries, the donor or other key project

stakeholders accept or reject the product or service delivered.

Acceptance occurs after the beneficiaries or donor has had a change

to evaluate the product or service.

Rework; is the action taken to bring the rejected product or service

into compliance with the requirements, quality specifications or
stakeholder expectations. Rework is expensive that is why the project
must make every effort to do a good job in quality planning and quality
assurance to avoid the need for rework. Rework and all the costs
associated with it may not refundable by the donor and the organization
may end up covering those costs.

Adjustments; correct or take the necessary steps to prevent further

quality problems or defects based on quality control measurements.
Adjustments are identified to the processes that produce the outputs

Page | 25
and the decisions that were taken that lead to the defects and errors.
Changes are taken to the Change Control processes of the project.

Quality Control Tools

There are a couple of good tools that can be used to control quality on a
project, these are cause and effect diagrams, Pareto charts and control
charts:

Cause and Effect Diagram, also known as fishbone diagrams or

Ishikawa diagrams (named after Kaoru Ishikawa, a Japanese quality
control statistician, who developed the concept in the 1960s, and is
considered one of the seven basic tools of quality management) It is
named fishbone diagram because of their fish-like appearance, it is an
analysis tool that provides a systematic way of looking at effects and the
causes that create or contribute to those effects. The Ishikawa Diagram
is employed by a problem-solving team as a tool for assembling all
inputs (as to what are the causes of the problem they're addressing)
systematically and graphically, with the inputs usually coming from a
brainstorming session. It enables the team to focus on why the problem
occurs, and not on the history or symptoms of the problem, or other
topics that digress from the intent of the session. It also displays a real-
time 'snap-shot' of the collective inputs of the team as it is updated. The
possible causes are presented at various levels of detail in connected
branches, with the level of detail increasing as the branch goes outward,
i.e., an outer branch is a cause of the inner branch it is attached to.
Thus, the outermost branches usually indicate the root causes of the
problem.

Cause A Cause B Cause C

Cause A-1 Cause B-1 Cause C-1

Cause A-2 Cause B-2 Cause C-2 Major Defect

Cause D-2 Cause E-2 Cause F-2 Quality error

Cause D-1 Cause E-1 Cause F-1

Cause D Cause E Cause F

Figure x, Fishbone diagram

Page | 26
Pareto Charts; based on Pareto’s rule, which states that 80 percent of
the problems are often due to 20 percent of the causes. The assumption
is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small
number of causes and helps identify the vital few contributors that
account for most quality problems. The chart is a form of histogram that
orders the data by frequency of occurrence; it shows how many defects
were generated by a type of category of identified cause. For example to
determine the errors in the collection of beneficiary data the project
team identified five causes and for each cause the frequency they
contained errors, the data is plotted as shown in the chart below, the
bars represent each category and the line the cumulative percentage of
the errors, the
chart allows to identify that 80% of the errors could be reduced just by
improving the collection of data in two categories instead of focusing
efforts to correct all categories.

Control Charts; is a graphical display of data that illustrates the

results of a process over time, the purpose of a control chart is to
prevent defects, rather than detect them or reject them, the chart
allows the determine whether a process is in control or out of control
over specified length of time. Control charts are often used to monitor
the production of large quantities of products, but can also be used to
monitor the volume and frequency of errors in documents, cost an
schedule variances and other items related to project quality
management. The figure below illustrates an example of a control chart
for the process of controlling the weight of products manufactured by
the beneficiaries for sale in international markets. The customer has a
limit tolerance for defects; these are the upper and lower control limits
in the chart. Random examination of the products reveals data that once
charted on the graph identifies the times when the production process
created items that were
outside the control limits, this helps the project determine actions to
help the beneficiaries improve the quality of their work.

Control charts can also be used to the project management areas, such
as schedule and budget control, to determine whether the costs
variances or schedule variances are outside the acceptable limits set by
the donor.

Statistical Quality Control

 Method used to measure variability in a product for evaluation

and corrective actions

Page | 27
 Normal Distribution Curve
o Six standard deviations (+3 and -3) encompass 99.73%
of area
o Four standard deviations (+2 and -2) encompass
95.46% of area
o Two standard deviations (+1 and -1) encompass 68.26%
of area

Quality Control Systems

 Process Control Charts

o Statistical techniques used for monitoring and evaluating
variations in a process.
o Identifies the allowable range of variation for a particular
product characteristic by specifying the upper and lower bounds
for the allowable variation.
o Upper Control Limit (UCL), Lower Control Limit (LCL),
process average: the mean of the averages for the samples
taken over a long period of time. (see Ireland V-2 through V-
7)
o Visual patterns indicating out-of-control state or a
condition that requires attention:
1. Outliers: a sample point outside the control limits
2. Hugging control limit: a series (run) of points that
are close to a control limit. Requires correction to prevent data
points from going outside the control limit.
3. Cycle: A repeating pattern of points.
4. Trend: A series of consecutive points which reflect a
steadily increasing or decreasing pattern.
5. Run: A series of consecutive points on the same
side of the average. Rule of thumb: considered abnormal if 7

Page | 28
 consecutive points, 10 of 11, 12 of 14 data points are above or
below the process average.
 Acceptance Sampling
o Used when expensive and time-consuming to test 100%.
Random sampling may be used to check the characteristics and
attributes of a given lot of goods.
o Determines whether or not the lot conforms to the
specifications or standards necessary to support the overall
project requirements.
o Inspection and test standards must be established to
ensure that procedures are adequate to determine whether a lot
is conforming or nonconforming to specifications.
o Standards must also be set for qualification of the
sampled lot.
o Important to select a sample size that will provide
sufficient information about the larger lot of goods without
costing a great deal of money.
o Must determine the number of allowable defects before lot
is rejected. (see Ireland V-8)

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

It is the systematic approach to the processes of work that looks to

remove waste, loss, rework, frustration, etc. in order to make the
processes of work more effective, efficient, and appropriate.

Quality improvement refers to the application of methods and tools to

close the gap between current and expected levels of quality by
understanding and addressing system deficiencies and strengths to
improve, or in some cases, re-design project processes.

A variety of quality improvement approaches exists, ranging from

individual performance improvement to redesign of entire project
processes. These approaches differ in terms of time, resources, and
complexity, but share the same four steps in quality improvement:

Page | 29
Identify
what you want to improve; the project using the data found
in the quality control process identifies the areas that need
improvement.

Analyze the problem or system, the team then investigates the causes
for the problem and its implications to the project, the causes may be
internal or external to the project.

Develop potential solutions or changes that appear likely to improve

the problem or system, the team brainstorms ideas and potential
solutions to the problem, taking in consideration its impact to the
project schedule and budget. After careful considerations the team
decides and chooses the best alternative.

Test and implement the solutions. The team may decide to test the
solution on a small scale to verify that it is capable of fixing the problem,
it testes for the initial assumptions made about the problem and once it
confirms that the solution is a viable alternative, it then proceeds to
implement in a full scale the solution.

Cost of Quality

The cost of quality is the sum of costs a project will spend to prevent
poor quality and any other costs incurred as a result of outputs of poor
quality. Poor quality is the waste, errors, or failure to meet stakeholder
needs and project requirements. The costs of poor quality can be broken
down into the three categories of prevention, appraisal, and failure
costs:

Prevention costs: These are planned costs an organization incurs to

ensure that errors are not made at any stage during the delivery
process of that product or service to a beneficiary. Examples of
prevention costs include quality planning costs, education and training
costs, quality administration staff costs, process control costs, market
research costs, field testing costs, and preventive maintenance costs.
The cost of preventing mistakes are always much less than the costs of
inspection and correction.

Appraisal costs: These include the costs of verifying, checking, or

evaluating a product or service during the delivery process. Examples of
appraisal costs include receiving or incoming inspection costs, internal
production audit costs, test and inspection costs, instrument
maintenance costs, process measurement and control costs, supplier
evaluation costs, and audit report costs.

Page | 30
Failure costs: A project incurs these costs because the product or
service did not meet the requirements and had to be fixed or replaced,
or the service had to be repeated.

Leadership

Joseph M. Juran, one of the leading experts in Quality management said

that “it is most important that management be quality-minded. In the
absence of sincere manifestation of interest at the top, little will happen
below” 4 What this means is the main cause of quality problems is a lack
of leadership. In order to establish and implement effective quality
projects, senior management must lead the way. A large percentage of
quality problems are associated with management, not technical issues,
it is the responsibility of the development organizations senior
management to take responsibility for creating, supporting, and
promoting quality programs.

Quality problems should be taken as an opportunity for improvement;

problems can help identify more fundamental or systemic root causes
and help develop ways to improve the process. Unfortunately projects
do not have a culture that promotes the identification of problems for
the fear that making improvements is an admission that the current way
of doing things is flawed or that those responsible are poor performers.
Improved performance cannot occur unless the project team feels
comfortable that they can speak truthfully and are confident that their
suggestions will be taken seriously.

Maturity Models

Another approach to improve quality is the use of maturity models,

which are frameworks for helping organizations and projects improve
their processes. The model includes a method for assessing the projects
maturity levels as a first step to determine the improvements needed to
increase the capacity of the project to deliver the project outputs as
promised.

The use of the word "maturity" implies that capabilities must be grown
over time in order to produce repeatable success in project
management. The Random House College Dictionary defines "maturity"
as full development or perfected condition. "Maturity" also indicates
understanding or visibility into why success occurs and ways to correct
or prevent common problems. "Model" implies change, a progression, or
steps in a process.
Project management maturity is the progressive development of an
organizations project management approach, methodology, strategy,
and decision-making process. The appropriate level of maturity can vary

Page | 31
for each organization based on specific goals, strategies, resource
capabilities, scope, and needs.

The proper level of maturity to which an organization should strive is

determined during a detailed assessment conducted by a professional
project management consulting team. The organization has achieved full
project management maturity when it has met the requirements and
standards for project management effectiveness and it is capable of
demonstrating improvements such as on-time project delivery, cost
reductions, organizational efficiency, and quality outcomes.

A project quality maturity usually consists of five levels:

Level 1. Informal level, there is no defined processes for quality

practices or standards. The organization may be in the initial stages of
considering how projects should define quality, but most efforts are
informal and had-oc.

Level 2. Defined level, the organization has defines some basic quality
standards and project quality policies that are being adopted. But not all
projects are using it in a consistent manner.

Level 3. Repeatable level, the quality process is well documented and

is an organizational standard. All projects are using it and producing
consistent and repeatable results.

Level 4. Controlled level, all projects ire required to use quality

planning standard processes. The organization has a unit or roles that
coordinate quality standards and assurance and quality audits are done
on a regular basis.

Level 5. Optimized level, the quality process includes guidelines for

feeding improvements back into the process. Metrics are used as key
criteria for quality decisions and quality results are predictable. The
model helps an organization identify were they stand and were they
should strive to reach, it is a simple way to determine the level of
maturity required for a project or organization, some organizations may
be comfortable with achieving a level 3 while others may be encouraged
to reach a level 4 due to the need to comply with legal or regulatory
standards.

Continuous Improvement

Quality is not something that is done at the end of a phase or at the end
of the project, is a continuous process to ensure quality is performed in
all aspects of the project. The goal is to continuously improve based on

Page | 32
the lessons learned and new insights provided by the project. To be
effective it should happen during all activities of the project.

Continuous improvement, in regard to project quality always focuses on

improving stakeholder satisfaction through continuous and incremental
improvements to processes, including the removal of any unnecessary
activities. By applying a process that continuously improves every
element of the project can achieve better results than trying to wait until
the end of a phase or a mid term evaluation to start making
adjustments and improvements to the work. It requires little effort and
by doing small incremental improvements the project can reach
significant levels of quality.

To implement continuous improvements, it necessary to have a culture

of reflection that allows the project team to learn from mistakes and
apply the lesson on the next phase or cycle and not spend time and
effort trying to put blame, otherwise, the team will fear reporting any
problems with quality and it will be too late to do anything once the
donor or the beneficiaries find out.

Statistical Concepts and Quality Tools

Tools of Quality Management

 Pareto Diagram
o Ranks defects in order of frequency of occurrence to depict
100% of the defects. (Displayed as a histogram)
o Defects with most frequent occurrence should be targeted
for corrective action.
o 80-20 rule: 80% of problems are found in 20% of the work.
o Does not account for severity of the defects
 Cause and Effect Diagrams (fishbone diagrams or Ishikawa
diagrams)
o Analyzes the Input to a process to identify the causes of
errors.
o Generally consists of 8 major Input to a quality process to
permit the characterization of each input. (See Ireland, V-13)
 Histograms

Page | 33
o Shows frequency of occurrence of items within a range of
activity.
o Can be used to organize data collected for measurements
done on a product or process.
 Scatter diagrams
o Used to determine the relationship between two or more
pieces of corresponding data.
o The data are plotted on an "X-Y" chart to determine
correlation (highly positive, positive, no correlation, negative, and
highly negative) (See Ireland, V-14)
 Other Tools
o Graphs
o Check sheets (tic sheets) and check lists
o Flowcharts

Quality and People in Project Management

 Management defines type and amount of work

 Management is 85% responsible for quality
 The employee can only assume responsibility for meeting the
requirements of completing the work when the employee:
o Knows what's expected to meet the specifications
o Knows how to perform the functions to meet the
specifications
o Has adequate tools to perform the function
o Is able to measure the performance during the process
o Is able to adjust the process to match the desired outcome
 Project quality team consists of:
o Senior Management
o Project Manager
o Project Staff
o Customer
o Vendors, suppliers, and contractors

Page | 34
 o Regulatory Agencies
 Reviews & Audits
o Management reviews determine the status, progress made,
problems, and solutions
o Peer reviews determine whether proposed or completed
work meets the requirements
o Competency center reviews are used to validate
documentation, studies, and proposed technical solutions to
problems.
o Fitness reviews and audits determine the fitness of a
product or part of a project. (addresses specific issues)
 The collection of quantitative data for statistical analysis is the
basis for proactive Management by FACT rather than by
EXCEPTION. Management by exception lets errors and defects
happen before Management intervention.

Sample Questions
1. The process of evaluating overall project
performance on a regular basis to provide
confidence that the project will satisfy the
relevant quality standards is called:
A. Quality Assurance
B. Quality Control
C. Quality Planning
D. Quality Review

2. The process of monitoring specific project

results to determine if they comply with relevant
quality standards is called:
A. Quality Assurance
B. Quality Control

Page | 35
 C. Quality Planning
D. Quality Review

3. A histogram ordered by frequency of

occurrence that shows how many results were
generated by each identified cause is:
A. Statistical Histogram
B. Juran Histogram
C. Fishbone Diagram
D. Pareto Diagram

4. Tools and techniques used during the Quality

Planning process include:
A. Benefit / cost analysis
B. Benchmarking
C. Quality audits
D. a and b
E. all of the above

5. The overall intentions and direction of an

organization with regard to quality as formally
expressed by top management is a:
A. Quality Plan
B. Quality Statement
C. Quality Policy
D. TQM

6. CIP is:
A. Continuous improvement process

Page | 36
 B. A sustained, gradual change
C. Includes constancy of purpose and commitment to
quality as part of its focus
D. a and b
E. all of the above

7. The practice of ceasing mass inspections and

ending awards based on price is credited to:
A. Edward Deming
B. Philip Crosby
C. Juran
D. Pareto

8. Quality is:
A. Zero defects found
B. Conformance to requirements
C. The totality of features and characteristics of a
product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy
stated or implied needs
D. b and c
E. all the above

9. The concept of making a giant leap forward

followed by a period of maturity is:
A. Innovation
B. Continuous improvement
C. Just in time
D. Paradigm
E.

Page | 37
10. The concept that it is easier and less costly to
do the work right the first time is called:
A. Zero defects
B. Continuous improvement
C. DTRTRTFT
D. The customer is the next person in the process

11. The ability of a product to be used for

different purposes at different capacities and
under different conditions determines its:
A. Usability
B. Flexibility
C. Operability
D. Availability

12. Which of the following is not considered a

cost of nonconformance to quality?
A. Scrap
B. Rework
C. Expediting
D. Process control
E. all of the above are considered nonconformance
costs

13. Cost of quality includes:

A. Cost of all work to build a product or service that
conforms to the requirements
B. Training programs
C. Cost of all work resulting from nonconformance to
the requirements
D. a and b

Page | 38
 E. all of the above

14. What percentage of sales is estimated to be

the cost of non-quality?
A. 3-5%
B. 12-20%
C. 30-40%
D. 6-8%

15. A series of consecutive points on the same

side of the average is called:
A. Run
B. Trend
C. Outliers
D. Cycle

16. Which of the following statements concerning

acceptance sampling is false?
A. Used when expensive and time-consuming to test
the product 100%.
B. The number of allowable defects before lot is
rejected is predetermined.
C. Inspection and test standards must be established
to ensure that procedures can adequately
determine conformance and nonconformance.
D. If the number of defects found in the sample
exceeds the predetermined amount, the entire lot
is rejected.
E. All of the above are true

Page | 39
17. 80% of the problems are found in 20% of the
work is a concept of:
A. Edward Deming
B. Philip Crosby
C. Juran
D. Pareto

18. A structured tool, usually industry or activity

specific, used to verify that a set of required steps
has been performed is called:
A. Quality Policy
B. Check list
C. Trend analysis
D. Pareto diagram

19. A tool that analyzes the Input to a process to

identify the causes of errors is called:
A. Cause and effect diagram
B. Scatter diagram
C. Ishikawa diagram
D. Pareto diagram
E. a and c

20. The concept of zero inventory is called:

A. Six sigma
B. Continuous improvement

Page | 40
 C. Just in Time
D. Zero defects

21. All of the following statements about

acceptance sampling plans are true except:
A. Acceptance sampling plans are beneficial when the
cost of inspections is high and the resulting loss of
passing non-conforming units is not great
B. Acceptance sampling plans are necessary when
destructive inspections are required
C. Acceptance sampling plans are never as effective
at rejecting non-conforming units as 100 percent
inspection, even when the inspection process is
very tedious
D. Acceptance sampling plans do not directly control
the quality of a series of lots; they instead specify
the risk of accepting lots of given quality
E. Acceptance sampling plans are not very effective
for inspecting small lots of custom-made products

22. A quality control (QC) manager for a

manufacturing firm is calculating the expected
standard deviation (s) for the length of hex bolts
being produced on the assembly line. There are
two sources of variation in the length of the hex
bolts: production variation and measurement
error. The QC manager knows that the standard
deviations from these two sources is 0.24 inch
and 0.43 inch, respectively. Assuming that there
are no other significant sources of error, what
answer should the QC manager calculate for the
total standard deviation of the length of the hex
bolts?
A. 0.10 inch

Page | 41
 B. 0.19 inch
C. 0.34 inch
D. 0.49 inch
E. 0.67 inch

23. The rule of seven is used by quality control

engineers to determine whether a process is out
of control. If a run of seven or more samples lays
on one side of the process mean, the process is
said to be out of control. What is the probability
that a run of seven on either side of the Process
mean is due to random variation?
A. 14.3%
B. 3.12%
C. 2.73%
D. 1.56%
E. 0.78%

24. Control chart theory is based on the

differences of the causes of variations in quality.
Variations in quality may be produced by
assignable causes. All of the following are
examples of assignable causes except:
A. Differences among machines
B. Differences among workers
C. Differences among materials
D. Differences in each of these factors over time
E. None of the above (all are examples)

25. The same quality control manager decides to

increase his daily sample size from three to six.
The size of the control band will:

Page | 42
 A. Increase
B. Decrease
C. Remain unchanged
D. Not determinable from given data
E. None of the above

26. All of the following statements about control

charts are true except:
A. Control charts can be used to establish as well as
maintain process control
B. Control charts are used to determine acceptance
limits when no limits are stipulated by the product
specification; otherwise, one should use the limits
dictated by the specification
C. All data points outside the control chart limits are
variations explained by
D. A and B
E. B and C

27. Japanese quality control has improved

dramatically in the last 30 years for all of the
following reasons except:
A. The use of quality control circles
B. Small, continuous improvements in quality control
C. The use of worker suggestion systems
D. The use of quality control charts
E. Focusing quality control efforts on production
output

28. Quality management deals with all of the

following topics except:
A. Conformance to requirements / specifications
Page | 43
 B. Satisfying the needs of the customer
C. Making products more desirable and luxurious
D. A and C
E. B and C

29. Which of the following statements about the

cost of quality are true?
A. The cost of quality is the expense of non-
conformance to requirements and specifications
B. The costs of quality are mostly the direct
responsibility of workers who are manufacturing
the product
C. Quality control programs should only be
implemented when the costs of quality is low
D. A and B
E. A and C

30. The zero defects concept

A. is a performance standard for management
B. is a motivational technique that promotes "doing it
right the first time"
C. is used by management to communicate to all
employees that everyone should do things right the
first time
D. A and C
E. B and C

31. Quality assurance

A. refers to the prevention of product defects
B. is an auditing function that provides feedback to
the project team and client about the quality of
Page | 44
 output being produced
C. is the technical process that includes the
construction of control charts which specify
acceptability limits for conforming output
D. A and B
E. B and C

32. Financial compensation is the primary

motivational tool for which of the following
management theories or programs?
A. Zero Defects program
B. Theory X management
C. Theory Y management
D. Quality Control Circles
E. A and C

33. In the project environment, the individual

ultimately responsible for quality control is:
A. The line workers who must strive "to do things
right the first time" to avoid quality problems
B. The company's quality control manager who must
work with the project members to ensure the
quality control program is effective
C. The head of the production department who
retains ultimate quality control responsibility for all
the company's projects
D. The project manager who has ultimately
responsibility for the entire project
E. The customer who must ensure that he is
receiving a quality product from the vendor

34. An acceptance control chart has limits that

Page | 45
are based on the specification limits for the
product rather than limits which differentiate
between random and assignable causes. Under
which if the following circumstance should a QC
manager consider using an acceptance control
chart?
A. When the engineering tolerance on a dimension
greatly exceeds the natural dispersion of the
manufacturing process
B. When the number of samples outside the current
control chart limits become too costly and
cumbersome to investigate
C. When a process is subject to constant but stable
tool wear
D. A and B
E. A and C

35. The majority of product defects could be

prevented in most processes if manufacturers
would do the following:
A. Increase the use of acceptance control charts
instead of standard three-sigma control charts
B. Make a concerted effort to eliminate the potential
for product defects in the design stage
C. Create a quality control department
D. A and B
E. A and C

36. Quality attributes

A. are used to determine how effectively the
organization accomplishes its goals
B. can be objective or subjective in nature
C. are specific quality characteristics for which a
Page | 46
 product is designed, built, and tested
D. A and B
E. B and C

37. Most quality problems

A. originate in the quality department where the
ultimate responsibility for quality rests
B. originate on the shop floor because of waste and
product rework
C. are the result of management's lack of attention to
potential quality improvement ideas
D. could be eliminated if shop supervisors monitored
their workers more closely
E. A and B

38. The Pareto Principle is a technique used by

quality managers to determine which quality
control problems concerning a particular service
or manufacturing process should be corrected.
Which of the following statements best
represents the philosophy employed by this
principle?
A. In order to minimize financial losses from quality
control problems, all problems which have a
measurable cost associated with them should be
corrected
B. The majority of defects are caused by a small
percentage of the identifiable problems.
Improvement efforts should be reserved for those
few vital problems
C. In order to achieve zero defects, all quality control
problems, including those which do not have a
direct financial cost should be corrected
D. Generally, 80% of the quality control problems are

Page | 47
 justifiable for correction via cost-benefit analysis.
The remaining 20% are not financially worthy of
improvement efforts
E. A and D

39. The Japanese Quality Control (QC) Circle

movement motivated its participants in many
ways. Which of the following represents the most
important motivation for the QC circle participant:
A. Improving the performance of the company
B. Self-Improvement
C. Financial Incentives
D. Recognition among co-workers
E. Strengthening of relationships between co-workers

40. In order to achieve long-term quality

improvements, management must do the
following:
A. Motivate the employees with seminars, contests,
and institution of programs such as "Quality
Improvement" day
B. Create a quality control department and give the
head of the department ultimate responsibility for
quality improvement
C. Implement a formal quality control program with
worker and management involvement
D. Establish financial incentive packages for workers
E. A and D

41. Quality assurance is

Page | 48
 A. top management's intention regarding quality
B. functions determining implementation of the
quality policy
C. actions to provide confidence of satisfying quality
requirements
D. responsibilities and processes which implement
quality management
E. all of the above

42. Quality is
A. zero defects
B. a problem
C. a specification
D. a cost
E. A, C, and D

43. Which are the best two charts to show trends

in a process?
A. Pareto and Control
B. Control and Run
C. Histogram and Run
D. Gantt and Pert
E. Gantt and CPM

44. If the acceptance sampling attribute for a lot

is 30%, this means that
A. 30% of all lots must be tested
B. 30% of all lots must pass the test
C. any given lot must have 30% or fewer defects
D. a sample of a given lot must have 30% or fewer

Page | 49
 defects to pass the entire lot
E. C and D

45. The pillars) of quality is (are)

A. Quality is free
B. Doing it right the first time
C. Zero defects
D. Process improvement
E. B and C

46. When a product or service completely meets a

customer's requirements:
A. quality is achieved
B. cost of quality is high
C. cost of quality is low
D. the customer pays the minimum price
E. A and B

47. Using Pareto's Rule, and given the data in the

following table, where should corrective action
focus?

Origin of Problem % of Problems

Design 80
Development 2
Prototype 9
Testing 6
Fabrication 3

Page | 50
 A. Design
B. Design, development, and prototype
C. Design and prototype
D. Development, prototype, and fabrication
E. None of the above

48. Cost of quality is a concept that includes:

A. the cost necessary for ensuring conformance to
requirements
B. the life cycle cost of the project
C. al research and development costs related to the
project
D. only the cost of the quality control function
E. A and B

49. The process of determining that technical

processes and procedures are being performed in
conformance with scope requirements and quality
plans is called quality:
A. management
B. assurance
C. process review
D. control
E. checks

50. Quality control is:

A. identifying which quality standards are relevant to
the project and determining how to satisfy them
B. monitoring specific project results to determine if
they comply with relevant quality standards and
identifying ways to eliminate causes of

Page | 51
 unsatisfactory performance
C. evaluating overall project performance on a
regular basis to provide confidence that the project
will satisfy the relevant quality standards
D. taking action to increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of the project so as to provide added
benefits to both the performing organization and
the project customer
E. assuming the production of goods that meet the
highest standards of luxury

51. Quality planning is:

A. identifying which quality standards are relevant to
the project and determining how to satisfy them
B. monitoring specific project results to determine if
they comply with relevant quality standards and
identifying ways to eliminate causes of
unsatisfactory performance
C. evaluating overall project performance on a
regular basis to provide confidence that the project
will satisfy the relevant quality standards
D. taking action to increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of the project so as to provide added
benefits to both the performing organization and
the project customer
E. assuring the production of goods that meet the
highest standards of luxury

52. Quality management includes forming and

directing a team of people to achieve a qualitative
goal within an effective cost and time frame that
results in:
A. a project completed in the shortest possible time
B. a product or service that conforms to the

Page | 52
 requirement specification
C. an award-winning product that brings public
recognition to the project
D. an innovative project that establishes the
qualifications of the project team
E. B and C

53. According to current quality management

thinking, which of the following approaches to
quality improvement is least likely to produce
positive results?
A. increased inspection
B. continuous improvement
C. quality circles
D. statistical quality control
E. use of worker suggestion systems

54. The concept that states: "the optimal quality

level is reached at the point where the
incremental revenue from product improvement
equals the incremental cost to secure it" comes
from:
A. quality control analysis
B. marginal analysis
C. standard quality analysis
D. conformance analysis
E. systems analysis

55. Which of the following best characterizes the

results of an increase in quality?
A. increased productivity, increased cost-
effectiveness, and decreased cost risk

Page | 53
 B. reduced productivity and no change to cost-
effectiveness or cost risk
C. reduced productivity and an increase in overall
product or service cost
D. increased productivity and cost-effectiveness
E. increased productivity, decreased cost-
effectiveness and increased cost risk

56. Which of the following statements regarding

quality is false?
A. Quality improvements depends upon better
definition and increased awareness of the
requirements specifications
B. Future gains in quality will often rely on advanced
technology
C. Recognition of key actions required of each team
member is necessary to meet quality objectives
D. Computer-aided design systems can improve
quality, but only a the expense of an increase in
the cost of design
E. A and C

57. You are sampling items from a batch and

plotting the results on a control chart. how will an
increase in the number of items sample affect the
value of the standard deviation used to set the
control limit?
A. increase it
B. decrease it
C. no effect on it
D. first increase it, then decrease it
E. first decrease it, then increase it

Page | 54
58. If the level of confidence directly increases as
a result of new processes, different resources, or
changed methods, the required cost of monitoring
is likely to:
A. increase as well
B. remain the same
C. decrease
D. decrease initially then increase slightly
E. increase then tend to level off

59. The primary driver(s) behind the demand for

continual qualify improvement is / are:
A. an increase in the number of projects being
worked
B. the government cost improvement reports that
have created widespread public
C. interest in quality
D. the prevalence of media reports on quality circles
and other quality improvement techniques
E. the need to both reduce costs and ensure
consistency in the performance of products and
services
F. B and D

60. The concept of quality is based on:

A. meeting luxury goods standards
B. producing excellent products that are superior to
other similar items
C. conforming to the requirements specifications
D. maintaining uniformity of design
E. A and C

Page | 55
 Answers

[1] A [2] B [3] D [4] D [5] C [6] E [7] A [8] D [9] A [10] C [11] B [12] D [13] E [14]
B [15] A [16] E [17] D [18] B [19] E [20] C [21] C [22] D [23] D [24] E [25] B [26]
E [27] E [28] C [29] A [30] D [31] B [32] B [33] D [34] E [35] B [36] E [37] C [38]
B [39 A [40] C [41] C [42] C [43] B [44] D [45] E [46] A [47] A [48] A [49] D [50]
B [51] A [52] B [53] A [54] B [55] A [56] B [57] B [58] C [59] E [60] C

Page | 56