[Solution] Managing Total Quality

Eight Dimensions of Quality

• Performance: Primary operating characteristic
• Features: Supplements to basic functioning
• Reliability: Probability of not malfunctioning
• Conformance: Meeting established standards
• Durability: Product life measure
• Serviceability: Speed and ease of repair
• Aesthetics: How product looks, feels, tastes, smells
• Perceived quality: As seen by customers

A strategic commitment by top management to build quality into every business decision is a defining characteristic of .

View Explanation

TQM is a strategic commitment to make quality a guiding principle for every decision, impacting organizational culture and resource allocation.

Which statements accurately reflect the relationship between quality and profitability? Check all that apply:

• Higher quality increases customer repurchase likelihood
• Better quality means more output sold vs discarded
• Quality improvement requires difficult-to-recoup investment
• Higher quality reduces resources for dissatisfied customers
• Employee quality engagement reduces inspector costs

View Explanation

Quality improvements pay off through lower costs over time and higher revenues from sales, despite requiring some initial investment.

Match each TQM tool with its description:

Discovering work activities that add no value:

Learning from high-quality organizations:

Hiring others to do certain work:

Developing products faster:

International quality standards:

Monitoring quality with statistics:

Reducing defects to undetectable levels:

View Explanation

Each tool serves specific quality purposes: value-added analysis eliminates non-value activities, benchmarking learns from others, outsourcing focuses on core competencies, cycle time reduction speeds delivery, ISO provides standards, SQC uses statistical monitoring, and Six Sigma virtually eliminates defects.