Pmbok Book Chapter 8 - Quality

Front 1

Explain the primary activity of the Quality Planning process in the Quality Management ka, and name to Process Group to which it belongs.

Back 1

Primary activity is to plan
- Determine what the quality standards on the project will be and how quality will be measured.
- Belongs in the Planning process group.

Front 2

Explain the primary activity of the Perform Quality Assurance process in the Quality Management ka, and name the Process Group to which it belongs.

Back 2

Primary activity is to implement/manage - Use the measurements to see if the quality standards will be met; validate the standards.
- Belongs in the Executing p.g.

Front 3

Explain the primary activity of the Perform Quality Control process in the Quality Management ka, and name the Process Group to which it belongs.

Back 3

Primary activity is to measure/monitor - Perform the measurements and compare to specific quality standards; identify ways of eliminating the problem in the future.
- Belongs in the Monitoring and Controlling p.g.

Front 4

Describe the contents of a good Quality Management Plan. What 11 things should it address?

Back 4

- A quality management plan is the output of the quality planning process.
- It should describe how the project management team will implement its quality policy and will provide input to the overall project plan.
- A good quality management plan will specifically address each of the following:
- Design control
- Document control
- Purchased material control
- Material identification and control
- Inspections
- Test control
- Measuring and testing equipment control
- Corrective actions
- Quality assurance records
- Audits
- Process improvements

Front 5

Describe the Legal Implications of Quality. What are 6 legal considerations?

Back 5

In addition to the benefits organizations gain from implementing quality programs, there are legal considerations that must be addressed when developing the quality management plan:
1. Criminal liability
2. Fraud or gross negligence
3. Civil liability
4. Criminal or civil liability, even if following orders
5. Lawsuits against the company
6. Appropriate corporate actions

Front 6

What are the 7 Market Expectations criteria regarding quality?

Back 6

In determining what preventative measures to take to avoid nonconformance costs, the project manager must take into consideration the market's expectations of the project's product by reviewing the customer's product expectations on the following criteria:
1. Salability: a balance of quality and cost
2. Producibility or constructability: the ability of the product to be produced with available technology and workers at acceptable cost
3. Social Acceptability: the degree of conflict between the product or its process and the values of society
4. Operability: the degree to which a product can be safely operated
5. Availability: the probability that the product, when used under given conditions, will perform satisfactorily. The 2 key parts of availability are:
6. Reliability: the probability that the product will perform, without failure, under given conditions for a set period of time
7. Maintainability: the ability of the product to be restored to its stated performance level within a specified period of time

Front 7

Where does Responsibility for Quality lie?

Back 7

- The organization as a whole has responsibilities relating to quality, but PMI recommendations may not be what your organization practices.
- The PMI position is:
- The project manager has the ultimate responsibility for the quality of the product of the project. (In reality, the project manager may delegate work but must retain responsibility.)
- The team member has the primary responsibility for quality at the task or work package level.
- The primary responsibility for establishing design and test criteria resides with the quality engineer.

- Whoever is responsible for quality within an area of expertise must identify quality problems, recommend solutions when problems occur, implement solutions and, if the process is nonconforming, limit further processing.

Front 8

Name 4 impacts of Poor Quality

Back 8

Regardless of the organization, poor quality can result in:
1. higher costs to the entity or the customer,
2. less customer satisfaction,
3. lower team morale
4. greater risk of project failure.

Front 9

Discuss Prevention Over Inspection

Back 9

For many years, the determination of quality relied heavily on inspection methods. Over the years, it has been determined that the costs of inspection can become so high that it is better to spend money preventing problems from ever occurring. The current views of PMI subscribe to the notion that quality must be planned in and not inspected in. In reaching this conclusion, PMI researched many key quality experts from the past several decades.
*** The exam could include questions on specific theories or experts' opinions

Front 10

Quality vs. Grade

Back 10

Quality and grade are different.
- Grade is a way to distinguish between products with the same functional use but different technical attributes. For example, a Grade 1 bolt has a certain strength while a Grade 3 bolt of the same size is stronger and a Grade 5 bolt is stronger still. The Grade 1 bolt, though of low grade, can still be of high quality (no defects, of proper size, etc.)

Front 11

Describe the concept of Cost of Quality. What is the Deming approach?

Back 11

Conformance is the ability for the product of the project to meet requirements. A project manager has options when planning a project. He or she can implement quality processes to increase the likelihood that the products will meet requirements, or the project manager can inspect the product, determine if it meets requirements and take corrective action if it does not.
***Exam Tip: PMI emphasizes that quality should be planned into the project, not inspected in.

- PMI advocates the Deming approach, described further below, that says approximately 85% of the costs of quality are the direct responsibility of management. These costs can be broken up into 2 categories: the costs of conformance and the costs of nonconformance.
- Costs of conformance can be categorized as preventative, such as the use of high-quality parts or appraisals, which assess quality at various stages of the project to increase the likelihood of conformance.
- Costs of nonconformance can be categorized as internal or external failures.
- Internal failures are the costs associated with scrapping or reworking the product before it reaches the end customer.
- External failures are those that have reached the customer. External failures include costs associated with handling and resolving customer concerns.

Front 12

What are the components of a Quality Training program?

Back 12

Quality does not happen because a plan is created. In order to implement a quality plan successfully, training the organization should be at the top of the priority list.

Front 13

Discuss the importance of Process Improvement

Back 13

Process improvement is an analytical approach that focuses on activities that provide value to the organization.

PMI emphasizes the importance of continually assessing the gap between the current position of the organization and the desired goals or capabilities to be achieved. This continual activity of planning and implementing processes within the organization to improve is known as process improvement.

Continuous process improvement provides an iterative means for ongoing incremental improvement of all processes, including project management processes.

Front 14

What is a Quality Audit and what 7 things does it ensure?

Back 14

Quality audits are independent evaluations of quality performance to ensure that:
1. Intended quality will be met
2. Products are safe and fit for use
3. Laws and regulations are followed
4. Data systems are adequate
5. Corrective action is taken, if needed
6. Improvement opportunities are identified
7. Quality standards, procedures and methods established during quality planning are reevaluated and are still relevant

Front 15

What 5 things make up a good quality control system? 2 key outputs?

Back 15

A good quality control system will:
- Select what to control
- Set standards
- Establish measurement methods
- Compare actuals to standards
- Act when standards are not met

- Key outputs of the perform quality control process are validated deliverables and defect repair recommendations. Based on these recommendations, corrective actions are performed as part of the direct and manage project execution process group. Corrections are validated again within the perform quality control process through defect repair reviews.

Front 16

Define Quality.

Back 16

The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics satisfies the stated or implied needs of the customer. To measure quality successfully, it is necessary to turn implied needs into stated needs via project scope management.

Front 17

Define Quality Objective

Back 17

A statement of desired results to be achieved within a specified time frame. In writing objectives, it is important to realize the perspective from which they are being written. For customers, quality is typically defined by the ability of the project's product to be fit for use. From a project perspective, adherence to specifications will define quality. Whether defining objectives from the customer's or the project's perspective, it is important to define goals specifically through stated quality objectives and ensure that they are communicated well and understood by all stakeholders.

Front 18

Define Quality Policy

Back 18

A statement of principles for what the organization defines as quality. It does NOT define how quality will be achieved. When organizations create quality policies, they do so to promote consistency, to provide specific guidelines for important matters and to help outsiders better understand the organization. For example, some companies consider quality as the ability to produce products very inexpensively and want to be considered the low-cost leader, while others prefer to offer the most options or features for a higher price. Successful quality policies are drafted by specialists, approved by top management and understood by and adhered to by the entire organization.

Front 19

Define Warranties

Back 19

Assurance that the products are fit for use or the customer receives compensation. It could cover downtime and maintenance costs.

Front 20

Describe the Deming theory of quality. What are the 4 steps in his cycle? What are 9 major points of his work?

Back 20

Deming is well known for his 4-step cycle to improve quality: Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA). He also developed 14 activities for implementing quality.
- For the PMP exam, know some major points of his works:
1. Use participative approach to quality
2. Adopt new philosophy of quality throughout the organization
3. Cease the use of mass inspections
4. End awards based on price
5. Improve production and service
6. Institute leadership
7. Eliminate numerical quotas
8. Emphasize education and training
9. Encourage craftsmanship

Front 21

Describe the Crosby theory of quality. What are his 4 absolutes of quality?

Back 21

Crosby is also well known for his books on quality. Similar to Deming, he too developed 14 steps to improving quality. These steps emphasize management commitment, measurement, zero defect planning, goal setting, quality awareness and quality councils.
- In addition, Crosby stressed 4 absolutes of quality:
1. Quality is conformance to requirements
2. The system of quality is prevention
3. The performance standard is zero defects
4. The measure of quality is the price of nonconformance

Front 22

Describe the Juran theory of quality. What 3 components of quality does it use?

Back 22

Joseph Juran developed the fitness-for-use concept of quality which emphasizes that the measure of high quality is achieved by ensuring that the product meets the expectations of the stakeholders and customers.

Juran's fitness-for-use concept looks at 3 components of quality. These components are known as the Juran trilogy:
1. Quality of design: design may have many grades
2. Quality of conformance: determined by choice of process, training, adherence to program and motivation
3. Quality characteristics: determine the characteristics important to the customer
- Structural (length and frequency)
- Sensory (taste and beauty)
- Time oriented (reliability and maintainability)
- Ethical (courtesy and honesty)

Juran also established the following trilogy as an approach to improving quality:
1. Plan: attitude breakthrough, identify vital few new projects
2. Improve: knowledge breakthrough, conduct analysis, institute change
3. Control: overcome resistance, institute controls

Front 23

Describe the TQM theory of quality and its 7 primary strategies.

Back 23

Although there is no explicit definition of TQM, most definitions include providing quality products at the right time and at the right place, thereby meeting or exceeding customer requirements. Kerzner has defined 7 primary strategies for TQM (pages 806 to 809):
- Solicit improvement ideas from employees
- Encourage teams to identify and solve problems
- Encourage team development
- Benchmark every major activity in the organization
- Utilize process management techniques
- Develop staff to be entrepreneurial and innovative in dealing with customers and suppliers
- Implement improvements in order to qualify for ISO 9000

Front 24

Describe the Continuous Improvement Process (CIP) or Kaizan theory of quality.

Back 24

Kaizan is the Japanese word for a sustained gradual change for improvement. It differs from innovation, which consists of sudden jumps that plateau and mature over time before the next jump. The PDCA cycle developed by Deming and described above is the basis for CIP. The Japanese also came up with the concept of providing materials only when they are needed in manufacturing environments.
- This concept is known as Just In Time (JIT). TQM (also described above) and Six Sigma Initiatives help to improve project management processes as well as project management products.

Front 25

Describe the Taguchi theory of quality.

Back 25

Taguchi developed the concept of loss functions according to which, as variation for the target increases, losses will also increase.

Front 26

Describe the Inspections quality control tool.

Back 26

Used after the work is completed; may use Checklists or Data Tables to assist in the measuring, examining and testing activities.

Front 27

Describe the Control Charts quality control tool.

Back 27

A graphical display of results of a process over time.
- Control charts include a defined upper and lower control limit, a mean and a visual pattern indicating out-of-control conditions, such as Outliers (points outside upper [UCL] or lower [LCL] control limits). Control charts that produce particular patterns can provide visual information to the project manager. Some such patterns are:
- Limit Huggers: a run of points close to control limits
- Run: a series of consecutive points on the same side of the mean
- Trend: a series of consecutive points with an increasing or decreasing pattern
- Cycle: a repeating pattern of points
- Rule of Seven: a run of 7 or more points above or below the mean indicating adjustment is needed

Front 28

Describe the Pareto Diagrams quality control tool.

Back 28

A histogram ordered by frequency of occurrence. Pareto diagrams are conceptually related to Pareto's law, which visually shows that 20% of causes produce 80% of defects. Figure 8-3 shows a sample Pareto diagram.

Front 29

Describe the Statistical Sampling quality control tool.

Back 29

Choosing part of a population for inspection for the purpose of accepting or rejecting the entire lot. The results of statistical sampling can be depicted through the use of a variety of charting methods such as histograms, scatter diagrams or Pareto diagrams. Figure 8-4 on the next page shows a sample histogram created through statistical sampling.
- The advantages of using sampling techniques include less product damage, the ability to make decisions more quickly, fewer expenses and fewer sources. The disadvantage is the possibility of bad decisions due to incomplete information. Here are some sampling definitions:
- Attribute: characteristic of the product that is appraised in terms of whether or not it exists
- Variable: anything measured
- Sampling Plan: must include the sample size and the acceptance criteria
- Producer's Risk: the chance of rejecting a good lot prior to selling to the customer
- Consumer's Risk: the chance of accepting a bad lot after purchase

Front 30

Describe the Flowcharting quality control tool.

Back 30

Diagrams that show how various elements of a system relate. System or process flowcharts are the most common types of flowcharts.

Front 31

Describe the Fishbone Diagrams quality control tool.

Back 31

(also called cause-and-effect or Ishikawa diagrams): show how various causes and subcauses relate to create problems or effects.

Front 32

Describe the Run Charts quality control tool.

Back 32

Line graphs showing data points plotted in the sequence of occurrence. Used for analysis of trends. Run charts can be used for technical performance such as measuring errors or defects, or cost and schedule performance through the use of earned value techniques.