Chapter Twelve. Project Quality Management


The PMBOK states that Project Quality Management must "address both the management and the product of a project." This applies no matter what the nature of the project is or the subject matter it addresses. Project Quality Management includes "all the activities of the performing organization that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken" (PMBOK, 3rd ed). The three major processes within Project Quality Management are Quality Planning, Perform Quality Assurance, and Perform Quality Control. The three processes interact with each of the other knowledge areas, and they interact and overlap with one another, frequently being done at the same time.

Quality management in the PMBOK is written to be compatible with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO has published a series of guidelines and standards for quality, which are numbered as the ISO 9000 and ISO 10000 series of standards. Project Quality Management is used in the management of the project itself and the output of the project's product or service.

Q.

The organization that controls the standards for quality is the ________.

 

A.

ISO

 

B.

INA

 

C.

PMI

 

D.

IIQ


The answer is A. The ISO is the international organization that controls the standards for quality.

Quality is "the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs" (PMBOK). Another way to say this is that quality is conformance to requirements. One of the standard questions used to explain quality is, "Which offers higher quality, McDonald's or the Four Seasons in New York?" The answer surprises many people when it turns out that both have high-quality food. The difference is not in the quality level but in the grade. McDonald's consistently turns out food that meets high quality standards. Those standards are the requirements that are set for the food they offer. The Four Seasons also has high quality standards as well as having higher-grade food. But both work on the principle of high-quality food. Both have quality as one of the facets of their offerings to the public. Price is not a key in quality; conformance to standards is.

It is important to remember the concept of grade in discussing quality. You can certainly have high quality and low grade as a combination of features. Grade is defined as "a category or ranking given to entities that have the same functional use but different technical characteristics" (PMBOK). When ranking a project, low quality is always seen as a problem, whereas low grade may not be. As an example, suppose that Wendy's offered catsup as a condiment for its sandwiches, whereas Spago's offered pureed fresh tomatoes with balsamic vinegar and rock salt as a condiment for one of its sandwiches. Both offer quality based upon requirements, but the grade difference between the two is large and certainly more costly at Spago's. Thus, making the distinction between quality and grade is important for the project manager.

Q.

Conformance to specifications is one description of ________.

 

A.

Grade

 

B.

Scope

 

C.

Quality

 

D.

Technical information


The answer is C. Quality on a project means that you are conforming to a standard that is set before you begin the project.

Q.

The food at Wendy's and Spago's are both high-quality but differ in ________.

 

A.

Objectivity

 

B.

Conception

 

C.

Scope

 

D.

Grade


The answer is D, grade. Both restaurants set standards and meet them, so they have good quality food. The difference between the two is in the grade of the food they offer.

It is equally important to understand the difference between precision and accuracy because they are not the same thing. Precision denotes measurements that show little variation from each other, whereas accuracy is the degree to which measurements approach the true value. It is possible to have precise measurements that are not accurate, and it is also possible to have accurate measurements that are not precise.

Q.

In which of the following sets does the first term denote measurements that show little variation from each other whereas the second term is the degree to which measurements approach the true value?

 

A.

Accuracy, precision

 

B.

Precision, accuracy

 

C.

Consistency, accuracy

 

D.

Quality, quantity


The answer is B. Knowing the difference between these two will help greatly in the managing of quality for any project.

Quality is one of the three key constraints in any project, with the other two being cost and schedule. Quality in itself is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination. It has been around in one form or another in the U.S. since the mid-1800s. In its beginnings, quality was mostly concentrated on finding problems as opposed to preventing them.

Q.

Prior to World War I, what was the focus of quality?

 

A.

Statistical process control

 

B.

Inspection and identification of problems

 

C.

Appearance

 

D.

There was no quality focus


The answer is B because quality in that time period was focused on finding and identifying problems through inspection. However, it became apparent in the ensuing years that quality could not be "inspected in" after the fact and that some sort of control had to be established earlier in the process before the product was complete.

Q.

After World War I and continuing until after World War II, what quality concept was developed?

 

A.

Rigorous inspection standards

 

B.

Quality Assurance

 

C.

Quality Control

 

D.

Six Sigma


The answer is C, Quality Control, which included the development of most of the charting and mathematical procedures for measuring quality. Most of these techniques are still being used today.

After World War II, the quality movement really moved into high gear as one after another "quality guru" appeared and greatly changed the quality landscape. Once again, the focus changed to move the quality aspects further up in the process chain so that quality problems could be circumvented rather than corrected.

Q.

After Quality Control, the succeeding process was:

 

A.

Quality Concepts

 

B.

Six Sigma

 

C.

Quality Assurance

 

D.

Quality Circles


The answer is C, Quality Assurance. Quality Assurance moved more into the realm of avoiding problems rather than correcting them. This movement commenced in the 1950s and, led by the aforementioned "quality gurus," continued for more than 20 years. Among the most recognized names was that of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, who was largely ignored when he first spoke out with his ideas on quality. Other notable names were Crosby, Juran, Ishikawa, and Baldridge.

Q.

The first recognized expert in quality, who is considered by many to be the "Father of the Quality Movement," was:

 

A.

Deming

 

B.

Baldridge

 

C.

Juran

 

D.

Crosby


The answer is A, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, although he had to offer his services to a foreign country in the throes of reconstruction.

Q.

What is the act of avoiding quality problems rather than inspecting for them?

 

A.

Quality Control

 

B.

Quality System Work

 

C.

Quality Assurance

 

D.

Quality Managing


The answer is C.

Q.

As a direct result of Deming's work overseas, the Deming Prize is offered by:

 

A.

Germany

 

B.

France

 

C.

England

 

D.

Japan


The answer is D, Japan, because that is where Deming's thinking on quality was first recognized, accepted, and applied, to the great advantage of the post-war reconstruction effort in that country. After Deming came a series of recognized names, each with his/her own take on quality, and each enjoyed a wide following.

Q.

Philip Crosby asserted:

 

A.

Quality costs are sometimes too much.

 

B.

Quality is free.

 

C.

Zero defects is unachievable.

 

D.

Always use statistical process control.


The answer is B, quality is free. In fact, that was the title of a book Crosby wrote in which he held that the cost of quality is always less than what defects will cost you when everything is taken into account.

Q.

Ishikawa is best known for:

 

A.

The 85/15 Rule

 

B.

The Fishbone Diagram

 

C.

Japanese application of Deming's theories

 

D.

The quality movement in the automobile industry


The answer is B, the Fishbone Diagram, which is used to graph the sources of quality problems. It is called this because of its structure, which resembles the skeleton of a fish. As a matter of interest, Deming was the one who asserted that 85% of quality problems required management involvement whereas only 15% were solvable by workers, whereas Crosby believed management was the entire key to quality.

Q.

Deming gave us a revision to the Shewhart Cycle, which is:

 

A.

Plan, Act, Do, Check

 

B.

Plan, Do, Check, Act

 

C.

Plan, Check, Do, Act

 

D.

Plan, Act, Check, Do


The answer is B, Plan, Do, Check, Act, which is sometimes simply called the PDCA cycle, by which continuous improvement is achieved.

Despite the preponderance of evidence of the value of quality being pursued early in any project, the U.S. was slow to embrace the quality movement. In fact, it was well after Deming was working in Japan, which began to export quality products, that anyone took notice. Quality products being produced in Japan was in complete contrast to the cheap and faulty imitations that marked Japanese-produced items immediately following World War II.

Q.

When did the U.S. wake up to the benefits of Quality Assurance?

 

A.

The 1970s

 

B.

The 1980s

 

C.

The 1990s

 

D.

Not until the introduction of Six Sigma


The answer is B, the 1980s, some 30 years after Deming's work in Japan. However, when the U.S. did wake up, it began to catch up to the rest of the world. In fact, the U.S. now offers a very prestigious national award for quality.

Q.

The most sought-after quality award offered in the United States is:

 

A.

The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award

 

B.

The Philip Crosby Award

 

C.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Quality Award

 

D.

The Juran Award


The answer is A, the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, named for a former Secretary of Commerce. Some of the winners include Corning, Inc., GTE, AT&T, and Eastman Chemical. The award has seven areas, which are graded and have a total of 1,000 possible points, and the largest area is Business Results, which accounts for 450 points.

There are as many definitions of quality as there are writers on the subject because each had a slightly different approach to achieving quality performance.

Q.

Which quality guru advocated conformance to requirements in his definition of quality?

 

A.

Baldridge

 

B.

Juran

 

C.

Deming

 

D.

Crosby


The answer is D, Crosby, who maintained that the key to quality was getting a measurable definition of quality in the requirements at the outset and making sure the final product conformed to that definition. The PMBOK from PMI has its own definition of Project Quality Management. The PMBOK definition of Project Quality Management has elements of Deming, Crosby, Juran, and Total Quality Management (TQM).

Q.

The PMBOK definition of Project Quality Management does not include:

 

A.

Planning

 

B.

Control

 

C.

Assurance

 

D.

Confirmation


If you read carefully, you will note that this question asked what was not included, rather than what was included. The answer is D, Confirmation. The PMBOK states that Project Quality Management is "the policy, procedures, and processes of Quality Planning, Quality Assurance, and Quality Control, with continuous process improvement activities conducted throughout, as appropriate."

Of course quality in project management did not stop there. The modern version centered first on Total Quality Management (TQM), which is not attributed solely to one person. It is more of a consensus approach that contends that quality is achieved by a total organizational approach, where everyone is involved in quality. That includes not only the organization in question but their suppliers as well. It also espouses the ideas of continual improvement, employee empowerment, and benchmarking. TQM had such an influence that the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award had as its underlying principles the growth of TQM. Following TQM, the notion that quality could have strategic implications for the growth of businesses was an easy step, and that is the direction it took. For the first time, quality was really being looked at from the consumer point of view more than that of the supplier. The most recent arrival in the quality arena is Six Sigma. Using the tools of Statistical Process Control, which will be discussed later, and the idea of unending improvement, Six Sigma pushes the concept that the accuracy rate should be 99.9997%.

Q.

Who defines quality according to the modern concept?

 

A.

The engineering staff

 

B.

The marketing staff

 

C.

The CEO

 

D.

The customer


The answer is D, the customer. Companies are discovering that managing quality assists them in doing the things that differentiate them from their competitors in the eyes of consumers. Thus, project management quality means that not only must projects be managed in a quality environment, but also their products or outcomes must reflect that quality in their final form. The ISO 9000 definition of quality says that it is "the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs."

The notion that "implied needs" are considered in the equation has a direct impact on the project manager's ability to control scope, and the first point to gain control of that aspect is in Quality Planning. It is during that time that standards, regulations, and definitions can be put in the requirements so that quality can be defined in an objective, measurable way.



Passing the PMP Exam. How to Take It and Pass It
Passing the PMP Exam: How to Take It and Pass It: How to Take It and Pass It
ISBN: 0131860070
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 167
Authors: Rudd McGary

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