MNET 420 HW

Chapter 2
#18 Explain the difference between common and special cause variation
Difference between common and special cause variation is that common causes are a result of
the design of the product and production systems and generally account for about 80 to 95
percent of the observed variation in the output of a production process. While special cause
arises from external sources that are not inherent in the process

#20 What are the lessons of the red bead and funnel experiment?
The lessons learned from the red bead experiment are that quality is made at the top, rigid
procedures are not enough, numerical goals are often meaningless, and that inspection is
expensive and does not improve quality. Meanwhile from the funnel experiment, it was learned
that people can and do affect the outcomes of many processes and create unwanted variation by
tampering with the process, or indiscriminately trying to remove common causes of variation.

Chapter 3
#1 What specific issues of customer focus are addressed in the ISO 9000:2000?
One of the issues of customer focus that is addressed in ISO 9000:2000 is that top
management is solely responsible for customer focus as a result that job

#2 Who are customer contact employees? Why are the critical to an organization?
Customer contact employees are people who are contacted by customers looking to
contact the organization. They are important in the aspect of improving customer satisfaction as
they are the main means of being in contact with the organization

Chapter 4
#7 Define the term motivation. Why is motivation critical for performance excellence
Motivation is the art of creating conditions that allow ever one of us to get his work done
at his own peak level of efficiency. Motivation is crucial for performance excellence because
motivation provides employees with want and satisfaction of the job. Learning how to use it can
positively influence a company by being able to create more effective designs of work systems
and work environment, in coordination with motivation.

#19 What are the steps required to perform the NGT

The steps in following NGT are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.
8.

Request that all participants write or say which problem or issue they feel is important
Record all problems or issues
Develop a master list of problems or issues
Generate a distribute to each participant a form that numbers the problems or issues in no
particular order
Request that each participant rank the top five problems or issues by assigning five points
to their most important perceived problem and one point to the least important of their
top five
Tally the results by adding the points for each problem or issue
The problem or issue with the highest number is the most important one for the team as a
whole
Discuss the results and generate a final ranked list for process improvement action
planning

Chapter 5
#1 What is process mapping? Why is it important in process design?
Process mapping is the process that defines the steps and decisions points required to
achieve a goal. It is important because it is designed to keep track of the processes in sequential
order.

#2 Define process control and tell why it is important.

Process control is the process of ensuring conformance to the requirements and taking
corrective action when necessary in order to correct problems and maintain stable performance.
Process control is important because its methods are the basis for effective daily management
and long term improvements cannot be made unless the process is under control.