Additional Practice Problems

A significant activity to be performed early in the forming stage of team development is: a. determining acceptable team behavior and how to deal with team problems: establishing team ground rules b. questioning the wisdom of those who selected the project and appointed the other members of the team c. experimenting with ways to raise and discuss differences of opinion effectively d. preventing or working through group problems

A

A type of measurement scale that has a rational zero point for the scale is: a. ratio b. ordinal c. interval d. nominal

A

A work team has been assigned the responsibility of collecting data on the number of blemishes on cabinets in a laboratory scheduled for refurbishing. Which of the following tools would be most effective for this assignment? a. Check sheet b. c-chart c. u-chart d. Affinity diagram

A

Correlation measures the ________ and _________ of the relationship between variables. a. strength, direction b. strength, predictability c. independence, dependence d. independence, interdependence

A

In gage R&R study, the difference between using the ANOVA method and range method is that the ANOVA method provides which of the following? a. Interactions between operators and samples b. Interactions between each operator c. Interactions between leadership and operators d. Interactions between parts and tolerance

A

The _______ of a statistical test is the probability that it will correctly lead to the rejection of a false null hypothesis. a. power b. alpha c. sigma d. delta

A

The pattern reflected in a histogram when data values are subject to a natural limit is: a. skewed b. bimodal c. bell-shaped d. symmetrical

A

The payback period is defined as which of the following? a. A measure of the time it takes to recoup the investment made in a project; the shorter the period, the better b. A measure to compare he profitability of investments; the higher, the better c. A measure of the sum of the present values (PVs) of incoming and outgoing cash flows over a period of time; the higher, the better d. A measure of the rate of return used in capital budgeting to measure and compare the profitability of investments; the higher, the better

A

The purpose of a gage R&R study is to determine which of the following? a. The part of variation in the data resulting from the variation in the measurement system b. The part of variation in the data resulting from the shift in the mean of the measurement system c. The part of variation in the process resulting from the data collected by the operator d. The part of variation in the process resulting from the measures recorded by the operator

A

The role of the Yellow Belt in a Six Sigma project is usually as a: a. team member b. subject matter expert c. process owner d. statistical specialist

A

The total number of defects divided by the total number of products produced in some time period (for example, per day) is calculated as: a. DPU b. DPMO c. sigma d. cycle time

A

When first learning to use the cause-and-effect diagram, many teams will use which of the following approaches to label the major "fishbones", or categories, on the diagram? a. 6 M's b. 5 whys c. 8D d. 7 tools

A

When selecting a Six Sigma project, which of the following is the most critical characteristic? a. Saving the most bottom-line dollars b. Reducing waste and excess inventory c. Receiving the highest value in multivoting d. Getting the highest rating on an employee survey

A

When should the team review their project status and communicate with major stakeholders? a. At the end of each major step in their project or work plans b. Before each team meeting, to ensure they are on track c. After each team meeting, to verify accuracy of any decisions made d. Only at the end of the project, to share results and lessons learned

A

Which of the following best describes the difference between kaizen and a kaizen blitz/event? a. Kaizen is defined as continuous improvement and kaizen blitz is defined as a three-to-five-day event b. Kaizen is defined as rapid improvement and kaizen blitz is defined as a three-to-five-day event c. Kaizen is defined as a process improvement team and kaizen blitz is defined as continuous improvement d. Kaizen is defined as a long-term project and kaizen blitz is defined as a three-to-five-day event

A

Which of the following describes "a production strategy promoted by Toyota, and now applied to many organizations, that strives to improve business return on investment by reducing in-process inventory and associated carrying costs"? a. Just-in-time b. Heijunka c. Quality circles d. Return on investment

A

Which of the following is a component of the central limit theorem? a. If the original population is distributed normally, the sampling distribution of means will also be normal b. If the original population is distributed normally, the sampling distribution of means will not be normal c. For large values of n, the distributions of the count X and the sample proportion p are approximately normal d. The degrees of freedom when working with a single population variance is n-1

A

Which of the following is a concept described as a "basic belief that when quality becomes ingrained in the organization's culture and people, the quality of products and services will follow"? a. Kaizen b. Kaizen blitz c. Modular kaizen d. Kaizen ganza

A

Which of the following is a normal behavior during the storming stage of team growth? a. Arguing between members even when they agree on the real issue b. Ability to prevent or work through group problems c. Discussions of symptoms or problems not relevant to the task d. Attempts to determine acceptable group behavior and having to deal with group problems

A

Which of the following is a recognized value of using the Six Sigma approach for continuous improvement? a. Ensuring the improvement efforts are aligned with client and stakeholder needs b. The use of the PDCA cycle for process development c. Benchmarking to identify opportunities for improvement d. Containment of defective product for analysis and rework

A

Which of the following is a root cause analysis tool that visually displays the process using shapes and symbols? a. Process flowchart b. Force-field analysis c. Ishikawa diagram d. Histogram

A

Which of the following is an initial question to be asked when establishing a team? a. What are the goals of this project? b. What is to be the final solution? c. When are the interim tasks to be completed? d. What type of control charts will be used to analyze the data?

A

Which of the following represents a strong positive correlation? a. .90 b. .50 c. .35 d. .75

A

Which of the following uses simple graphics and icons to illustrate the movement of material, information, inventory, work-in progress, operators, and so on, through a process? a. Value stream map b. Deployment flowchart c. Cause-and-effect diagram d. Rapid cycle PDCA

A

A ________ is the series of activities that an organization performs. a. kaizen blitz b. value stream c. poka-yoke d. control plan

B

A _________ is a step-by-step description of how to complete a task. a. reference document b. standard operating procedure c. control plan d. checklist

B

A process improvement team has conducted a measurement systems analysis (MSA). The team would like to know the difference between the absolute value and true value with respect to a standard master at various measurement points of the measuring range. Which of the following terms represents what the team is assessing? a. Linearity b. Bias c. Repeatability d. Stability

B

A rational subgroup is used in constructing which type of control chart? a. s-chart b. X bar and R chart c. ImR chart d. X and s chart

B

A senior manager has requested that a Six Sigma team be chartered to study and improve a complex process that spans several departments within the local facility. Which of the following types of teams should be commissioned? a. Virtual b. Cross-functional c. Natural d. Corrective action

B

An important function to be completed before starting a meeting is selecting the conference room, technology, room setup, and so on. Which of the following is the term used for this process? a. Kaizen b. Logistics c. Poka-yoke d. Dynamics

B

Common causes reside in processes within statistical control and can be characterized by __________, ___________, and __________ for predictability. a. location, variation, normal events b. location, spread, shape c. location, variation, unusual events d. location, spread, time

B

During the define phase of a Six Sigma project, a team gathered customer requirement information from customers through focus groups in three different locations in the country. The team concluded from their analysis that they needed further clarification on a couple of key factors. Given the team has limited resources and a tight deadline, which of the following is the best method for obtaining specific information from the participants in the focus group? a. Face-to-face interview b. Telephone interview c. Internet survey d. E-survey

B

For which of the following reasons might a Six Sigma team wish to use the brainwriting tool rather than the more direct brainstorming approach? a. If there is a limited time for the team to generate ideas b. When participants might feel safer contributing ideas anonymously c. If the sponsor has asked the facilitator to identify which participants contribute which ideas d. When the list of ideas generated needs to be included in the meeting minutes

B

In a 300-person auto insurance organization forming a project team to determine ways to reduce the cycle time for processing policyholder claims, which of the following choices may represent the most effective size and composition of the project team? a. Four persons, all from the headquarters' claims processing function b. 3 persons from headquarters' claims processing (1 from each of the 3 claims processing sub-functions) plus two persons representing field claims adjusters c. All 25 persons from the headquarters' claims processing function who have direct contact with policyholders d. One management representative from each of the 11 departments in the orgnization

B

In reference to process management, removing the cause of an abnormal condition refers to _______, whereas ________ means changing the performance to a new level a. performance, innovation b. control, improvement c. inspection, innovation d. variation, breakthrough

B

In the linear equation, b represents which of the following? a. y-intercept b. Slope of the line c. Independent variable d. Predicted value

B

Kaizen is defined as which of the following? a. Pursuit of excellence b. Continuous improvement c. Operational excellence d. Rapid improvement

B

Reviewing lessons learned, assessing the achievement of the outputs and outcomes intended, completing documentation, recognizing the team's efforts, and celebrating are activities during which stage of team development? a. Performing b. Adjourning c. Storming d. Norming

B

Run charts differ from control charts because they: a. use the Y-axis to measure time sequence b. do not have statistical control limits to monitor variation c. use specification limits rather than control limits d. are used for larger populations of data

B

Statistically speaking, __________ is a term indicating to what extent a process varies from perfection. a. alpha b. sigma c. omega d. beta

B

Teams are generally formed in organizational settings by direction from a manager, or a(n): a. quality circle b. sponsor c. board of directors d. audit committee

B

The Six Sigma team has conducted a gage R&R study. The specific measure they are interested in is the variation in measurement between appraisers. Which of the following terms represents this variation? a. Repeatability b. Reproductivity c. Precision d. Accuracy

B

The _______ is a numeric assessment of risk assigned to a process, or steps in a process. a. occurrence number b. risk priority c. severity number d. detection number

B

The ________ is used to quantify and prioritize the impacts of of causes (X) on effects (Y) through numerical ranking. a. Ishikawa diagram b. cause-and-effect matrix c. 5 whys d. root cause tree

B

The ____________ provides both the strength and the direction of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables a. correlation of means b. correlation coefficient c. coefficient of determination d. coefficient of variance

B

The three elements of "what to measure" in the data collection plan are: a. measure, type of measure, sampling plan b. measure, type of measure, operational definition c. measurement or test method, stratification level, data collection method d. measurement or test method, stratification level, sampling plan

B

When a task is taking longer than the customer or the downstream process expects, which of the following activities should the team employ to resolve the issue? a. Quality function deployment b. Cycle time reduction c. Takt time analysis d. Is-is not matrix

B

Which of the following Six Sigma roles is responsible for coaching and mentoring Black and Green Belts? a. Process owner b. Master Black Belt c. Yellow Belt d. Project sponsor

B

Which of the following best describes linearity in MSA? a. Closeness of repeated readings to each other b. Accuracy of measurement at various points of measuring range in the equipment c. Closeness of agreement between the average of one or more measured results and a reference value d. Drift in average measurements of an absolute value

B

Which of the following flowchart formats is used to show major steps in a process and occasionally the next level of sub-steps? a. Deployment b. Top-down c. Opportunity d. Horizontal

B

Which of the following is a reason why multivoting is preferable to straight voting when making a decision? a. It can be performed by an individual using a decision matrix rather than involving a whole team b. It allows an item that is favored by al, but not the top choice of any, to rise to the top c. Multivoting must be performed over a sequence of votes, where straight voting is performed only once d. Hidden agendas among team members are less likely to influence the results using multivoting

B

Which of the following is the likelihood or frequency at which the cause can happen? a. Severity b. Occurrence c. Detection d. Effectiveness

B

Which of the following is the recommended or usual number of core team members for a Six Sigma project team? a. 13-15 b. 5-9 c. 8-12 d. 1-3

B

________ is the probability of a type 1 error. a. Delta b. Alpha c. Beta d. Sigma

B

_________ involves calculating both the applicable measurable costs that will be incurred and the benefits of the cost avoided a. Return on investment analysis b. Cost/benefit analysis c. Payback period d. Internal rate of return

B

A ________ team enables people from all over the globe to meet via teleconference and Internet tools a. natural b. corrective action c. virtual d. work group

C

A local insurance company initiated a Six Sigma project where upper levels of leadership were directly involved. For this project the assigned team knew they would need to gather information at the executive level. Which of the following data collection techniques would be used to collect this type of information? a. Telephone interview b. Focus group c. Face-to-face interview d. Questionnaire

C

A process improvement team is interested in measuring the length of time it would take to recoup the investment for the improvement recommendations in the improve phase of their project. Which of the following cost/benefit analysis methods would the team use? a. Internal rate of return b. Return on investment c. Payback period d. Net present value

C

During which stage of team development do members reconcile competing loyalties and responsibilities? a. Adjourning b. Storming c. Norming d. Forming

C

If you adjust a process in response to ________ variation, the result is usually more variation rather than less. a. unnatural cause b. assignable cause c. common cause d. special cause

C

Methods used to identify customers include which of the following? a. Requirements and measures tree b. Value stream mapping c. Tracking a product to delivery d. Nominal group technique

C

Six Sigma is a term used to describe the overall concept of: a. defect containment b. process redesign c. continual improvement d. statistical process control

C

The _________ is a mathematical procedure for identifying the linear equation that best fits a set of ordered pairs by finding values for the -intercept and the slope. a. least squares line b. weighted least squares c. least squares method d. estimated least squares

C

The operational definition in a data collection plan is defines as: a. measurement defined to describe the data to collect b. measurement of the process improvement observed c. measurement to achieve repeatable results from multiple observers d. measurement description of the participants of the data collection efforts

C

The plan-do-check-act model is also referred to as which of the following? a. Juran cycle b. Deming cycle c. Shewhart cycle d. Crosby cycle

C

The purpose of FMEA is to: a. use process or design features to prevent the acceptance or further processing of nonconforming products b. determine the set of components that could cause a failure in a process c. understand the opportunities for failure and the impact of risks in a product or process design, and prioritize the risks d. identify the ability of an item, product, or service to perform required functions on demand

C

Which of the following basic quality tools is used to display what happens to one variable when another variable is changed? a. Cause-and-effect diagram b. Histogram c. Scatter diagram d. Flowchart

C

Which of the following concepts describes costs incurred because things are not done right the first time, every time? a. project outcome cost analysis b. Taguchi method c. Cost of poor quality d. Critical-to-quality analysis

C

Which of the following control chart patterns is caused by special sources of variation that gradually affect the quality characteristics of a product or service? a. Cycle b. Shift c. Trend d. Mixture

C

Which of the following is "a systematic approach in identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection"? a. PDSA b. Gemba c. Lean d. Six Sigma

C

Which of the following is a characteristic of an effective project team member? a. Is independent of the department effected b. Prefers to work on tasks independently c. Creative and adept at problem solving d. Holds strongly to personal opinions

C

Which of the following is a type of quantitative data? a. Ordinal b. Nominal c. Continuous d. Categorical

C

Which of the following is an effective way to ensure that the key decisions made and actions agreed to in team meetings are formally recorded? a. Policies b. Standards c. Minutes d. Ground rules

C

Which of the following is characteristic of successful teams? a. Annual performance appraisals b. Total agreement on issues c. Established ground rules d. High member turnover

C

Which of the following is the modified version of an improvement technique developed by Walter Shewhart and later modified by W. Edwards Deming? a. Plan-do-check-act b. Define-measure-analyze-improve-control c. Plan-do-study-act d. Define-measure-analyze-design-verify

C

Which of the following is the most usual progression through the four stages of team growth? a. The team generally spends longer in forming, then quickly progresses through storming, and alternates between norming and performing b. The team moves quickly through forming to storming and norming, then achieves and remains in the performing stage c. The pattern for each team is different through the four stages of team growth d. The team moves quickly from forming and storming to norming, and only rarely achieves the full performing stage

C

_________ is a structured process that identifies and ranks major problems or issues that need addressing a. Quality function deployment b. Cycle time charting c. Nominal group technique d. Top-down flowcharting

C

A Six Sigma team has been formed to solve a problem in the discharge process at a local hospital. Recently, there has been an escalation in complaints from patients specific to the extremely long wait time from when the discharge orders have been submitted until the time they leave the hospital. The Six Sigma team analyzed the control charts and found three points outside the upper control limit. Which of the following is the type of variation in this process? a. Normal cause b. Common cause c. Natural cause d. Special cause

D

A ________ is a sample set that is sufficient to determine common-cause senarios. a. rational group b. average subgroup c. median subgroup d. rational subgroup

D

A ________ is a written description of the systems for controlling part and process quality by addressing the key characteristics and engineering requirements. a. quality plan b. risk management plan c. data collection plan d. control plan

D

A binomial distribution should be applied when using which of the following types of data? a. Percent defective b. Red, yellow, orange, green c. Strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree d. Yes or no

D

A run chart is a line graph in which the vertical axis represents the ___________ and the horizontal axis represents the _________. a. time, measurement b. cause, effect c. frequency, time d. measurement, time

D

As team members become more comfortable with each other, and as they better understand the work and what is expected of them, the team enters which stage of team development? a. Norming b. Storming c. Adjourning d. Performing

D

During a quarterly business meeting, an automotive company reviewed the focus group results presented by the Six Sigma team specific to the customer's experience with maintenance and servicing of its cars. The results provided significant insight into customer service requirements. In order to continue to monitor and improve upon these results, leadership assigned the Six Sigma team the task of developing a data collection instrument that could be deployed to a large customer base on a quarterly basis. Which of the following data collection methods would a Six Sigma team recommend for collecting this information? a. Telephone interview b. Focus growth c. Face-to-face interview d. Questionnaire

D

During the first stage of a team's growth, the most appropriate leadership style for the team leader is to: a. resolve issues of power and authority b. monitor progress and celebrate achievements c. fully utilize team member's skills d. provide clear direction and purpose

D

Generating a large number of ideas surrounding an issue or a problem is performed during which stage of brainstorming? a. Evaluation b. Forming c. Opening d. Creative

D

Quality planning - creation of plans for quality, reliability, operations, production, and inspection - is an example of which cost of quality category? a. Appraisal b. Planning c. Control d. Prevention

D

The eight types of waste are categorized as which of the following? a. Rework b. Value-added c. Business value-added d. Non-value-added

D

The quality concept of Six Sigma was initiated by which company in the 1980s? a. International Business Machines b. General Electric c. AT&T d. Motorola

D

When calling a team meeting, it is important to set an agenda for which of the following reasons? a. To identify the members of the Six Sigma team b. To set measurements for completing the project c. To reserve the meeting space and presentation materials d. It helps define what needs to be accomplished

D

When collecting data on the frequency or patterns of events, problems, defects, defect location, or defect causes, which of the following tools should be employed? a. Histogram b. Run chart c. L-shaped matrix d. Check sheet

D

Which level of Six Sigma Belts is responsible for facilitating Six Sigma methodologies, statistical tools, basic financial tools, change management, risk assessment, and project management activities? a. White b. Yellow c. Green d. Black

D

Which of the following Six Sigma stakeholders is responsible for interfacing with senior management concerning a Six Sigma project? a. Yellow Belt b. Team facilitator c. Black Belt d. Project champion

D

Which of the following are responsibilities of a natural team? a. Set budgets, manage resources, and schedule work b. Assess other teams' work product and work closely with team members outside their department c. Make decisions affecting multiple departments and recommend new strategic initiatives d. Report to the same manager, share common goals, meet regularly

D

Which of the following is the most effective way to choose project team members? a. Select all employees who can contribute something worthwhile to the improvement project b. Include only specialists who are experienced in details specific to the project being initiated c. Assign a combination of senior-level management and operations personnel to ensure top management commitment d. Include a small number of employees chosen from each area and worker level affected by the improvement

D

Which of the following is used in regression to determine the percentage of the response variable variation that is explained by a linear model? a. r-multiple b. r c. r-squared adjusted d. r-squared

D

Which of the following tools is most effective for determining how purchase orders are handled and who should handle them? a. Pareto chart b. Gantt chart c. Work-flow diagram d. Deployment flowchart

D

Which of the following tools is most effective in analyzing data collected on check sheets? a. Cause-and-effect diagram b. Work-flow diagram c. Affinity diagram d. Pareto diagram

D

Which of the following tools would be used to categorize the outcome of a brainstorming session? a. Fishbone diagram b. Histogram c. Interrelationship digraph d. Affinity diagram

D

Which of the following types of teams tends to share leadership equally among group members, holding all members responsible for the output of the team? a. Process improvement b. Kaizen blitz c. Corrective action d. Self-directed

D