Ch 8: Project Quality Management

six sigma

a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing business success that is uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of facts, data, statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing, improving, and reinventing business processes

external failure cost

a cost related to all errors not detected and corrected before delivery to the customer

maturity model

a framework for helping organizations improves their processes and systems

control chart

a graphic display of data that illustrates the results of a process over time

six 9s of quality

a measure of quality control equal to 1 fault in 1 million opportunities

capability maturity model integration

a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes

fitness for use

a product can be used as it was intended

ISO 9000

a quality system standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that includes a three part, continuous cycle of planning, controlling, and documenting quality in an organization

design of experiments

a quality technique that helps identify which variables have the most influence on the overall outcome of a process

DMAIC

a systematic, closed loop process for continued improvement that is scientific and fact based

benchmarking

a technique used to generate ideas for quality improvements by comparing specific project practices or product characteristics to those of other projects or products within or outside the performing organization

5 whys

a technique where you repeatedly ask the questions "why?" to help peel away the layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause of a problem

rework

action taken to being rejected items into compliance with product requirements or specifications or other stakeholder expectations

process adjustments

adjustments made to correct or prevent further quality problems based on quality control measurements

defect

any instance where the product or service fails to meet customer requirements

software defect

anything that must be changed before delivery of the program

acceptance decisions

decisions that determine if the products or services produced as part of the project will be accepted or rejected

conformance

delivering products that meet requirements and fitness for use

cause and effect diagram

diagram that traces complaints about quality problems back to the responsible production operations to help find the root cause

project quality management

ensuring that a project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken

flowchart

graphic display of the logic and flow of processes that helps you analyze how problems occur and how processes can be improved

quality circles

groups of nonsupervisors and work leaders in a single company department who volunteer to conduct group studies on how to improve the effectiveness of work in their department

performance

how well a product or service performs for the customer's intended use

quality planning

identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to satisfy them

seven run rule

if seven data points in a row on a quality control chart are all below the mean, above the mean, or all increasing or decreasing, the the process needs to be examined for nonrandom problems

robust design methods

methods that focus on eliminating defects by substituting scientific inquiry for trial and error methods

quality control

monitoring specific project results to ensure that they comply with the relevant standards and identifying ways to improve overall quality

quality assurance

periodically evaluating overall project performance to ensure that the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards

quality audit

structured review of specific quality management activities that helps identify lessons learned and can improve performance on current or future projects

cost of nonconformance

taking responsibility for failures or not meeting quality expectations

system testing

testing the entire system as one entity to ensure that it is working properly

reliability

the ability of a product or service to perform as expected under normal conditions

cost of quality

the cost of conformance plus the cost of nonconformance

appraisal cost

the cost of evaluating processes and their outputs to ensure that a project is error-free or within an acceptable error range

functionality

the degree to which a system performs its intended function

maintainability

the ease of performing maintenance on a product

yield

the number of units handled correctly through the development process

conformance to requirements

the project processes and products meet written specifications

system outputs

the screens and reports the system generates

features

the special characteristics that appeal to users

quality

the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs or the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements