CIPS L5M9 Exam : Operations Management

Below are details of five companies who operate a Total Quality Management System (TQM). For each company, select the system used and identify which area of the Balanced Scorecard this relates to.
Company 1: The focus of this company is to gather real-time data to assess the quality of products created during the manufacturing process. There are tight budgets and reworking any defects will affect the bottom line.
Company 2: This company is concerned about how their products are received. They have recently completed market research focused on their client's feelings. The objective is now to improve the product's look and performance to meet these expectations.
Company 3: The focus of this company is defining the customer requirements and translating this into a high-quality specification and effective operational process.
Company 4: Within this company there is a group of 6 employees who meet regularly with the objective of reducing issues that arise in the manufacturing of products.
Complete the table below by listing the TQM System used and the relevant Balanced Scorecard criteria for each company. Each response should only be used once: Quality Circle, Statistical Process Control, Kansei Engineering, Quality Function Deployment, Finance Criteria, Business Process Criteria, Learning and Growth Criteria, Customer Criteria.

Which of the following will you put into box 8?

• A. business process criteria
• B. finance criteria
• C. learning and growth criteria
• D. customer criteria

A manufacturing company makes taps which they advertise with a guarantee of durability for 10 years. At which point in time would you expect most defects to be found?

• A. between 5-6 years
• B. between 2-5 years
• C. between 1-2 years
• D. Within the first year

Little Joy Ltd is a large company with several functional departments. Below are details of four departments. For each, you must decide which functional area of the business the department is, as well as the SERVQUAL Gap that each Department Lead is concerned with.
Department 1: This department is concerned with the creation of products. The products are created in line with BS EN 716-1 and undergo vigorous tests before they leave the factory. Many customers are unaware of the additional costs of testing to BS EN 716-1 and complain about the price of this product line.
Department 2: Other departments of the business are internal customers of this functional area and approach the Department Lead when they require something to be bought. Often the internal customers have unrealistic expectations of the timescales involved in the process and the Department Lead spends a lot of time explaining lead times and logistics.
Department 3: This functional area creates the budgets for the company and emails these to the Department Leads at the beginning of every quarter. Due to the complexity of the documents, other functional areas of the business often don't understand the information provided.
Department 4: This area of the business is concerned with revenue, which has recently slumped. The Department Lead is conducting market surveys to find out the reason for this.
Complete the table below by listing the Functional Area of the business, and the corresponding SERVQUAL Gap. Each response should only be used once: procurement, finance, sales, production, satisfaction gap, delivery gap, standards gap, communication gap.

Which of the following will you put into box 8?

• A. standards gap
• B. satisfaction gap
• C. delivery gap
• D. communication gap

In an organisation that uses Quality Assurance to ascertain whether a product meets the needs of a customer, which of the following are you likely to find?

• A. staff proactively checking products for defects
• B. a steering committee
• C. proactive maintenance of equipment
• D. regular feedback loops from customers

Which of the following would you likely find on a Process Control Chart which is being used to monitor the quality of products manufactured in a factory?

• A. upper and lower control limits
• B. different activities completed and the amount of slack available in each activity
• C. frequency of defects
• D. arrows showing the flow of goods