51. TQM focuses on:
A. designing processes to meet the needs of external customers only.
B. reducing variability in the product or service.
C. preventing errors rather than correcting errors.
D. tying pay to employees' total output less rejects.
TQM refers to a cooperative form of doing business that relies on the talents and capabilities of both labor and management to continually improve quality and productivity.
52. "How senior executives create and sustain corporate citizenship, customer focus, clear values, and expectations, and promote quality and performance excellence" is the definition for which Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criterion?
A. Strategic planning
B. Workforce focus
C. Customer and market focus
D. Leadership
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is an award established in 1987 to promote quality awareness, to recognize quality achievements of U.S. companies, and to publicize successful quality strategies.
53. Which one of the following is NOT true of the Six Sigma process?
A. The objective of the process is to create a total business focus on serving the customer.
B. Training is an important component of the process.
C. The process is one of seven categories evaluated within the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award.
D. The process involves measuring, analyzing, improving, and controlling processes once they have been brought within six quality standards.
Seven categories evaluated within the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award are leadership, measurement, analysis, and knowledge management, strategic planning, workforce focus, process management, business results and customer and market focus.
54. Which of following holds TRUE for lean thinking?
A. It is a way to do more with less effort, time, equipment, and space.
B. It is a way to compete for quality awards and certification.
C. It includes offering no-frills goods and services to customers.
D. It is working for zero inventories.
Part of lean thinking includes training workers in new skills or how to apply old skills in new ways so they can quickly take over new responsibilities or use new skills to help fill customer orders.
55. The skills and motivation of a company's _____ labor force determine the need for training and development practices and the effectiveness of the company's compensation and reward systems.
A. projected
B. secondary
C. external
D. internal
The labor force of current employees is often referred to as the internal labor force.
56. Which of the following statements about the composition of the U.S. labor force in the next decade is TRUE?
A. Labor force growth is greater than at any other time in U.S. history.
B. The largest proportion of the labor force is expected to be in the 16-to-24-year age group.
C. There will be fewer white males than minorities or women in the labor force.
D. The number of "baby boom" workers will increase faster than any other age group.
The 55 years and older workforce is expected to grow by approximately 47 percent between 2006 and 2016, more than five times the 8.5 percent growth projected for the entire workforce.
57. Which of the following statements about older workers is FALSE?
A. Worker performance and learning are adversely affected by aging.
B. The aging labor force means companies are likely to employ a growing share of older workers.
C. An emerging trend is for qualified older workers to ask to work part-time or for only a few months at a time as a means to transition to retirement.
D. Older employees are willing and able to learn new technology.
Older employees are willing and able to learn new technology.
58. Baby boomers:
A. like the latest technology, are ambitious and goal-oriented, and seek meaningful work.
B. want to be noticed, respected, and involved.
C. tend to be uncomfortable challenging the status quo and authority.
D. value unexpected rewards for work accomplishments, opportunities to learn new things, praise, recognition, and time with the manager.
"Baby boomers," born between 1946 and 1964, live to work.
59. Regardless of their background, most employees' value:
A. the ability to challenge the status quo.
B. simplistic tasks requiring few skills.
C. managerial positions.
D. work that leads to self-fulfillment.
Employees view work as a means to self-fulfillment—that is, a means to more fully use their skills and abilities, meet their interests, and allow them to live a desirable life-style.
60. To successfully manage a diverse workforce, managers need to develop all of the following skills EXCEPT:
A. providing performance feedback that is based on values rather than objective outcomes.
B. communicating effectively with employees from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.
C. coaching employees of different ages, educational backgrounds, ethnicity, physical ability, and race.
D. recognizing and responding to generational issues.
Managers need to develop a skill of providing performance feedback that is based on objective outcomes rather than values and stereotypes that work against women, minorities, and handicapped persons by prejudging these persons' abilities and talents.