Questions:
1. What is meant by the term quality? In defining quality, from what two perspectives can a definition be formulated? Why are both important?
2. In conducting activity analyses, the presence of certain activities indicates low production process quality. List five of these activities.
3. Compare and contrast the eight characteristics that constitute overall quality from the customer's perspective with the three additional characteristics that constitute service quality from the customer's perspective.
4. Locate a well-described product on the Internet. Discuss how that product exemplifies the eight overall quality characteristics. Prepare a balanced scorecard for this product assuming that its manufacturer has a total quality management strategy.
5. Describe four types of benchmarking. Use the Internet to find a company that has engaged in benchmarking. Describe the type of benchmarking used and the benefits and costs of the company's experience.