GLOSSARY

terms

concept in detail

1

Acceptance sampling

Refers to a sampling inspection (as opposed to 100% inspection) in wich decisions are made to accept or not accept a product or service

2

Accuracy

Is a characteristic of measurement which addresses how close an observed value is to the true value. It answers the question, "Is it right?"

3

Activity

Is the work required to proceed from one event or point in time to another

4

Affinity diagram

Is a management and planning tool used to organize ideas into natural groupings in a way taht simulates new, creative ideas.

5

ANN

Artificial Neural Network

6

Analysis

Is the first phase in the desing of instruction in which date are gathered to identify gaps between actual and desired organizational performance.

7

Antecedents

Are reminders to workers of what they are espected to accomplish. For example, a cheklist may serve as a reminder to an employee of what is expected.

8

Appraisal costs

Are costs incurred to determine the degree of conformance to quality requirements.

9

Arrow Diagram

Is a management and planning tool used to develop the best possible schedule and appropriate controls to accomplish the schedule; the critical path method and the program evalution review technique make use of arrow diagram.

10

ASQ

American Society of Quality

www.asq.org

11

Attribute data

Are data which are contable, such as number of rejects or number of errors.

12

Attribute sampling plan

Is a plan that allows users to count the number of conforming or non-conforming parts and look for defects. The four types or attribute plans include single, double, multiple, and sequential.

13

Auditing

Is evaluating the conformance of operations to both desing documentation and standars

14

Award

Is something given in recognition of performance or quality

15

B to B

Business to Business.

16

Benchmarking

Is a process for measuring and comparing a company´s performance against that of outstanding companies or best-in-class companies. A company determines how excellent companies achieve their performance levels and then uses the information to improve its own performance.

17

Bias

Is a characteristic of measurement that refers to a systematic difference

18

Brainstorming

Is a problem-solving tool taht teams use to generate as many ideas as possible related to a particular subject. Team members begin by offering all their ideas; the ideas are not discussed or reviewed until after the brainstorming session.

19

Breakthrough

Is a method of solving chronic problems, which results from the effective execution of a strategy designed to reach the next level of quality. Such change often requires a paradigm shift within the organization.

20

Business market customer

Are ather businesses involved with a company, such as retailers, original equipment manufactures, and distributors.

21

Business partnering

Is the creation of cooperative business alliances between constituencies within an organizationor between an organization and its customers. Partnering occurs through a pooling of resources in a trusting atmosphere focused on conyinuous, mutual improvement.

22

Business processes

Are processes that focus on what the organization does as a business and how thay go about doing it. A business has fuctional processes (generating output within a single department) and cross-fuctional processes (generating output across several fuctions or departments)

23

C to C

Customer to Customer

24

Calibration

Is a comparison of one measurement system or instrument not verified as accurate to another measurement system or instrument that is verified as accurate

25

Cause-and-effect diagram

Is a basic tool for analyzing process dispersion that illustrates the main causes and subcauses leading to an effect or symptom.

26

Checksheet

Is a basic strustured form for recording data which is custom-designed the used and enable the user to readily record and analyze data.

27

Chronic problem

Is a long-standing adverse situation which can be remedied by changing the status quo. For example, actions such as revising an unrealistic manufacturing process or addressing customer defections can change the status quo and remedy the situation

28

Coaching

Is a continuous improvement technique by which people receive one-to-one learning through demostration and practice and which is characterized by immediate feedback and correction

29

Commanding

Is a decision-marking approach in which a facilitator makes a decision alone whitout consulting others.

30

Commercial/industrial market

Refers to business market customers who are described by variables such as location, SIC code, buyer industry, technological sophistication, purchasing process, size, ownership, and financial strenght

31

Common cause of variation

Are causes that are inherent in any process all the time. A process that has only common causes of variation is said to be stable or predictable.

32

Competence

Refers to a person´s ability to learn and perform a particular activity. Competence generally consists of skill, knowledge, aptitude, and temperament components.

33

Concurrente engineering

Is a process in which an organization desings a product or service using input and evaluations from business units and functions early in the process, anticipating problems, and balancing the needs of all parties. The emphasis is on upstream prevention v/s downstream correction

34

Conformance quality

Occurs when a company focuses on conforming to requerements, doing things right the first time, and reducing scrap and rework.

35

Constancy of purpose

Occurs when goals and objectives are properly aligned to the organizational vision and mission

36

Consulting

Is a decision-marking approach in which a facilitator talks to others and considers their input before making a decision.

37

Consumer market customer

Are end users of a product or service

38

Consumer´s risk

For a sampling plan refers to the probability of acceptance of a lot. The quality of which has a designated numerical value representing a level that is seldom desirable. Usually the designated value wiil be the limiting quality level.

39

Continuous process improvement

Includes the actions taken throughout an organization to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of activities and processes in order to provide added benefits to the cuatomer and organization. It is considered a subset of total quality management and operates according to

the premise taht organizations can always make improvements.

40

Control chart

Is a basic tool which consists of a chart whit upper and lower control limits on which values of some statistical measure for a series of samples or subgroups are plotted. It frequently shows a central line to help detect a trend of plotted values toward either control unit. It is used to monitor and analyze variation from a process to see whether the process is in

statistical control.

41

Cost curve

Is a model which shows how developments in new technology, automation, and other areas have resulted in the ability to achieve perfection at finite costs.

42

Critical path

Refers to the sequence of tasks that takes the longest time and determines a project`s completation date

43

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Is an activity-oriented porject management technique which uses arrow-diagramming techniques to demonstrate both the time and cost required to complete a project. It provides one time estimate -normail time.

44

Customer delight

Is the result achieved when customer requirements are exceeded in ways the customer finds valuable

45

Customer orientation

Refers to a tendency to see customers` needs in terms of services, value, or benefits they will derive from a product, not in terms of a product itself.

46

Customer satisfaction

Is the result achieved when product features correspond to customer needs.

47

Customer service

Refers to quality activities after the sale is made.

48

Customer-supplier chain

Is a series of inputs, added value, and outputs which occur as employees are both customers and suppliers to one another.

49

Customer value

Is the market-perceived quality adjusted for the relative price of a product.

50

Cycle time reduction

Means to speed up the time that it takes, from start to finish, to complete a particular business process.

51

Data

Are facts presented in descriptive, numeric, or graphic form.

52

Delegation

Is a decision-making approach in which a facilitator shifts the responsibility for making a decision to someone else.

53

Design

Is the second phase in the desing of instruction in which decisions are made regarding course content, delivery methods, measurement, evaluation, and implementation. The outcome of this of this phase is a training plan.

54

Design of Experiments (DOE)

Is a set of tools commonly used with quality function deployment and is a formal branch of applied statistics that focuses n planning, conducting, studying, and interpreting the results of controlled tests.

55

Desired quality

Refers to the additional features and benefits a customer discovers when using a product or service which lead to increased customer satisfaction. If missing, a customer may become dissatisfied

56

Development

Is the third phase in the design of instruction in which training materials are created, purchased, or modified to meet the needs of the trainees.

57

Discrete probability distribution

Means that the measured process variable takes on a finite or limited number of alues; no other possible values exist.

58

Distribution

Describes the amount of potencial variation in outputs of a process; it is usually described in terms of its shape, average, and standard deviation.

59

Dot com

. Com

60

ECAAR

Economist allied for arms reduction

www.ecaar.org

www.ciberutem.cl/ecaar

61

Employee involvement

Is a planned and orderly attempt to link the shared interests of the employee and the company toward their common aim.

62

End Users

Are eternal customers who purchase products/services for their own use or receive products/services as gifts; they are not employees of the organization supplying the product or service.

63

Evaluation

Is the final phase in the desing of instruction in which training results are measured and compared to the objectives identified earlier.

64

Evaluation (behavior level)

Is the third level of training evaluation which measures whether training has changed the behaviors of employees.

65

Evaluation (learning level)

Is the second level of training evaluation which measures how well trainees learned knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

66

Evaluation (reaction level)

Is the simples and most subjectives levelof training evaluation which measures how well people liked the training and the training environment.

67

Evaluation (results level)

Is th fourth and highest level of training evaluation which measures the effect of training on organizational objectives and attempts to quantify results in terms of measures such as productivit, turnover, time, sales, or costs.

68

Events

Is a the starting or ending point for a group of tasks.

69

Excited quality

Is the additional benefit a customer receives when a product or service goes beyond basic expectations. Excited quality "wows" the customer and separates the provider from the competition. If missing, the customer will still be satisfied.

70

Expected quality

Also known as basic quality, is the minimum benefit a customer expects to receive from a product or service.

71

External Customers

Are people or organizations who receive and pay for a product, a service, or information.

72

External failure costs

Are costs associated with defects found after th customer receives the product or service.

73

Facilitator

Is a team member who is responsible for creating favorable conditions that will enable a team to reach its purpose or achieve its goals by briging together necessary tools, information, and resources to get the job done.

74

Factor Analysis

Is a statistical technique that examines the relationships between a single dependent variable and multiple independent variations. For example, it is used to determine which questios on a questionnaire are related to a specific questions such as, "Would you buy this product again?"

75

Feedback

Is the return of information in interpersonal communication; it may be

based on fact or feeling and helps the party who is receiving the

information judge how well he/she is being understood by the other party.

76

Feedback and Feedforward

Are terms defined by Feigenbaum to differentiate past quality traditions from today`s strategic approach. Feedback is more reactive and is centered around the progression of an unsatisfactory product. Feedforward is more proactive and fcuses on developing a satisfactory product in the first place.

77

Flowchart

Is a basic tool that graphically represents the steps in a process.

78

Force field analysis

Is an analytical tool that identifies positive forces that support an action or situation and negative forces that try to prevent it.

79

Formal communication

Is the officially sanctioned data within an organization, which includes publications, memoranda, training materials/events, public ralations information, and company meetings.

80

Gantt Chart

Is a proyect management technique by which the activities of a proyect are displayed graphically and in sequential order and are plotted against time.

81

Gap analysis

Is a technique that compares a company`s existing state to its desired state (as expressed by its long-term plans) and determines what needs to be done to remove or minimize the gap.

83

GRE

Graduate Record Examination (International English Test, like the Toelf)

84

Hierarchy structure

Describes an organization which is organizational around functional departments/product lines or around customer/customer segments and is characterized by top-down management (also referred to as a bureaucratic model or pyramid structure)

85

High performance work

Is defined by the MBNQA critria as work approaches systematically directed toward achieving ever higher levels of overall performance, including quality and productivity.

86

Histogram

Is a basic tool that provides a graphic summary of variation in a set of data that depics patterns that are difficult to see in a simple table of numbers.

87

Horizontal Structure

Describes an organization which is organized along a process or value-added chain, eliminating hierarchy and fuctional boundaries (also referred to as a systems structure)

88

Hoshin planning

Is a methodology for organizing and focusing an enterprise`s efforts on critical issues impacting its success. Hoshin is short for Hoshin Kanri, which is a Japanese term meaning Hoshin (plan, policy, aim) and Kanri (administration, management)

89

House of Quality

Is a diagram (named for its house-shaped appearance) that clarifies the relationship between customer needs and product features. It helps correlate market or customer requirements and analysis of competitive products with higher level technical and product characteristics, and it makes it possible to bring several factors into a single figure.

90

IEEE

International Electrical and Electronic Engineering

www.ieee.org

91

Implementation

Is the fourth phase in the desing of instruction in which training is delivered to the target audience.

92

Industrial engineering

code: 2149, UN

93

Informal Communication

Is the unofficial communication which takes place in an organization as people talk freely and easily; it includes phone communication, e-mail, impromput meetings, and personal conversations.

94

Information

Is data transformed into an ordered format that makes it usable and allows one to draw conclusions.

95

Inspection

Is the quality assurance process by which a company appraises output to see if it conforms to requirements or standars

96

Intermediate customers

Are distributors, dealers, manufacturers, or brokers who make products and services available to the end user by repairing, repackaging, reselling, or creating finished goods from components or subassemblies.

97

Internal Customers

Are employees or departments who receive output in the form of a product, a service, or information from other employees or departments within the organization.

98

Internal failure costs

Are costs associated with defects found before the customer receives the product or service.

99

Interrelationship digraph

Is a management and planning tool that displays the relationships between factors in a comlex situation. It identifies meaningful categories from a mass of ideas and is useful when relationship are dificult to determine.

100

Intervention

Is an action taken by a leader to resolve an underlying conflict within a team or work group.

101

Intervention focus

Refers to how an intervention is directed-toward a group or toward a specific individual

102

Intervention intensity

Refers to the strength of the intervention by the intervening person; intensity is affected by words, voice inflection, and nonverbal behaviors.

103

ISO

International Estándar Organization

www.iso.org

104

ISO 9000

ISO concerned with quality management

105

ISO 14000

Iso concerned with environmental management

106

Job description

Is a narrative explanation of the work, the work process, the work setting, and the organizational culture.

107

Job specification

Is a list of the important fuctional and quality attributes (knowledge, skills, aptitudes, and personal characteristics) needed to succeed in the job.

108

Juran Trilogy

Is a graph that measures quality processes, quality improvement, and quality control in terms of time and cost.

109

Just-in-time training

Is training that is offered to emplyees as it is needed, so that employees will be able to use their new skill immediately after training.

110

Kano model

Is a representation of the three levels of customer satisfaction defined as dissatisfaction, neutrality, and delight.

111

Ladder of inference

Is a mental model that explains how individuals have different interpretations about what happens is an organization. The model explains how people move beyond observable data and culturally understood meanings by adding their own meanings, assumptions, and theories.

112

Leader

Is a person who sets in motion what needs to be done for the future to increase organizational and employee capabilities and make high performance and continuous improvement second nature.

113

Likert`s management styles

Refers to four patterns of organizational management, interactions, and communication and considers superior-subordinate and peer-peer patterns as determined by management style.

114

Likert`s management styles (benevolent authoritative)

Is a behavioral management pattern in which downward communication prevails. Upward communication from the subordinate to the manager is at the managr`s discretion; horizontal peer communication is discouraged.

115

Likert`s management style (consultative)

Is a behavioral management pattern in which open communication is encouraged between manager and subordinates but is frowned upon between subordinates.

116

Likert`s management styles (exploitative authoritative)

Is a behavioral management pattern in which one-way communication flows only from manager to subordinates; managers discouraged information transfer among peers.

117

Likert`s management style (participative)

Is a behavioral management pattern in which managers and subordinates communicate openly and freely. The manager is a leader, facilitator, and coordinator; the group assumes responsibility for control, responsibilities, and authority.

118

Long-term goals

Refers to goals thet an organization hopes to achieve in the future, usually in three to five years.

119

Macro processes

Are broad, far-ranging processes taht often cross functional boundaries and are completed by more than one organization.

120

Management by policy

Is the organizational infrastructure that ensures the right things and done at the right time.

121

Market-perceived quality

Is the customer`s opinion of your products or services as compared to those of your competitors.

122

Materials review board (MRB)

Is a quality control committee or team, usually employed in manufacturing or other materials-processing installations, which possesses the responsibility and authority to deal with items or materials that do not conform to fitness-for-use specifications.

123

Matrix chart

Is a management and planning tool that shows the relationships among various groups of data; it yields information about the relationships and tha importance of task/method elements of the subjects.

124

Matrix structure

Describes an organization which is organized into a combination of functional and product departments; it brings together teams of people to work on proyects and is driven by project scope.

125

Mean

Is ameasure of central tendency and is the arithmetic average of all scores in a data set.

126

Measurement

Refers to the reference standard or sample used for the comparision of properties.

127

Median

Is the middle number or center value of a set of data when all the data are arranged in an increasing sequence.

128

Micro processes

Are narrow processes made up of detailed steps and activities which could be accomplished by a single person.

129

MID

Modelling Industrial Dynamic

130

Mission statement

Is an explanation of purpose or reasons for existing as an organization; it provides the focus for the organization and defines its scope of business.

131

Mode

Is the score that occurs most frequently in a data set.

132

Multiple customers

Refers to the fact that organizations can have more than one customer and more than one person or function that influences a buying decision.

133

NITS

The National Institute of Standards and Technology

www.quality.nist.gov

134

Nominal group technique

Is a problem-solving technique used to generate ideas related to a particular subject. Team members write down their ideas individually and share them one at a time. When all ideas are recorded, they are discussed and prioritized by the group.

135

Non-value-added

Refers to tasks or activities that can be eliminated with no deterioration in product or service functionality, performance, or quality in the eyes of the customer.

136

Objective

Is a quantitative statement of future expectations and an indication of when the expectations should be achieved; it flows from goals and clarifies what people must accomplish.

137

Optimization

Refers to achieving planned process results that meet the needs of the customer and supplier alike and minimize their combined costs.

138

P to P

Partner to Partner

139

Parallel processes

Are created when two or more people share the tasks in a primary process.

140

Parallel structure

Describes an organizational module in which groups, such as quality circles or a quality council, exist in the organization in addition to and simultaneously with the line organization (also referred to as collateral structure)

141

Pareto chart

Is a basic tool used to graphically rank causes from most significant to least significant. It utilizes a vertical bar graph in which the bar height reflects the frequency or impact of causes.

142

Performance appraisal

Is a formal method of measuring employees` progress against performance standards and providing feedback to them.

143

Performance evaluation

Refers to the screening and acceptance of suppliers based on requirements such as quality, price, and delivery.

144

Performance management system

Is a system that supports and contributes to the creation of high performance work and work systems by translating behavioral principles into procedures.

145

Performance plan

Is a performance management tool that describes desired performance and provides a way to assess the performance objectively.

146

Performance test

Is a assessment device that requires candidates to complete an actual work task in a controlled situation.

147

Pert

Program Evaluation Review Techniques

148

Phases of improvement

Refers to the four phases of making changes that are part of process improvement: streamlining, preventing, correcting, and excelling. Organizations use a mixture of these phases as they pursue process improvement goals.

149

Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle

Is a continuous improvement model that teaches that organizations should plan an action, do it, check to see how it conforms to plan expectations, and act on what has been learned.

150

Point estimate

Is the single value used to estimate a population parameter. Point estimate are commonly referred to as tha points at which the interval estimates are centered; these estimates give information about how much uncertainty is associated with the estimate.

151

Precision

Is a characteristic of measurement which addresses the consistency or repeatability of a measurement system when the indentical item is measured a number of times.

152

Prevention costs

Are costs incurred to keep internal and external failure costs and appraisal costs to a minimum.

153

Prioritization matrix

Is a management and planning tool used to determine the highest-priority options or alternatives to accomplish an objective.

154

Primary

Process refers to the basic steps or activities that will produce the output without the nice-to-haves.

155

Probability

Refers to the likelihood of occurrence.

156

Probability distribution

Is a mathematical formula which relates tha values of characteristics with their probability of occurrence in a population.

157

Process

Is an activity or group of activities that takes an input, adds value to it, and provides an output to an internal or external customer.

158

Process capability

Refers to the limits within which a tool or process operates, based upon minimum variabitily as governed by the prevailing circumstances.

159

Process decision program chart (PDPC)

Is a management and planning tool that identifies all events that can go wrong and the appropriate countermeasures for these events. It graphically represents all sequences thet lead to a desirable affect.

160

Process effectiveness

Refers to how well a process meets customer expectations and requirements.

161

Process efficiency

Refers to how well resources are used to produce an output in a process. Efficiency measures are usually based on effort, cost, and time.

162

Process improvement

Refers to the act of changing to reduce cycle time and make the process more effective, efficient, and adaptable. It focuses on the overall effectiveness of a cross-fuctional process and requires cutting across convectional organizational boundaries.

163

Process improvement team (PIT)

Is a natural work group or cross-functional team whose responsibilityis to achieve needed improvements in exixting processes. The life span of the team is based on the completion of the team purpose and specific goals.

164

Process management

Is the collection of practices used to implement and improve quality management and process effectivenses; it focuses on holding tha gains achieved through process improvement and assuring process integrity.

165

Process mapping

Is the flowcharting of a work process.

166

Process owner

Is the manager or leader who is responsible for ensuring that the total process is effective and efficient.

167

Producer`s risk

For a sampling plan refers to the probability of not accepting a lot, the quality of which has a designated numerical value representing a level that is generally desirable. Usually the designated value will be the acceptable quality level.

168

Product orientation

Refers to a tendency to see customer`s needs in terms of a product they want to buy, not in terms of the services, value, or benefits the product will provide.

169

Professional development plan

Is a career development tool created for an individual employee. Working together, the employee and his/her supervisor create a plan which matches the individual`s career needs and aspirations with organizational demands.

170

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

Is an event-oriented project management technique which utilizes an arrow diagram or road map to identify all major events and demonstrates the amount of time needed to complete a project. It provides three time estimates: optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic.

171

Project life cycle

Refers to the four sequential phases of project management: conceptualization, planning, implementation, and completion.

172

Project plan

Is the blueprint for process improvement and is the first step in changing a process. It includes a step-by-step description of how the process works, including current inputs, transformations, and outputs.

173

Quality

Denotes an excellence in goods and service, especially to the degree they conform to requirements and satisfy customers.

174

Quality advisor

Is a person who helps team members work together in quality processes and is a consultant to the team. The advisor is concerned about the process and how decisions are made rather than about which decisions are made.

175

Quality assurance

Demonstrates that an entity will fulfill quality requirements. Internal quality assurance gives management confidence in its products and services, while external quality management provides confidence to customers.

176

Quality circle

Is a problem-solving, morale-builiding method that uses group participation to prepare recommendations for management.

177

Quality control

Is the operational techniques and activities that are used to fulfill requirements for quality and is aimed at both monitoring a process and eliminating causes of unsatisfactory process.

178

Quality cost reports

Is a system of collecting quality costs that uses a spreadsheet to list tha elements of quality costs against a spread of the departments, areas, or projects where tha costs will occur and summarizes the data in exact accordance with plans for its use. The reports help organizations review prevention costs, appraisal costs, and internal and external failure costs.

179

Quality cost

Are those expenditures incurred by an organization to attain and ensure specified quality levels or the losses incurred when satisfactory quality is not achieved.

180

Quality engineering

Is ensuring that initial plans and specifications for products, processes, and services have the capability to meet their desing intent.

181

Quality evidence audit

Is the final part of the data-gathering phase of a quality assessment in which data ralated to quality improvements is compiled, divided into key areas, and rated. The objective is to collect easily quantifiable data that can be clarified by follow-up interviews with select personnel.

182

Quality function

Is the entire collection of activities through which we achieve fitness for use, no matter where these activities are performed.

183

Quality function deployment

Is a process used to understand the voice of the customer and to tanslate customer expectations into technical design parameters for each stage of the product-development cycle.

184

Quality improvement

Is changing systems so they more efficiently or effectively meet their goals.

185

Quality loop

Is a conceptual model of interacting activities that influence quality at the various stages ranging from identification of needs to the assessment of whether these needs have been met (also referred to as a feedback loop)

186

Quality metric

Are numerical measurements that give an organization tha ability to set goals and evaluate actual performance v/s plan.

187

Quality plan

Is the document setting out the specific quality practices, resources, and sequence of activities relevant to a particular product, project, or contract.

188

Quality planning

Is the activity of establishing quality goals and developing the processes and products required.

189

Quality principles

Are the rules or concepts that an organization believes in collectively. The principles have been formulated by senior management with input from others and are communicated and understood at every level of the organization.

190

Quality system

Is the organizational structure, procedures, processes, and resources needed to implement quality management.

191

Random sampling

Is a sampling method in which every element in the population has an equal chance of being included.

192

Ratio analysis

Is the process of relating isolated business numbers, such as sales, margins, expenses, and profits, to make them meaningfül.

193

Reinforcement

Is the process of ensuring that the right knowledge and skills are being used; it has been described as catching people doing things right.

194

Reliability

Refers to the ability of a feedback instrument to produce the same results over repeated administration. It is the ability of an instrument to measure consistently and with relative absence of error.

195

Reliability engineering

Is determining the probability that a product will be able to perform for a specified period of time.

196

Return on equity (ROE)

Is the net profit after taxes, divided by last year's tangible stockholders' equity, and then multiplied by 100 to provide a percentage (also refered to as return on net worth),

197

Return on investment (ROI)

Is an umbrella term for a variety of ratios measuring an organization's business performance and is calculated by dividing some measure of retum by a measure of investment and then multipiying by 100 to provide a percentage. In its most basic form, ROI indicates what remains from all money taken in after all expenses are paid.

198

Return on net assets (RONA)

Is a measurement of the earning power of the firm's investment in assets and is calculated by dividing net profít after taxes by last year's tangible total assets and then multipiying by 100 to provide a percentage.

199

Root cause analysis

Is a quality tool used to distinguish the source of defects or problems. It is a structured approach that focuses on the decisive or original cause of a probiem or condition.

200

Run chart

Is a form of trend analysis that uses a graph to show a measurement on a vertical access against time, with a reference line to show the average of the data. A trend is indicated when a series of points head up or down.

201

Sample

Is a finite number of items of a similar type taken from a population for the purpose of examination to determine if all members of the population would conform to quality requirements or specifications.

202

Sample frame

Is a comprehensive list of key customers from which a survey sample may be drawn. Sample size refers to the number of units in a sample randomly chosen from the population. Sampling is the process of drawing conclusions about the population based on a part of the population.

203

Scatter diagram

Is a basic tool that graphically portrays the relationship between two variables or process characteristics.

204

Scribe

Is a person who records key subjects and main points that are discussed during team meetings, along with related action items assigned to specific team members.

205

Self-inspection

Is the process by which employees inspect their own work according to specifíed rules.

206

Self-managed team

Is a team that requires little supervision and manages itself and the day-to-day work it does; self-directed teams are responsible for whole work processes with each individual performing multiple tasks.

207

Situational leadership

Is a leadership theory which maintains that leadership style should change based on the person and the situation, with the leader displaying varying degrees of directive and supportive behavior.

208

Slack time

is the time an activity can be delayed without delaying the entire project; it is determined by calculating the difference between the latest allowable date and the earliest expected date.

209

SOCE

Society of Concurrent Engineering

www.soce.org

210

Special causes of variation

Are the factors that disrupt the usual flow of work. Processes with special causes are unstable and unpredictable (also referred to as assignable causes).

211

Specifícation

Is the engineering requirement forjudging the acceptability of a particular product/service based on product characteristics, such as appearance, performance, and size. In statistical analysis, specifications refer to the document that prescribes the requirements with which the product or service has to perform.

212

Sporadic problem

Is a sudden adverse change in the status quo which can be remedied by restoring the status quo. For example, actions such as changing a worn part or handling an irate customer can restore the status quo.

213

Stages of team growth

Refers to the four stages defined by Peter Scholtes: forming, storming, norming, and performing. The stages help team members accept the normal problems that occur on the path from forming a group to becoming a team.

214

Stakeholders

Are people, departments, and organizations that have an investment or interest in the success or actions taken by the organization, but are not directly involved in the customer-supplier chain.

215

Standard

Is a statement, specification, or quantity of material against which measured outputs from a process may be judged as acceptable or unacceptable.

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Standard deviation

Is a measure of variability which shows how much the scores are spread out around the mean.

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Statement of work (SOW)

Is a description of the actual work to be accomplished. It is derived from the work breakdown structure and, when combined with the project specifications, becomes the basis for the contractual agreement on the project (also referred to as scope of work).

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Statistical process control (SPC)

Is the collection of statistical techniques used to measure and analyze the variation in processes.

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Strategic fit review

Is a process by which senior managers assess the future value of each project to a particular organization in terms of its ability to advance the mission and goals of that organization.

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Strategic training plan

Is a blueprint that ensures that training and education build the organization's capabilities and enable individuals to contribute to the organization's success.

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Stratified sampling

Is a sampling method that requires that data are taken within a strata. Each lot is sampled using random or systematic sampling.

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Supplier

Is any other-company provider of goods and services, whose goods and services may be used at any stage in the production, design, delivery and use of a company's products and services. Suppliers include businesses, such as distributors, dealers, warranty repair services, transportation contractors, and franchises; and service suppliers, such as health care, training, and education.

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Supplier audits

Aare reviews that are planned and carried out to verify the adequacy and effectiveness of a supplier's quality program, drive improvement, and increased value.

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Supplier certification

Is the process of evaluating the performance of a supplier with the intent of authorizing the supplier to self-certify shipments if such authorization is justified. It may also refer to an organization's willingness to provide training and certification procedures for its suppliers to increase their abilities to deliver quality products and services.

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Supplier selection

Is the act of reducing the number of suppliers for a specific product or service to guarantee increased business to selected suppliers because of their performances.

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Supplier management

Is ensuring that suppliers are able to meet the product and process requirements.

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SWOT analysis

Is an assessment of an organization's key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It considers factors such as the organization's industry, the competitive position, functional areas, and management.

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System

Is a network of connecting processes which work together to accomplish the aim of the system.

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Systematic sampling

Is a sampling method that requires that data be taken every Nth time. It treats each item as a sample size of one; a determination to accept, reject, or continue sampling is made after inspection of each item.

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Systems approach to management

Is a management theory which views the organization as a unified, purposeful combination of interrelated parts; managers must look at the organization as a whole and understand that activity in one part of the organization affects all parts of the organization (also known as systems thinking).

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Tactical plans

Are short-term plans, usually of one to two year durations, that describe actions the organization will take to meet its strategic business plan.

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Tactics

Are the strategies and processes that help an organization meet its objectives.

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Teach Practice 7-21 Learning Cycle theory

Is a learning theory which states that individuals must practice a new skill from 7-21 times before the skill becomes a part of their thinking processes and can be taught to others.

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Team

Is a set of two or more people who are equally accountable for the accomplishment of a purpose and specific performance goals; it is also defined as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose.

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Team-based structure

Describes an organizational structure in which team members are organized around performing a specific function of the business, such as handling customer complaints or assembling an engine.

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Theory of knowledge

Is a belief that management is about prediction, and people learn not only from experience, but also from theory. When people study a process and develop a theory, they can compare their predictions with their observations; profound learning results.

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Theory X and Theory Y

Is a management theory developed by Douglas McGregor that maintains that there are two contrasting management styles, each of which is based on the manager's view of human nature. Theory X managers take a negative view of human nature and assume that most employees do not like work and try to avoid it. Theory Y managers take a positive view of human nature and believe that employees want to work, will seek and accept responsibility, and can offer creative solutions to organizational problems.

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Theory Z

Was coined by William G. Ouchi and refers to a Japanese style of management that is characterized by long-term employment, slow promotions, considerable job rotation, consensus-style decision making, and concern for the employee as a whole.

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360-degree feedback process

Is an evaluation method that provides feedback from the perspectives of self, peers, direct reports, customers, and suppliers.

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Total quality management

Is a strategic, integrated management system for achieving customer satisfaction, which involves all managers and employees and uses quantitative methods to continuously improve an organization's processes.

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TQM

Total Quality Management

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Traditional organizations

Are those organizations not driven by customers and quality policies.

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Training

Refers to the knowledge and skills that employees need to learn in order to perform or improve their performances of their current jobs or tasks.

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Tree diagram

Is a management and planning tool that shows the complete range of subtasks required to achieve an objective. A problem-solving method can be identified from this analysis.

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Trend analysis

Refers to the charting of data over time to identify a tendency or direction.

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Tribology

Science of Mainterance in Industrial Engineering.

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UVN2

University Venture Neural Network.

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Validity

Refers to the ability of a feedback instrument to measure what it was intended to measure.

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Value-added

Refers to tasks or activities that convert resources into products or services consistent with customer requirements.

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Values

Are statements that clarify the behaviors that the organization expects in order to move toward its vision and mission. Values reflect an organization's personality and culture.

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Variable data

Are those data which are measured, such as weight, time, temperature, and pressure.

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Variable sampling plan

Is a plan in which a sample is taken and a measurement of a specified quality characteristic is made on each unit. The measurements are summarized into a simple statistic, and the observed value is compared with an allowable value defined in the plan.

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Variation

Is a change in data, a characteristic, or a function that is caused by one of four factors: special causes, common causes, tampering, or structural variation. Analyzing the cause of a variation allows an organization to reduce the variation and create a stable process.

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Virtual super team (VST)

Is a team that functions as a facto small business and manages itself as a value center. It can be organized along business, product, process, or technology lines and requires excellent lateral teaming skills and constant reshaping.

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Vision

Is a statement that explains in measurable terms what the company wants to become and what it hopes to achieve.

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Voice of the process

Is the actual output of the process in terms of variation, cost, and quality of products and services; improvements will not occur until the organization is able to improve the process.

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Voice of the customer

Is a company's efforts to develop processes to capture customer feedback on the company's products or services and drive it back into the organization.

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Work breakdown structure (WBS)

Is a project management technique by which a project is divided into tasks, subtasks, and units of work to be performed.

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Work design

Refers to the manner in which employees are organized in formal or informal, temporary or long-term units

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Work group

Is composed of people from one functional area who work together on a daily basis and whose goal is to improve the processes of their function.