Provided by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida
Deming's Theory Main Page | Deming's
Theory Discussion Questions | Graduate MA Course
1. Deming was against management by objectives because this management approach
a. mainly places emphasis on the results.
b. causes or promotes tampering.
c. does not provide a method for achieving the objective.
d. a and c.
e. a., b. and c.
2. A predictable range of variation in the output of a particular worker occurs on a routine basis. This variation represents
a. common cause variation and is uncontrollable.
b. common cause variation and is controllable.
c. assignable cause variation and is uncontrollable.
d. assignable cause variation and is controllable.
e. none of these.
3. Assume the worker in the question above randomly adjusts the equipment involved hoping to improve the process. Deming’s theory tells us that
a. this is tampering.
b. a greater amount of variation will occur in the output of
this worker.
c. this is an assignable cause.
d. a. and b.
e. all of the above.
4. According to Deming’s theory, the variation caused by a worker’s random adjustments to his or her equipment represents
a. common cause variation and is uncontrollable.
b. common cause variation and is controllable.
c. assignable cause variation and is uncontrollable.
d. assignable cause variation and is controllable.
e. none of these.
5. According to Deming’s theory, the variation caused by a worker’s random adjustments to his or her equipment represents
a. common cause variation.
b. tampering.
c. assignable cause variation.
d. a and b.
e. b. and c.
6. Joiner and Gaudard use the term structural variation in discussing Deming’s theory. This is
a. common cause variation and uncontrollable.
b. common cause variation and controllable.
c. assignable cause variation and uncontrollable.
d. assignable cause variation and controllable.
e. none of these.
7. Deming used the red bead experiment to teach that
a. most of the variation in a system is assignable cause variation.
b. most of the variation in a system is common cause variation.
c. the variation caused by the system is equally distributed across a group of workers.
d. a. and c.
e. b. and c.
8. According to Deming, experience
a. leads to knowledge.
b. leads to perfection.
c. teaches nothing without theory.
d. a. and b.
e. none of these.
9. From Deming’s perspective, ranking a group of workers is a deadly disease because
a. it destroys intrinsic motivation.
b. it prevents joy in work.
c. it creates competition between workers.
d. it ranks the effects of the system on the workers.
e. it does all of the above.
10. Deming was opposed to
a. compromise.
b. copying examples.
c. management by results.
d. b. and c.
e. all of the above.
11. Which of the following is, or are consistent with Deming’s management theory?
a. management by objectives.
b. consensus decisions.
c. sequentially ranking employees.
d. a and b.
e. None of these.
12. According to Deming, voting on an issue tends to
a. promote cooperation.
b. promote joy in work.
c. promote sub-optimization.
d. a. and b.
e. a., b. and c.
13. Which of the following is not part of Deming’s Theory of Profound Knowledge?
a. Knowledge of Psychology.
b. Total quality management.
c. Theory of knowledge.
d. Knowledge of variation.
e. Appreciation for a system.
14. Deming’s red bead experiment shows how managers tend to make
a. Type I errors more often than Type II errors.
b. Type II errors more often than Type I errors.
c. both Type I and Type II errors.
d. neither Type I or Type II errors.
e. None of these.
15. What was Deming’s view of the role of government?
a. To provide national defense.
b. To provide equity.
c. To regulate business.
d. To provide infrastructure.
e. None of these.
16. Deming endorsed and promoted which of the following?
a. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality award.
b. Total Quality Management.
c. ISO 9000.
d. SPC techniques.
e. All of the above.
17. Deming was critical of the zero defect concept associated with quality because
a. the additional prevention and appraisal costs would far
exceed the reduction in failure costs.
b. the concept does not recognize a range of acceptable quality.
c. the concept does not promote continuous improvement towards a target value.
d all of these.
e. none of the above.
18. Deming was critical of the management by objectives concept because it
a. mainly places emphasis on the results.
b. causes or promotes tampering.
c. does not provide a method for achieving the objective.
d. a and c.
e. all of the above.
19. According to Deming, knowledge is created in the following sequence.
a. Experience,
theory, prediction.
b. Prediction, experience, theory.
c. Theory, prediction, experience.
d. Prediction, theory, experience.
e. none of these.
20. Which of the following practices is consistent with Deming's System of Profound Knowledge?
a. management by objectives.
b. incentive pay and merit pay systems.
c. constrained optimization techniques.
d. accounting control systems.
e. none of these.
21. The red bead experiment was designed to show that
a. workers tend to control their own performance.
b. special or assignable causes account for most of the variation in performance.
c. common or random causes account for most of the variation
in performance.
d. a balanced plant is not obtainable.
e. a and c
22. The funnel experiment, or demonstration, was designed to show
a. that most variation in a system is caused by the system, not the workers.
b. that tampering with a system will make performance worse rather than better.
c. that an understanding of psychology is a requirement for leadership.
d. that optimizing the subsystems will not optimize the whole system.
e. that with cooperation everybody wins, while adversarial competition causes everyone to lose.