Question Set 3 Statistics and Process Management CH 10-13.

Note: This class is about how Process Management (the design, implementation,
control/maintenance, and improvement of processes) helps to capitalize on the
human condition. We have established how following the principles of TQ can
help develop the correct products and processes. If it is known what the “correct
product” is for all levels of the firm, then it is possible to design the correct
processes to produce each correct product. For instance, in general, the product
of the organizational/strategic level is the correct mission, vision, and strategy
(MVS) given the firms SWOT; the product of the tactical/process level is the
design of the processes and control of the resource used to enable those
processes that accomplish the strategy; the product of the operational/personal
level are all the different products produced by the processes designed in the
tactical/process level. Thus, processes are designed to perform SWOT analysis
and generate the mission, vision, and strategies to reach the mission and vision.
Processes are also designed to produce the processes used to produce the
output from the operational/personal level.
We have also discussed how TQ methods contribute to process control
and improvement. Employees and suppliers who feel they are part of the solution
instead of part of the problem are more willing to make suggestions of how to
control and improve processes (Toyota, 1.5 million suggestions from employees
on how to improve processes per year with 95% adoption rate). Furthermore,
employees and suppliers who feel the firm is supporting them will be more
motivated to utilize their skills and abilities to make sure the current processes
are done correctly.

Know and Can Determine Can Design

Practice TQ Correct Correct
Product Process

Now that we understand better how to motivate the correct product and
processes, our goal is to understand how statistics help employees, suppliers
and managers to maintain/control and improve processes, the utilization of the
scientific method and/or managing by fact.
Knowledge is driven by information, information is driven by data, data is
driven by measuring things. Therefore, the understanding and use of the science
of measurement and how QM affects that science is crucial to obtaining
competitive knowledge. Here are some questions we will answer.

How would you achieve process improvement?

What are statistics?
Statistics work because:
What are two main types of variation?
What is a stable system?
When can variation in a process be predicted?
Where does most variation in a process come from?
Are numerical measures that many rewards and punishment are based on
meaningless?
Who is responsible for what processes are used and, thus the system?
Are statistical principles and tools only for the production floor?
Is a stable process a good process?
Is a process that has special cause problems a bad process?
What are two types of errors management makes?
What is a sample space?
What is a Discrete random variable?
What is a Continuous random variable?
What is a Probability Distribution and what are some examples of different types
of distributions?
What is the central limit theorem, why do we use it and how do we use it?
What are Z, f, and t, how do we use them?
What is sampling, what is a good sample, how should you sample, how large
should samples be?
What is Systematic error?
What is Sampling error?
What are ways to Organize/present data, and what is each good for?
What are descriptives of a set of data?
What are some different statistical methods of analyzing data to predict and
judge relationships among variables and populations?
Analyzing: regression, correlation, ANOV etc.
What is a confidence interval, how is it determined and how do we use it?