CMQ/OE Practice Test

Define and describe organizational designs, such as matrix, flat, and parallel structures, and the effect that hierarchical management structure can have on an organization.

Describe typical roles, responsibilities, and competencies of people in leadership positions and how those attributes influence an organization’s direction, purpose, and engagement.

Describe typical roles, responsibilities, and competencies of people in management positions and how those attributes contribute to an organization’s success.

Use change management strategies to overcome organizational roadblocks, assess the impact of global changes, achieve desired change levels, and review outcomes for effectiveness.

Develop and implement leadership techniques that motivate employees and sustain enthusiasm, and use negotiation, influence, critical thinking, or Socratic questioning to move work forward.

Apply techniques to empower individuals and teams, identify obstacles to empowerment, and distinguish between job enrichment, job enlargement, job design, and job tasks.

Identify and describe different types of teams and their purposes, including process improvement, self-managed, temporary, virtual, hybrid, and work groups.

Explain the effect that the stages of team development have on leadership style.

Apply basic team-building steps to enhance team introductions, membership, vision, objectives, and role assignments.

Describe typical team support roles, member responsibilities, and leader responsibilities related to group dynamics, hidden agendas, disruptive behavior, and conflict resolution.

Evaluate team performance in relation to established metrics, goals, objectives, rewards, and team success.

Identify and apply behaviors and actions that comply with the ASQ code of ethics.

Understand compliance issues and applicable policies, laws, and regulations, including conflict of interest, confidentiality, bribery, environmental, social, governance, and safety factors.

Apply organizational policies for agreements, intellectual property protection, and reporting observations or deviations that could be perceived as illegal activity.

Define, describe, and use basic elements of strategic planning models, including mission, vision, values, and how they relate to the plan and the organization’s objectives.

Analyze an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and risks using tools such as SWOT and PESTLE analysis.

Describe forces that drive strategic plans, including competition, substitutes, buyer and supplier power, economic conditions, global market changes, growth position, and changing customer expectations.

Differentiate the perspectives, needs, and objectives of internal and external stakeholders, and ensure that the organization’s strategic objectives align with stakeholder objectives.

Describe the long-term and short-term influence of technology on strategic planning, including automation, autonomation, Quality 4.0, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.

Describe the effects that influence an organization’s internal capabilities, including human resources, facilities capacity, and operational capabilities.

Describe the potential influence of legal, regulatory, trade association, and industry best-practice factors on strategic plans.

Identify basic characteristics of tactics and evaluate whether proposed plans are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-specific, and linked to strategic objectives.

Evaluate current resources to ensure they are available and deployed to support strategic initiatives, eliminate administrative barriers, and ensure stakeholders have needed competencies and resources.

Develop measurements that align with strategic goals and use them to evaluate the organization against the strategic plan.

Support strategic plan deployment by applying continuous improvement and other quality initiatives to drive performance outcomes throughout the organization.

Evaluate and use basic management principles such as planning, leading, delegating, controlling, organizing, and allocating resources.

Describe management theories and management styles, as well as the factors that influence management styles.

Describe the interdependence of an organization’s functional areas and how those dependencies influence processes and outputs.

Apply human resources elements to support ongoing professional development and the quality system.

Read, interpret, and use financial tools, manage budgets, and analyze project risk, feasibility, and priority using measures such as ROI, ROA, NPV, IRR, and portfolio analysis.

Understand how international standards support risk management by identifying risks that can occur throughout the organization.

Use knowledge management techniques to identify core competencies and create a culture and system for collecting and sharing implicit and explicit knowledge.

Define and apply communication modes used within organizations and identify factors that can inhibit clear communication.

Use empathy, tact, friendliness, objectivity, active listening, questioning, dialog techniques, and culturally responsive communication in virtual and in-person settings.

Identify key communication challenges across different time zones, cultures, languages, terminology, and business practices, and present ways of overcoming them.

Identify the effects of technology on communications and deploy appropriate communication methods within virtual teams.

Use project management methodology, align projects with strategic objectives, plan project phases, and ensure projects are on time and within budget.

Use tools such as risk assessment matrices, benefit-cost analysis, CPM, Gantt charts, PERT, and work breakdown structures to plan projects and estimate costs.

Use tools such as cost variance analysis, milestones, and actual vs. planned budgets to monitor project activity against the project plan.

Use written procedures and project summaries to document projects.

Develop and monitor the quality mission and policy and ensure that they align with the organization’s broader mission.

Develop and deploy the quality plan and ensure that it is documented and accessible throughout the organization.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the quality system using internal audits, stakeholder feedback, warranty and return data, traceability reports, surveys, and management reviews.

Describe and apply the requirements and basic principles of ISO 9000-based standards used to support quality management systems.

Describe and differentiate methods such as total quality management, continuous improvement, and benchmarking.

Describe and apply basic methodologies and theories proposed by quality leaders such as Shewhart, Deming, Juran, Crosby, Feigenbaum, and Ishikawa.

Select, interpret, and evaluate output from the seven classic quality tools: Pareto charts, cause and effect diagrams, flowcharts, control charts, check sheets, scatter diagrams, and histograms.

Select, interpret, and evaluate output from basic management and planning tools, including affinity diagrams, tree diagrams, PDPCs, matrix diagrams, prioritization matrices, interrelationship digraphs, and activity network diagrams.

Select, interpret, and evaluate process improvement tools such as root cause analysis, PDCA, Six Sigma DMAIC, Is/Is Not analysis, SIPOC, 8D, CAPA, A3, and FMEA.

Use techniques and exercises for creative decision-making and problem-solving, including brainstorming, mind mapping, lateral thinking, critical thinking, the 5 whys, and design for six sigma.

Define and distinguish between prevention, appraisal, internal failure, and external failure cost categories, and evaluate how changes in one category affect the others.

Describe how process goals are established, monitored, and measured, and evaluate their impact on product or service quality.

Use tools to analyze a process and evaluate its effectiveness based on procedures, work instructions, and other documents.

Identify and use lean tools such as 5S, JIT, kanban, value stream mapping, quick-changeover, poka-yoke, kaizen, standard work, TPM, and OEE.

Define key concepts of the theory of constraints, including local vs. system optimization, physical vs. policy constraints, undesirable effects, core problems, and solution deterioration.

Use statistical techniques to identify when, what, and how to measure projects and processes.

Define and describe basic sampling techniques, such as random and stratified sampling, and identify when and why sampling is appropriate.

Calculate basic statistics, identify basic distribution types, and evaluate run charts, SPC reports, and other control charts to make data-based decisions.

Understand basic measurement terms such as accuracy, precision, bias, and linearity, and distinguish between repeatability and reproducibility in gauge R&R studies.

Interpret graphs and charts to identify cyclical, seasonal, and environmental data trends, and evaluate control chart patterns to determine shifts and other trend indicators.

Analyze data to distinguish between common cause and special cause variation.

Recognize process capability indices, including Cp and Cpk, and performance indices, including Pp and Ppk.

Define and describe basic reliability measures such as infant mortality, end of life, mean time between failures, and mean time to repair, and understand the value of estimating reliability.

Define internal customers, describe the impact an organization’s treatment of internal customers has on external customers, and evaluate methods for influencing internal customers.

Define external customers, describe their impact on products and services, and evaluate strategies for integrating their requirements and needs.

Describe and assess the process of customer segmentation and its impact on aligning service and delivery to meet customer needs.

Identify subjective information, describe how it differs from objective measures, and determine when data should be captured in categories rather than numeric values.

Use quality function deployment to capture the voice of the customer and examine customer needs in relation to products and services.

Develop systems to capture customer feedback and experiences, calculate the financial impact of customer value, and improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.

Demonstrate strategies that support customer service principles, including courtesy, politeness, attention to detail, active listening, empathy, rapid response, and easy access to information and service.

Establish and monitor priorities to avoid or resolve conflicting customer requirements and manage capacity and resources for multiple and diverse customer groups.

Define and outline criteria for selecting, approving, and classifying suppliers, including internal rating programs and external certification standards.

Assess and manage supplier risk and its potential impact on internal processes.

Prepare and implement supplier communication methods, including scheduled meetings, routine and emergency reporting procedures, and explicit expectations for product and delivery requirements.

Define, assess, and monitor supplier performance in terms of quality, cost, delivery, service levels, defect rates, reliability, responsiveness, and technical support.

Define and conduct supplier audits, evaluate corrective and preventive action plans, provide feedback, and monitor process improvements.

Define, appraise, and implement supplier certification programs that include process reviews and performance evaluations, and outline strategies for supplier partnerships and alliances.

Describe the impact purchased products and services can have on final product assembly or the total service package, including ship-to-stock, JIT, and incoming material inspection.

Develop and implement training plans that align with the organization’s strategic plan and business needs, including leadership training and personal development plans.

Use tools and techniques such as surveys, performance reviews, regulatory guidances, skill matrices, and gap analyses to identify and assess training needs.

Use tools, resources, and methodologies to develop training materials and curriculum that address adult learning principles and the needs of a diverse workforce.

Assess training effectiveness and make improvements based on feedback, test results, on-the-job behavior or performance changes, and departmental or area performance improvements.