Individual
Discussion Assignment Resource: Ch. 15 of Quality Management for Organizational Excellence.

Read Discussion Assignment 15-1: Reacting to a Process Gone Wrong located in Ch. 15 of Quality Management for Organizational Excellence.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper answering the discussion questions at the end of Discussion Assignment 15-1. Also, address the following and support your thoughts with specific examples:

• Why is it important for managers to

o employ process thinking?
o identify at least two quality management tools that could be used to present data and persuade the president? Why would you use these tools to support your arguments? Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Reacting to a Process Gone Wrong

Cignet Plastics Corporation is a contract plastics die-casting house serving a wide range
of clients. Over the years, Cignet has been a favored supplier of precision die castings for
a major producer of model airplane kits. In recent days the defect rate of these parts has
increased. (Acceptance is based on a visual inspection of the parts for appearance.) After
a thorough audit of the process, Quality Assurance has concluded that there has been no
change to the process. It claims that the increase in defects must be variation that is
related to some assignable cause. The president of Cignet Plastics does not have a clue as
to what that means, and he has called you in for an explanation.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Discuss the following questions in class or outside of class with your fellow students:

1. What will you tell the president?
2. He wants you to change the process to reduce the number of defects, but you know that is
the wrong approach. How do you talk him out of it?
3. What approach would you use to get the operation back to normal?