PT204 – CQI and IRCA Practitioner Managing Change and Continual Improvement Examination [paper 2][v3]

Section 1 – Governance

Question 1.1

Which of the following is NOT a role of the Project Sponsor in an improvement team?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 1.2

Who is accountable to the senior leadership team for the results of improvement projects?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 1.3

Which of the following are two of the eight pillars of TPM?

(select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 1.4

What are the main purposes of the 8D approach to problem solving?

(select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 1.5

While leading an improvement programme you observe that there is a lack of engagement at levels below senior management. Investigation suggests that the employees affected do not understand the purpose of the initiative. Which approaches would be LEAST effective in rectifying this?

(select THREE answers)(3 marks)

Question 1.6

As an improvement practitioner, you wish to introduce a culture of continual improvement into the workplace. Which improvement approaches would be needed to enable this?

(select THREE answers)(3 marks)

Section 2 – Assurance

Question 2.1

Which of the following would typically appear on a workplace “plan the day” visual management board?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 2.2

A lean waste walk has identified a list of potential rapid improvement opportunities. What approach could you apply to generate a prioritised list?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 2.3

A process team are setting up a visual management board within a process area. What benefits can a visual management board provide?

(select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 2.4

Scrap has been identified as key improvement opportunity within a manufacturing plant. How can an improvement leader best use this data in a visual way to help identify and track potential improvement activities for kaizen events?

(select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 2.5

An improvement initiative has been running for two years. Although the initiative has enabled a large number of projects to be run, the sponsor is finding it difficult to demonstrate the benefits to the business other than purely financial. As the sponsor selects the projects for the coming year, which of the following would allow the sponsor to demonstrate benefits, beyond financial benefits, to the business?

(select THREE answers)(3 marks)

Question 2.6

When working with a senior team it becomes apparent that some members of the team are not fully supportive of the improvement initiative. Which three of the following approaches would most effectively gain their support?

(select THREE answers)(3 marks)

Section 3 – Improvement

Question 3.1

Which of the following statements best describes the waste ‘Excessive Processing’?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 3.2

Which of the following statements about control charts is true?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 3.3

A finance department consistently produces invoices late, leading to delayed payments from customers. An improvement specialist generates a flowchart of the process and then tracks the performance. Which key measures would be most appropriate at this stage?

(select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 3.4

You are investigating the causes of variation in the output of a key business process. While comparing two measurements (one a results measure, the other a process measure) using a scatter diagram you find a strong linear relationship. What are the most effective next steps?

(select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 3.5

While facilitating a root cause analysis process with a team of managers you find the group has a tendency to lose patience with the process and settle for apparent cause rather than investigating to reach the root cause. Which of the following would be effective actions to take?

(select TWO answers)(3 marks)

Question 3.6

You are to run an introductory workshop for a senior manager group that will include a session on control charts. You want to use some meaningful data, so you decide to adopt local measures used by the people attending the session. You decide that you will ask the attendees to bring their own data, what could prompt the delegates to ensure that useable data is provided?

(select THREE answers)(3 marks)

Section 4 – Context

Question 4.1

An external customer has complained because the length of the steel rods you are supplying them varies between +/- 10mm against a specification limit of +/- 2mm. Which approach would be most effective to address this issue?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 4.2

What two items should be high on the list of criteria to be considered when prioritising which improvement projects to attack first?

(Select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 4.3

Your organisation has carried out a number of improvement projects 6 months ago, but with little visible financial benefit being seen. What could be said about the projects that were adopted that could explain this?

(Select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 4.4

A robust strategy is essential to the success of change. When facilitating development of a strategy with a leadership team which of the following questions should be asked?

(select THREE answers)(3 marks)

Section 5 – Leadership

Question 5.1

On the Kubler-Ross change curve model which stage immediately follows the initial “shock phase” when the change impacts the individual?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 5.2

Following completion of a stakeholder matrix (axes power and interest) you aim to develop an action plan. Which of the following would most effectively address the low power and low interest grouping?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 5.3

In the context of a RACI chart, which of the following best describes a person who is “Accountable”?

(select ONE answer)(1 mark)

Question 5.4

As a business improvement director, you are faced with influencing and changing the approach of a leadership team that has an existing “just do it” culture of reactive decision making which inhibits strategic improvement. Which two of the following are likely to be the most effective in changing this culture?

(select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 5.5

An employee in an invoicing department is asked to adopt a new way of processing customer enquiries as a result of an improvement project you have carried out. You interview their supervisor one month later and to your surprise they state the employee is struggling. Which two behaviours would be most likely observed in the individual at this point?

(select TWO answers)(2 marks)

Question 5.6

You are about to propose a significant increase in the scope of the organisation’s continual improvement initiative. This will require significant investment, primarily in training and staff/resource time to deliver projects. You are concerned that there will be resistance from members of the executive to your plans What three tactics would be most effective to reduce this risk?

(select THREE answers)(3 marks)

Question 5.7

At the start of a change project you have identified three key stakeholders and you arrange to meet them, individually, to discuss the project. The three sentences, below, typify their feelings about the project.

Bill: “It’s what the CEO wants, so it’s going to happen, but I think that it’s a ridiculous waste of time.”

Mary: “I am looking forward to this, it’s something that we should have been doing for years.”

Frank: “I can see that there will be some use from the project but if we could include my team’s activities in the work, I am sure that we can get more out of it.”

Identify the three points on the change curve where the people are roughly sitting.

(Select THREE answers)(3 marks)

Question 5.8

As a senior improvement leader, your logistics centre continual improvement initiative is going well. However, feedback from the process operators indicates that they feel senior management are not engaged and rarely seen. Questioning of senior management suggests that they have little understanding of what is actually happening in the logistics centre. Which three of the following processes would most likely improve this situation?

(select THREE answers)(3 marks)