Executing Projects - Resources, Quality, and Procurement Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering executing processes, team development, leadership styles, quality movement thinkers, quality control tools, Six Sigma, CMMI, and procurement contract types.

Tuckman's Stages of Team Development

A framework created by Bruce Tuckman defining the five evolution stages of a team: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing/High Performing, and Adjourning.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A motivation theory structured in five ascending levels of human needs: Physiological, Safety, Love/belonging, Esteem, and Self-actualization.

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory

A motivation model distinguishing between Hygiene Factors (such as company policies, supervision, pay, and working conditions) that prevent dissatisfaction, and Motivational Factors (such as achievement, recognition, growth, and responsibility) that drive job satisfaction.

Theory X

Douglas McGregor's management perspective holding that employees inherently dislike work, avoid responsibility, desire only money, and must be closely supervised and forced to perform.

Theory Y

Douglas McGregor's management perspective holding that employees naturally want to work, desire independence, seek responsibility, and drive themselves when motivated by self-fulfillment.

Theory Z

A management theory introduced by William Ouchi in 1981 emphasizing democratic leadership and worker involvement as the key to increased productivity.

McClelland's Theory of Needs

A motivation model identifying three primary needs: Need for Achievement (drive to excel), Need for Power (desire to control others), and Need for Affiliation (desire for friendship and good relationships).

Vroom's Expectancy Theory

A motivation framework stating that motivation depends on three factors: Expectancy (effort leading to performance), Instrumentality (performance leading to rewards), and Valence (the value of those rewards).

Fiedler's Contingency Model

A leadership model asserting that group performance depends on matching a leader's style with situational favorableness.

Covey's 7 Habits

Stephen Covey's personal effectiveness model guiding individuals from Dependence to Independence (Private Victory: Habits 1–3) and Interdependence (Public Victory: Habits 4–6), surrounded by continuous renewal (Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw).

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A personality assessment tool measuring preferences across four dimensions: Extrovert/Introvert (E/I), Sensation/Intuition (S/N), Thinking/Feeling (T/F), and Judgment/Perception (J/P).

DiSC Profile

A personality assessment tool measuring four primary behavioral traits: Dominance (direct/results-oriented), Influence (outgoing/enthusiastic), Steadiness (even-tempered/patient), and Conscientiousness (analytical/systematic).

Social Styles Model

A behavioral communication tool dividing personality preferences into four distinct categories based on assertiveness and responsiveness: Driver, Expressive, Amiable, and Analytical.

Servant Leadership

A leadership approach that focuses on serving relationships and community first, viewing leadership as secondary.

Transformational Leadership

A leadership style focused on empowering team members and guiding organizational change through inspiration.

Transactional Leadership

A leadership style focused on achieving specific compliance or goals through rewards, punishments, and management by exception.

Quality (Project Management)

The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of project deliverables satisfies requirements, demonstrates 'fitness for use,' and meets or exceeds customer objectives.

Grade vs. Quality

Grade refers to a category or rank assigned to products with the same functional use but different technical characteristics, whereas Quality refers to how well the product meets specified requirements and user expectations.

Product Quality vs. Process Quality

Product Quality focuses on the specific outputs delivered (e.g., an information system solution), while Process Quality focuses on the activities, methods, materials, and measurements used to create the product.

Eli Whitney

An industrial figure who invented the cotton gin and pioneered mass production and interchangeable parts manufacturing through his firearm manufactory in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Scientific Management

Fredrick W. Taylor's production approach that analyzed work processes into small steps using stopwatch time-and-motion studies to establish the most efficient method of completion.

Walter A. Shewhart

A pioneer at Western Electric Company who introduced statistical theory and control charts to evaluate and maintain production process quality.

W. Edwards Deming

A quality theorist who developed the 14 Points of Quality Management, emphasized process improvement over final inspection, and helped transform Japanese industrial quality after WWII.

Joseph Juran

A quality expert who defined quality as 'fitness for use,' established the Juran Trilogy (Planning, Control, Improvement), and emphasized the hidden costs of poor quality.

Hidden Factory

Joseph Juran's term describing the portion of production work, capacity, and cost wasted on scrap, rework, re-testing, and correcting customer complaints.

Kaoru Ishikawa

A Japanese quality pioneer who studied under Deming, advocated company-wide quality involvement, and introduced tools like the Fishbone Diagram, Pareto Diagram, and Flow Charts.

Ishikawa Diagram

A Cause-and-Effect or Fishbone Diagram used to systematically categorize potential root causes of quality defects across domains such as People, Methods, Management, Technology, Measurements, and Environment.

Pareto Principle

A principle derived from Vilfredo Pareto and applied by J.M. Juran stating that approximately $80\%$ of problems stem from $20\%$ of causes ('the vital few and the useful many').

Philip Crosby

A quality management author who championed 'Do it right the first time,' 'Zero defects,' and 'Quality is free,' stressing that non-conformance is what costs organizations money.

ISO 9000

A set of international quality management standards created by the International Organization for Standardization (formed in 1947) to facilitate uniform global industrial quality.

Six Sigma

A statistical quality methodology pioneered by Motorola aiming for process perfection, defined as no more than $3.4$ defects per million opportunities ($6\sigma$).

DMAIC

The five-step problem-solving process used in Six Sigma: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

Verification

Process-oriented quality activities designed to ensure that deliverables meet specified requirements prior to final testing ('Are we building the product the right way?').

Validation

Product-oriented quality activities, such as testing, designed to evaluate whether the final product fulfills customer expectations ('Did we build the right product?').

Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)

A process evaluation model developed by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University assessing process capabilities across 5 maturity levels: Initial, Repeatable, Defined, Managed, and Optimizing.

Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM)

A maturity model developed by J. Kent Crawford that aligns organizational project management processes directly to the 5 levels of the CMM.

Fixed-Price Contract

A procurement agreement where a fixed lump-sum price is established for deliverables, shifting financial risk primarily onto the seller.

Cost-Reimbursable Contract

A procurement agreement where the buyer reimburses the seller for actual direct and indirect costs, plus an agreed-upon fee or incentive.

Time and Materials (T&M) Contract

A hybrid procurement contract where the buyer pays the seller for actual labor time spent and materials used, often combining cost-reimbursable open-endedness with preset unit rates.

Outsourcing vs. Procurement Management

A distinction where Outsourcing represents a long-term strategic decision to externalize business activities, whereas Procurement Management involves tactical actions to acquire products or services.