BMO Quality Assurance & Improvement 2

Question 1

A BMO branch notices that loan processing errors increase on Mondays. Which quality improvement tool would best help identify the root cause?

Accepted Answer

Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram

Answer

A fishbone diagram helps systematically explore all potential causes (people, process, environment) of a specific problem.

Question 2

In a quality management context, what does 'benchmarking' refer to?

Accepted Answer

Comparing processes against industry best practices or top competitors

Answer

Benchmarking involves measuring an organization's processes against recognized best-in-class standards to identify improvement opportunities.

Question 3

Which metric is most useful for tracking whether a bank's mortgage approval process is consistently meeting its 5-day target?

Accepted Answer

Process cycle time with control limits

Answer

Process cycle time tracked on a control chart shows whether the process is stable and within acceptable limits over time.

Question 4

A quality team finds that 80% of customer complaints stem from just 3 out of 15 identified issues. Which principle does this illustrate?

Accepted Answer

Pareto principle

Answer

The Pareto principle (80/20 rule) states that roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes.

Question 5

What is the purpose of a 'control chart' in quality management?

Accepted Answer

To monitor process variation and detect unusual patterns over time

Answer

Control charts display process data over time with control limits to distinguish normal variation from special-cause variation.

(BMO) Bank of Montreal Assessment Practice Test