The past several years has seen an increase in smartphone ownership by cell phone users. In its

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The past several years has seen an increase in smartphone ownership by cell phone users. In its infancy, few companies produced the smartphone, such as RIM’s Blackberry and Motorola. However, the market is getting crowded. Still, Apples introduction of the iPhone changed the industry. The purpose of a smartphone has shifted from e-mail and business to apps and functionality. The cellphone industry must be in tune with the customer. Apple attempts to incorporate popular features in its designs. The iPhone is operated using a touchscreen and plays music and video. Like other smartphones, the iPhone can manage e-mail accounts and thousands of Apps.

With new generation introduction, customers expect improvements to the features. Recent improvements include front and back cameras for video conferences. Including dual cameras in the design required Apple to create new software for the video conferencing. This feature is only available between iPhones, but Apple hopes to expand to other cell phone users. Camera quality in phones is improving as people rely on them more than handhelds. Knowing this is important to some customers, a reviewer of the iPhone commented,” it isn’t the best cell phone camera I’ve tested, but it is a big improvement.’’ This is an example of the trade- offs that may occur in product design. With so many features to incorporate, it may not be possible for a company to have the best of each. A company must decide which areas to focus on in the design.

The iPhone has addressed other areas of cell phone design. Apple claims that the iPhone is the world’s thinnest smartphone and sports the world’s highest- resolution smartphone screen. The high-resolution screen helps compensate for its smallish screen. Talk-time battery life has been increased. New multitasking software manages apps to reduce battery drain.

Battery life is a concern for all cell phone designs. The iPhone incorporates some features over which Apple has limited control. Facebook, Twitter and Pandora are popular apps among customers. Incorporating these features requires limiting battery consumption but allowing for frequent updates. Some users want to be constantly connected to their social networks. Apple’s multitasking feature addresses some of these issues but may still disappoint some users.

2.1. The case discusses the issues of trade-offs in design. What are some smartphone trades-offs? Why are these important to consider in design? (5)

2.2. Choose another product besides a smartphone. What are some important trade-offs for that product design? (5)

2.3. How should Apple evaluate the “quality” of its iPhone? (5)

2.4. How could Apple improve its design processes for the iPhone? (5)

3. What is ‘Quality Function Deployment’? (QFD). Briefly describe the steps in performing a QFD. (15)

4. Describe the purpose and the intent of the ISO 9000:2008 program. What are the advantages of becoming an ISO 9000:2008-certified company? Are there any disadvantages? (6)

5. What motivates U.S. firms to compete for the Malcolm Baldrige Award? How could a firm benefit from participating in the Baldrige competition, even if it did not apply for the award, by focusing on the Baldridge criteria. (8)

6. The Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence Results category groups performance measures into six sets. Briefly discuss these.(18)

7. Distinguish between ‘Internal Failure Costs’ and ‘External Failure Costs’ of quality costs. (10)

8. Balancing quality costs against expected revenue gains has become known as return on quality (ROQ). ROQ is based on four main principles. Briefly discuss these principles. (8)