MBB: Master Black Belt Certification

The ASQ Master Black Belt (MBB) certification is a mark of career excellence. MBB is a professional who possesses exceptional expertise and knowledge of current industry practice. Master black belts have outstanding leadership ability, are innovative, and demonstrate a strong commitment to the practice and advancement of quality and improvement. Obtaining an ASQ MBB helps you elevate your career and gain competitive advantage.

Preparation for an exam is one of the most essential yet difficult journeys. Further, the key to successfully passing an exam is by studying right. We present you the Preparatory Guide designed to set you on the right track. It equips you with the tools to crack the exam.

What Are the Core Competencies of a MBB?

Firstly, demonstrated ability to teach, facilitate, and communicate effectively, including coaching and mentoring to successful completion of projects.
Secondly, Organizational change agents.
Also, Competent in strategic planning, leadership, enterprise-wide planning
Further, Technical proficiency with process improvement concepts and advanced tools.
Then, Strong analytic and problem-solving skills; the ability to recommend alternative solutions and translate complex concepts into simplified and understandable examples
Moreover, Ability to quickly understand a Black Belt’s projects and provide guidance/direction for next steps.

Benefits of MBB Certification:

The Certified Master Black Belt exam is one of the most sought after certifications. It offers the following benefits to its candidates.

To begin with, ASQ is the benchmark in the industry for certification
Secondly, Improved skill set qualifies you for more positions within modern business environments. MBBs are often excellent leaders and role models within an organization.
Thirdly, Being able to put MBB on your résumé proves your commitment to improving your business acumen and analytical skills, not to mention your commitment to improving the business within which you work
Also, MBB is the highest level of certification attainable in Six Sigma.

Major Job Functions

As a MBB, you will have the knowledge and skills to be a expert problem solver, who manages resources to help deliver the business strategy. The major job functions are:

Administrator
Consultant
Engineer
Executive
Manager
Project Manager
Quality Analyst
Senior-Level Employee
Supervisor

Exam Details: MBB Exam

Before we dive deeper into the preparation journey let’s make sure we have all the details in check. Lets discuss the exam details

The Master Black Belt exam covers 110 multiple choice question.
Duration for the exam is 5 Hours 18 minutes and it is available in English Language only.
Further, the exam fee for Members $2,124 and for Non-Members $2,229. You must score 550 points out of a possible 750 to pass the exam.

Exam Name	Master Black Belt
Exam Code	MBB-ASQ
Time Duration	5 Hours 18 minutes
Exam Format	Multiple Choice and Multi-Response Questions
Exam Type	Professional
Number of Questions	110 Questions
Exam Fee	For Members $2,124, For Non-Members $2,229
Exam Language	English
Pass Score	550 points out of a possible 750

Target Audience:

Candidates who are or have been employed as MBBs within their organization, or well qualified certified Six Sigma Black Belts (CSSBB) who have substantial experience in each of the major topic areas within the portfolio are the intended audience for this exam.

Prerequisites

Work Experience

To become certified as an ASQ MBB, a candidate must successfully meet all requirements. To be eligible to apply for the MBB examination, a candidate must hold a current ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt certification (CSSBB) and pass the MBB portfolio review process. Within the portfolio, a candidate must have one of the following experience levels:

1) At least 5 years of experience in the role of a SSBB or MBB.
- OR
2) Completion of 10 Six Sigma Black Belt projects.

Portfolio Review

Once you have met the minimum eligibility requirements, the next step in the process is a portfolio review of the your body of SSBB or MBB work.
When the review panel approves your portfolio, you will be eligible to register for and take the MBB examination.
Only after successfully completing all requirements and passing the examination you will receive the MBB certification.

MBB Course Outline

The Official Exam Guide covers the descriptive details about the exam domains. These domains cover various subtopics. This is to help candidates prepare for the exam by identifying specific content within each topic that may be tested. Further, there are 6 domains in this exam-

Domain 1- Enterprise-wide Planning (20 Questions)

Strategic Plan Development (ASQ Reference: Strategic Quality Planning)
Strategic Plan Alignment
Infrastructure Elements of Improvement Systems (ASQ Reference: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT)
Improvement Methodologies (ASQ Reference: Continuous Improvement Techniques)
Opportunities for Improvement
Pipeline Management (ASQ Reference: Pipeline Construction Dispute)

Domain 2- Organizational Competencies for Deployment (20 questions)

Organizational Design (ASQ Reference: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE)
Executive and Team Leadership Roles (ASQ Reference: WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?)
Organizational Challenges (ASQ Reference: Organizational Excellence)
Next, Organizational Change Management (ASQ Reference: WHAT IS CHANGE MANAGEMENT?)
Organizational Feedback
Organizational Performance Metrics (ASQ Reference: Organizational Performance)

Domain 3- Project Portfolio Management (15 questions)

Project Management Principles and Life Cycle (ASQ Reference: WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?)
Then, Project Portfolio Infrastructure and Management
Project Portfolio Financial Tools (ASQ Reference: Quality in Financial Services)

Domain 4- Training Design and Delivery (10 questions)

Training Needs Analysis (ASQ Reference: Training Needs Analysis)
Training Plan Elements (ASQ Reference: Introduction To Quality Management)
Then, Training Materials and Curriculum Development
Training Program Effectiveness

Domain 5- Coaching and Mentoring Responsibilities (10 questions)

Executives and Champions
Teams and Individuals (ASQ Reference: WHAT IS A TEAM?)

Domain 6- Advanced Data Management and Analytic Methods (25 questions)

Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), Process Capability, and Control (ASQ Reference: Measurement System Analysis (MSA))
Measuring and Modeling Relationships Between Variables
Design of Experiments (DOE) (ASQ Reference: WHAT IS DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS (DOE)?)
Data Management and Analytics (ASQ Reference: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS TOOLS)
DFSS (Design for Six Sigma)

Topics for Performance-based Section of Certified Master Black Belt

PB-1. Enterprise-wide Planning

Apply project selection criteria to select and prioritize potential improvement projects using strategic planning tools, immediate- and long-term business goals, executive-level directives, and risk analysis results. Develop and deliver formal presentations that support the project selection process, identify progress, and explain its status at conclusion

PB-2. Organizational Competencies for Deployment

Use feedback and process data from various sources to identify or develop improvement projects that will respond to customer needs, eliminate process barriers, or streamline processes, especially for managing projects that cross boundaries either within or between organizations. Use appropriate communication methods that are sensitive to specific audiences when explaining projects or solutions, encouraging participation, or resolving issues that arise between interorganizational groups.

PB-3. Project Portfolio Management

Develop and manage the scope, schedule, cost, and risk of improvement projects using various project management tools to ensure proper monitoring, milestone achievement, and project success. Recognize when intervention steps must be taken to bring a project back on track or terminate it based on analysis of internal or external events.

PB-4. Training, Coaching, and Mentoring

Identify situations that require training or mentoring for all levels of participants in improvement projects, from executive-level champions to non-belt participants. Develop, review, and deliver information, training, or mentoring as needed for a variety of improvement projects, based on needs analysis, participant requests, or recognition of situations that require intervention.

MBB Exam FAQ

It is desirable to have utmost clarity about the exam policies before commencing on with your preparations. Hence to clarify all your doubts visit the MBB: Master Black Belt FAQ

Preparation Guide for MBB Certification

Industry recognised certification from ASQ help you gain a competitive edge over other candidates. Moreover, earning a professional certification enhances your employability and demonstrates your capability. You need to study and prepare well for this exam. This Preparatory Guide keeps you loaded with the right resources and bridges the gap for your dream job. Moreover, this guide is surely your way ahead to clear the exam and pass it with flying colours

Step 1- Have Detailed Knowledge of the MBB Exam Objectives

Before heading towards your preparation journey, you must get yourself familiar with the main objectives of the Master Black Belt (MBB) certification exam. ASQ provides the candidates taking it’s certification, with a well-structured Exam guide. Knowing the exam objectives is very important to get an insight into the exam. So visit the Official website of ASQ-MBB, to have a clearer view of the exam guide. A thorough analysis will let you align yourself more deeply with the chief objectives Of the exam. And hence, enabling you to gain the required command to earn your desired certification.

Step 2- Choose the Relevant Books

Preparation for any exam without books seems unreasonable and unproductive at the same time. So, you should also search for relevant and credible books by expert authors for your exam preparation. Books are a comprehensive source of information for candidates to prepare for the MBB certification exam. You can access a detailed explanation of various concepts covered in the exam through books. You must include the following book in your preparations-

THE CERTIFIED SIX SIGMA MASTER BLACK BELT HANDBOOK

This book has been created to reflect the most current thinking among key Six Sigma leaders regarding what should be contained in the ASQ Master Black Belt Body of Knowledge.

Step 3- Join an Online Community

Joining an Online Community is certainly an ideal way to know your actual stand in the competition. Here, you can interact with your competitors, and keep yourself focused. This will provide you the right exposure to appear for the exam, ensuring an increase in your expertise. This will not only be beneficial in the exam prep but will also help get your doubts cleared and get you trained well, for success.

myASQ communities are utilized for networking, sharing content, and peer-to-peer learning. Some of these communities are gated and are determined by your member profile. Membership in technical and geographic communities are included or can be added to an ASQ membership

Step 4- Check your progress with Practice Tests

Lastly, practice or mock tests can be one of the advantageous tools which can back you up for the exam. Moreover, the main aim to design practice test is to provide the candidate with the real exam environment. Thus, going through practice tests helps you find your strengths and iron out your weaknesses. They make you understand the areas you’re lacking behind and work upon them. Most importantly, make sure that you are going through practice tests once you have gone through the whole syllabus. It will help you in your evaluation process as well as building confidence. Ready to check your progress, start practising now!