Certified Business Process Professional (CBPP) Practice Exam

Control limits are statistical boundaries set within control charts that help in determining whether a process is stable and predictable over time. By establishing upper and lower limits based on the process's inherent variation, these limits provide a framework for distinguishing between common cause variation (the natural fluctuations in a process) and special cause variation (unexpected changes due to specific factors). When a process operates within these control limits, it is deemed to be "in control," indicating that it is functioning as expected without significant anomalies.

This concept is fundamental in quality control and continuous improvement methodologies, as it enables organizations to identify when a process may require intervention. When data points lie outside of these control limits, it signals the potential need for investigation and corrective action, as those outliers could indicate problems that need to be addressed.

The other options do not capture the primary purpose of control limits. They address different aspects of business process management: average production speed relates to efficiency metrics, measuring costs focuses on financial assessment, and employee performance evaluation is concerned with human resource management. These do not provide the specific functionality of control limits in monitoring process stability.