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PMPTOOLSe-book–Allrightsreserved2002:QualityPlanning,QualityAssurance,andQualityControl.ThePMBOK®definesqualityasthetotalityofcharacteristicsofanentitythatbearonitsabilitytosatisfystatedorimpliedneeds.Statedandimpliedneedsaretheinputstodevelopingprojectrequirements.AcriticalaspectofqualitymanagementintheprojectcontextisturningimpliedneedsintorequirementsthroughProjectScopeManagement.Itisimportanttorecognizethedifferencebetweenqualityandgrade.GradeisdefinedbythePMBOK®asacategoryorrankgiventoentitieshavingthesamefunctionalusebutdifferenttechnicalcharacteristics.Lowqualityisalwaysaproblem,butlowgrademaynotbe.Theprojectmanagerandteammustdetermineanddelivertherequiredlevelsofqualityandgrade.OneimportantareathatthePMBOK®emphasizesisthegrowingattentiontocustomerrequirementsasthebasisformanagingquality.Muchofthisdiscussionissimilartowhatiscoveredincontemporarycourseofferings.Anotherconceptthatmayappearonthetest,whichisnotspecificallymentionedinthePMBOK®,isgold-plating.Simplydefined,gold-platingisgivingthecustomermorethanwhatwasrequired.Exceedingthespecifiedrequirementsisawasteoftimeandmoney,withnovalueaddedtotheproject.Thecustomershouldexpectandreceiveexactlywhatwasspecified.ThisistheunderlyingphilosophyofprojectqualitymanagementespousedbyPMI;itistheprocessrequiredtoensurethattheprojectwillsatisfytheneedsforwhichitwasundertaken.QualityManagementThePMBOK®definitionissimilartoCrosby'sdefinitioninQualityisFree.AccordingtothePMBOK®,qualitymanagementincludesallactivitiesoftheoverallmanagementfunctionthatdeterminethequalitypolicy,objectives,andresponsibilities,andimplementsthembymeanssuchasqualityplanning,qualityassurance,qualitycontrol,andqualityimprovementwithinthequalitysystem.QualitymanagementinvolvescarryingoutaprojectthroughitsPMPEXAMCRAMe-book–Allrightsreserved2002(forexample,concept,development,implementation,andfinish)withzerodeviationsfromtheprojectspecifications.Policies,plans,procedures,specifications,andrequirementsareattainedthroughthesubfunctionsofqualityassuranceandqualitycontrol.QualityPlanningThePMBOK®definesqualityplanningasidentifyingwhichqualitystandardsarerelevanttotheprojectanddetermininghowtosatisfythem.Alsorememberafundamentaltenetofmodernthinkingaboutprojectqualitymanagement-qualityshouldbeplannedin,notinspectedin!Therefore,althoughinspectioniscertainlypartofprojectqualitymanagement,increasedinspectionisnotgenerallyconsideredthebestpathtoimprovedquality.Sohiringmoreinspectorswouldnotbethecorrectanswertothequestion,Whatisthebestwaytoimprovequality?QualityPolicyPMIstressestheimportanceofhavingaqualitypolicyfortheproject.Qualitypolicyisdefinedastheoverallintentionsanddirectionofanorganizationwithregardtoqualityasformallyexpressedbytopmanagement.Iftheperformingorganizationlacksaformalqualitypolicyoriftheprojecthasmultipleorganizationsinvolved,theprojectteammustdevelopaqualitypolicyfortheproject.QualityPlanningToolsandTechniquesPMIdiscussesfivequalityplanningtoolsandtechniques.•Benefit/costanalysis:Benefit/costanalysismustbeconsideredinthequalityplanningprocess.Theprimarybenefitofmeetingqualityrequirementsislessrework;theprimarycostistheexpenseassociatedwithprojectqualitymanagementactivities.•Benchmarking.Benchmarkinginvolvescomparingactualorplannedprojectactivitiestothoseofotherprojectstogenerateideasforimprovementandtoprovideastandardbywhichtomeasureperformance.Somepeoplehavedescribedthisprocessasasearchforbestpractices.•Flowcharting:Flowchartsarediagramsthatshowhowvariouselementsofasystemrelate.(Seethedescriptionofthetypesofflowchartsinthequalitycontroltoolssection).Here,PMIalsoincludesPMPEXAMCRAMe-book–Allrightsreserved2002(alsocalledIshikawadiagramsorfishbonediagrams),whichillustratehowvariouscausesandsubcausesrelatetocreatepotentialproblemsoreffects(CauseandEffectDiagram)oSystemorprocessflowcharts,whichshowtheinterrelatedelements•Designofexperiments:Thisisananalyticaltechniquethathelpsidentifywhichvariableshavethemostinfluenceontheoveralloutcome.Forexample,designersmightwanttodeterminewhichcombinationofsuspensionandtireswillproducethemostdesirableridecharacteristicsatareasonablecost.Or,projectplannerscoulddesignexperimentstodeterminetheoptimalcombinationofseniorandjuniorlevelstaffgivencostandtimeconstraints.•Costofquality:Onemajorareaofemphasisistheconceptofcostofquality,whichreferstothetotalcostofalleffortstoachieveproduct/servicequality.Itisdefinedasthecostofconformance-thecostofproactivequalityprocesses-andthecostofnonconformancethecostofaqualityfailure.Ineitherform,costofqualityi