Which concept is used to identify the most frequent causes of defects to prioritize improvements in a process?

Which concept is used to identify the most frequent causes of defects to prioritize improvements in a process?

• A. Outsourcing
• B. Overhead
• C. Pareto chart
• D. Parent-country nationals

Answer: (C)

Using a Pareto chart helps you identify where to focus improvement efforts by showing which defect categories occur most frequently. This leverages the 80/20 idea: a small number of causes often account for the majority of problems. By listing categories from most frequent to least and adding a cumulative line, you can quickly see which few causes drive most defects and should be tackled first to maximize impact on the process. Other options don’t fit this purpose: outsourcing is about moving work to an external provider, overhead refers to indirect costs, and parent-country nationals relate to expatriate HR policy, none of which identify defect causes or help prioritize process improvements.

Using a Pareto chart helps you identify where to focus improvement efforts by showing which defect categories occur most frequently. This leverages the 80/20 idea: a small number of causes often account for the majority of problems. By listing categories from most frequent to least and adding a cumulative line, you can quickly see which few causes drive most defects and should be tackled first to maximize impact on the process.

Other options don’t fit this purpose: outsourcing is about moving work to an external provider, overhead refers to indirect costs, and parent-country nationals relate to expatriate HR policy, none of which identify defect causes or help prioritize process improvements.