Last week, you examined the methods associated with managing and controlling time and costs. In project management, there are several models that link time and cost to quality. These models suggest that shifting one of these "components" (time, cost, or quality) will have an impact on the others. For example, imagine that the time your firm has to "complete a" project is reduced. What will happen to costs and quality? It is possible that costs will increase in order to hire more resources to complete the project on time. In addition, quality could suffer if practices are expedited to meet the new schedule. This relationship is a primary reason why construction managers focus on managing and controlling a project's costs, schedule, and quality.

Just as you explored methods for controlling time and costs last week, you will engage in the same practice this week for quality management. In this week's readings, you explored quality management techniques that are commonly employed in other industries, but that can also be useful in the construction industry. For this week's Discussion, you will continue to research quality management techniques that can be applied in the construction industry.

Research one quality management technique that is not typically related to construction. How can this technique be used to improve quality on a construction project?