The Shewhart cycle refers to a quality management tool with which four steps?

• A. Plan, Do, Check, Act
• B. Analyze, Design, Develop, Deliver
• C. Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve
• D. Inspect, Decide, Implement, Sustain

Answer: (A)

The PDCA cycle, also called the Shewhart cycle, is a simple, iterative approach to quality improvement. It starts with Plan: identify a problem or opportunity, set clear objectives, and design a change including how you’ll measure success. Then Do: implement the change on a small scale or as a pilot to collect data. Next is Check: review the results, compare them to the objectives, and learn what happened. Finally Act: decide whether to adopt the change more broadly, adjust and test again, or abandon it, and standardize what works if the results are favorable.

This sequence best fits the idea of continuous improvement, because it explicitly links planning, implementation, evaluation, and adjustment in a repeating loop. The other option sets reflect different frameworks or lifecycle steps that don’t capture this four-step learning cycle.