Which term describes a process that is defensive in nature?

The term that describes a process that is defensive in nature is quality assurance. Quality assurance focuses on providing confidence that a product or service meets specified requirements. It includes systematic measures and processes designed to ensure that operations are performed correctly and consistently, proactively preventing errors and defects.

This approach is often associated with activities that aim to maintain standards and prevent issues from arising, which makes it inherently defensive. Quality assurance works to ensure that processes are followed and that services meet predetermined criteria before they reach the end-users, thereby safeguarding the quality of outcomes.

Quality improvement, quality control, and performance evaluation, while all related to the concept of maintaining quality, do not emphasize the defensive approach to the same extent. Quality improvement is more about enhancing processes and outcomes over time, quality control focuses on inspecting outputs to ensure they meet quality standards, and performance evaluation assesses employee or operational performance against specific metrics without the same defensive emphasis as quality assurance.