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| Criterion |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 2-8 h | 1-4 h | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog |
Tags1 shared | Root causeSafetyIncident | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeQualityOperations |