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| Criterion |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations 8D Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | 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. | For an acute quality or delivery problem, the method structures immediate protection and root cause work together. It keeps the situation stable while the actual cause is investigated cleanly. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 45-90 min | 1-4 h | 1-6 Wochen |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 4-10 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause |