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| Criterion |  Decision Making Delphi Method |  Operations Fault Tree Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When knowledge is distributed and direct dominance should be avoided, groups quickly fall under the sway of their opinion leaders. The Delphi Method gathers assessments iteratively and gradually brings expert judgments closer together. | For a critical top event with several possible triggers, the method logically models failure paths. It makes visible which combinations of conditions can lead to damage. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | High | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | 2-6 h | 15-30 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 6-30 Experten | 3-8 | 2-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Expert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption Notes | Fault Tree, Critical Paths, Cause Hypotheses, Control Actions | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy | RiskRoot causeSafety | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |