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| Criterion | ![]() Decision Making Delphi Method | ![]() Operations Root Cause Analysis | ![]() Operations Fishbone Diagram | ![]() Operations Failure Mode and Effects 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. | 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. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | 1-4 h | 30-60 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 6-30 Experten | 3-8 | 2-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Expert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption Notes | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeQualityOperations | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |



