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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Business Strategy Value Chain Analysis |  Operations Barrier Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In technical failures, the visible symptom often gets mixed up with the actual cause. Fault Isolation narrows the fault space and progressively reduces which part of the system is truly affected. | 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. | Value Chain Analysis shows where value is created, costs accrue, and differentiation becomes possible along the process. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a value-chain map and lever list. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 2-6 h | Half day | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 3-10 | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Value Chain Map, Lever List | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | StrategyBusiness modelDiagnosisAnalysis | Root causeSafetyIncident |