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| Criterion | ![]() Operations Root Cause Analysis | ![]() Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis | ![]() Facilitation Alignment Mapping | ![]() Operations Kepner-Tregoe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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 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. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 2-6 h | 1-2 h | 2-8 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 3-10 | 4-12 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations |



