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| Criterion |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Operations Barrier Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 1-3 h | 30-90 min | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-8 | 1-6 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality | DecisionTreeOptions | Root causeSafetyIncident |