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| Criterion |  Business Strategy TOWS Matrix |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The TOWS Matrix connects internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats into action-oriented strategies. It goes a step further than a pure stocktaking. | 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. | 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 | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 30-60 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | TOWS Matrix, Strategic Options, Priority Actions | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | StrategyAnalysisOptions | Root causeQualityOperations | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |
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