1. Fishbone Diagrams (cause and effect, or Ishikawa diagrams)
John Ham
OISM 470W
John Ham is a student at Penn State University

2. Overview (1 of 2) Definition Use within organizations
Uses
Ishikawa
Use within organizations
benefits
Creation of the Diagram
Steps 1-9
Ishikawa refers to Kaoru Ishikawa, the creator of the diagram, and pioneer of Japanese Quality Management

3. Overview (2 of 2) Example Exercise Service example Ham Industries
Ham Industries is a fictional company created by John Ham

4. Fishbone (Cause and Effect or Ishikawa) Diagrams (1 of 4)
Named after Kaoru Ishikawa
Japanese Quality pioneer
Resembles skeleton of a fish
Focus on causes rather than symptoms of a problem
Emphasizes group communication and brainstorming
Stimulates discussion
Kaoru Ishikawa
1915 – 1989, Japanese Quality Pioneer
Focused on quality statistics and total quality management throughout an organization

5. Fishbone (Cause and Effect or Ishikawa) Diagrams (2 of 4)
One of Seven basic tools of Japanese Quality
Leads to increased understanding of complex problems
Visual and presentational tool
The other six tools are:
Pareto Charts, Stratification, Check Sheets, Histograms, Scatter Diagrams, Shewhart’s Control Charts and Graphs.

6. Fishbone (Cause and Effect or Ishikawa) Diagrams (3 of 4)
Typically done on paper or chalkboard
Recently some computer programs have been created to make Fishbone Diagrams
Ishikawa Environment
The Ishikawa Environment is a computer tool used to create a Fishbone Diagram to increase detail and facilitate updating of the diagram

7. Use in Organizations (1 of 2)
Can be used to improve any product, process, or service
Any area of the company that is experiencing a problem
Isolates all relevant causes

8. Use in Organizations (2 of 2)
Helps bring a problem into light
Group discussion and brainstorming
Finds reasons for quality variations, and the relationships between them

9. Creating Fishbone Diagrams (1 of 4)
As a group:
1. Establish problem (effect)
-state in clear terms
-agreed upon by entire group
2. Problem becomes the “head” of the fish
-draw line to head (“backbone”)

10. Creating a Fishbone Diagram (2 of 4)
Decide major causes of the problem
- by brainstorming
- if the effect or problem is part of a process the major steps in the process can be used
4. Connect major causes to backbone of the fish with slanting arrows

11. Creating a Fishbone Diagram (3 of 4)
5. Brainstorm secondary causes for each of the major causes
6. Connect these secondary causes to their respective major causes
7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 for sub- causes dividing with increased specificity
- usually four or five levels

12. Creating a Fishbone Diagram (4 of 4)
8. Analyze and evaluate causes and sub-causes
-may require the use of statistical, analytical, and graphical tools
9. Decide and take action

13. Example (1 of 4)
Step 1 & 2:
Poor Service
(“backbone”)
(“head”)

14. Example (2 of 4) Step 3 & 4: Responsiveness Appearance Poor Service
Attention
Reliability

15. Example (3 of 4) Step 5, 6, & 7: Responsiveness Appearance time
equipment
personnel
facility
Poor Service
accuracy
Each causal level can be completed in order(i.e. secondary then tertiary), or by relationship (responsiveness then time)
One on one service
courtesy
dependability
Reliability
Attention

16. Example (4 of 4) Step 8 & 9: Use tools to analyze and evaluate causes
Pareto diagrams, charts, and graphs
Statistical analysis for causes in processes
Decide and take action
Use fishbone diagram, analysis and evaluations to find causes that can be fixed
Take action to eliminate and fix problem causes

17. Exercise
Create a Fishbone (cause and effect, Ishikawa) Diagram for the following:
Management at Ham Industries has noticed that the productivity of its workers is well below the standard. After interviewing its employees, it was noticed that a vast majority felt dissatisfied and unhappy with their work. Your boss has asked you and a group of your peers to find the causes of worker dissatisfaction . Include all possible causes to at least the secondary level.
Group answers should include the following:
Worker dissatisfaction as the ‘head’ of the diagram
Major causes should include environment, equipment, and management
Secondary causes for environment
Worker training, worker empowerment, cleanliness, wages, benefits, etc.
Secondary causes for equipment:
Effectiveness of equipment, age and maintenance requirements, lack of new technologies, etc.
Secondary causes for Management:
Leadership qualities, Involvement, Attention, Expertise, human relations, etc.

18. Summary (1 of 3) Fishbone Diagrams - visual diagram
- resembles fish skeleton
- identifies the causes of a problem (effect), and their relationships
- created by Kaoru Ishikawa for Quality Management

19. Summary (2 of 3) Organizational Uses
Increases communication about problems
Used to improve any product, process, or service
Important part of quality management

20. Summary (3 of 3) Creation of Fishbone diagrams
Problem or effect is head of fish
Identify major, secondary and tertiary causes, and attach to backbone identifying relationships
Analyze and Evaluate results
Act to fix the problem(s)

21. Bibliography //home.t-online.de/home/kfmaas/q_ishika.html
Foster, S. Thomas. Managing Quality: An Integrative Approach. 2001, Prentice-Hall