ISHIKAWA DIAGRAM –
Tool for quality management
Marit Laos
IS Project Management
21.05.2014
Quality


... is the degree to which a set of inherent
characteristics fulfill requirements (PMBOK,
originally ISO 9000)
"... is the characteristic of having demonstrated
the achievement of producing a product that
meets or exceeds agreed-on requirements, as
measured by agreed-on measures and criteria,
and that is produced by an agreed-on process”
(RUP, in the context of software development)
Quality
Producer’s Viewpoint – the quality of the product
meets the requirements
Customer’s Viewpoint – the quality of the product is
“fit for use” or meets the customer’s needs
Quality also includes:


identifying the measures and criteria to demonstrate
the achievement of quality
the implementation of a process to ensure that the
product created by the process has achieved the
desired degree of quality, and can be repeated and
managed
Project quality management
... addresses the management of the project and
the product of the project.
... processes in PMBOK:



Planning quality – identifying quality
requirements and/or standards, and documenting
Performing quality assurance – auditing the
quality requirements and the results from quality
control measurements
Performing quality control
Perform quality control
... process of monitoring and recording results of
executing the quality activities to assess
performance and recommend necessary
changes
Quality control is performed throughout the project.
Quality standards include project processes and
product goals.
Quality control activities identify causes of poor
process or product quality and recommend and/or
take action to eliminate them.
Perform Quality Control Tools and Techniques

Cause and effect diagrams

Control charts

Histogram

Pareto chart

Run chart

Scatter diagram

Statistical sampling

Inspection

Approved change requests review
Ishikawa Fishbone (Cause and effect) diagram
Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram
The Fishbone Diagram is a pictorial means of
expression of a list that shows the relationship between
some effect and all the possible causes influencing it
Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram
Service Industries (4S)
There are a few standard
choices for different sectors · Surroundings · Suppliers
(fishbone suggested
· System · Skills
categories):
(+ Safety)
Manufacturing Industries (6M) Administration/ Marketing (8P)
· Machines · Methods
· Product (or service) · Price
· Materials · Measurements
· People · Place · Promotion
· Mother Nature (Environment)
· Procedures · Processes
· Manpower (People)
· Policies
Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram
In any organization problem analyzing tool is
crucial to success. In software quality management
the Fishbone diagram is used for this purpose.
Possible causes are usually classified into six
categories: method, man, management,
measurement, material, machine.
Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram
Method – ways of doing things or the procedures
followed to accomplish a task. A typical cause
under the method category is not following
instructions or the instructions are wrong.
Man – people are responsible for the problem. The
problem may have been caused by people who are
inexperienced.
Management – project management. Poor
management decisions may cause technical
problems.
Measurement – measurement refers to metrics that
are derived from a project. Problems may occur if
measurements are wrong or the measurement
technique used is not relevant.
Material – material basically refers to a physical thing.
Software can't always handle errors caused by bad
material, for instance a bad backup tape, so while
material may be the least likely cause, it is a
possible cause.
Machine – a machine in software usually refers to the
hardware, and there are a lot of possibilities that a
problem can be due to the machine.
Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram
After identifying a problem, the leader initiates a
discussion with the project team to gather
information about the possible causes until
arriving at the root cause.
If possible root cause has been identified the
action plan has to be derived to fix it.
Domino server crash
Conclusion
Ishikawa Diagram is very useful and widely
applicable tool for analyzing and finding the root
cause to a complicated problem.
The results are presented in a pictorial form, that
everyone can understand and see their
contribution to solving the problem.
This method allows also brainstorming in a group
to increase the creativity in team and improve
team spirit.
THANK YOU!