The Fishbone Diagram

The Fishbone Diagram

Introduction

One of the most effective tools utilized in problem solving is the Fishbone diagram. Created by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, the diagram focuses on identifying, organizing, and visualizing the cause and effect relationships among selective criteria. It is also utilized to organize part to whole information. The practicality and simplicity of the figure is the outline in the shape of a fish skeleton. The illustration below best establishes how the fishbone or Ishikawa diagram is utilized. It displays the fish's head as the effect or outcome of the criterion, and the fish's ribs are identified as causes. Under each rib, there are branches in horizontal lines which state examples in that subject. To further the complexity, another stage can be added to the sub-branches within the examples. In order to understand the significance of the Ishikawa diagram, the history, benefits, and an application need to be discussed to portray the true brilliance of this problem solving technique (Lary & Wandersee 2010).

Illustration of the Fishbone Diagram

Discussion

History of the Fish Bone Creation

In the early 1900s, a Japanese, engineering professor wanted to implement a change in the mindset of people's perceptions regarding work. This man was the famous creator of the Fishbone diagram, Kaoru Ishikawa. He insisted several managers to try to be creative and flexible instead of limited to the content in the quality of the product. His ideal was that the quality process never ceases to exist and that an individual can always find a way to go further than before. Ishikawa's idea was to go beyond the control of quality in a company but rather provide continuance in the relationship with customers. This was interpreted that service would be provided to the customer even after the purchase of a product. That is where he developed the specific notion that, “quality improvement is a continuous process, and it can always be taken one step further” (Skymark 2010).

After his initiation of continuous quality management, Ishikawa created his cause and effect diagram in 1943. Also called the Fishbone or Ishikawa diagram, the technique was utilized to help managers to invent customized developments on the improvement of quality. The fish figure allowed the individual to evaluate all the causes of a determined result and to find the imperfections in the process. By highlighting inefficiencies at the base level, the illustration followed the concept of providing quality from the bottom up. Even today, the Fishbone technique is being utilized in various fields including classrooms, organizations, IT, and even medicine (Skymark 2010).

Benefits

The crucial aspect and utilization of the Fishbone diagram are the benefits it applies to whoever using it. The benefits are vital for the individual or company using the illustration and assist in creating decisions, modifying systems, and evaluating problems. It is crucial to understand and evaluate some of the benefits provided by the Ishikawa diagram.

Visual Representation of a Dilemma and its Potential Causes

Ishikawa was aware of the issues surrounding quality and how difficult it is to comprehend each symptom of ...