Root Cause Analysis

Suppose you are conducting an internal audit of a hospital. After checking all the registers and overseeing the physical verification of assets and stock, you find a discrepancy in the books of accounts.

In order to locate the underlying problem, you need to delve deeper and conduct a thorough and penetrating investigation of all the vouchers, files, documents, and reports and re-verify the adherence to necessary compliance.

While conducting a Root Cause Analysis, you trace the transaction trail and data entry records and find that a simple error of omission has set off a domino effect, which, in turn, misrepresented the entire books of records.

Now, you, as an internal auditor, can provide a true and fair view of the financial statements, thanks to the RCA techniques that enabled you to identify the mix-up.

That is why RCA is recognized as a part of Total Quality Management (TQM) or any other Quality Management Initiative.

The wind power company Clipper Windpower recovered a million dollars after conducting a Root Cause Analysis that revealed issues with turbine failure in the icy-cold winter climatic conditions.

It redesigned the functioning of the machine, revamped its testing metrics, and adopted new strategies for future development.

R.L. Polk & Co. conducted a Root Cause Analysis to improve customer support by speedy redressing of grievances and issues.

A process improvement team remodelled the architecture to serve the customers better and achieve operational excellence.

Many techniques like the following are used to conduct RCAs and solve problems.

The 5 Why's Technique:

Made popular by Toyota in the 70s, this strategy involves every answer having to deal with a ‘why’ question that, in turn, prompts another ‘why’ question, and it goes on until a solution is found. 

Root Cause Analysis remains to be an integral part of every industry and profession since time immemorial and will continue to be, regardless of the changes that every profession undergoes.

A prospective manager of any operations in any industry should have a trained eye for root cause analysis not only to deliver instant solutions in any area of the workplace but also to understand how things can be improved for the better from as they stand now.

Hence it is a much-desired skill in the armoury of every professional in any field wanting to rise up the ranks of the professional ladder fast.

At the end of the day, what separates a successful professional from the rest is the acute insights they bring to the table which actually pave the way for growth for any organization.

If you want to grow in your field of operations, then RCA is a skill set that will take you a long way.

Root cause analysis uses scientific solutions to resolve real-world problems thus making the incumbent of this very skill an asset to any organization.

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