Ishikawa diagram

English

WOTD – 17 February 2009

An Ishikawa diagram

Etymology

Named after Kaoru Ishikawa, who first developed such diagrams as a management tool.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɪ.ʃɪˈkɑ.wɑ ˈdaɪ.ə.ɡɹæm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɪ.ʃiˈkɑ.wɑ ˈdaɪ.ə.ɡɹæm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

Ishikawa diagram (plural Ishikawa diagrams)

1. A diagram used in quality management to display a detailed list of causes and effects of a problem and thus to decipher the root cause of a problem.
   • 2000, Donald E. Lighter, Douglas C. Fair, Principles and Methods of Quality Management in Health Care, page 59:

     The procedure for constructing an Ishikawa diagram relies on brainstorming for stimulating the QI team to think of reasons for the problem.

   • 2001, Judy Hankins, Infusion Therapy in Clinical Practice, page 42:

     The Ishikawa diagram is used extensively in what is termed root cause analysis, meaning the development of hypotheses of why an event occurred.

Synonyms

• fishbone diagram

Translations

display of causes and effects

• Czech: diagram rybí kosti m
• Finnish: kalanruotokaavio
• Galician: diagrama en espiña
• Russian: диагра́мма причинно-следственных связей f (diagrámma pričinno-sledstvennyx svjazej)
• Swedish: fiskbensdiagram n, Ishikawadiagram n, orsak-verkan-diagram n

References

• Summers, donna C.S. (2005) Quality management-creating and sustaining Organizational Effectiveness. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Person/prentice hall.