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Unit-2
Seven new management tools
Presented by
N.vigneshwari
Today’s topic
 New seven management tools
Seven New management tools
 Affinity diagram
 Inter-relationship diagram
 Tree diagram
 Matrix diagram
 Matrix data analysis diagram
 Process decision programme chart
 Arrow diagram
1.Affinity diagram
Affinity diagram sometimes referred to as a KJ diagram, after the initials of
the person who created this technique, Jiro Kawakita is a special kind of
tool. Affinity diagram is used to gather large amounts of ideas, opinions or
issues and group those items that group together. So, it is a group-decision
making techinque designed to sort a large number of ideas, process
variables, concepts and opinions into naturally related groups.
Purpose:
The purpose of an affinity diagram is to provide a visual representation of
grouping of a large number of ideas or factors or requirements into logical
sets of related items to help one organise action-plans in a systematic
manner. Due to visual representation, one can easily understand the
problem and its various solutions and impact, which, in turn, help
implement the solutions with a clear understanding. So, it is a method of
bringing together different view points and sorting them out constructively
to increase significantly the chances of gaining insight into problems where
opinions and views vary and there are no easy answers
Application:
It is a creative as well as logical process that enables the team-members to
participate in an issue’s solution rather than simply restating the problem. It
is best done with six to twelve members. Due to its simplicity, it can be
combined with other tools and put into a wide variety of applications. For
example, it can be combined with cause-and-effect diagram or relationsdiagram for a problem or it can be combined with tree-diagram to categorise
possible solutions. It can be used to group the customer requirements with
the product characteristics, which, in turn, helps to design a new product to
satisfy their requirements even more to make them delighted with the use of
the product. It can be used to categories the action-plans and allocate the
responsibility in a rational manner.
How do we use it?
Identify the problem and
phrase it without biases
Brainstorm ideas and
opinions, individually
and record on the cards
Sort cards into groups
and discard those with no
affinity
Label the groups and
organise the cards under
them to form chart
Analyse the results and
plan action-points
2.Inter – relationship diagram
Interrelationship diagraph is a tool for finding causes to a problem. It not
only clarifies the relationship between cause and effect but also between the
various causes. Interrelationship diagraph is a graphical representation of
all the factors in a complicated problem.
Purpose:
The purpose of the interrelationship diagraph is to generate a visual
representation of the relations between an effect and its causes as well as the
interrelationship between the different causes of the problem. In a fairly
tangled situation, it is a powerful means of forcing a group to map out the
interactions between factors and, usually, helps bring out the most important
issues into focus.
Application:
The most common use is in problem-solving to identify multiple interrelated
causes. The output of the tool is a list of root causes for the problem with
some indication of their relative importance. The output has to be
considered as only an indication of the relative importance of the causes.
So, this tool can be used under the following circumstances:
 Identifying key or driver issues from a list of important issues
 Identifying the most important problems for solving when the number of
problems exceeds the resources available to solve all of them
 Identifying the root cause of existing problems
 Identifying key factors needed to make a decision when there is insufficient
information available to make a data-driven decision.
How do we use it?
 Identify and decide the ‘effect’ of the problem. Write it in the centre of a
board and enclose it in a dark bordered rectangle
 Conduct brainstorming to identify the immediate causes of effect. Note
down these causes in rectangle around the centre dark rectangle
 Connect these immediate causes to the effect by connecting the rectangles
of the causes to that of the effect with a line. The line has an arrow pointing
towards the effect.
 The element of the rectangle with the most outgoing arrows will indicate the
root causes. Those one with the most incoming arrows will be key
outcomes or results
3.Tree diagram
Tree diagram is a tool used to generate the ideas for developing a list of
alternative solutions to a problem. A team, when faced with a problem, first
uses a cause-and-effect diagram or interrelationship diagraph to determine
the causes. After identifying the major causes for the problem, it collects
data to confirm the causes that contribute most towards the problem. This
information helps the team generate ideas for solving the problem. Tree
diagram is a tool, which helps the team to do so, effectively. As we know,
for inner-relationship diagraph, one starts with the problem and develops a
list of alternatives causes for the problem. For creating tree diagram, one
has to start with the solution or the desired outcomes and develop a list of
means to achieve the set objectives.
Purpose:
The purpose of the tree diagram is to explore the ways and means to achieve
an objective, develop a list of alternate means to reach the desired situation
in a sequential order and to present them in visual understandable form. In
this way, tree diagram helps to generate a logical set of proposals at a
number of levels, which turn a general problem into a set of possible
actions.
Application:
Tree diagram is very useful when there are a number of options in response
to a particular problem and one need to see what they all imply and involve.
It helps one to develop a systematic, step-by-step, strategy to achieve an
objective. It is also useful in monitoring the implementation of solutions by
taking care of accomplishment of means at different levels.
How do we construct it?
State the problem to be
studied
Brainstorm all possible causes
or
Methods of addressing the
problem
Identify and list the primary,
secondary and teritary
means from brainstorm
Arrange and rearrange the
elements in proper order in
boxes
4. Matrix diagram
A matrix diagram is a tool that is used to systematically organise information
that must be compared on a variety of characteristics in order to make a
comparison, selection or choice. It is a tool which depicts the relations
between two sets of factors in the form of a table or a matrix. Matrix
diagram is, sometimes, referred to as a ‘quality table, and is the starting
point in building a ‘house of quality’.
Purpose:
The purpose of a matrix diagram is to explore the existence and the extent
of relations between individual items in two sets of factors or features or
characteristics and express them in a symbolic form that is easy to
understand. The tool is most frequently used to understand the relations
between customer expectations, as expressed by the customers and product
characteristics, as designed and tested by manufacturer. So, this is a method
of selecting important issues from a number of perspectives as a
multidimensional approach to analysis.
Application:
Matrix diagram, being a simple table showing relations between individual
items in two sets of factors, can be put in wide variety of uses. The
symbolic representation of the relationship makes the diagram much easier
to understand as compared to a table with a lot of figures. Matrix diagram
can be used to solve problems by arranging data in such a way that the
relations between relevant factors are brought into sharp focus. It can be
used to understand relations between customer satisfaction and product
characteristics, between complaints and product groups, and between
complaints and geographical regions, between a product’s performance in
the market and promotional inputs into it and so on. It can often be used in
production, to show, how a range of factors bears on a range of problems.
Matrix diagrams also have a place in quality improvement and process
design. These can be used to make comparisons between competing
alternatives that involve multiple characteristics. However, matrix diagram
is used as a working tool, not as an absolute measure.
How do we use it?
 First decide on the two sets of factors to be compared
 Place the main factors (say, features) vertically on the left hand side of the
matrix and the dependent factors (say, characteristics) horizontally on top of
the matrix
 In the main body of the matrix, place appropriate symbols at the intersecting
square boxes denoting the relationship between the two factors
 Now score relationships and select most important relationship for analysis
5.Matrix data analysis
Matrix data analysis is the only tool among the ‘new seven’ which uses
numerical data and produces numerical results. It is, somewhat, similar to a
matrix diagram with a difference that numerical data is used instead of
symbols indicating the existence and strength of relationship. With
numerical data replacing the symbols, matrix data analysis is now really a
table and some people prefer to call the tool as matrix data analysis method.
Purpose:
The purpose of matrix data analysis diagram is to present numerical data
about two sets of factors in a matrix form and analyze it to get numerical
output. The factors, most often, are products and product characteristics.
The purpose then is to analyse the data on several characteristics for a
number of products and use the information to arrive at optimum values for
the charactersitics for a new product or to decide the strong points of a
product and use the information, say, for designing copy for the production
of the product.
Application:
The most common application of a matrix data analysis diagram is to decide
the desired product characteristics of a new product, based on the analysis
of product characteristics of similar products in the market and the intended
positioning of the new product. For instance, the characteristics of a toilet
soap for customers with normal skin would be, somewhere in between those
for a soap for dry skin and soap for oily skin. By collecting data on the
product characteristics of related products and placing them in a matrix data
analysis diagram, one can decide the desired characteristics of the proposed
product depending on the target group of customers for the new product.
Analysis of data can also be used to identify the strongest characteristics of
an existing product to decide its promotional inputs and to study the causes
of customer complaints. It can also be used to determine process
parameters to achieve the desired product characteristics. The tool can be
very useful in compiling data obtained on the analysis of competitive
products with a view to develop a product better than that of competitors or
to devise a marketing strategy for the product based on its strength.
How do we construct it?
Decide the two factors whose
relations are to be analysed
Check the number of
individual items in the two
factors
Prepare a matrix to
accommodate all items of the
two factors
Enter numerical data in the
matrix
Analyse the final results
6. Process decision programme
chart(PDPC)
Process decision programme chart is to map out conceivable and likely
events and contingencies that can occur in any implementation plan along
with appropriate and reasonable counter-measures. It is a planning tool. It
forces proactive thinking on what can go wrong with one’s plan and what
would one do to overcome the effect of such adverse occurrences. The tools
helps to anticipate undesirable occurrences and enables one to prepare with
plants to neutralise their effect. It encourages negative thinking with a view
to plan for achieving one’s goals inspite of obstacles in one’s path. Instead
of thinking positively like, ‘do not worry; everything will be fine’ and being
surprised and shocked when something goes wrong, the tool encourages
thinking of the worst than can happen and prepares one for it.
The failure of individuals to distinguish between ‘highly improbable’ and
‘impossible events’ surprises and shocks people who are not prepared for
these type of outcomes. So, the time and efforts spent in finding out the
possibilities of adverse occurrences is an investment, similar to an insurance
premium. With increasing life expectancy, the probability of a healthy
young man dying in his forties or fifties has been considerably reduced.
Still, one invests life insurance policies to provide for one’s family in the
unlikely event of an untimely death due to accident or sudden illness.
Purpose:
The purpose of process decision programme chart (PDPC) is to prepare
for abnormal occurrences with low probability which may, otherwise,
be overlooked and to present the occurrences as well as the necessary
counter-measures to guard against such occurrences in the form of
visual chart. The tool forces one to think of the possible obstacles in
the smooth progress of a process or a project and then to find ways and
means to surmount those obstacles to ensure successful and timely
completion of the process or the project. Thus; this tool helps one to
prepare a contingency plan to achieve the objective, it adverse events
occur.
How do we construct it?
 First, prepare a ‘normal’ flow chart of the process with all expected events




as steps in the chart
Identify the various possibilities of the process not going as per the plan due
to any abnormal occurrences
Write these occurrences on the flow chart through branching at appropriate
locations
Now identify the ways and means to counter the effect due to abnormal
occurrences
Writes these counter-measures in rectangles connecting the corresponding
abnormal occurrence on one side and the process objective on the other.
7.Arrow diagram
An arrow diagram is a simplified kind of critical path analysis, especially
developed for scheduling activities-particularly assembly operations. It is
another term for a PERT or CPM chart. It is a graphic description of the
sequential steps that must be completed before a project can be completed.
It is essentially a planning tool that determines the critical path of a project
or a process. Arrow diagram is a flow chart of the process or the project
with few differences. In an arrow diagram, ‘event nodes’ are stages which
denote the completion of a step or a number of steps. The line connecting
the event-nodes represent the step in the process. The time at each
individual step is used to calculate the time by which it must be
accomplished, at latest, to complete the process in time. It can also be used
for assembly-operations.
Purpose:
The main purpose of the arrow diagram is to show the paths to complete a
project, find the shortest time possible for the project and graphically
display simultaneous activities. By the use of it, becomes easy to follow
map of every activity in the cycle and schedule activities to meet the target
cycle times.
Applications:
Arrow diagram is used under the following conditions:
1.Understanding and managing a complex project or task which is of major
importance to the organisation and the consequences of late completion are
severe
2.Understanding and managing a project in which multiple activities must
take place and be managed, simultaneously, in a networked manner.
3.Scheduling, execution, expediting and explaining the project status to others.
How do we construct it?
Identify and list each activity to
be done in the project
Determine the sequence of
activities
Construct a network reflecting
the precedence relationships
Write the activity time under
arrow leading from it
References
Total quality management – S.Rajaram
M.Sivakumar
Total quality management – V.Jayakumar
Thank you