QUALITATIVE PROCESS

ANALYSIS

Lesson 7
 QUALITATIVE PROCESS ANALYSIS

• There is not a single way of producing a good

process analysis.
• Identification of unnecessary parts of the
process and their elimination.
• Analyze weak parts of the process, that create
issues/impact negatively.
VALUE-ADDED ANALYSIS
 VALUE ADDED ANALYSIS

• Value added analysis consists of two

stages
• 1. Value classification
• 2. Waste elimination
 VALUE CLASSIFICATION

• Value-added analysis
Technique for identifying unnecessary
steps in a process, and eliminating them.
o Step
Part of task, or handover between
tasks.
 VALUE CLASSIFICATION

• Value Classification:
o Decompose tasks into steps
When no checklists are available,
the process analyst needs to conduct
interviews to decompose those steps
from the task.
 VALUE CLASSIFICATION

• Value Classification:
o Identify the customer of the
process, and what positive outcomes the
customer seeks.
 VALUE CLASSIFICATION

• Value Classification:
o Analyze each step in terms of the value it adds.
 (VA) Value-adding steps
Directly contribute to positive outcomes of
the process.
ex. Repairing a dryer.
 VALUE CLASSIFICATION

• Value Classification:
o Analyze each step in terms of the value it
adds.
 (BVA) Business value-adding steps
Steps that are necessary or useful for the
company that performs the process.
ex. Recording defect in a information system.
 VALUE CLASSIFICATION

• Value Classification:
o Analyze each step in terms of the
value it adds.
 (NVA) Non-value adding
The step is none of the above.
 VALUE CLASSIFICATION

• Result:
o Classification of steps in the
equipment rental process.
oNot everything is displayed.
 VALUE CLASSIFICATION

Step Performer Classification

Fill request Site Engineer VA

Send request
Site engineer NVA
to clerk

<> <> <>

Open and examine
Works engineer BVA
request
 WASTE ELIMINATION

• Strive to minimize/eliminate the NVA steps.

o Some steps can be eliminated via automation.
o Some steps can be eliminated by reducing the
control steps.
 Weighted against possible consequences.
 WASTE ELIMINATION

• Before eliminating BVA steps, these

steps should be mapped to business
goals and requirements .
o ex. Regulations.
 WASTE ELIMINATION

• "What is the minimum amount of work

required in order to perform the process
to the satisfaction of the customer, while
fulfilling the goals and requirements
associated with the BVA steps in the
process?"
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Even a good process can be made

better.
Always errors, misunderstandings,
incidents, unnecessary steps, and other
forms of waste.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Process analyst`s job: identify and

document the issues that plague a
process.
oDifferent stakeholders have different
issues created from their perspectives.
oSame issue can be raised by different
stakeholders.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Root cause analysis

Family of techniques to identify and
understand root cause(s) of problems or
undesirable events.
CAUSE-EFFECT DIAGRAMS
(FISHBONE DIAGRAM)
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Relationship between a given negative

effect and its causes.
o Negative effect
Recurrent issue or undesirable level
of process performance.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

o Causes can be divided in:

 Casual factors
When corrected, eliminated or avoided would
prevent the issue from occurring in the future.
 Contributing factors
Set the stage for/increase the chances of a
given issue occurring.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Factors are grouped into categories

o Useful in order to guide the search for
causes.
o Well known categorization for cause-
effect analysis, 6M:
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Machine
 Factors: Technology used.
 ex. Software failures, network failures,
system crashes
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Machine
 Possible sub-categories:
Lack of functionality
Redundant storage across systems
Low performance of IT/network systems
Poor user interface design
Lack of integration between multiple systems
(internal or external)
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Method
 Factors: The way a process is defined,
understood or performed.
 ex. Employee A thinks employee B will
send an email to the customer but
employee B is not aware of this.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Method
 Possible sub-categories:
Unclear, unsuitable or inconsistent
assignment of responsibilities to process
participants.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Method
 Possible sub-categories:
Lack of empowerment of process
participants.
Process participants cannot make
decisions without asking permission
from the people above them.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Method
 Possible sub-categories:
Lack of timely communication.
Between process participants,
or them and the customer.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Material
 Factors: Raw materials, consumables,
or data required as input.
 ex. Incorrect data leads to incorrect
decisions.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Material
 Possible sub-categories:
Raw materials
Consumables
Data
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Man
 Factors: Wrong assessment, incorrect
performed step.
 ex. Accepting the claim even though
the data and rules suggest it needs to be
denied.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Man
 Possible sub-categories:
Lack of training and clear instructions.
Lack of an incentive system to motivate.
Expecting too much from process
participants.
Inadequate recruitment.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Measurement
 Factors: Measurements or calculations
made during the process.
 ex. Amount to be paid to the
customer is miscalculated.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Milieu
 Factors: Environment in which the process
is executed.
 Factors which are outside the control of the
company.
 ex. Faulty data from a police report which is
used to handle car insurance claims.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Milieu
 Possible sub-categories:
Originating Actor
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

o Alternative, 4P (Policies, Procedures,

People, Plant/equipment).
o 6M/4P meant as guidelines for
brainstorming during root cause analysis.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Cause-effect diagram (Fishbone diagram)

o Consists of:
 Trunk - Main horizontal line (ex. Big blue
arrow)
 Effect that is being analyzed in a box
connected to the trunk. (ex. Issue)
 Main branch - Arrows from the box with one of
the 6M`s to the trunk.
 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS

• Cause-effect diagram (Fishbone diagram)

o Consists of:
 Primary Factors
Have a direct impact on the issue at hand.
 Secondary Factors
Have an impact on the primary factors.
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
WHY-WHY DIAGRAMS (TREE
DIAGRAMS)
 WHY-WHY DIAGRAMS (TREE
DIAGRAMS)

• Capture series of cause-to-effect relations that

lead to a given effect.
• Recursively ask the question: "Why has
something happened??"
o Asking it 5 times allows to pin down the root
cause of a given negative effect.
• Structuring brainstorm sessions.
ISSUE DOCUMENTATION AND
IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Understand impact of the issues.

Techniques for impact assessment
 ISSUE REGISTER

• Provides a more detailed analysis of individual

issues and their impact.
o Determine how and to what extend each issue
is impacting on the performance of the process.
o Quantitatively = Time/money lost.
o Qualitatively = Perceived nuisance (hinder) to
the customer or risks that the issue entails.
 ISSUE REGISTER

• Fields:
o Name of the issue
Short, 2-5 words, understandable by all.
o Description
Short, 1-3 sentences, focused on the issue itself.
o Priority
A number, stating the relevance relative to other
issues.
 ISSUE REGISTER

o Assumptions (input data)

Any data used or assumptions mad in the estimation of
the impact of the issue.
ex. Number of times a given negative outcome occurs.
ex. Estimated loss per occurrence of a negative outcome.
Over time these assumptions/estimates will be replaced
with more reliable numbers.
 ISSUE REGISTER

o Qualitative impact
Description of the impact in qualitative
terms.
ex. Impact of the issue on
customer/employee
satisfaction, long term supplier
relationships, company reputation.
 ISSUE REGISTER

o Quantitative impact
Estimate of the impact of the issue
in
quantitative terms.
ex. Time loss, revenue loss,
avoidable costs.
 ISSUE REGISTER

• Evt. extra possible resolution field in the

view of process redesign..
PARETO ANALYSIS
 PARETO ANALYSIS

• Impact assessment input for Pareto

analysis.
• Pareto Analysis
Identify which issues or which
causal factors of an issue should be given
priority.
 PARETO ANALYSIS

o PRINCIPLE:
Small number of factors are
responsible for the largest share of a
given effect.
 80-20 principle ( 20% of the issues
is responsible for 80% of the effect )
 PARETO ANALYSIS

o APPROACH:
Define the effect to be analyzed and the measure via
which this effect will be quantified.
 ex. Financial loss for customer/business.
 ex. Time loss by the customer/process participants.
 ex. Number of occurrences of a negative outcome,
such as number of unsatisfied customers due to
errors made when handling their case.
 PARETO ANALYSIS

o APPROACH:
 Identify all relevant issues that contribute to the
effect to be analyzed.
 Quantify each issue according to the chosen
measure.
 Quantitative impact column in the issue register
can be used.
 PARETO ANALYSIS

o APPROACH:
 Identify all relevant issues that contribute to the
effect to be analyzed.
 Quantify each issue according to the chosen
measure.
Quantitative impact column in the issue
register
can be used.
 PARETO ANALYSIS

o APPROACH:
 Sort the issues according to the chosen
measure (from highest to lowest impact) and
draw a so-called Pareto chart. a. A bar chart
where each bar corresponds to an issue and the
height of the bar is proportional to the impact of
the issue or factor. b. A curve that plots the
cumulative percentage impact of the issues.
PICK CHART
 PARETO ANALYSIS

• Complement Pareto analysis.

• Each issue appears as a point.
• Horizontal axis = difficulty of
addressing/fixing the issue
• Vertical axis = payoff when the issue is
fixed
 PARETO ANALYSIS

• Split into 4 quadrants:

o Possible (bottom left, low payoff, easy to do)
o Implement (top left, high payoff, easy to do)
o Challenge (top right, high payoff, hard to do)
o Kill (bottom right, low payoff, hard to do)