Fishbone Diagram

Fishbone Diagrams solution extends ConceptDraw PRO software with templates, samples and library of vector stencils for drawing the Ishikawa diagrams for cause and effect analysis.

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How to Draw a Fishbone Diagram with ConceptDraw PRO

Fishbone (Ishikawa) Diagram is often used in business to determine the cause of some problem. A Fishbone diagram is also called cause-and-effect diagram.The main goal of the Fishbone diagram is to illustrate in a graphical way the relationship between a given outcome and all the factors that influence this outcome. The complete diagram resembles a fish skeleton as its name implies. Cause and Effect analysis is used in management to identify the possible causes of a problem in order to eliminate them. The ability to create a Fishbone Diagram is supported by the Fishbone Diagram solution.

Fishbone Diagrams

The Fishbone Diagrams solution extends ConceptDraw PRO v10 software with the ability to easily draw the Fishbone Diagrams (Ishikawa Diagrams) to clearly see the cause and effect analysis and also problem solving. The vector graphic diagrams produced using this solution can be used in whitepapers, presentations, datasheets, posters, and published technical material.

Fishbone diagram - Inability to meet project deadlines

This example was created on the base of the figure from the website of the Iowa State University Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.
"Fishbone.
What: The fishbone technique uses a visual organizer to identify the possible causes of a problem.
Benefits: This technique discourages partial or premature solutions and demonstrates the relative importance of, and interactions between, different parts of a problem.
How: On a broad sheet of paper, draw a long arrow horizontally across the middle of the page pointing to the right. Label the arrowhead with the title of the issue to be explained. This is the "backbone" of the "fish." Draw "spurs" from this "backbone" at about 45 degrees, one for every likely cause of the problem that the group can think of; and label each. Sub-spurs can represent subsidiary causes. The group considers each spur/ sub-spur, taking the simplest first, partly for clarity but also because a simple explanation may make more complex ones unnecessary. Ideally, the fishbone is redrawn so that position along the backbone reflects the relative importance of the different parts of the problem, with the most important at the head." [celt.iastate.edu/ creativity/ techniques.html]
The fishbone diagram example "Inability to meet project deadlines" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Fishbone Diagrams solution from the Management area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

Ishikawa diagram

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Fishbone Diagrams

Fishbone diagram - Bad coffee

This cause and effect diagram sample was redesigned from the Wikimedia Commons file: Fishbone BadCoffeeExample.jpg. [commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/ File:Fishbone_ BadCoffeeExample.jpg]
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. [creativecommons.org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3.0/ deed.en]
The fishbone diagram example "Bad coffee" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Fishbone Diagrams solution from the Management area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

Fishbone diagram