Seven Management and Planning Tools 1

Seven Management and Planning ToolsThe Seven Management and Planning Tools have their roots in Operations Research work done after World WarII and the Japanese Total Quality Control (TQC) research. In 1979 the book Seven New Quality Tools for Managersand Staff was published and in 1983 was translated into English.The seven tools include:1. Affinity Diagram (KJ Method)2. Interrelationship Diagraph (ID)3. Tree Diagram4. Prioritization Matrix5. Matrix Diagram6. Process Decision Program Chart (PDPC)7. Activity Network Diagram

The seven tools

Affinity Diagram

This tool takes large amounts of disorganized data and information and enables one toorganize it into groupings based on natural relationships. It was created in the 1960s byJapanese anthropologist Jiro Kawakita. Its also known as KJ diagram,after JiroKawakita. Affinity diagram is a special kind of brainstorming tool.

Interrelationship Diagraph

This tool displays all the interrelated cause-and-effect relationships and factorsinvolved in a complex problem and describes desired outcomes. The process ofcreating an interrelationship diagraph helps a group analyze the natural links betweendifferent aspects of a complex situation.

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Tree Diagram

This tool is used to break down broad categories into finer and finer levels of detail. Itcan map levels of details of tasks that are required to accomplish a goal or task. It canbe used to break down broad general subjects into finer and finer levels of detail.Developing the tree diagram helps one move their thinking from generalities tospecifics.

Prioritization Matrix

This tool is used to prioritize items and describe them in terms of weighted criteria. Ituses a combination of tree and matrix diagramming techniques to do a pair-wiseevaluation of items and to narrow down options to the most desired or most effective.

Matrix Diagram

This tool shows the relationship between items. At each intersection a relationship iseither absent or present. It then gives information about the relationship, such as itsstrength, the roles played by various individuals or measurements. Six differentlyshaped matrices are possible: L, T, Y, X, C, R and roof-shaped, depending on howmany groups must be compared.

Process Decision Program Chart (PDPC)

A useful way of planning is to break down tasks into a hierarchy, using a TreeDiagram. The PDPC extends the tree diagram a couple of levels to identify risks andcountermeasures for the bottom level tasks. Different shaped boxes are used tohighlight risks and identify possible countermeasures (often shown as 'clouds' toindicate their uncertain nature). The PDPC is similar to the Failure Modes and EffectsAnalysis (FMEA) in that both identify risks, consequences of failure, and contingencyactions; the FMEA also rates relative risk levels for each potential failure point.

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Activity Network Diagram

This tool is used to plan the appropriate sequence or schedule for a set of tasks andrelated subtasks. It is used when subtasks must occur in parallel. The diagram enablesone to determine the critical path (longest sequence of tasks). (See also PERTdiagram.)

Further reading

• Brassard, M. (1996) The Memory Jogger Plus+. ISBN 1-879364-83-2.• Seven New Management and Planning Tools [1]

External links• American Society for Quality [2] - official Web site• The 'New' Tools [3] from Vanderbilt University• A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods for Management [4]

• Visualization Methods Exploration [5]

References[1] http:/ / www. asq. org/ learn-about-quality/ new-management-planning-tools/ overview/ overview. html[2] http:/ / www. asq. org/ index. html[3] http:/ / www. vanderbilt. edu/ Engineering/ CIS/ Sloan/ web/ es130/ quality/ newtool. htm[4] http:/ / www. visual-literacy. org/ periodic_table/ periodic_table. html[5] http:/ / www. cems. uwe. ac. uk/ xmldb/ rest/ db/ Visualization/ index. xql

Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsSeven Management and Planning Tools  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=404870845  Contributors: Bloo, Booksworm, Closedmouth, Craigwb, CultureDrone,DanielPenfield, FCYTravis, Goalqpc, Jdtoellner, Ketiltrout, Lars.pijnappel, Ling.Nut, Manquer, Mdd, Oguzhan.cerrah, Stephenb, Wtarpley, 13 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:AffinitySmall.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AffinitySmall.gif  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Original uploader was Jdtoellner aten.wikipediaImage:InterrelationshipSmall.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:InterrelationshipSmall.gif  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Original uploaderwas Jdtoellner at en.wikipediaImage:TreeDiagramSmall.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:TreeDiagramSmall.gif  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Original uploader wasJdtoellner at en.wikipediaImage:MatrixSmall.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:MatrixSmall.gif  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Original uploader was Jdtoellner aten.wikipediaImage:ProcessDecisionSmall.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ProcessDecisionSmall.gif  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Original uploaderwas Jdtoellner at en.wikipediaImage:ActivityNetworkSmall.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ActivityNetworkSmall.gif  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Original uploaderwas Jdtoellner at en.wikipedia

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