Multiple choice (all correct options required) · #209
A company keeps receiving customer complaints about late deliveries. An investigation found that the warehouse indeed did not ship on time; further investigation revealed that the warehouse did not receive a complete order; the sales, finance, and warehouse departments each used different forms, and after order changes there was no unified update. Which of the following judgments are correct?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: ACD
- AThe surface cause is that the warehouse did not ship on time.✓ Correct. This is the first and most direct phenomenon, a surface cause, but one should not stop here.
- BThe root cause is insufficient sense of responsibility among warehouse staff.✗ Incorrect. This is a vague label that cannot be specifically observed or tested, nor does it guide action; what can actually be changed is the information-updating mechanism.
- CAn intermediate cause is that the warehouse did not receive the complete order.✓ Correct. It is the link between the surface cause and the root cause, explaining why the warehouse could not ship on time.
- DThe changeable mechanism is the cross-departmental order-information transmission rules.✓ Correct. Different forms and lack of unified updates after changes constitute a mechanism that can be changed by designing rules, belonging to the root-cause level.
Explanation:This question tests distinguishing surface causes, intermediate causes, and root causes. The warehouse not shipping is a surface phenomenon; the warehouse not receiving the complete order is an intermediate link; and the lack of a unified mechanism for cross-departmental information transmission is the root cause that repeatedly leads to the problem. Attributing the cause to 'insufficient sense of responsibility' is a vague attribution that is neither testable nor indicates what to change.