A SURVEY OF THE STUDY OF FAILURE

摘要

2003 was a year that a number of accidents broke out in Japan. The sudden increate in accidents and troubles had the people wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong with the way they are running the business. These series of accidents and failure brought much attention to the Study of Failure. The Study of Failure was first published in 1996 and gained national attention in 2000, however, its roots are found in the late 70s. This paper is intended to provide background information about the Study of Failure, where it came from what efforts are underway in Japan. Instead of making precise records of what happened, the Study of Failure concentrates on finding the root cause, which often times is organizational rather than individual, provides ways for effectively recording them and analyzing them so other people can receive the maximum benefit from learning about the events. It has no intention of accusing persons who may have caused the events. There are now publicly available databases and privately developed software based on the studies. The government is putting efforts into educating the people about these subjects.