Internal / External
Diagnose a performance decline by separating internal and external causes. Compare evidence, rule out weak explanations and focus the next question.
- Internal: in our control
- Our price and product
- Our operations and people
- External: outside it
- Customers and demand
- Competitors
- Regulation and the economy
Watch out: Ask 'only us, or the whole industry?' to know which side to open.
On a case
An airline's on-time rate dropped from 85% to 70%.
- Internal
- Aircraft turnaround time
- Crew scheduling
- External
- Airport congestion
- Winter fog in the north
Illustrative case. Figures and conditions below are assumptions for practice, not market data.
Compare the airline's on-time rate with other carriers on the same routes and dates. Assume peers remain at 85 percent while the client falls to 70 percent, including on routes without fog. A market-wide weather explanation alone cannot explain the client-specific gap.
Next compare aircraft turnaround time, crew availability and first-flight versus later-flight delays. If the first departures are on time but later flights deteriorate, investigate how delays accumulate through the operating day.
Do not declare weather irrelevant: the client may have a different airport or route mix. Match the comparison, request ground-handling and scheduling evidence, then test a targeted operational change. An internal/external split narrows questions; it does not establish causation by itself.
Sources and further reading
- ASQ: root cause analysis
Introduces evidence-led investigation of causes rather than treatment of symptoms.