Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Root cause analysis (RCA) is a problem-solving method which is used to pinpoint the exact cause of a problem or event. The root cause is the actual cause of a specific problem or set of problems, and when that cause is removed, it prevents the final undesirable effect from occurring. RCA is a reactive method, as opposed to preventive, since it will be employed only after a problem has occurred in order to find its cause and prevent it from happening again.