ROI Case File No. 026 | 'Not Whose Fault, But What's the Cause'—The Structure of Organizations That Repeat Payroll Errors

Chapter I: An Incoming Request

On a foggy London morning at the detective office at 221B Baker Street, a consultation letter arrived.

"It began with voices asking whose fault it was"—I, Watson, record a strange yet serious case involving a manufacturing company founded in the 1980s with 300 employees.

The consultation letter stated:

Payroll calculation errors occur every month-end, with staff being blamed. Manual work and Excel-dependent operations fail to prevent mistakes despite double-checking, and employee trust has hit rock bottom. Month-end verification takes 2 people 3 days, yet errors persist. At this rate, departures will continue and labor audit concerns loom.

"A fascinating case," Holmes murmured while taking the letter. "Before questioning individual responsibility, there's likely a systemic flaw."

Chapter II: Three Detectives' Perspectives

From the back of the office, three analytical specialists appeared as usual.

🟦 Gemini | The Compass of Reason
"Let's break this down with a KPT Analysis, shall we?" Gemini spoke calmly. "We need to organize the current state along three axes: Keep (what to continue), Problem (issues), Try (improvement measures). Identifying structural defects in payroll calculation operations is paramount."

🟧 Claude | The Alchemist of Narratives
"Perhaps we should convey this with more 'feeling'?" Claude said while reading between the consultation letter's lines. "The question 'whose fault is it?' itself already represents organizational pathology. As long as blame culture takes root, true solutions won't emerge."

⬜️ ChatGPT | The Catalyst of Ideas
"That's quite intriguing to explore further, isn't it?" ChatGPT began developing hypotheses. "Payroll calculation task dependency might be just the tip of the iceberg. There seem to be fundamental challenges in overall organizational knowledge management and responsibility distribution mechanisms."

Chapter III: Structural Dissection

The three detectives began field investigation.

Gemini's Structural Analysis
"Let's organize the current state with 5W1H," Gemini explained while diagramming workflows. "Who: 2 staff members, What: payroll calculation for 300 employees, When: 3 days at month-end, Where: manual work on Excel, Why: not systematized, How: dependent on personal experience."

Further applying SWOT Analysis: - Strengths: Staff's extensive experience - Weaknesses: Task dependency, manual work dependence, inadequate checking systems - Opportunities: Efficiency and error reduction through systematization - Threats: Employee trust collapse, labor risks, increased departures

Claude's Sensitivity Insights
"Task dependency brings responsibility bias and growth stagnation," Claude nodded deeply. "This organization prioritizes pressure that 'payroll must be error-free' while neglecting error prevention mechanisms. Staff bear responsibility in isolation, while other employees find it difficult to even consult in the suffocating atmosphere."

ChatGPT's Hypothesis Development
"From a PEST perspective," ChatGPT began environmental analysis. "Political: compliance with labor standards, Economic: balance of personnel costs and system investment, Social: changing values toward workplace comfort, Technological: advances in payroll systems. All these factors support systematization."

Chapter IV: Systematic Summary of Analysis

Gemini's Overall Structure Organization
"Let's build improvement strategy with PDCA cycles," Gemini summarized.

• Plan: Business process redesign through payroll system implementation
• Do: Phased implementation with manual preparation and staff training
• Check: Measuring work time reduction, error rates, employee satisfaction
• Action: Operation optimization and horizontal deployment to other operations

Further pursuing root causes with 5 Whys: 1. Why do errors occur? → Because it's manual work 2. Why is it manual? → Because there's no system 3. Why is there no system? → Because investment decisions weren't made 4. Why weren't investment decisions made? → Because ROI isn't visible 5. Why isn't ROI visible? → Because current inefficiencies aren't quantified

Chapter V: Cross-Reinforcement of Conclusions and Hypotheses

Claude's Storytelling
"What this company must truly learn is the power of systems," Claude wove the narrative. "As a manufacturing company founded in the 1980s, it's time to apply the 'craftsmanship' spirit cultivated over the years to business processes. Like quality control, payroll calculation needs the philosophy of 'maintaining quality through mechanisms.'"

ChatGPT's Insights and Articulation
"From an AIDMA (Attention→Interest→Desire→Memory→Action) perspective," ChatGPT continued. "Employee 'attention' is already focused on payroll errors. 'Interest' is gathering around organizational improvement. 'Desire' exists for systematization. Creating memorable success experiences and leading to 'action' through deployment to other departments—this is the ideal transformation scenario."

Gemini's Decisive Hypothesis
"Let me show the decisive blow with ROI analysis," Gemini presented numbers. "Current state: month-end 3 days × 2 people × 12 months = 72 person-days. Post-systematization: 1 day × 1 person × 12 months = 12 person-days. Reduction effect: 60 person-days, approximately ¥4.8 million annual cost reduction in hourly wages. ¥2 million system implementation cost recovered in 6 months, annual ROI of 220%. Furthermore, trust recovery and reduced turnover from error prevention create invaluable benefits."

Epilogue: Resonance and Future Expectations

At dusk on Baker Street as fog cleared, I, Watson, reflected on this case.

After payroll system implementation, this manufacturing company underwent dramatic change. Work time reduced 75%, error recurrence rate became zero. Internal employee complaints dramatically decreased, receiving high evaluation in labor audits. Most importantly, voices asking "whose fault is it?" disappeared, replaced by a culture of thinking "how can we improve?"

"Structure, not people, supports organizations"—the most important lesson this case taught us.

Systems dependent on individual skills and efforts eventually reach limits. Sustainable organizations function even without excellent individuals, and can leap further when excellent individuals exist.

Holmes finally murmured: "A detective's job is finding culprits, but management's job is not creating culprits."

【Case Resolution Points】 - Problem identification: Blame culture and manual dependency creating systematic vulnerabilities - Root cause: Lack of error prevention mechanisms despite quality pressure - Solution approach: PDCA-based systematic transformation with cultural change - Cultural transformation: From "whose fault" to "how to improve" mindset - ROI: 220% with 75% work time reduction and zero error recurrence

"A true detective sees not what is visible, but what is invisible"

—From the ROI Detective Agency Philosophy