Improving Business Process Performance

The managerial practices that successfully drove industry for decades have become insufficient to support the rapidly changing business landscape. Companies around the world are being challenged to improve performance, reshape operations, and adapt swiftly to new opportunities. With an abundance of improvement methodologies and frame

Baffled by repeated mistakes in your department? Want to focus your employees' limited time on more valuable work? The answer to these challenges and more is business process improvement (BPI). Every process in every organization can be made more effective, cost-efficient, and adaptable to changing business needs. The good news is you don't need to be a BPM expert to get great results. Written by an experienced process analyst, this how-to guide presents a simple, bottom-line approach to process improvement work. With its proven 10-step method you can: Identify and prioritize the processes that need fixing * Eliminate duplication and bureaucracy * Control costs * Establish internal controls to reduce human error * Test and rework the process before introducing it * Implement the changes Now in its second edition, The Power of Business Process Improvement is even more user-friendly with new software suggestions, quizzes, a comparison of industry improvement methods, and examples to help you apply the ideas. Whether you are new to BPI or a seasoned pro, you will have business running better in no time.

High-performance process improvement takes process improvement to the next ambition level. The kernel of the substance is a generic process improvement process that operates under the strictest time, quality and cost constraints. Thanks to a modular composition and robust methods the scope may range from one single person to networks with hundreds of companies. This is realized via three high-class phases:network and company analysis and synthesis, process analysis and synthesis, the implementation, including process improvement education and training and the practical realization of the improvement potential. The presented methods contain mass customization features and a very advanced logic for optimizing the interaction of people, technology, information and material both in the process improvement process itself and the focus process. The book is based on an extensive R&D effort and thorough practical verifications in more than 75 companies in almost any business and in all sizes.

"The first half of the book presents an overall business process improvement model, with the ensuing chapters dealing with topics of understanding and modeling your current business processes, using performance measurement in improvement work, creating a business process improvement road map, and organizing for improvement work. The second half of the book presents the overall toolbox, followed by one chapter for each phase of the overall improvement model. For each of these phases, a selection of suitable tools is presented with background, steps for how to use them, and an example of their use. The final two chapters contain two more extensive case studies illustrating the use of the full methodology.

In challenging times, companies must serve their customers faster and more efficiently. This makes improving your business processes more critical than ever. In this book, you'll learn key steps for carrying out a business process improvement initiative, including how to: Plan a business process improvement initiative Analyze and redesign a current process that needs improvement Obtain the resources needed to change a process Develop a systematic approach for creating and implementing change The Pocket Mentorseries offers immediate solutions to the challenges managers face on the job every day. Each book in the series is packed with handy tools, self-tests, and real life examples to help you identify strengths and weaknesses and hone critical skills. Whether you're at your desk, in a meeting, or on the road, these portable guides enable you to tackle the daily demands of your work with greater speed, savvy, and effectiveness.

Today, technology has become too much a part of overall corporate success for its effectiveness to be left to chance. The stakes are too high. Fortunately, the idea of 'quality management' is being reinvigorated. In the last decade process programs have become more and more prevalent. And, out of all the available options, three have moved to the top of the chain. These three are: The 9001:2000 Quality Management Standard from the International Standards Organization; The Capability Maturity Model Integration from the Software Engineering Institute; and Six Sigma, a methodology for improvement shaped by companies such as Motorola, Honeywell, and General Electric. These recognized and proven quality programs are rising in popularity as more technology managers are looking for ways to help remove degrees of risk and uncertainty from their business equations, and to introduce methods of predictability that better ensure success. Process Improvement Essentials combines the foundation needed to understand process improvement theory with the best practices to help individuals implement process improvement initiatives in their organization. The three leading programs: ISO 9001:2000, CMMI, and Six Sigma--amidst the buzz and hype--tend to get lumped together under a common label. This book delivers a combined guide to all three programs, compares their applicability, and then sets the foundation for further exploration. It's a one-stop-shop designed to give you a working orientation to what the field is all about.

This book serves as a textbook for an introductory course on performance management. It gives an overview over various aspects of managing performance of the modem enterprise by focusing on performance evaluation and measurement and performance improvement techniques. Most of the material is based on a thorough literature search and an extensive reference list has been included. The book has been sponsored by the Norwegian productivity research program TOPP and by the COMETT program of the European Community Commission. It has been applied as the text for a continuing education course both within TOPP and the COMETT project APECE. It will also serve as part of a course material for a master's degree in technology management. The book is aimed at an audience of business and technology oriented personnel at middle and higher management level in manufacturing industry. At the same time it is suitable as a textbook for business and engineering schools and colleges. is organized in five parts discussing productivity and The book performance, performance planning, performance review, performance improvement and performance influencing factors. The authors have worked closely together to obtain a well coordinated text without overlap. They have provided a draft. This draft has been circulated for comments amongst the authors and amongst external experts. Based on their input the manuscript has been revised. Eivald RfI}ren and Einar Printz Moe, chairman of the board and program manager for the TOPP research program respectively, have also provided valuable input to the book.

This best-seller is fully revised and updated! Its goal is still to give readers practical insight into how they can create a coherent business process improvement system. Author Bjørn Andersen works from the premise that consistently working on improving various aspects of how things are done, large and small, is the key to success for any organization.The first half presents an overall business process improvement model, with the ensuing chapters dealing with topics of understanding and modeling your current business processes, using performance measurement in improvement work, creating a business process improvement roadmap, and organizing for improvement work. The second half of the book presents the overall toolbox, followed by one chapter for each phase of the overall improvement model. For each of these phases, a selection of suitable tools is presented with background, steps to use them, and an example of their use. The final two chapters contain two more extensive case studies illustrating the use of the full methodology. And finally, a number of templates can be found at the very end of the book, templates that support most of the tools presented.This book is suitable for employees and managers at any organizational level in any type of industry, including service, manufacturing, and the public sector. It should also be useful as a textbook for students in courses relating to quality management and continuous improvement.