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.

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.

With continuous improvement (kaizen) and Total Quality Control (TQC) becoming increasingly important to world class companies, there's an urgent need to build quality into every management decision. The tools presented in this book allow you to do just that. They represent the most important advance in quality deployment and project management in recent years. Unlike the seven traditional QC tools, which measure quality problems that already exist and are used by quality circles, these seven new QC tools make it possible for managers to plan wide-ranging and detailed TQC objectives throughout the entire organization. These tools, some borrowed from other disciplines and others developed specifically for quality management, include the relations diagram, the KJ method (affinity diagram), the systematic diagram, the matrix diagram, matrix data analysis, the process decision program chart (PDPC), and the arrow diagram. Together they will help you to: Expand the scope of quality efforts company-wide. Set up and manage the systems necessary to resolve major quality problems. Anticipate potential quality problems and actually eliminate defects before they happen. Never before available in English, Management for Quality Improvement is absolutely essential reading if you are in any area of project management, quality assurance, MIS, or TQC.

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in attention and focus on the discipline of software engineering. Software engineering tools and techniques have been developed to gain more predictable quality improvement results. Process standards such as Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), ISO 9000, Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE), Agile Methodologies, and others have been proposed to assist organizations to achieve more predictable results by incorporating these proven standards and procedures into their software process. Software Process Improvement and Management: Approaches and Tools for Practical Development offers the latest research and case studies on software engineering and development. The production of new process standards assist organizations and software engineers in adding a measure of predictability to the software process. Companies can gain a decisive competitive advantage by applying these new and theoretical methodologies in real-world scenarios. Researchers, scholars, practitioners, students, and anyone interested in the field of software development and design should access this book as a major compendium of the latest research in the field.

When you invest in expensive technology and systems, you want to get the most out of them. Process improvement has been used for years as an effective strategy to reduce costs, shorten cycle times, improve quality, and increase user satisfaction in other areas of business such as Quality, Manufacturing, and Engineering. While there are many books a

Unlike other books that promote a specific process and performance improvement discipline, this book shows organizations how to achieve success by fixing basic operational issues and problems using a broad and wide-sweeping process-based toolkit. In addition, it helps individuals who have worked in stale- or siloed-thinking enterprises make the tra

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.