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.

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

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.

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.

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

The most successful business book of the last decade, Reengineering the Corporation is the pioneering work on the most important topic in business today: achieving dramatic performance improvements. This book leads readers through the radical redesign of a company's processes, organization, and culture to achieve a quantum leap in performance. Michael Hammer and James Champy have updated and revised their milestone work for the New Economy they helped to create -- promising to help corporations save hundreds of millions of dollars more, raise their customer satisfaction still higher, and grow ever more nimble in the years to come.