Analysis for Improving Performance [Paperback]

Richard A Swanson PhD (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1576750019 | ISBN-13: 978-1576750018 | Publication Date: September 1, 1996

Corporations spend millions on employee training and development, executive education, total quality management and re-engineering. Much of this money is wasted because the preliminary analysis and diagnosis has not been done to link performance improvement programmes to an organization's real business needs, goals and processes. "Analysis for Improving Performance" details the front-end work essential to the success of any performance improvement effort. In clear language and easy-to-follow steps, human resource development expert Richard A. Swanson shows how to do the rigorous preparatory analysis that defines and shapes successful performance improvement efforts. Using Swanson's analysis methods allows programme developers and managers to: assess an organization's real business needs and the status of its supporting systems; analyze necessary worker skills knowledge and attitudes; specify performance requirements and evaluation standards; and produce a viable and comprehensive performance improvement design. Augmented by exercises and illustrative examples, and dozens of ready-to-use worksheets and forms throughout, "Analysis for Improving Performance" maps the critical first steps in performance improvement.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

Analysis for Improving Performance delivers on its title. We used the diagnosis and documentation tools presented in the book, and the results more than met our expectations. Even after the original need was met, we continue to use them as a means of improving our practices. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

This book offers the most practical and comprehensive system ever for defining how people do their jobs. The techniques are straightforward, easy to learn, and effective. I've seen them make a real contribution to personal and organizational performance. -- Gary R. Sisson, president, Paradigm Corporation --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576750019
• ISBN-13: 978-1576750018
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,392,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do you want to know how to change your company so it does things better and more efficently? Then read this book!, May 5, 2007

By 

Jeff Lippincott "JLIPPIN" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Analysis for Improving Performance: Tools for Diagnosing Organizations and Documenting Workplace Expertise (Paperback)

I thought this was a wonderful book. The principles explained here regarding how to improve your company's performance (or any company for that matter) are universal. Instead of writing about how to run a company better the author could have been talking about how to master butterfly, breast stroke, back stroke, and freestyle as a swimmer. Or he could have been talking about how to improve one's game as a golfer. But this book is about how to figure out what your company is doing now, how it can do things better in the future, and how to change the current ways to better future ways.

The "Performance Improvement Model" (PIM) involves the following five steps:

1. Analyze
2. Design
3. Develop
4. Implement
5. Evaluate
6. Start Over at Step 1

And the author applies the PIM at the following levels in a business:

1. Organizational
2. Process
3. Team
4. Worker

What is covered in this book is what an entrepreneur must consider when writing a business plan and later when implementing it. It is also what an established business owner must do in order to grow her business and remain competitive in her market and industry. Some might call it a strategic planning book.

There were loads of helpful figures to examine while reading this book. And I liked that. I also liked the "conclusions" included at the end of each chapter that made it easier for me to grasp what the book was about when I did my first skim of it.

The book is a second edition. I have not read the first edition, but the two reviews ahead of me for this book apply to the first edition. The book I am reviewing was written in 2007 and I highly recommend it to anyone who is putting together a business plan or doing strategic planning for a small business. 5 stars!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read!, March 23, 2001

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Analysis for Improving Performance (Paperback)

Hats off to author Richard A. Swanson for writing clearly, interestingly and compellingly on the subject of creating effective programs to improve workplace performance. He champions approaching this task with up-front analysis based on systems theory. Since he criticizes ordinary management for not understanding this problem and for not knowing the methods that can be used to resolve it, we [...] recommend this book not only to Human Resources professionals, but also to managers and executives in all industries. If you want employee performance to improve, upgrade your understanding of how to make it so.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Organization Development Resource, September 21, 2010

By 

Val Duncan, MBA , MAOD - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Analysis for Improving Performance: Tools for Diagnosing Organizations and Documenting Workplace Expertise (Paperback)

I would like to thank Richard A. Swanson for such a useful and insightful organization development resource. Each chapter has allowed me to see the gaps in my own proposals and will assist me in improving my organizational proposals. I appreciate the depth of information of the assessment and analysis phase of performance improvement and its foundational frames and theories.