Customer Reviews

Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart (Jossey-Bass Management)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By far the best, most practical guide to the real work of identifying, analyzing, validating and improving processes in the business organization. Beginning with the necessary, and otherwise neglected, holistic view of the organization, the book sets forth a rational, clear and yet simple view of the organizational skeleton, process levels and interdependencies. The authors provide body, substance and practical tools & guidance to actually doing the work and achieving the benefits of process improvement (versus the rhetoric, generalities and limited anecdotal examples from all others). Highly recommend

People had been telling me to read this book for over two years and I always put it off. First it was the Internet and eCommerce. Then it was Six Sigma. Now I have had a chance to read this book and regret my delay. This book is a gem of factual, example filled, and focused insight and understanding. This is a true manual for changing processes and

First the book provides a clear roadmap for process change. It defines the individual steps necessary as well as the interconnection points between the organization, its processes, measurements and other elements. While you may not agree with all of the points -- the completeness will give you more than enough ideas to be of value.

Second, the book is well populated with detailed graphical examples that illustrate the concepts and thier intent. The level of detail, the practicality and the realism of the examples allows you to study the issue, understand it and find parallels in your own business.

Lastly, the book is complete it covers issues related to process design, implementation, process owners, measurement and management. Many people write whole books on one of these aspects however Rummler and Brache have covered them all in a focused and informative text.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to implement process management, six sigma, or other related changes. The book provides the details often left out of texts associated with six sigma. It provides a completeness often missing from process management and design texts.

The only drawback to the book is that its writing style is a bit dry and the book, written in 1995 does not cover many of the process innovations enabled through the Internet. Otherwise this book is a real winner and well worth your attention.

This is a text book, not a breezy read. It is also a cook book, where the authors tell you not only what needs to be done (common) but how to do it (rare). We are a process improvement consulting company and go through three or four copies a year. We loan them to clients who don't want to give them back.

Hugh Schmidt, Vice President, Process Flow Specialists, Inc.

Long before James Champy made "Reengineering" a buzz-word, then a management fad, then finally a tired cliche, Rummler & Brache broke the code on how businesses can do work better. Instead of looking at the jobs people do, they focused their attention on the work being done, and how those work objects meander through different departments and functional organizations in most companies.

What Rummler & Brache might have lacked in marketing prowess, they more than made up for in insight. "Improving Performance" is short on jargon and the evangelical fervor many other works on Reengineering, Business Process Management, and Third Wave(or fourth wave or whatever wave we're up to) seem to revel in. It is focused and pragmatic, giving both the theory of process management and how to apply it. Very basic and very useful diagrams help illustrate their concepts throughout, making this a field guide for anyone involved in process management in the real world, be they consultants or internal change agents.

After 15 years in the space, it's still one of the best I've found. Could not recommend more highly.

This is an excellent book that approaches process management from the top of the organization to the individual performer in a way that is meaningful to every person in your company. It greatly expanded my view of process and my ability to communicate its value in effectively managing our core business activities.

Don't let the date this book was published influence your decision to buy - it is timeless. I am on my second copy of this book and would characterize it as the best book on business process management that has ever been published. This is "The Book". Everyone I know in the Business Process Management field has this book. I recommend it to every client and every business improvement team member that I work with.

The information contained in this "gem" can help anyone involved in process improvement. Consultants, executives, managers, process team leaders, process team members - it doesn't matter whether you are working in manufacturing, finance, logistics, sales or human resources. It also doesn't matter whether you are new to BPM or have been in the field for 20 years. This book will change the way you think about organizational structure and approaching business process.

Trying to characterize what parts of the book were best, would be like trying to dissect what parts of the blue sky you like best. It is all great stuff - each chapter is better than the next, and will help you understand what needs to be done to make business improvement initiatives work. It is well written, easy to understand the concepts, with hundreds of useful illustrations and models to learn from.

I would give this book 6 stars if I could ...

I have now bought this book at least 7 times and sent it on to some of my direct reports as well as managers in other functional areas that are dependent on us or we are dependent on them. We all get plenty of information and training on managing our organization. This book clearly describes how to manage those processes that overlap organizations. A must read.

The first was for me, the next two were to give to colleagues. An outstanding guide for managers from the Sr. Mgmt all the way through to the guy on the shop floor.

This book is a MUST READ for any leader in any type of organization! Most leaders stumble about trying to figure out how to improve performance within their organizations, and the number one solution is always "More Training!" This book reveals the obvious - training isn't necessarily the only answer, in fact it is only one of nine possible variables impacting performance. This book will open your eyes, as the title implies, to help you "manage the white space on the organization chart!" Do yourself a favor - before you blow a lot of money on training - get the book!

This book will survive the trends, since most of the trends are based on the principles in this book. The names will change (Quality Circles, Just In Time, TQM, Re-engineering, Six Sigma, ...), but these principles and how well they are implemented will determine a companies' efficiency and quality.