Managing Business Process Flows [Paperback]

Raví Anupindi (Author), Sunil Chopra (Author), Sudhakar D. Deshmukh (Author), Jan A. Van Mieghem (Author), Eitan Zemel (Author), Jan Van Mieghem (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 1999

This unique and comprehensive book presents a unifying paradigm for understanding operations, based in the belief that a large part of operations management is the design and management of business processes. The overall objective of the book is to demonstrate how managers can control process structure and process drivers to achieve desired business process performance. This framework is applied to understand which levels managers have to control: cycle time, capacity, inventory, and quality. Providing a conceptual and logically rigorous approach, Managing Business Process Flows discusses the subject in three steps: model and understand the process and its flows; study causal relationships between process structure and certain performance metrics; and formulate implications for managerial actions by filtering out managerial levers ("process drivers") and their impact on process performance. The book also identifies managerial levers, and establishes a connection between operational and financial measurements. An essential resource for all management professionals, especially Management Consultants specializing in operations and supply chains, Managers and VPs overseeing supply chains, and Plant Managers. ÿ

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This unique and comprehensive book presents a unifying paradigm for understanding operations, based in the belief that a large part of operations management is the design and management of business processes. The overall objective of the book is to demonstrate how managers can control process structure and process drivers to achieve desired business process performance. This framework is applied to understand which levels managers have to control: cycle time, capacity, inventory, and quality. Providing a conceptual and logically rigorous approach, Managing Business Process Flows discusses the subject in three steps: model and understand the process and its flows; study causal relationships between process structure and certain performance metrics; and formulate implications for managerial actions by filtering out managerial levers ("process drivers") and their impact on process performance. The book also identifies managerial levers, and establishes a connection between operational and financial measurements. An essential resource for all management professionals, especially Management Consultants specializing in operations and supply chains, Managers and VPs overseeing supply chains, and Plant Managers. ÿ

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; First Printing edition (February 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0139077758
• ISBN-13: 978-0139077753
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #511,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good introductory Operations Management book, March 16, 2000

By 

Serguei Netessine (Wynnewood, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Managing Business Process Flows (Paperback)

I enjoyed teaching MBA core course using this book. It fits therequirements of the introductory Operations Management course, is easyto use ( and it is also relatively cheap ). Lots of explanatoryexamples.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A concise and useful text to study this aspect of Operations, May 3, 2003

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Managing Business Process Flows (Paperback)

We used this book as one of the texts in the core Operations Management course I took as part of getting my MBA from the University of Michigan Business School. I think it is a good textbook. It has several virtues. It is concise, it develops its ideas as the book goes along, the chapter problems help the student think about the principles being developed, and it covers the topic pretty well for a one term introductory course.

There are also many helpful illustrations and examples. The book also includes a CD with some tools to help the student work some of the more complex problems. A companion website is also available.

The one problem a person wanting to simply dive into a specific topic would have comes from the book continually developing its ideas from the beginning to the end. The examples usually involve a fictional garage door manufacturing firm and if you haven't worked the earlier problems it can be difficult to have the data on hand to work the later examples or to even understand what they are talking about.

But in a classroom setting with a skilled and enthusiastic professor, as I had, this is a very useful book and I recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent textbook, June 29, 2006

By 

Manuel Tunarosa (Guatemala, Guatemala) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Managing Business Process Flows (Paperback)

Excellent textbook, very illustrative and dynamic. Good examples and very well written. I liked how it takes the reader from very simple concepts at the beginning to very complex problems at the end, maintaining its simple and straightforward style.