Business Process Improvement Workbook: Documentation, Analysis, Design, and Management of Business Process Improvement (Hardcover)

~ H. Harrington (Author), K. Esseling (Author), Van Nimwegen (Author) "During the first wave of performance-improvement activities in the 1970s and 1980s, a great deal of work was done to reduce error rates to the..." (more)
Key Phrases: administrative business processes, organizational structure diagram, detailed process diagram, Organizational Change Management, Process Improvement Team, Project Adm (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This long-awaited companion and update to H. James Harrington's best-selling Business Process Improvement is a hands-on implementation guide. It focuses on upgrading information distribution paths to optimize the many processes with which they come in contact. Filled with lists, charts, and appendices, this workbook tells how to document a company's processes, analyze current effectiveness, design new processes, use system enablers, and much more.

From the Back Cover

NEW! Improve Quality, Productivity, and Competitiveness the Business Process Improvement Way with This Hands-On Workbook In Business Process Improvement, a major best-seller in four languages, world-renowned quality authority H. James Harrington revealed his methods for vastly improving business performance. Businesses that implemented Dr. Harrington's methods--including Boeing, IBM, and Corning Glass--realized enormous improvements in productivity. Now in Business Process Improvement Workbook, Dr. Harrington and his coauthors give all businesses the tools to put his breakthrough approach to work for greater efficiency, strategies, charts, forms, lists, macros for Pc use, overviews, and diagrams you need--to start streamlining your business today. This Workbook shows you precisely how to: Understand and set process improvement goals; Eliminate bureaucracies, duplication, and obsolescence; Evaluate information management; Research cycle time; Analyze functions and tasks in administration; Measure accuracy, thoroughness, and reliability in data processing--rank cost/productivity relationships; Find opportunities for standardization; Evaluate technological enablers; Interview and collect data profitably; And far more. For all business leaders--whether your firm in large or small--this is the premier one-step-at-a-time guide to better business performance and greater customer satisfaction.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 314 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070267790
• ISBN-13: 978-0070267794
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #392,488 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, July 2, 1999

By A Customer

I found that the title was a little bit misleading as well. The word "workbook" led me to believe that there would be examples, exercises and forms to work from. Instead, the entire book is broken down into tiny sections that only DESCRIBE how or why a particular analysis or technique should be performed.

Some of the information is purely common sense, and yet you are forced to read through a dry, overanalyzed, high-level description of it. For example, under the Project Documentation section, an explanation reads: "Communication. With the documentation, all those who were involved with the project can be informed about the development of the project from beginning to end." (Do you really need a book to tell you this?)

Some good suggestions and a few good examples do exist, but you must wade through time-wasting, frustrating, non-informative text before getting to them.

I think this book was nothing more than an ego booster and moneymaking scheme for a few E&Y consultants.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, could be better, July 18, 2002

By	amazon oldster (Forest Grove, OR, USA) - See all my reviews

I'll agree with users who feel this book is dry, dry, dry. I also have some issues with the design of the book. There were concepts that I found confusing until I drew my own flow charts -such aids could certainly have been included in the book. There were too many bulleted lists that probably should have been numbered for easier reference and ranking. Where this book shines is on the mechanics on BPI; how to organize the project and the teams (although a good project manager should know how to do this), the sequence of steps to go through, and how to organize all the collected information.

What is missing from this book, in my opinion, is discussion on Risk Management and Change Management. You can document processes and manuals and forms until you're blue in the face, but in the end, you'll have to get human beings to buy into the difficult task of changing processes to reach the future state, and there is little discussion of this.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great "How To", June 21, 1998

By	Web Lady "Web Lady" (DeKalb, IL) - See all my reviews

This is a good easy to read, reference for someone unfamiliar with BPR methodologies. I was a part of a major redesign project and it helped me clearly define the steps I needed to take as well as how to create usable documentation for team members up to sr. mgt. Excellent How-to. Good examples of documents.