Process Management Flashcards
What is business process management (BPM)?
a management approach that seeks to coordinate the functions of an organization toward an ultimate goal of continuous improvement in customer satisfaction; customers may be internal or external to an organization; process management seeks effectiveness and efficiency through promotion of innovation, flexibility, and integration with technology
BPM attempts to improve processes continuously; by focusing on processes, an organization becomes more nimble and responsive than hierarchical organizations that are managed by function
BPM activities can be grouped into 5 categories: design, modeling, execution, monitoring, and optimization
T/F: another common BPM methodology is the Deming Cycle
True; there are 4 stages: plan, do check, act (PDCA)
What are performance measures aka key performance indicators (KPIs)?
they are used for assessing processes and can be financial or nonfinancial, quantitative or qualitative, and should correlate directly to the managed process; these measures are compared with expectations to monitor progress
there are 4 common categories of KPIs: financial metrics, customer metrics, internal process metrics, and organizational growth metrics
the benefits of a studied and systematic approach to process management allow the company to monitor the degree to which process improvements have been achieved; the benefits often mentioned for process management are: efficiency, effectiveness, and agility
What is business process modeling notation (BPMN)?
a standardized system of diagrams, symbols, and visuals used to depict business processes; it enables people to use a common set of concepts and principles to communicate business processes so that they can be documented, improved, and managed
What are shared services?
they seek out redundant services, combining them and then sharing those services within a group or organization; some issues that might result are service flow disruption and failure demand
What is outsourcing?
the contracting of services to an external provider (ex. payroll); some issues that might result are quality risk, quality of service, productivity, staff turnover, language skills, security, qualifications of outsourcers, and labor insecurity
What are offshore operations?
they relate to outsourcing of services or business functions to an external party in a different country; the issues that might result are generally the same as outsourcing but with greater emphasis on the lack of controls associated with proximity as well as potential language issues
Fact: an organization may use either rational or irrational methods when launching an initiative to improve company processes
irrational - intuitive and emotional; they lack structure and systematic evaluation; based on trends; they may result from an immediate need for cost reduction and stem from a very short-term viewpoint
rational - structured and systematic and involve the following:
strategic gap analysis - external and internal assessments performed to help determine the gap between an organization’s objectives and its status quo
review of competitive priorities - review of price, quality, and other differentiators required to have a competitive advantage
review of production objectives - review of performance requirements needed to reach production or service delivery objectives
selection of an improvement program - decide how to proceed for improvement based on the organization’s objectives
What are some crucial features of successful implementation activities?
internal leadership, inspections, executive support, and internal process ownership
What is business process reengineering (BPR)?
the techniques that organizations can implement that radically reform business processes to achieve strategic objectives; it is not synonymous with BPM; BPM seeks incremental change while BPR seeks atypical changes that result in revolutionary shifts in the way a company performs a process
What is just-in-time (JIT) management?
it anticipates achievement of efficiency by scheduling the deployment of resources just in time to meet customer or production requirements; inventory does not add value; it provides greater efficiency in the use of employees with multiple skills
limitations are highlighted in supply chain shocks; a shortage of even one key component within a manufacturing process could put the entire production schedule at risk and cause product outages; some companies are realizing that inventory does have value to prevent stockouts as mentioned above
What is total quality management (TQM)?
it represents an organizational commitment to customer-focused performance that emphasizes both quality and continuous improvement; total quality management identifies seven critical factors:
customer focus - each function of the corporation exists to satisfy the customer
external: the ultimate recipient or consumer of an organization’s product or service
internal: each link in the value chain
continuous improvement - quality is not viewed as an achievement; it is not just the goal, but is embedded in the process
workforce involvement - characterized by team approaches and worker input to process development and improvement; small groups of workers that use team approaches to process improvement are called quality circles
top management support - they must actively describe and demonstrate support for the quality mission of the organization
objective measures - measures of quality must be unambiguous, clearly communicated, and consistently reported
timely recognition - acknowledgment of TQM achievements (in terms of compensation and general recognition) must occur to encourage the ongoing involvement of the workforce
ongoing training - it should occur on a recurring basis to ensure workforce understanding and involvement
What are quality audits?
a technique used as part of the strategic positioning function in which management assesses the quality practices of the organization; they produce analysis that identifies strengths and weaknesses and a strategic quality improvement plan that identifies the improvement steps that will produce the greatest return to the organization in the short and long term
What is lean manufacturing?
it requires the use of only those resources required to meet the requirements of customers; it seeks to invest resources only in value-added activities; it provides waste reduction, continuous improvement (Kaizen…occurs at the manufacturing stage), and process improvements/activity-based management through cost identification and implementation
What are demand flow systems?
they manage resources using demand as the basis for resource allocation instead of using sales forecasts or master scheduling; this means manufacturing production is driven by customers, not an organization’s forecast; it is similar to JIT processes and lean manufacturing practices
