Business Process Change: A Manager's Guide To Improving, Redesigning, And Automating Processes (The Morgan Kaufmann Series In Data Management Systems)

Business Process Change: A Manager's Guide to Improving, Redesigning, and Automating Processes (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems)

Every company wants to improve the way it does business, to produce goods and services more efficiently, and to increase profits. Nonprofit organizations are also concerned with efficiency, productivity, and with achieving the goals they set for themselves. Every manager understands that achieving these goals is a part of his or her job.In the wake of the dot-com collapse, managers are trying to figure out how they can take advantage of email, the Internet, and the Web to improve their business process. At the same time, managers are interested in developing business process architectures and measurement systems that align business processes with corporate goals. Managers face many options in approaching these problems. Business Process Change provides an overview of the options and describes a variety of business process techniques proven by successful companies over the course of a decade. *Focuses on the process change problems faced by today's managers.*Summarizes the state of the art of business process analysis & improvement, including the basic vocabulary of modeling.*Presents a methodology based on the best practices available that can be tailored for specific needs and that maintains a focus on the human aspects of process redesign.*Offers detailed case studies showing how these methods are implemented. Review "This book is a must-read for every business manager who wants to manage business process change in an e-business environment; it's a true practitioner's guidebook to the complex world of end-to-end business process management. The book not only gives an excellent introduction to all aspects of process change management (from analysis or redesign to implementation to monitoring to improvement of business processes), but also provides a comprehensive guide to state-of-the-art techniques and technologies supporting the various aspects of this process (from process design methodologies to realizing business processes via choreography of Web services)."-Steve Mill, Senior Vice President, IBM Software Group"Finally a book that brings it all together-background, theory, and practice-in a way that is easily digested by business and IT managers alike. This book is a must-read for anyone contemplating a business change project in order that they understand why a holistic approach is beneficial and how the work they are undertaking will impact others. "The concepts and notations presented in the book are straightforward and easy to follow and do not require either weeks of training or an army of outside consultants to help implement them. I feel sure that after reading the book, any manager will come away with two lasting impressions: first, "Now I understand where that fits . . ." and "Yes, I can do it.""-Mark McGregor, Vice President, MEGA International"Finally, someone has written a practical guide for those building a business for the information age."-Bill Coleman, Founder, Chairman, CSO, BEA Systems"When it comes to Business Process Change, Paul Harmon"s new book is a must-read. It is a great resource for performance improvement professionals."-Dr. Roger M. Addison, Director Performance Technologies, International Society for Performance Improvement"A great deal has been written about process improvement and business process reengineering, most before its presumed demise and recent resurrection. Much has been written about the Internet and e-business, most before the tech bubble. This book is "post-bust"; it is the first book to thoroughly discuss the critical link between "process," information technology, and the Internet-all things that managers must understand if they are to develop and manage sound internal operations that will provide legitimate profits. And it is the manager"s job to do that. Some of the technical work must be done by business process consultants and IT staff, but the setting of the direction and requirements, the management of the integrating efforts, must