H. James Harrington

Business Process Improvement: The Breakthrough Strategy for Total Quality, Productivity, and Competitiveness

Jane D. Keathley

Organizations face many ongoing challenges, which can lead to restructuring- an expensive, disruptive solution that doesn't always offer successful outcomes or better results. As a business leader in a competitive environment, you must find ways to improve your organization's innovative thinking. Breaking down silos and driving innovation can lead to greater agility in discovering new opportunities and developing creative solutions. In this book, you'll learn how to design a structure that will help foster innovation, agility, and performance by focusing on organizational structure through the eyes of your customers. You will explore five core structural areas-management, process, product, sales and marketing, and services- that can be used to advance innovation. Structuring Your Organization for Innovation also includes: Key characteristics of each organizational structure, including the pros and cons Strategic, operational, and tactical considerations Real-world case studies Tools and tips for practical application Jane Keathley provides services to regulated organizations in healthcare related industries, including start-up companies, focusing on developing innovative products and services while maintaining effective and compliant operations. She has published and presented widely in quality and other forums.; H. James Harrington is a quality system expert with more than 60 years of experience. He has been involved in developing quality management systems worldwide, has authored more than 55 books, and is the past president of the American Society for Quality.

Structuring Your Organization for Innovation

“The Business Process Improvement methodology established by Dr. H. James Harrington and his group brings revolutionary improvement not only in quality of products and services, but also in the business processes.” —Professor Yoshio Kondo The Book That Goes Beyond Six Sigma and Lean . . . The Next Evolutionary Step in Business Process Management “Don’t design for Six Sigma—design for maximum performance.” H. James Harrington How would you like to streamline your operations, lower your costs, improve your quality, and increase your profits—all at the same time? It’s not an impossible dream. It’s the next evolutionary breakthrough in process improvement that goes beyond Process Reengineering, TRIZ, Six Sigma, and Lean to deliver actual, quantifiable results. And now it’s yours. Streamlined Process Improvement (SPI) is the powerful new program developed by H. James Harrington. After 40 years of improving processes for IBM, Ernst & Young, the Chinese government, and many other private and governmental organizations, Harrington has become the go-to leader in the field. His revolutionary guide shows you how to: Discover the latest process tools—to make faster, more dramatic improvements using the revolutionary PASIC improvement methodology Use walk-through questionnaires and checklists—to streamline your job, resulting in optimum value to your stakeholders Use the newest methodologies—including simulation modeling, risk analysis, Five Ss, Process Innovation, Information Technology, Lean, and Six Sigma—to take your business to the next level Increase innovation—to drive growth and profits for many years to come Harrington’s groundbreaking system is organized and explained step by step to help you achieve maximum results with a minimum of stress. His simple PASIC approach shows you how to Plan, Analyze, Streamline, Implement, and Continuously Improve throughout the entire process. He walks you through the basics of how to analyze each process, how to decide which to focus on first, and how to prepare for organizational change. You’ll be surprised by just how quickly you can make things run more efficiently and effectively. With Harrington’s proven techniques, you can sell your products and services at a lower price, satisfy your customers, make work more enjoyable for your employees, and still earn greater profits than your competitors. This powerful process guide is the definitive handbook for operations managers, quality consultants, Six Sigma practitioners, knowledge workers, and Lean thinkers for a new generation.

Streamlined Process Improvement

Christopher F. Voehl

William S. Ruggles

With an estimated 70 percent of new projects failing to add value to the organization, reducing project failure rate represents one of the biggest improvement opportunities available today. This book highlights proven approaches designed to separate the successful projects from the potential losers before the projects are started. This represents huge savings in manpower, money, and time. The book shows you how to reduce project cycle time and apply resources effectively to maximize results and project success rates. Effective Portfolio Management Systems provides a roadmap for the implementation of an organizational Portfolio Project Management (PPM) system and a model for driving sustainable change. It takes you through the complete project/program management cycle—from the submittal of the proposed projects to the management of their implementation. To do this, the authors present an effective, proven, four-phase Organizational Portfolio Management (OPM) system: Phase I: Developing the Organizational Portfolio involves selecting the right mix of projects/programs based upon resource limitations and risks involved. Phase II: Creating the OPM System Implementation Plan is the development of a plan to minimize the resources consumed, reduce cycle time, and increase the ability of the projects to meet their projected value-added content to the organization. Phase III: Implementing the OPM System focuses on the complexity of managing an Organizational Portfolio and keeping it aligned with the organization’s goals and objectives. This phase provides a roadmap for the implementation of an organizational PPM system, including sample plans and PMO Implementation/Management Templates. Phase IV: Practical Applications of Project Change Management within the OPM System focuses on overcoming the difficulties related to the continuous changing environment and project requirements that are encountered as projects are developed and implemented in today’s demanding conditions. This phase provides guidelines for effectively enrolling, communicating with, and training the individuals who are impacted by the project/program to effectively drive sustainable change. At first glance, an OPM system may look like increased bureaucracy. However, when it results in a 20-percent increase in the percentage of projects that are successful, it really turns out to be one of the best resources an organization can invest in to ensure profitability and long-term sustainable results.

Effective Portfolio Management Systems

Frank Voehl

The Art of Excelling in Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management Excellence

Organizations around the world are rating their improvement efforts as not producing the desired long-term results. Dr. Harrington’s research indicates that this occurs because organizations are using the latest improvement tools and approaches without first defining how they want to change their organization’s culture, environment, and key performance drivers. Organizations must first define what controllable factors drive business results. They then must define how they want to change these key performance drivers and behavioral patterns. Only then can they select a customized set of tools and approaches that will bring about the desired transformation. The first book in the Little Big Book Series, Performance Acceleration Management (PAM): Rapid Improvement to Your Key Performance Drivers, explains how to accelerate the rate of change and improvement in your organization to exceed your customers’ expectations. It introduces the PAM approach to accelerated performance improvement and explains how to use it to bring about significant change to your organization’s long-term performance. Supplying answers to commonly asked questions, the book provides you with the understanding to: Conduct an improvement requirements assessment Define key drivers and develop vision statements for each Define desired behavioral patterns and performance goals Develop individual key performance driver (KPD) transformation plans Develop and implement a five-year combined PAM plan Obtain approval from the executive team Delving into more than 50 years of experience helping organizations implement improvement approaches, H. James Harrington highlights key opportunities to add value to your organization. With over 1,400 different improvement tools available today, this book provides a set of tools to define how you want to change your organization’s key performance drivers and then develop a customized accelerated approach to achieve the desired transformation.

Rapid Improvement to Your Key Performance Drivers

Performance Acceleration Management (PAM)

Change Management: Manage Change or It Will Manage You represents a substantial core guidance effort for Change Management practitioners. Organizations currently contend with increasingly higher levels of knowledge-driven competition. Many attempt to meet the challenge by investing in expensive knowledge-driven change management systems. Such systems are useless, and sometimes even harmful, for making strategic decisions because they do not distinguish between what is strategically relevant and what is not. This Management-for-Results Handbook focuses on identifying and managing the specific, critical knowledge assets that your organization needs to disrupt your competitors, including tacit experience of key employees, a deep understanding of customers’ needs, valuable patents and copyrights, shared industry practices, and customer- and supplier-generated innovations. The authors present two aspects of Change Management: (1) traditional Change Management as it impacts the project management team’s activities and (2) a suggested new approach to Change Management directed at changing the culture. The focus is to prepare the people impacted by the project and change activities to accept and adapt to the new/changed working conditions. The first half of the book deals with traditional Change Management, which covers the topics of remembering, understanding, and applying. The second half presents the authors’ new approach to changing the culture, which deals with analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

Manage the Change or It Will Manage You

Change Management

Chuck Mignosa

Rich Charron

Although Lean and Six Sigma appear to be quite different, when used together they have shown to deliver unprecedented improvements to quality and profitability. The Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook: Tools and Methods for Process Acceleration explains how to integrate these seemingly dissimilar approaches to increase production speed while decreasing variations and costs in your organization. Presenting problem-solving tools you can use to immediately determine the sources of the problems in your organization, the book is based on a recent survey that analyzed Six Sigma tools to determine which are the most beneficial. Although it focuses on the most commonly used tools, it also includes coverage of those used a minimum of two times on every five Six Sigma projects. Filled with diagrams of the tools you’ll need, the book supplies a comprehensive framework to help you for organize and process the vast amount of information currently available about Lean, quality management, and continuous improvement process applications. It begins with an overview of Six Sigma, followed by little-known tips for using Lean Six Sigma (LSS) effectively. It examines the LSS quality system, its supporting organization, and the different roles involved. Identifying the theories required to support a contemporary Lean system, the book describes the new skills and technologies that you need to master to be certified at the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB) level. It also covers the advanced non-statistical and statistical tools that are new to the LSSBB body of knowledge. Presenting time-tested insights of a distinguished group of authors, the book provides the understanding required to select the solutions that best fit your organization's aim and culture. It also includes exercises, worksheets, and templates you can easily customize to create your own handbook for continuous process improvement. Designed to make the methodologies you choose easy to follow, the book will help Black Belts and Senseis better engage their employees, as well as provide an integrated and visual process management structure for reporting and sustaining continuous improvement breakthroughs and initiatives.

Tools and Methods for Process Acceleration

The Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook

Hal Wiggin

Performance management, the primary focus of a Lean organization, occurs through continuous improvement programs that focus on education, belief systems development, and effective change management. Presenting a first-of-its-kind approach, The Lean Management Systems Handbook details the critical components required for sustainable Lean management. Positioning Lean as a management operational philosophy far beyond the traditional set of improvement tools, the book explains how managers at all levels of the organization can integrate Lean into their daily management activities. It defines the Lean philosophy as well as the beliefs and behaviors required to develop a thriving Lean company culture. The book captures the essence of Lean learning and Lean doing and illustrates practical applications of Lean management. It begins by covering the basics that encompass Lean management and leadership in two critical areas: maintenance/control and improvement. After reading this book, you will better understand how to see waste, measure waste, eliminate waste, and develop an active change improvement workplace. You will also gain the practical understanding required to determine which Lean tool is best suited to your particular need for supporting an organization-wide management system. Expounding on essential Lean concepts, this is an ideal guide to help new managers and leaders make the transition from theory to successful application in the field. Complete with brief summaries and examples of the most important tools in Lean management systems development in each chapter, the book provides a reliable roadmap for deploying a Lean management system across your organization, and subsequently across your entire value stream.

The Lean Management Systems Handbook

Robert Lewis

Improved communication in business means higher profits. Improved communication in government means happier citizens. Improved communication in healthcare means quicker recoveries, fewer lawsuits, and happier nurses and patients. Closing the Communication Gap can help readers improve communication by closing the gap between what the communicator means and what the listener actually understands. It supplies a complete overview of the various elements and dimensions of effective communication needed to stop talking and start communicating. Defining and discussing both the formal and the informal communication systems within an organization, the book demonstrates the importance of good communication and details the four types of poor-quality communication. It explains how to create a climate of communication in your organization. It describes how this climate of communication encourages the development of quality relationships as well as what it takes to maintain this culture of communication. After reading this book, you will understand how to be a better listener, how to use social media in marketing, how to deal with difficult people, and helpful tips for public speaking. You will gain valuable insights on how to talk to your employees, how to talk to your boss, and the best ways to communicate with a corporation. This book can be read for personal growth or it can be used by a company to teach employees the importance of quality communication. Quality assurance departments will find this book useful in lowering errors and waste in the workplace. The book is also suitable as a communication textbook or supplemental text at the introductory university level. If a corporation were a person, communication would be the bloodstream. —Lee Iacocca, Former CEO, Chrysler Corporation

An Effective Method for Achieving Desired Results

Closing the Communication Gap

Many organizations are looking for that magic tool or methodology that will suddenly transform them into outstanding organizations. Unfortunately, there is no one right answer for all organizations or even for a single organization. Successful organizations skillfully integrate the appropriate improvement approaches with honesty, commitment, and constancy of purpose across all levels of management. This book, part of The Little Big Book series, discusses the most common set of tools and methodologies used in managerial, strategic planning, project selection, and organizational improvement projects that are referred to throughout The Little Big Book series. It presents, in a concise no-nonsense format, the concepts and techniques that must be mastered by project managers and anyone tasked with managing an improvement project. The tools covered in this book include affinity diagrams, brainstorming, cause-and-effect diagrams, the Kano model, organizational process improvement, Pareto analysis, project management, risk management, root cause analysis, storyboarding, value propositions, and workflow diagrams. Because of the large number of tools and techniques covered, the book supplies concise operating guidance for each tool that is adequate to prepare readers to understand and use that tool. It also includes examples of how the tools are used. The book provides a basic understanding of the tools you need to improve the processes you are currently using to manage your organization and, ultimately, to improve the quality, productivity, and agility of the products or services you are delivering to your customers. The tools presented in this book are the essential tools that all organizations should be using. By understanding and using the tools covered in this book, you will possess a better overall understanding of the way your organization needs to function in today’s increasingly competitive environment. This book is designed to supplement and provide additional direction in the use of the methodologies defined in the other books in The Little Big Book series

Techniques and Sample Outputs that Drive Business Excellence

Glen D. Hoffherr

Robert P. Reid

In today's workplace, employee creativity is not just advisable -- it is expected! The Creativity Toolkit reveals ways to instill and develop creativity in virtually any stage and level of the business process. Its easy-to-follow framework boosts original thinking, problem solving, and innovation.Harrington's team explores the four unique styles of creativity, the three areas that require the most creativity, and much more. Dynamic tools and techniques will show instant results when applied to virtually every company or organization.

Provoking Creativity in Individuals and Organizations

The Creativity Toolkit

The Art of Excelling in Change Management

Change Management Excellence

Brett Trusko

Value proposition, an old concept, is taking on new significance in today’s innovation-driven environment. Business focus has shifted from developing many creative ideas to developing only those that will successfully flow through the product cycle and fulfill a customer need. The old approach resulted in less than a 10 percent success rate for concepts that started through the product cycle; this can no longer be tolerated. This new book on value propositions outlines a systematic approach to making an early evaluation of potential projects and programs so you can determine if they can add real value to your organization or its customers—potentially saving you millions of dollars and months of valuable time. Focusing on the necessary data collection efforts, Maximizing Value Propositions to Increase Project Success Rates will help you identify easy opportunities for improvement and will guide you through the process of creating value propositions for the ideas that will drive the organization’s future profits. It outlines a four-stage approach to creating value propositions and explains how to create effective value proposition documents. The book illustrates the role of the opportunity center in capturing new ideas, describes how to present value propositions to management, and includes an example of a new product value proposition. Detailing a method for continuous review of the improvement process, it will help you foster an entrepreneurial mind-set within your employees and encourage them to actively search and document value-adding ideas. Through the effective use of value propositions it is completely possible for your organization to increase the number of new products/services it offers to your customers by over 100 percent. It is not unusual for this to result in more than a 40 percent increase in profits per year. Adopting the approach outlined in the text for using value propositions can save your organizations millions of dollars and much time. What could be better than reducing costs while increasing sales?

Maximizing Value Propositions to Increase Project Success Rates

People with ideas are dreamers. People who get things done are doers. One doer is worth eight dreamers. There are three kinds of people who make up an innovator. There are inventors (people who have new and unique ideas), problem solvers (people who have ideas about how to correct a previous error) and entrepreneurs (people who transform ideas into realities). Put them altogether they spell "innovator." Most innovative books today focus on ways to create new and unique ideas; some of them also address problem-solving, but this is less than 10% of the methodologies that the innovator needs to master. The approaches used in this book transform an idea into reality, or to put it another way, deliver innovative products to make a profit for the organization and instill pride in its employees. This means that every step in the process needs to have innovation applied to it in order to meet the expectations and demands of today's sophisticated customer. This book is designed to help the reader and their organization complete the complex process of bringing a new product to market by presenting what is expected at each step in the cycle and providing step-by-step instructions on what to do at each specific step. In large to mid-sized organizations this book is designed to help each individual understand how they fit into the innovative cycle and explains why they should be more creative related to the work they do and more conscious of the contributions they can make. It emphasizes the importance of every individual contributing to the organization's innovative process. The book is designed to help the organization understand its Innovation Systems Cycle. In the early part of the cycle it focuses on weeding out projects that do not have the potential to produce value-added results to the stakeholders. By using the guidelines outlined in this book, an organization can reduce its new project failure rate by as much as 50% which should result in almost doubling the organization’s new product output thereby increasing profits by as much as 15%.

H. James Harrington

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