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Business
Process Management Articles
Practical BPM: Dealing With
Exceptions
Rashid Khan, Ultimus, BPMEnterprise Website and Newsletter, May 14,
2007.
Business processes in every
organization are replete with rules, exceptions or special
conditions. As the size of the organization increases, so does the
number of exceptions. A business process management (BPM) solution
provides a method of incorporating these exceptions by taking
actions based upon runtime conditions.
How can you make Performance
Management Fun?
Gary Cokins, BI Review Newsletter
and Website, May 10, 2007.
How do you
make applying performance management fun? I recently saw how it can
be done - in an enjoyable but effective way. And who else would make
implementing performance management fun but Southwest Airlines
(SWA), the air carrier that built its business on making flying fun.
ABC : An Introduction to Business Process
Management
Mark Cooper, Paul Patterson, The Athens Group,
CIO Newsletter and Website, April 27, 2007.
BPM is the first technology that fosters ongoing
collaboration between IT and business users to jointly build
applications that effectively integrate people, process and
information.
Redefining Business Intelligence
with Operational BI
Santosh Joshi,
iGate Global Solutions, datawarehouse.com Newsletter
and Website, May 22, 2007.
Operational BI aims to embed the analytical
decision-making process with the operational business structure to
trigger real-time decision-making and collaboration. The idea is to
empower grassroots employees with intelligent processed data on a
real-time basis and optimize the use of operational data to the
maximum extent possible.
Cost of Poor Quality : Not Only
Failure Costs
Arne Buthman,
Veleocon Consulting, iSixSigma Europe
Newsletter, May 2,
2007.
What is the relation between the cost of good quality and the
cost of poor quality? The traditional view would be to conclude that
if a company wants to reduce defects and by this reduce the cost of
poor quality, the cost of good quality would have to be increased,
meaning higher investments in any kind of checking, testing,
evaluation, training of operators, etc. Following the Six Sigma
philosophy, however, of building quality into process, service and
products and doing things right the first time, the increase of the
cost of good quality, while striving for zero defect performance,
can be smoothed if processes get better.
Measuring Six Sigma Financial and
Operational Benefits
Brian Carey, DeLeeuw Associates,
iSixSigma Website and Newsletter, May 30,
2007.
For Six Sigma to succeed in a
financial services organization, the deployment team and the
business need to be able to measure the benefit of the projects.
This should occur from both a financial and operational
effectiveness perspective. Standard financial metrics that are
integrated into the overall business planning process and not just a
stand-alone Six Sigma process are important aspects of successful
benefit measurement practices. Additionally, key process indicators
that are based on actual process transactions and linked to the
business strategy allow for an important understanding of Six Sigma
project benefits from an operational performance
perspective.
Debunking Dubious Statistics From a
Six Sigma Critic
Forrest W.
Breyfogle III, Smarter Solutions,
iSixSigma Website and Newsletter, May 24,
2007.
The principal and founder of a performance improvement
consulting firm, professes that businesses using Six Sigma are
underperforming their peers in terms of stock price. Those claims
prove the cliche, "There are lies, damn lies and statistics." This
article is in response to material published in a number of business
media earlier this year, including The Wall Street Journal in
January.
Business Process Outsourcing
Articles
Retail BPOs: Expanding Service
Offerings!
ValueNotes Database
Newsletter and
Website, May 18,
2007.
Traditionally, retailers started by outsourcing and
offshoring their IT functions and have gradually embraced BPO.
Typically, a retailer will look at improving the level of customer
satisfaction, which means offering better service to the customer
while keeping the expenses in check. Amongst the BPO services,
customer relationship management is the most commonly outsourced
function. However, HR and F&A services have gained popularity
among the outsourcers.
Managing the Risk
When Outsourcing Offshore
Anil Singh, Hanu Software, Sourcingmag.com
Newsletter and Website,
May 14, 2007.
Whether or not you already outsource offshore,
you're probably aware of the risks it involves. Anil Singh, with
service provider Hanu Software, has identified five major areas of
risk. In this article Anil discusses each risk in turn and provides
practical advice on how to mitigate those risks. You may find that
you can use this report as the start of a risk management section
for that next offshoring business case you need to
write.
Sourcing Inside Out: Penalties and
Incentives in Sourcing Contracts
Geraldine Fox,Compass, Sourcingmag.com Newsletter and Website,
May 28, 2007.
Punish bad behavior and reward good behavior. It's a
time-honored approach to motivation. Define basic expectations, and
make it clear that consequences await if those expectations aren't
met. At the same time, encourage excellence and achievement through
financial and other incentives. As "Sourcing Inside Out" columnist
Geraldine Fox writes, these principles can play a central role in
managing an outsourcing relationship. By effectively defining
penalties and incentives tied to specific business objectives,
clients can create powerful incentives to work towards mutually
beneficial goals.
Niche Focus BPOs: Burgeoning
Significance
ValueNotes
Database Newsletter and Website, May 11,
2007.
With the rapid evolution of offshoring from process driven
back-office jobs and call centers, to the much-talked-about
knowledge driven jobs, exciting times lie ahead for niche focused
BPOs and KPOs. The high level of interest and optimism in knowledge
service companies or specialized BPOs is evident from the spate of
recent M&A deals.
Down To Business: Off-shoring Mania Goes To Ludicrous
Extremes
Rob Preston,
InformationWeek Newsletter and Website, May 11,
2007.
It's hard to decide which is more
amusing: the revelation that a rinky-dink Pasadena, Calif., Web site
is outsourcing its "local" news reporting to journalists in India,
or the shrieking response of the journalism establishment. It just
goes to show that when it comes to the outsourcing and offshoring of
services and jobs, no industry is
unscathed.
Agile Outsourcing:
Managing Communication Effectiveness
Nari Kannan,
Ajira Technologies, Inc., Sourcingmag.com Newsletter and Website,
June 4, 2007.
Buyers and providers of outsourced software
development services concentrate so much on efficiency-related
metrics such as project milestones, deliverables, programmer
productivity (number of lines of code written or function points),
that they miss the forest for the trees. Many an outsourced software
development project has been unsuccessful despite meeting most of
the efficiency metrics. That's because participants forget the
single most primary determinant of success in outsourcing:
communication! Ineffective communication can derail a project much
more than any other factor.
Notable
News
Indian Outsourcers' Sky-High
Ambitions
Nandini
Lakshmanan, BusinessWeek,
May 15, 2007.
Companies such as Tata and Infosys are scrambling to cash in
on India's soaring demand for air services—and orders from the likes
of Boeing
PWC Study: Majority of Top Executives Bullish on
Outsourcing
Linda Tucci,
SearchCIO.com Newsletter and Website,
May 24th, 2007.
The
survey finds that a majority of senior executives -- 87% -- think IT
outsourcing delivers on the business benefits projected in their
original plan. Even more, 91%, say they will outsource again,
whether totally happy with the results or not, because outsourcing
has become "such an essential business practice."
Every Reason That HR Should be
Involved in Six Sigma
Terra Vanzant-Stern, SSD Global, iSixSigma
Newsletter and Website, May 7,
2007.
Human resource (HR) professionals who have a background or
education in basic project management are a valuable commodity to
their company. Being well versed in an improvement methodology, such
as Six Sigma, is an even bigger plus. An HR professional who is able
to present a business case with a compelling return on investment
will be respected. Having a true handle on cost/time estimates,
analytical thinking process and fact-based strategies will open
doors.
Tailoring Six Sigma to Software
Development
Bruce J. Hayes, Six Sigma Advantage,
iSixSigma Software Newsletter and
Website, May 23, 2007.
Software development
environments have unique cultural dynamics and lower process
maturity states that must be taken into account for successful
implementation of Lean Six Sigma projects. It can be useful to
quickly assess and characterize an organization prior to jumping
into any scope of Lean Six Sigma implementation to minimize risk of
failure.
CIOs Struggle with Open Source
Governance, Cite Lack of
Tools
Shamus McGillicuddy, SearchSMB.com Newsletter and
Website, May 8,
2007.
Open source software is being left to run amuck because IT
managers can't find the right tool to help them get their heads
around the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of downloads within their
networks.
Insurance Companies Not Reaping Full
Benefits of Fraud Tech, Celent
Reports
Nathan Coontz, Insurance & Technology, May 17,
2007.
Many
insurance companies aren't taking full advantage of technology when
it comes to fighting fraud, suggests a recently released report from
Boston-based research and advisory firm Celent. "There really isn't
much excuse for an insurance company to not be using some of these
technologies, depending on how big they are and what the extent of
their exposure is," says Donald Light, Celent senior analyst and
author of the report, "Insurance Fraud Mitigation: Beyond Red
Flags."
Fraud Techniques Evolve with Bank Products and
Defenses
Mario Bruno-Britz,
Bank Systems & Technology, May 5,
2007.
Fraud
likely has been around in some form for as long as people have been
using banking services. But while the crimes remain a constant for
financial institutions, the methods for perpetrating them have
become just as diverse as the products and services offered by
banks. Today's financial institutions have to be on their toes more
than ever to keep that one important step ahead of fraudsters.
Notable
Events
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