Business
Process Management Articles
Discovering & Hiring Collaborative
Leaders
David Spann, Agile Adaptive
Management, BPM Institute Newsletter and Website, August 26th,
2008.
Many companies which have begun applying lean or agile
practices in their work place are now finding they need to
reconsider who they hire to fill the more collaborative and
facilitative roles required by those methodologies. It takes
new leadership behaviors in concert with the innovative technical
practices to really make these methodologies work
well.
The Service Portfolio of a BPM Center of
Excellence
Michael
Rosemann, Queensland University of Technology, BPTrends
Newsletter and Website, September
2, 2005.
Managers newly in charge of the setup and delivery of the
enterprise-wide Business Process Management (BPM) capabilities in an
organization often struggle with the identification of theactivities
as being part of their role. A set of fifteen distinct BPM services
is described; from this, managers can select the potential services
on offer by a centralized BPM Center of Excellence (aka BPM Support
Office).
Process Architecture: Seven
Essentials
Karen Tricomi, BPM Institute Website and Newsletter, August
19, 2008.
An Enterprise
Process Architecture provides the context and
cross-functional glue within which the work that has already been
done can be leveraged to gain efficiencies and contribute to the
bottom line.
Detail Process Charts – A Common Ground forBusiness
and Development
Ben Graham,
Ben Graham Consulting, BPTrends Newsletter and Website, September 2,
2008.
When
our processes are transparent, the problems become apparent. As our
processes became more dependent on technology and organizations we
became increasingly enamored with that technology, we lost track of
the fundamental characteristic of process mapping, which was the
charting of real things. We backed off from the detail and tried to
understand processes with charts that were high level arrangements
of functions that did not enable us to see the delays, redundancies,
complexity and confusion that our well-intended systems were
creating in our processes.
10 Mistakes To Avoid in a Business Intelligence
Delivery
Lalitha Chikatur, DM Review Newsletter and
Website, September 16, 2008.
Every
data warehousing (DW) and business intelligence (BI) project,
whether successful or not, teaches us something. It is generally on
failures that we base our new success. Having said that, it’s not
always necessary that you fail to learn; you can also learn from
other’s failures, 10 of which are discussed here.
Role-Based Business Intelligence
Enables Independent Analysis
Jeremy Dean,DM Review
Website and Newsletter, September 9,
2008
People, not technology, are the decision-makers in a
business. Therefore, business intelligence (BI) technology should
make it possible for people - the actual end users - to acquire
role-specific data upon which business decisions can be based.
Operational Performance: What Sets
Best-In-Class Companies Apart?
David Hatch,
Aberdeen Group, Intelligent Enterprise Newsletter and
Website, September 22,
2008.
Businesses thrive or
fail based on their ability to identify, define, track, and act upon
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Executives and line-of-business
management are increasingly feeling the pressure to enable timelier
and more accurate decisions in order to improve operational
efficiencies. The faster and more accurately KPIs can be accessed,
reviewed, analyzed, and acted upon, the better an organization can
manage day-to-day operations and customer interactions. Companies
are focusing on obtaining solutions that address specific business
pressures driving operational performance
today.
Coach-like Mentors Achieve Greater
Effectiveness
Julie English, Lynn Lanoue, Leadership
Cooperative, iSixSigma Newsletter and Website, September 22
2008.
Many
people suggest that coaching and mentoring are one and the same. But
when looking at the definitions for the two positions, it is clear
there are some differences in the focus of their work. The bottom
line: coaching is not telling, and mentoring is not coaching. But as
a mentor, Black Belts have the experience and the map - and it can
pay off to experiment with the value of being a coach-like mentor.
Using a coaching perspective will increase the effectiveness of the
team and the impact of the solutions.
Business
Process Outsourcing Articles
7 Sins of Offshore
Outsourcing
Geraldine Fox, Nigel Hughes, Baseline
Magazine and Website, September 2,
2008.
The
mistakes organizations make when implementing and managing offshore
and outsourcing initiatives can be understood in the context of the
seven deadly sins. Offshore outsourcing, offshore development and
moving jobs offshore can have significant cost reductions when
adopting a fix and mix approach. This involves an analysis and
improvement of operations prior to offshoring (fix), followed by a
movement of specific functions offshore where appropriate
(mix).
Earn While You Train - A New
Mantra?
ValueNotes
Newsletter and Website,
August 20, 2008.
Many
BPO vendors have realized that the current Indian educational system
is ineffective in meeting the demand for quality manpower. Thus,
large part of the training provided by IT-BPO companies deals with
training people to a minimum quality standard. The common
prerequisites for entry level services across domains coupled with
the ease of isolating training requirement has created opportunities
for outsourcing of training
activities.
Indian BPO Sector Plugging into New Growth
Areas
Harsimran Singh,
Economic Time Newspaper and Website, August 17
2008.
It’s a success story whose plot may
see some sudden turns. India’s BPO industry is set to see a logjam
as it braces up for tough times owing to lack of new business additions, economic slowdown in the US and
increasing competition from other countries such as Vietnam and the
Philippines.
Top 10 Hidden Costs of
Outsourcing
David Brown, CIO
Insight Newsletter and Website,
September 9, 2008
Businesses
often make avoidable mistakes in crafting and executing their
outsourcing plans. Here’s a list of typical pitfalls—and how your
company can avoid them.
Part 1 - How to Apply 6 Sigma Quality Practices to Your
Business
Linh C. Ho, eWeek Newsletter and
Website, Jan 4,
2008.
This is the first installment in a series of three
articles on implementing Six Sigma quality practices from Linh Ho, a
world-renowned authority on Six Sigma, and co-author of one of the
leading books on Six Sigma best
practices.
Part 2. Six Sigma Techniques For IT
Management
Linh C. Ho, eWeek
Newsletter and Website,
Jan 28, 2008.
This is the
second part of Linh Ho’s series on how you can apply Six Sigma
techniques in the real world. Six Sigma may be the single most
important quality method to be developed in the world of
manufacturing. Now it’s time to apply it to
IT.
Part 3. How to Use Six Sigma to Complement ITIL
v3
Linh C. Ho, eWeek Newsletter and
Website, Jan 28,
2008.
This is the
final instalment in the three-part series on Six Sigma as it applies
to Information Technology. In this part, author Linh Ho explains how
you can apply Six Sigma practices to the Infrastructure Library.
Notable
News
The Impact of the Credit Crunch on
BPO
John Willmott, CIO
Mid-Market Newsletter and Website, September, 2008.
The first reaction of most commentators is that
the credit crunch will automatically lead to increased outsourcing
as organizations seek to reduce their cost bases. NelsonHall CEO
John Willmott looks a little deeper.
Whether You Agree With Globality Or Disagree, Don't
Ignore It
Knowledge@Wharton Newsletter and Website,
August 20, 2008.
If business is supposed to slacken during the
sweltering days of August, that message has failed to reach Embraer,
the aircraft maker based in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. Earlier
this month the company -- it is the world's fourth largest plane
manufacturer -- said it had doubled its net income in the second
quarter to $134 million and delivered 52 aircraft, compared with 36
during the same period last year. At a time when airlines all over
the world are reeling from the double whammy of high oil prices and
a faltering economy, Embraer expects to deliver an impressive 200
aircraft. Its backlog of orders stands at a robust $20.7
billion.
Remember Common Cause Variation in Fight Against
Waste
How Tzek Chong, Hitachi Global Storage Technology,
iSixSigma Newsletter and Website, September 29,
2008.
Ideally, practitioners want an error rate to
be at 0 percent. But if an error rate is steadily hovering at about
2 percent, it is fair to say that the errors are due to common cause
variation. If the error rate suddenly surges beyond its usual level,
however, it is probably due to some change to the product, such as
variations in material, workmanship or test codes. This change is
called special cause variation. Practitioners typically
approach these forms of variation differently, with special cause
variation taking priority. But it may be profitable for
practitioners and company leaders to reconsider their focus and pay
closer attention to variation stemming from common
causes.
Project Management Plays an Important Role in Six
Sigma
Tania Salarvand, Valeocon Management Consulting,
iSixSigma Europe Newsletter and Website, September 3,
2008.
While Black
Belts are technically advanced in the Six Sigma methodology, this
does not automatically translate to good project management skills.
Black Belts often are not ready to fill the shoes of project
manager. Depending on someone without the right skills to coordinate
and manage a project may be detrimental to an improvement
effort -- in terms of time, budget, risk and metrics needed to
show business results.
11 Geek Visionaries Who Created Technology We Can't
Live Without
Diann
Daniel, GE Healthcare, iSixSigma Healthcare
Newsletter and
Website, September 24,
2008.
Can't
imagine life without e-mail, your cell phone, and the Internet?
Luckily, these technology visionaries couldn't
either.
Insurers Shift To Customer-focused Predictive
Analytics Technologies
Nathan Conz,
Insurance and Technology, September 02,
2008.
More than a few
insurers these days are beginning to think about their businesses in
a fundamentally different way. Technology advances outside the
industry have not only changed the way people shop for insurance and
other financial products, but also raised the bar in terms of
service and support. Customers are expecting more from their
insurers than they might have even five or 10 years ago
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Process First: Achieving Maximum Product
Speed-to-Market
Anthony O'Donnell, Insurance
and Technology, September 01,
2008.
Chicago-based property and casualty
insurer CNA (approximately $10 billion in annual premium
revenue) is not unique in recognizing a market opportunity —
if not necessity — in being able to deliver products to market
more quickly. The carrier also resembles its competitors in
appreciating product configuration technology as a key success
factor in speeding the product development process. Where CNA
has distinguished itself is in realizing where that technology
fits within the larger picture of product
development. |
Wingspan Portfolio Advisors Launches to Help Mortgage
Lenders Deal with Delinquent
Loans
Peggy Bresnick-Kendler, Bank Systems & Technology,
September 30, 2008.
Dallas-area mortgage servicing specialist,
Wingspan Portfolio Advisors (Carrollton, Tex.), has been formed to
now lenders and servicers beset by seriously delinquent loans. The
service applies a borrower-focused servicing methodology and is
aimed at mitigating losses and helping borrowers achieve full
payment status. This results in "re-performing" loans for lenders
who appeared unable to save the transactions from foreclosure.
Notable
Events
BPM Think Tank 2008
October 6 - October 7, 2008. Chicago, IL. Object
Management Summit.
Global Lean, Six Sigma, and Business Improvement
Summit & Awards
October
14 - October 17, 2008. Orlando, FL.
WCBF.
The Performance Conference
2008
October
20 - October 22, 2008. Las Vegas, NV.
ASMI.
9th Annual Business Process Management
Summit
October
27 - October 30, 2008. Las Vegas, NV.
IQPC
Harnessing the Potential of Business Process
Management
October 28 - October 31, 2008. Sydney,
Australia. ARK Group
The 2008 Lean Six Sigma Summit for Service and
Transactional Environments
December 11 - December 12, 2008. Washington, D.C.
ASMI
10th
Annual Lean, Six Sigma, and Process Improvement Summit
January 18 - January22, 2009, Orlando, FL.
IQPC
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