2012
A Practical Guide to Information Systems Process Improvement
Anita Cassidy and Keith Guggenberger, CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33431, 2001, 269 pp., $49.95. (book)
This book is a thorough compilation of methodology and supportive material to guide the reader through a structured process improvement.
The authors propose a seven-step process improvement methodology. This methodology involves a structured examination of the information systems (IS) department function through an ordered analysis and improvement of its processes. The first step reviews existing IS strategic planning documentation. This step cannot effectively occur without strategic planning already having been accomplished, as subsequent process improvements assume an alignment to organizational and departmental priorities, objectives and values.
The remaining steps in the methodology include process identification, selection, assessment, planning, future state (identification of process improvements) and implementation.
Supportive material is abundant throughout the book. The appendix supplements the text with sample surveys of customer satisfaction and departmental/environmental readiness, as well as with detailed listings of process characteristics, components, benefits and issues, all developed specifically for the IS function.
My only criticism is that with so much substantive material, the text could have been enhanced by additional narrative and, in particular, case studies. Regardless, A Practical Guide to Information Systems Process Improvement is strongly recommended.
Frank Giorgilli
Temple University Hospital
Philadelphia
Back to Basics: Your Guide to Manufacturing Excellence
Steven A. Melnyk and R.T. "Chris" Christensen, CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33431, 2000, 197 pp., $39.95. (book)
This book covers the basics, which at times can be violated during the implementation of the latest technology such as manufacturing resource planning, enterprisewide resource planning and supply chain management. Readers of this book will appreciate how hard the basics can be, but they will also understand profoundly that the basics work.
The first chapter clarifies the fundamental understanding of the basics and how the four pillars of excellence, bill of material, routings, inventory accuracy and demonstrated capacity,must be in place to let the work be done correctly. The focus in the second chapter is on the basics of problem solving for understanding the management of this work. The authors go on to factor in the manufacturing setting: job shop, batch, repetitive or process. Each chapter ends with a section on major lessons learned that nicely emphasizes the importance of the material.
Back to Basics is easy to read, not very long and recommended as a succinct treatment of production/inventory control for operations. Even though the focus is manufacturing, the principles are applicable to administrative processes and operations.
John J. Lanczycki Jr.
Creative Planners
Danbury, CT
ISO 9000 at the Front Line
William A. Levinson, ASQ Quality Press, 600 N. Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203, 2000, 150 pp., member $19.25, list $24. (book)
The author believes the people on the front line are in the best position to notice aspects of the quality system that do not comply with the requirements of ISO 9000. And he recommends that this book be used as a training tool in helping each worker better understand the ISO 9000 requirements. The author uses practical explanations and applications so workers can be empowered in the application of them.
The book takes into account the new 2000 revisions of ISO 9000. The standard itself is not duplicated in the book, but the author has presented and explained each clause of the standard in his own words. The book does not get into the intricate details of the standard but rather only those aspects that might apply directly to the production or service worker.
The meat of the book is found in chapter two where the author presents the underlying principles and goals of ISO 9000:2000 to the front-line worker.
I can see this book being used either to introduce workers to the ISO 9000 standards or as a refresher course for seasoned workers honing their skills.
The author, however, makes one statement I do not entirely agree with. He states, "The principal differences between ISO 9001:1994 and ISO 9001:2000 involve organization, not content."
I disagree with this statement, as there are numerous content changes to ISO 9001:2000 that need to be taken into account and explained to all levels of employees, including the front-line workers.
Wayne Sander
Dove Quality Consulting
Dousman, WI
Winning Score: How To Design and Implement Organizational Scorecards
Mark Graham Brown, Productivity Press, PO Box 13390, Portland, OR 97213-0390, 2000, 315 pp., $32.95. (book)
Winning Score will be valuable to anyone in the process of setting up or revising a scorecard. It provides a step by step outline on how to develop a well-rounded, functional scorecard and is one of the few texts I have seen that discusses the choice of performance metrics for a scorecard in depth and in practical terms.
Some of the discussion is a bit general and less detailed than I would have liked, but that is understandable due to the need for confidentiality in discussing particulars of past cases and clients and the desire to be applicable to and understood by a broad audience.
The information presented is well-organized and proceeds logically through three sections: Developing Operational Metrics, Developing Strategic Metrics and Implementing the Scorecard. There is also a section with case studies that are appropriate for different endeavors, both public and private and profit and nonprofit. Checklists are provided at the end of each chapter, and the process is presented in an easy to understand format.
Winning Score provides exactly what it purports to present, a process to design and implement an organizational scorecard.
Marc A. Feldman
Solvay Interox
Houston
Profit Beyond Measure: Extraordinary Results Through Attention to Work and People
H. Thomas and Anders Bröms, Free Press, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, 2000, 246 pp., $28.00. (book)
Take one part W. Edwards Deming, one part Toyota production system, add systems thinking and organizational learning, and you can begin to understand this book. Like Deming, Johnson and Bröms go far beyond the profit and loss (P&L) and balance sheet to look at organizational health. From the forward by Peter Senge to the extremely useful appendices, Profit Beyond Measure makes the point that management by results ends in chaos.
The new paradigm proposed by the authors is called management by means (MBM). It looks at the relationships within the production system to gauge its health and direction, not line items on the P&L. The key tools of MBM are a natural systems view of the organization and a unique view of money as the fuel for the union between a company and its customers.
MBM is a synthesis of Deming's System of Profound Knowledge and the extensions of it in Senge's Fifth Discipline, with a lot of practical examples brought to life in the form of the Toyota production system (in particular, the Georgetown, KY, model) and the modular production model of Scania.
MBM goes beyond lean manufacturing and value based management to get at the systems and subsystems of human interactions that produce wealth and sustain it. It is systems thinking--complex, natural systems thinking, with a twist: It is understandable and doable.
This book should be read by anyone who has bottom-line responsibility within a company. It is bound to become a landmark in the world of management.
John Zavacki
ITT Industries
New Lexington, OH
The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola and Other Top Companies Are Honing Their Performance
Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman and Roland R. Cavanagh, McGraw-Hill, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2298, 2000, 422 pp., $29.95. (book)
The Six Sigma Way is a comprehensive guide to the application of Six Sigma. The authors divide the application of Six Sigma into three parts covering basic fundamental concepts, ways to adapt Six Sigma to the reader's business and significant activities involved in utilizing Six Sigma. Each part contains practical examples of Six Sigma across various manufacturing and service industries.
The real life examples go a long way in explaining the many ways Six Sigma tools can be used across a wide range of industries. The authors' approach to Six Sigma is not to push a system that is one size fits all. Instead, the authors present alternative methods and concepts whenever possible.
As a guide to the implementation of Six Sigma, this book is an excellent choice. It provides a good overview as to what an organization needs in the way of commitment and resources to successfully implement the Six Sigma way of doing business.
If the reader is looking for a book that contains detailed explanations of the many tools used within Six Sigma, I would suggest looking elsewhere. This book will serve as a good road map to the implementation of Six Sigma.
Gene Placzkowski
S.C. Johnson Wax
Racine, WI
Recent Releases
Quality and Power in the Supply Chain: What Industry Does for the Sake of Quality, James Lamprecht, Butterworth-Heinemann, 225 Wildwood Ave., Woburn, MA 01801-2041, 2000, 219 pp., $29.95. (book)
Six Sigma for Leadership, Greg Brue, Six Sigma Consultants Inc., 8619 Tennyson N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87122, 2000, 320 pp., $69.95. (book)
Six Sigma for Team Members, Greg Brue and Morningstar Communication Group, Six Sigma Consultants Inc., 8619 Tennyson N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87122, 2000, 64 pp., $9.95. (book)
The Mahalanobis-Taguchi System, Genichi Taguchi, Subir Chowdhury and Yuin Wu, McGraw-Hill, Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2298, 2001, 190 pp., $49.95. (book)
The Road to Manufacturing Success: Common Sense Throughput Solutions for Small Business, Richard T. Lilly with Frank O. Smith, CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33431, 2001, 182 pp., $29.95. (book)
The Six Sigma Revolution: How General Electric and Others Turned Process Into Profits, George Eckes, John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158, 2001, 274 pp., $29.95. (book)
