Harmon on BPM

This month Harmon describes the overall manager that is used to describe how the manager of a business process works to assure that the process is working as it should. This management model provides the basis for all subsequent discussions of how process managers do their jobs.

Paul Harmon describes what managers are expected to do, and considers how process management fits within the overall managerial role.

Paul Harmon describes a new book he is working on and presents a bit from the book’s Introduction.

In his Column this month, Paul asks where business process improvement is today and where it’s likely to go next. You will want to read his surprising speculation on that question.

This month Paul turns his focus to Management processes which he believes are less understood than either manufacturing or service processes. Nonetheless, they are just as important to anyone who is engaged in trying to understand how businesses work and how they can be improved.

Systematic business process analysis and design began in the US at the beginning of the 20th century and was focused on the manufacturing process. In his Column this month, Paul suggests that at this point, we are all focused on service processes and learning more about how to help customers have good experiences. Read to learn why this is the case.

Paul takes on a discussion on everyone’s mind—the inevitable transition to a highly automated world. Although it will not occur overnight, it promises to be painful and frustrating. Nonetheless, Paul believes the more we automate, the cheaper valued goods and services become, and the sooner we can create better societies for all of us. Read this thoughtful and thought-provoking essay, and let us know your thoughts.

There are different ways to think about a business process–as a series of activities linked together to accomplish a goal.or as a series of decisions that result in a desired outcome. Paul contends that todays’ businesses are focused on using new Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to develop business decision systems which can be developed more quickly and are easier to maintain than older methods.

Leading economists have constantly predicted that investment in information systems would lead to major improvements in overall productivity. Posing a contrary viewpoint, other economists and IT specialists have undertaken studies that suggest that information systems is generating little or no increase in overall productivity. Paul presents 3 cases that provide some light on the subject.