Customer-Driven Operations Management: Aligning Business Processes and Quality Tools to Create Operational Effectiveness in Your Company

by Ahoy, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780071608312
• ISBN10: 0071608311
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-12-17
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Summary

The global economy is witnessing previously unseen levels of competitiveness, forcing business leaders to contend with unprecedented challenges. No longer can companies seize and hold a customer base by operating adequately. In order to enjoy a competitive advantage, an organization must operate at exemplary levels of performance in every facet of business and maintain that degree of excellence indefinitely. This is achieved through careful alignment of operational systems and the use of innovative process management initiatives. "Unless an organization is uniquely qualified to deal with its customers by understanding its own strengths and weakness," writes internationally renowned operational management expert Christopher K. Ahoy, "it will be unable to understand what is required to move from the current paradigm of doing business."InCustomer-Driven Operations Management, Ahoy distills the most current business theories and practices that will help you weed out and eliminate operational inefficiencies and put in place the necessary metrics for providing products and services better, cheaper, and faster than ever. Ahoy walks you through the steps of creating a world-class organization, which include Mapping your company's processes to target weak points Realigning management systems from functional to process-focused Setting benchmarks throughout the process to help quantify levels of success Establish a system of knowledge management for the seamless alignment of teams and departments Improving process management using Lean, Six Sigma, and other methodologies Create a sound strategic planning initiative to eliminate future surprisesWith diagrams and figures to highlight salient points,Customer-Driven Operations Managementclarifies and simplifies the otherwise daunting task of enacting major changes in your company's operations systems.

Author Biography

Christopher K. Ahoy is associate vice president for Facilities Planning and Management at Iowa State University. An internationally recognized expert on quality initiatives, he is responsible for having his organization become a three-time recipient of the State of Iowa's State Baldrige, Iowa Recognition Performance Excellence Program Top Level Silver Award. .

Table of Contents

Where Does a World-Class Journey Begin?	p. 1
Creating a World-Class Organization	p. 35
Where to Start Your Journey	p. 63
Stages of Change	p. 77
Levels of Development	p. 89
Who Is The Customer?	p. 117
Customer Focus	p. 135
Organization Design	p. 157
Metrics	p. 177
Systems Approach and Filling in the Gaps	p. 185
Quality Tools	p. 199
Trends Facing a World-Class Journey	p. 219
Web Resources	p. 241
Glossary and Abbreviations	p. 243
Bibliography	p. 257
Index	p. 263
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