Country Assistance Evaluation Retrospective: OED Self-Evaluation (Independent Evaluation Group Studies)

Country Assistance Evaluation Retrospective: OED Self-Evaluation (Independent Evaluation Group Studies) Review

This report is a self-evaluation of the Operations Evaluation Department's (OED) Country Assistance Evaluations (CAEs). CAEs examine World Bank performance in a particular country, usually over the past four to five years, and report on its conformity with the relevant Bank Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) and on the overall effectiveness of the specific CAS. This Retrospective addresses the question "What Have We Learned?" by compiling lessons relevant for developing country assistance strategies from the most recent batch of CAEs. Second, it assesses revisions to the CAE process, methodology, and presentation to answer the question "How Can the CAE Instrument Be Improved?"

Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process

Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process Review

Managing to Learn by Toyota veteran John Shook, reveals the thinking underlying the vital A3 management process at the heart of lean management and lean leadership. Constructed as a dialogue between a manager and his boss, the book explains how A3 thinking helps managers and executives identify, frame, and then act on problems and challenges. Shook calls this approach, which is captured in the simple structure of an A3 report, the key to Toyota's entire system of developing talent and continually deepening its knowledge and capabilities. The A3 Report is a Toyota-pioneered practice of getting the problem, the analysis, the corrective actions, and the action plan down on a single sheet of large (A3) paper, often with the use of graphics. A3 paper is the international term for a large sheet of paper, roughly equivalent to the 11-by-17-inch U.S. sheet. The widespread adoption of the A3 process standardizes a methodology for innovating, planning, problem-solving, and building foundational structures for sharing a broader and deeper form of thinking that produces organizational learning deeply rooted in the work itself, says Shook. Management expert James Womack predicts Managing to Learn will have a deep impact on the way lean companies manage people. He believes readers will learn an underlying way of thinking that reframes all activities as learning activities at every level of the organization, whether it's standardized work and kaizen at the individual level, system kaizen at the managerial level, or fundamental strategic decisions at the corporate level. A unique layout puts the thoughts of a lean manager struggling to apply the A3 process to a key project on one side of the page and the probing questions of the boss who is coaching him through the process on the other side. As a result, readers learn how to write a powerful A3 - while learning why the technique is at the core of lean management and lean leadership.

Building Engaged Team Performance: Align Your Processes and People to Achieve Game-Changing Business Results

Building Engaged Team Performance: Align Your Processes and People to Achieve Game-Changing Business Results Review

Harness the Power of Your Most Valuable Resource—Your Workforce!

Process improvement approaches like Six Sigma and Lean Enterprise have worked wonders for countless organizations, but in the drive for true excellence, these approaches are only one important part of the formula.

Building Engaged Team Performance explains the next wave of business improvement: driving breakthrough gains by integrating process improvement with “the people side” of performance.

Breaking new ground in the world of organizational improvement, performance management expert Dodd Starbird teams up with Roland Cavanagh, coauthor of the bestselling The Six Sigma Way, to present a system for aligning and optimizing processes and the efforts of any organization’s most valuable asset: people.

Combining the principles from Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, Lean, and Socio-Technical Systems, Engaged Team Performance helps you harness the massive potential of human performance that is not captured by process improvements alone. Illustrated through real-life stories, Building Engaged Team Performance offers a stepby- step program that shows you how you can more than double the productivity of your business. The authors’ client examples are a diverse group of transactional and manufacturing organizations that have used Engaged Team Performance to:

• Increase employee efficiency by 50% and save millions of dollars
• Consistently deliver on critical customer requirements
• Provide visual data for instant decision making• Create realistic staffing models for sustainable capacity
• Establish standards for both team and individual performance
• Develop leadership that facilitates team ownership of execution

Building Engaged Team Performance provides the tools for building a superior system that optimizes effectiveness of outcomes for customers and efficiency of resource usage. Never before have human performance and process improvement been so closely linked in a single, sustainable method. Catch the next wave of business improvement with Engaged Team Performance.

Praise for Building Engaged Team Performance

“The Engaged Team Performance effort that we undertook has allowed us to reshape our process from start to finish and improve both productivity and the communication among multiple departments.”
Art Bacci, President & CEO, Principal Bank

“This book provides practical insights on building competencies of change leaders throughout the organization.”
Dr. William D. Trotter, Managing Director, Association of Internal Management Consultants (AIMC)

“By embedding these concepts into organizational culture, systems, and processes, a group of individuals may become a winning team.”
Dan Bell, President, Canon Information Technology Services

“When I led a division at GE during the heyday of Six Sigma, process excellence and team performance were both critical; yet they were considered different disciplines, supported by separate infrastructure. Engaged Team Performance combines and aligns the best of both, and it delivers even better results.”
C. Lewis Fain, President, Mortgage Payment Protection, Inc.

“If your strategic vision includes words like growth, customer loyalty, value creation, responsiveness, quality, expertise, partnership, accountability, efficiency, or best in class, then Building Engaged Team Performance has to be part of the foundation. Without it you’re just creating a house of cards.”
Rick Larson, CEO, VFD Technologies

IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects

IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects Review

Consistent success does not happen by chance. It occurs by having an understanding of what is happening in the environment and then having the skills to execute the necessary changes.

Ideal for project, IT, and systems development managers, IT Best Practices: Management, Teams, Quality, Performance, and Projects details the skills, knowledge, and attributes needed to succeed in bringing about large-scale change. It explains how to incorporate quality methods into the change management process and outlines a holistic approach for transformation management.

Detailing time-tested project management techniques, the book examines management skills with a focus on systems thinking to offer a pragmatic look at effecting change. Its comprehensive coverage spans team building, quality, project methodology, resource allocation, process engineering, and management best practices. The material covered is validated with references to concepts and processes from such business greats as Dr. Deming, Jack Welch, and Henry Ford. Readers will learn the history behind the concepts discussed along with the contributions made by these great minds.

The text supplies an awareness of the factors that impact performance in today’s projects to supply you with the real-world insight needed to bring about large-scale change in your organization. Although it is geared around change, most of the concepts discussed can be directly applied to improve efficiencies in your day-to-day activities.

Managing Financial Information in the Trade Lifecycle: A Concise Atlas of Financial Instruments and Processes (The Elsevier and Mondo Visione World Capital Markets)

Managing Financial Information in the Trade Lifecycle: A Concise Atlas of Financial Instruments and Processes (The Elsevier and Mondo Visione World Capital Markets) Review

Managing Financial Information in the Trade Lifecycle discusses the present and future of financial data management by focusing on the lifecycle of the financial instruments (stocks, bonds, options, derivatives) that generate and require data to keep the markets moving. This book is a concise reference manual of the financial information supply chain and how to maximize effectiveness and minimize cost.

*First book fully dedicated to financial information supply chain and how to manage it effectively
*Addresses hot topics that readers need to know: regulatory reporting regulations, data pooling, hubs, and data excahnges
*Draws from actual lessons learned and presents many real-life scenarios of the business

The Certified Quality Process Analyst Handbook

The Certified Quality Process Analyst Handbook Review

This new handbook was developed to assist those preparing for the Certified Quality Process Analyst certification. It covers the certification Body of Knowledge explicitly and comprehensively. The book and certification are aimed at the paraprofessional who, in support of and under the direction of quality engineers or supervisors, analyzes and solves quality problems and is involved in quality improvement projects. This book is perfect for both recent graduates and those with work experience who want to expand their knowledge of quality tools and processes.

Lean Six Sigma Using SigmaXL and Minitab

Lean Six Sigma Using SigmaXL and Minitab Review

Effectively Execute Lean Six Sigma Projects using SigmaXL and Minitab

Written by a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a Ph.D., this practical guide to Lean Six Sigma project execution follows the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) roadmap. The many real-world examples used in the book offer in-depth theoretical analyses and are implemented using the two most popular statistical software suites--SigmaXL and Minitab. This expert resource covers Lean topics ranging from basic data analysis to complex design of experiments and statistical process control. Harness the power of SigmaXL and Minitab and enable sustained positive operational results throughout your organization with help from this authoritative guide.

Lean Six Sigma Using SigmaXL and Minitab explains how to:

• Define the project goals, project manager, value statement, stakeholders, and risk
• Schedule tasks using the Gantt chart, critical path analysis, and program evaluation and review technique
• Capture the voice of internal and external customers
• Assess the cost of quality
• Gather data and measure process performance
• Perform process capabilities analysis
• Apply Lean Six Sigma metrics to determine baseline performance
• Implement analysis techniques such as Pareto analysis, value stream mapping, failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA), and  regression analysis
• Identify constraints via factorial experiments, and implement process improvements
• Monitor production performance using statistical process control

 

Business Succession Planning For Dummies

Business Succession Planning For Dummies Review

The fast and easy way to get a handle on business succession planning

While the demand for effective managers continues to grow, the retirement of baby boomers is producing a sharp decline in the ranks of available management personnel. In addition, the executives of the future are expected to be more sophisticated in order to develop and lead new global and technological initiatives. For these reasons, strategic and often long-sighted succession planning for the eventual replacement of managers at all levels has reached a critical level.

Business Succession Planning For Dummies aids managers, human resource professionals, and upper management in cultivating and retaining their existing employees to ensure the availability and capability of persons to assume leadership roles in the future. In plain English, it prepares business owners to ask the difficult questions when it comes to developing a working succession plan for their businesses key positions. This book also offers information on how to retain and train personnel within an organization so that a more seamless transition can be made when a senior leader or other important personnel retires or leaves the organization.

• How to retain and train personnel for a more seamless transition
• Easy-to-follow guidance on developing a working succession plan
• Tips to create a plan to save time, money, knowledge, and clients by hiring from within

If you're a manager or human resources professional looking to develop a working succession plan, this hands-on, friendly guide has you covered.

The Quality Solution: The Stakeholder's Guide to Improving Health Care

The Quality Solution: The Stakeholder's Guide to Improving Health Care Review

Poor Healthcare Quality Is A Public Health Emergency. The Institute Of Medicine Called The Substantial Gulf Between The Vision Of Ideal Care And The Reality Of What Most Individuals Receive A Quality Chasm. The Quality Solution Enlightens, Informs, And Challenges Professionals In Public Health, Medicine, Health Administration, And Health Law To Bridge This Chasm And To Participate In The Transformation Of The Healthcare System Through The Science Of Healthcare Quality-Measurement And Improvement. Through The Contributions Of A Knowledgeable And Experienced Panel Of Authors, The Quality Solution Profiles Initiatives Of The Key Healthcare Stakeholders--Consumers, Payers, Healthcare Providers, And Employers--And How They Can Work Together To Improve Healthcare Quality.

Improved Policy Analysis and Management in Southern Africa: Rethinking Policy Analysis and Management Framework (Managing the Public Service: Strategies for Improvement Series)

Improved Policy Analysis and Management in Southern Africa: Rethinking Policy Analysis and Management Framework (Managing the Public Service: Strategies for Improvement Series) Review

Many governments are indecisive about the role of the state in this era of rapid change, and a new policy development and management paradigm is emerging-a transition from administration to management is under way. This book offers a practical framework within which policy can be conceptualized, formulated, implemented and evaluated.

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement Review

SPC METHODS FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

A comprehensive, applications-oriented guide to classical and cutting-edge SPC tools and techniques

Written by a leading innovator in the field, SPC Methods for Quality Improvement provides a complete blueprint for integrating SPC methods into the manufacturing process. It explains methods for improving existing SPC systems and describes cutting-edge techniques that enable managers to develop full-fledged SPC systems in industries that traditionally were considered off-limits to this type of statistical analysis.

The only guide to SPC geared exclusively to the practical concerns of manufacturing professionals, it translates statistical/mathematical concepts into real-world applications with the help of dozens of case studies and examples drawn from a variety of industries.

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement is also a superb introductory text for students and newcomers to SPC. The author patiently introduces readers to essential SPC concepts and procedures and provides methodical, step-by-step instruction in the proper use of SPC tools and techniques.

In the 1920s and 30s, Walter Shewhart of Bell Telephone Laboratories developed Statistical Process Control (SPC) as a means of analyzing manufacturing processes at the shop-floor level. Shewhart and his disciples—most notably W. Edwards Deming, father of total quality management—realized that SPC provided a sophisticated tool for assessing and improving quality at all levels. SPC, therefore, was the backbone of the quality management revolution of the 1980s and 90s. Yet, until now, there was no comprehensive, practical guide to SPC methods for engineers and managers working in manufacturing.

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement fills that vacuum with complete coverage of SPC concepts, tools, and techniques geared to the practical concerns of manufacturing professionals. Dr. Charles Quesenberry introduces all statistical/mathematical essentials and carefully explains the rationale behind each concept. He employs vivid case studies to show how these concepts translate into real-world applications. Using examples drawn from a broad array of industries—from semiconductors to food processing, biomedical engineering to education—he deftly illustrates how SPC methods can streamline the manufacturing process and improve product quality.

SPC Methods for Quality Improvement provides detailed, step-by-step guidance on the uses of both classical and second-generation SPC methods. Among cutting-edge methods described are those for charting processes without prior data, charting processes from start-up, and charting short runs with known false alarm rates. Readers also learn methods for studying the form of a reference distribution; how to use transformations to Q-statistics for various models; how to treat data from skewed distributions; and new ways of treating regression, multivariate, and autocorrelated data.

An excellent text/primer for students and those new to SPC, SPC Methods for Quality Improvement is also a valuable guide for industrial and production engineers and managers who wish to improve existing SPC systems or to introduce SPC methods into industries where they were once inapplicable.

Software Management Approaches: Project Management, Estimation, and Life Cycle Support: Software Best Practice 3

Software Management Approaches: Project Management, Estimation, and Life Cycle Support: Software Best Practice 3 Review

This book is a result of the European Experience Exchange (EUREX) project sponsored by the European Systems and Software Initiative for Software Best Practice in Europe. The EUREX project analyzed the industrial and economic impact and the similarities and differences between and among more than 300 Software Process Improvement Experiments sponsored by the EU. The current volume offers a variety of perspectives on software project management, cost estimation, and software life cycle support. These areas have a significant impact on the success of a software development project and present a high potential for improvement. This book is particularly meaningful for software practitioners in small and medium- sized enterprises, including both developers and line managers.

Mastering Lean Product Development: A Practical, Event-Driven Process for Maximizing Speed, Profits, and Quality

Mastering Lean Product Development: A Practical, Event-Driven Process for Maximizing Speed, Profits, and Quality Review

As competition in the manufacturing sector intensifies, excellence in new product development has become a mandate. Renowned author, educator, and lean product development expert Ron Mascitelli takes the reader through his Event-Driven Lean Product Development process, from its beginnings in innovation, effective problem-solving, knowledge creation, and organizational learning, through to the rapid commercialization of highly successful products. This proven and practical approach balances all aspects of market success: customer value, profitability, time-to-market, and quality. Specific topics covered in this Event-Driven Lean Product Development framework include: - Selecting and prioritizing new product opportunities that have a high probability of market success. - Optimizing the productivity of finite development resources, and arbitrating resource conflicts in a multi-project environment. - Implementation of a practical, flexible, event-driven process that ensures the highest degree of cross-functional collaboration at every stage in new product development. - Managing the day-to-day efforts of developers and project teams through Visual Workflow Management. - Capturing the voice-of-the-customer in every new product by systematically identifying and ranking differentiation opportunities. - Building a realistic project schedule that is created and owned by the developers themselves. - Proactively identifying project risks and mitigating them through systematic (A3) problem-solving. - Employing rapid cycles of learning and set-based design to close knowledge gaps and build a foundation of high-value knowledge for future projects. - Implementing the Production Process Preparation (3P) methodology to maximize the manufacturability and quality of each new product. Mastering Lean Product Development represents the definitive roadmap to achieving breakthroughs in speed, efficiency, and customer value for any firm engaged in new product development.

Business Processes : Modelling and Analysis for Re-Engineering and Improvement

Business Processes : Modelling and Analysis for Re-Engineering and Improvement Review

After carefully establishing the objectives of modelling, the author presents a process modelling method, STRIM, and notations which has been developed by Praxis during the last few years. Ould provides detailed descriptions of the notations and the modelling technique along with examples of its use for a variety of purposes. Covers the full method--from organising a modelling project through process analysis to process support system development. can be used by practitioners who have no prior knowledge of the area.

The Ph.D. Process: A Student's Guide to Graduate School in the Sciences

The Ph.D. Process: A Student's Guide to Graduate School in the Sciences Review

This guide is a lively chronicle of the graduate school years that describe the intellectual and emotional experience of obtaining a PhD in a scientific field. Readers will learn what to expect from professors and advisors, and how to prepare for oral exams, simplify the dissertation writing, reap the long-term benefits of the PhD process and acquire strategies for survival and success. Tips on applying, and information for foreign students, are included.

Strategic Benchmarking Reloaded with Six Sigma: Improving Your Company's Performance Using Global Best Practice

Strategic Benchmarking Reloaded with Six Sigma: Improving Your Company's Performance Using Global Best Practice Review

A new update of the classic text on benchmarking

Strategic Benchmarking Reloaded with Six Sigma updates benchmarking, the revolutionary business performance methodology, by adding statistical concepts from Six Sigma. These two methodologies combine to form a powerful platform for improving any company's overall performance. This new revision reviews the first twenty-five years of development in benchmarking and features new appendices, case studies, and topics, making this the most complete and comprehensive coverage of the subject available.

Topics include:
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Stimulating business improvement with benchmarking
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Linking Six Sigma to strategic planning and benchmarking
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Understanding the essence of process benchmarking
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Making statistical comparisons in benchmarking
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Applying benchmarking results for maximum utility
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Reviewing lessons learned from old case studies
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Conducting a strategic benchmarking study
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Performing an operational benchmarking study
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Mainstreaming benchmarking into strategic planning
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Creating a sustainable benchmarking capability
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Plus: appendices covering the benchmarking code of conduct, operating procedures, and Web resources

Business Process Improvement Workbook: Documentation, Analysis, Design, and Management of Business Process Improvement

Business Process Improvement Workbook: Documentation, Analysis, Design, and Management of Business Process Improvement Review

This book enables you to improve quality, productivity, and competitiveness the business process improvement way. With this hands-on workbook in business process improvement, a major best-seller in four languages, world-renowned quality authority H. James Harrington revealed his methods for vastly improving business performance. Businesses that implemented Dr. Harrington's methods - including Boeing, IBM, and Corning Glass - realized enormous improvements in productivity. Now in "Business Process Improvement Workbook", Dr. Harrington and his coauthors give all businesses the tools to put his breakthrough approach to work for greater efficiency, strategies, charts, forms, lists, macros for PC use, overviews, and diagrams you need - to start streamlining your business today. This Workbook shows you precisely how to: understand and set process improvement goals; eliminate bureaucracies, duplication, and obsolescence; evaluate information management; research cycle time; analyze functions and tasks in administration; measure accuracy, thoroughness, and reliability in data processing - rank cost/productivity relationships; find opportunities for standardization; evaluate technological enablers; interview and collect data profitably; and far more. For all business leaders - whether your firm in large or small - this is the premier one-step-at-a-time guide to better business performance and greater customer satisfaction.