How to maximize Benefits from existing Processes and Systems

Over the years, corporations have implemented business processes and packaged information systems. Often old performance problems remained after implementation. Most corporations know that they have not maximized the potential from the investments, and need to improve the benefits received from processes and systems. Result-performance Management (R-pM) provides a breakthrough to maximize the benefits from existing business processes and information systems.

Understand the actual business

Every business in defined by the economic output results from business production and the capital utilized as performance solutions in business production. But, the actual business is hidden under processes and systems laid over the business. Results and performance are mixed together as performance in today’s processes and systems. This prevents managing and optimizing the performance utilized to produce high value-quality results within the processes and systems. In order to understand the actual business, output results must be organized and managed separate from the capital utilized as performance solutions.

Manage the business under the processes and systems

Now, using Result-performance Management (R-pM), there is a way to maximize the potential by integrating, and managing existing business processes and information systems as a result value-quality chain. Select a particularly inefficient business process and information system combination used to produce a specific final result such as product produced, fulfilled order, or customer need satisfied. Then apply normal R-pM to define the business hidden under the process as a result value-quality chain. Document the results produced in sequence across the process and the specific capital utilized as performance solutions to produce each result. The download “How to Build Value-quality Chains”, available now at result-performance-management.com, provides the details.

Define results to be produced

Once a business/system process is selected, analyze the process to define the specific economic output results that lead to the final result. Results are specific good or bad accomplishments and outcomes that can be identified and counted. Include results received from suppliers, such as material, components, packaging, outsourced results, etc that are transformed to be part of a final result. Include documents and discarded or waste items produced. If unsure if it is a result, include it. List the results with identifiers and descriptions.

Organize capital utilized

The specific capital utilized in the process likely is not defined or managed. Identify the business process as only the processing that produces a specific result and cannot be redeployed to produce another result. The business process includes the information system processing used to produce the result. Identify human capital utilized in the process and their particular roles and capabilities. Identify other capital such as cash, supplies, equipment, information, plans, etc that have a known cost. List the capital as specific performance solutions with identifiers and descriptors and identify the results from the result list that utilize the solution. Performance problems are problems with a specific performance solution. In order to identify and correct the problem the specific solution must be known and improved.

Build a value-quality chain

The sequence of results that produce a final result form a natural result chain. Relate the results by their interdependencies and precedence in the chain. Define the business and information system process as a value-quality chain that shows the sequence of results produced and the performance solutions utilized to produce each result. Analyze the chain to ensure it accurately reflects the way the business should be processed. Identify results that must be added to solve problems and results that do not add value and should be closed. Identify missing or ineffective solutions that must be added or improved. Identify and exclude any excess capital or low-worth capital that does not make a significant contribution to a result.

Define result value

Every result in the chain must have a value. The value of the result must exceed the cost of producing the result. The value can be determined in alternative ways, such as customer willingness to pay. Input results from suppliers have a value in the enterprise willingness to pay. The final result has a value in the customer willingness to pay. Internal results have a value in internal customer willingness to pay. If a customer, who uses a result in the chain, is unwilling to pay, the solutions utilized are redeployed and the result is closed. The value of input results and internal results cannot total more than the final result value. If it does the value of internal results must be reduced.

Define performance costs

Every solution utilized in the chain has a cost for development and on-going operation. Define a utilization cost for each solution for each result that utilizes the solution. Keep it simple at first with per result, hourly, or monthly costs that are reasonably accurate. Keep track of development costs for any new performance solutions acquired or developed.

Manage result value added

The result value less corresponding performance costs gives a result value-added. The performance costs of all solutions utilized per result or time period cannot exceed the corresponding value of the result. If total costs exceed result value the costs must be reduced, the result must be closed, or the result value must be increased and other result values in the chain decreased. Make sure each result in the chain has a positive value-added. This may require more result elimination, cost reductions, or result improvements to add more value to the final result.

Manage result quality

Results embody enterprise quality. Performance must be effective to produce a quality result. A defective result is caused by a defective input result or by an ineffective performance solution. The performance solutions producing the result are assessed to identify and correct the ineffective solution, or the chain is followed back to identify the defective result with the ineffective solution. Quality determinates and standards are gradually developed result by result in the chain.

Minimize performance and maximize results

R-pM is designed to minimize the performance needed to produce a high value-quality result. Instead of following a process focus on the results produced. Performance is managed result by result. The performance producing each result is minimized and defined as a performance module. Special attention is paid to result symptoms, a result is late, a customer is dissatisfied, standards are not maintained, etc. Result symptoms indicate a performance problem that must be solved. The human capital performance solution responsible for a result must produce the result effectively to maximize value and quality.

Use R-pM for all your business improvements

This article just scratches the surface on the use and power of R-pM to organize the enterprise business for 21^st Century Management. R-pM can be used for any business change. Use of R-pM for business change is described in the download “How to Manage Business Change”. R-pM is the only method to manage a business change or capital development project properly, as explained in the download “How to Manage Projects in the 21^st Century“. All uses of R-pM are supported by The R-PM Toolkit. There are currently over 500 pages describing implementation and use of R-pM in The R-PM Toolkit, your 21^st Century Management Manual.