PDF of this tutorialIf the reader’s scores on the self-assessment indicated that a revolution is required, the reader has achieved the first and perhaps the most important success criteria: recognition that change is needed. Without this, commitment to change will not occur.
Commitment is the second key to success. All senior executives of the business unit must put their full support behind efforts to implement change. Revolutions need leaders who can establish the vision, provide direction, prioritize work, establish accountability, and make resources available.
The third key to success is to adopt a proven process improvement methodology, a tool that can deliver on the vision. Like a computer-aided software engineering (CASE), computer-aided design (CAD), materials resource planning (MRP), or enterprise research planning (ERP) tool used to support a corporate function, a process improvement tool must be adopted to support change. Because process improvement is one of the most important tasks a business unit will undertake, one must make sure that one is armed with the right weapon.
The next section outlines a methodology that can be used to implement a successful business process revolution.
