Homework answers / question archive / Process Improvement       In the Week 3 Content, we cover Business Processes, including Process Improvement through streamlining and re-engineering, and process modeling of both the As-Is and the To-Be processes

Process Improvement       In the Week 3 Content, we cover Business Processes, including Process Improvement through streamlining and re-engineering, and process modeling of both the As-Is and the To-Be processes

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Process Improvement

Group 3:   Drawing from your own experience, select a process (a set of specified steps to accomplish a task) used at your place of work or in your interaction with a business that you would like to see improved and briefly describe the process.  Be sure you have identified a specific process rather than a general business problem or area. 

1)  Explain why you picked that process. 

2)  Explain the steps you might take to analyze how to improve the process.

3)  Who should be involved with you? 

4)  What are some of the questions you should ask about the current process? 

5)  How will you know if the process was actually improved?

First, we need to be sure you can identify a process; many students have difficulty with that, so refer to your class readings.  Be sure to pick a fairly narrow scope for your process – for example, processing an invoice for payment vs. Accounts Payable. I am also interested in the method to be used to improve the process, not a solution.  (For example, I am not looking for something like:  "The Café where I work is not selling enough coffee. We should use social media to advertise more."  The discussion here is about identifying a specific process and how a business would go about deciding how to improve that process, who should be involved, what should be considered, and what steps should be taken to be able to analyze the current process and plan for improvement.)  You should employ the techniques discussed in class or those that you find in your research.  Keep in mind that outside resources strengthen your responses.

Remember – the Group 3 initial posting is due by Friday midnight; it should be about two short paragraphs in length, supported by external research, and it should be posted by clicking on "Start a New Thread".  These postings need to thoroughly respond to the questions and incorporate relevant research correctly.  Please look at what has been posted by your classmates before choosing your examples, and then select something that has not yet been discussed, if possible. Let’s try to spread the discussion across as many examples as possible. 

Then members of Groups 1, 2 and 4 should reply to at least three different postings by other classmates before Tuesday midnight.  Responses to initial postings should be specific and assess whether posting accurately and sufficiently addresses the questions asked in the discussion topic and should incorporate relevant research correctly.  Explain your assessment as to why the information is or is not correct and/or complete, providing correct information to enhance the discussion. 

Members of Group 3 should read the responses and reply to a minimum of two responses, reacting to the response and furthering the discussion

All students have a responsibility to check back and see if any questions have been posed to them and to respond as you would in a classroom setting. Use the Grading Rubric posted in the Discussion area to ensure your posting meets the expectations.  Let’s have a great discussion and some interesting examples to take a look at improving business processes!