Book Reviews
This section reviews a few reengineering text books as well as other related published materials.
The Reengineering Revolution - A Handbook by Michael Hammer & Steven A Stanton1995 HarperCollins Pub Inc. NY, NY
Good book for a where to begin overview and definition of what process reengineering is. The book gives some practice examples and ideas of what not to do. It is a little bit unrealistic in parts but if you have no background in reengineering it is a good place to start. The top ten ways to fail at reengineering page 33 are ones definitely not to miss (you do not want to be one of those victims). This book concentrates heavily on the management and people side of reengineering.
The Customer Driven Company Moving from Talk to Action by Richard C. Whiteley The Forum Corporation Press.
What I particularly liked about this book was the why behind the whole reengineering effort i.e. the customer! This book has a good background in getting information from customers and figuring out why you are reengineering. The section on measurement of the improvement efforts was good as well.
5 principles of Measurement: (page 151)
| Know why you’re measuring |
| Let customers tell you which end results to measure |
| Ask continuously how well you and your competitors are doing. |
| Track the internal procedures that are supposed to produce the results the customers tell you they want-as well as the end results. |
| Tell your people everything you learn. |
Corporate Renaissance the Art of Reengineering by Kelvin Cross, John Feather, and Richard Lynch 1994 Blackwell Publishers Cambridge, MA
This book was very good, in particular with technical and practical tools and forms for business. Some of the best topics covered in this book are:
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Shows how to draw a service system map |
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Give form examples for how to design and Option/Ideas Summary Sheet |
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Designing contemporary measures of performance |
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How and what to measure |
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Describes in depth the continuous improvement feedback loop |
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Describes and gives examples for the pilot team experience (too many books leave this very critical step out or do not devote any time to it, implementation is the end goal not just redesigning the whole process). |
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How to staff during the implementation phase. |
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How to combat resistance |
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Describes organizational Morphing |
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Force field analysis to determine when to restructure an organization. |
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The transition team experience was excellent. |
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Preparing Manager to lead and motivate the troops section including the Diagnostic Journey, Remedial Journey was great. |
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Voice of the Customer Analysis section especially Step 3 the Transform the "voice of the Customer" into Requirements. |
Envisioning Information Presenting Data and Information by Edward R. Tufte Graphics Press Cheshire, CT 1990
This book is not an easy read but it has many ideas that are practical for both reengineering projects as well as for business presentations in general. Mr. Tufte has many good points about how to delivery information for presentations so that the message is clear. Good presentation skills are one skill that every reengineering team needs. Teams are always justifying their decisions to higher management or explaining why certain decisions were made to end users. The following are just a few "rules" from Tufte’s book.
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"The New Non-Manager Manager" by Brian Dumain Fortune Magazine February 22, 1993
This article primarily discusses the every shrinking levels of middle management. The later part of the article contains a short but good survey to help determine if your company is a breakthrough company. This tool can be used to help start the reengineering assessment process by seeing what the overall weak points of your organization.
Is Your Company a Break through Company
Meetings: Do’s, Don’ts and Donuts The Complete Handbook for Successful Meetings by Sharon M. Lippinocott. Lighthouse Point Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1994
Even though this book is not centered on reengineering most initiatives take part by teams who hole frequent meetings. This is an excellent book with many tips on how to get started on a good note. It covers such topics as setting objectives, alternatives to holding meetings, where to meet, where to sit, roles, leadership issues, agendas, killer phrases, personal preparation, how to avoid being interrupted, plan do check act, and planning business meetings to name a few.
This book can also be applied to many other area of business. Some of the best topics were Meeting Don’ts and ground rules (post these in your meeting room), how to plan different types of meetings (preparation is key), how to combat process sabotage and control meetings, and how to take meeting notes (their form example is a good one). This is an easy to read book with lots of practical examples to choose from and implement in your reengineering meetings, the meeting trouble shooting section is also helpful to increase team productivity and eliminate any ruts that the group may be in.
Ten Steps to a Learning Organization by Peter Kline and Bernard Saunders Great Ocean Publishers Inc. Arlington, Virginia 1993
This book uses knowledge and learning theories to discuss a company renaissance. This book contains a really good learning assessment sheet for any organization (see pages 38 – 40). There is a really good example of mind mapping on pages 166-167 which illustrates the concept and gives how to examples. This is also helpful with initial reengineering brainstorming sessions. There is also a section on systems thinking which is very good (pages 210 – 214) which give twenty questions about your systems. These questions are good for determining where the current process at your organization is failing and where it is succeeding. Overall, this was a very thought-provoking book that builds on TQM and reengineering ideas.
20 Questions About Your Systems
Learning Organization Assessment
Strategic Management 6th Edition by Fred R. Davis, Editor. Simon Schuster Publisher, 1997, Upper Saddle River, NJ
This textbook gives good tips on how to analyze a business policy case in its appendix, that is applicable for reengineering teams.
50 Tips For Case Study Analysis