I would like to assemble a list of quality resources to help educate
managers and team leaders within my organisation on how to improve
their business processes. My organisation is based in Australia.

I consider "improving" a business process to mean any activity aimed at
- speeding up a process
- reducing the costs associated with executing a process
- improving the quality of process outputs (services or products)
- improving the service to the customers of a process.

Improving may require:
- changing an existing process
- throwing a process out and designing it from the ground up
- making simple day-to-day changes to gradually improve a process
- creating a new business process where there is currently nothing.

I would like a list of:

1.Good books on the subject (e.g. books rated highly by Amazon.com readers)

2.Websites that provide useful information on how to go about any or all
stages of process improvement. (e.g tools and techniques on
benchmarking, root-cause-analysis, process performance measurement,
value-add analysis, piloting).

3.Companies that provide relevant training in Melbourne and/or Sydney Australia. 

4.Magazines, periodicals, journals that are available to Australians on
a subscription basis.

5.Any membership-based organisation whose members share an interest in
business process improvement. If the organisation exists only on the
web, that's fine. If the organisation has real meetings, then the
organisation must have an Australian chapter.

6.Any companies that provide business process improvement consulting
services in Melbourne, Australia.

I am interested in resources relating to specific known methodologies
(e.g. Six Sigma, Lean) as well as no-brand methodologies and
techniques.

Thanks
Dave.

Hello silversix-ga (Dave),

You provided a very clear roadmap for the research you need on
Business Process Improvement. Below, I?ve organized the material I
found into the six categories you specified. Some of the sources I
found were difficult to categorize and could be listed under more than
one heading. In these cases, I put them where they seemed to offer you
the best information. I believe all/most of the definitions of process
improvement you listed are covered in the research.

I note that this is the first question you?ve posted on Google
Answers. Please don?t hesitate to ask for clarification before rating
my answer. I want to make sure that your requirements are fully met.

Best wishes for your education efforts for your staff.

All the best.

~ czh ~


=====
BOOKS
=====

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0070267790/102-4105004-5056906?v=glance&n=283155
Business Process Improvement Workbook: Documentation, Analysis,
Design, and Management of Business Process Improvement
by H. James Harrington, K. C. Esseling, Van Nimwegen

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0070267685/ref=pd_bxgy_img_b/102-4105004-5056906?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Business Process Improvement: The Breakthrough Strategy for Total
Quality, Productivity, and Competitiveness (Hardcover)
by H. James Harrington

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0070267707/ref=pd_sim_b_3/102-4105004-5056906?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
Total Improvement Management: The Next Generation in Performance
Improvement (Hardcover)
by H. James Harrington, James S. Harrington

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558607587/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_1_img/102-4105004-5056906?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Business Process Change: A Manager's Guide to Improving, Redesigning,
and Automating Processes (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data
Management Systems) (Paperback)
by Paul Harmon

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0873894383/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_3_img/102-4105004-5056906?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Business Process Improvement Toolbox (Hardcover) 
by Bjorn Andersen 

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0527763160/ref=pd_sim_b_4/102-4105004-5056906?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
The Basics of Process Mapping (Paperback) 
by Robert Damelio

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471079774/ref=pd_sim_b_3/102-4105004-5056906?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
Business Process Mapping: Improving Customer Satisfaction (Hardcover) 
by J. Mike Jacka, Paulette J. Keller


=====================================
WEBSITES ? PORTALS, HUBS, DIRECTORIES
=====================================

http://www.bpm.com/AboutUs.asp
BPM.com

Business process management (BPM) is a process-centric approach to
managing business operations. BPM is not new. Predecessor categories
included business process re-engineering, workflow management, and
document management. However, the advent of sophisticated process
engines and EAI infrastructure has made enterprise-wide BPM viable;
the entire life cycle of a business process can now be managed through
technology. BPM is now a rapidly growing market category of different
technology-based products and services to help implement this
process-centric approach. These include products for business process
modeling, BPR, business process automation, process integration,
process analysis, process monitoring, workflow management systems, and
process-driven development.

It is the role of BPM.com to provide news and in-depth articles about
both the business and technology perspectives of business process
management.

------------------------------------------------

http://www.brint.com/BPR.htm
Business Process Reengineering and Business Innovation 

Subject Portals
Reengineering · Business Processes · Balanced Scorecard · Workflows 
Benchmarking · Best Practices · Process Improvement 
Six Sigma Quality · Quality Management · ISO 9000 · Activity Based Costing · Kaizen

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.sixsigmazone.com/
SixSigmaZone

News
Events
Press Releases
Free Presentations
Books
Directory
Training Courses
Articles
e-Learning Courses

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.worksimp.com/links.shtml
Business Process Links

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.prosci.com/market.htm
BPR and Change Management Yellow Pages

Welcome to the reengineering directory and yellow pages - a new
reference section devoted to helping you find the right tools,
consultants, and vendor partners for your reengineering and process
improvement projects.

-------------------------------------------------

http://thequalityportal.com/
The Quality Portal


==============================
TRAINING, WORKSHOPS, EDUCATION
==============================

http://www.bpmg.org/
The Business Process Management Group
http://www.bpmg.org/bpmg_australasian.php
BPMG Australasian Chapter

The Business Process Management Group (founded in 1992) is a global
business club exchanging ideas and best practice in business process
and change management. We have over 15,000+ members across all
business sectors. Through case studies, seminars and research we
support our members in improving their organisations work across
business processes, information technology and people.

-----

http://www.bpmg.org/chl_certificates_awards.php
Courses and Training

-----

http://www.bpmg.org/case_studies.php
Case Studies

-----

http://www.bpmg.org/downloads/Business_Process_Management_Group_Training_1.pdf
Training Programs

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.sai-global.com/
http://www.sai-global.com/AboutSAIGlobal/ContactUs/australia.htm
SAI Global Ltd.
SAI Global provides Standards, compliance and business improvement
solutions to help you comply with the requirements that shape your
business world.

Professional Services
SAI Global offers a complete range of training, seminars, workshops
and in-house courses covering a diverse range of business improvement
topics including six sigma, quality, environment, OH&S, food safety,
information security, and auditor training. SAI Global is a leader in
knowledge management and risk management consulting and holds
exclusive rights to the Australian Business Excellence Framework and
the associated Awards program. In the United States Professional
Services operate under the name Excel Partnership.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.iqpc.com/cgi-bin/templates/single.html?topic=225
Welcome to IQPC Australia
http://www.iqpc.com.au/cgi-bin/templates/single.html?topic=225
IQPC Australia

IQPC provides business executives around the world with tailored
practical conferences, large scale events, topical seminars and
in-house training programs, keeping them up-to-date with industry
trends, technological developments and the regulatory landscape.

-----

http://www.iqpc.com.au/cgi-bin/templates/fivecell.html?topic=241&newTop=271
Global Homepage > Six Sigma IQ > Upcoming Events

-------------------------------------------------

https://portal.aimnsw.com.au/showcoursedetail.aspx?PID=Q6UJ9A002WO7
Australian Institute of Management

Business Process Improvement - Graduate Module

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.webmethods.com/meta/default/folder/0000005452
webMethods
Achieve Business Process Improvements -- Faster.

webMethods provides total business integration to the world's largest
corporations and government agencies. webMethods flagship product
suite, webMethods Fabric, is the only integrated platform to deliver
both SOA and BPM, delivering rapid ROI to our 1,300 customers around
the globe. With webMethods, customers can take a process-centric
approach to their business problems, allowing them to leverage their
existing IT assets, dramatically improve business process productivity
and ROI, and rapidly create competitive advantage by making their
business processes work harder for their company.

-----

http://www.webmethods.com/meta/default/folder/0000005186
Global Offices - Asia Pacific (Sydney, Melbourne)

-------------------------------------------------

http://training-classes.com/course_hierarchy/keyword_index/Business_Improvement_australia.html
Business Improvement Australia Training


=====================
WHITE PAPERS, REPORTS
=====================

http://au.itpapers.zdnet.com/whitepaper.aspx?&kw=process+improvement&docid=102598
"ITIL and Six Sigma"

Overview: This white paper will provide the reader an overview of what
is Six Sigma and how it can benefit every ITIL process improvement
initiative. It also describes some major similarities and differences
between both process improvement concepts. Six Sigma began as an
initiative for improving quality rather than as a methodology for
continuous business process improvement. Because the New Six Sigma
emphasizes more on the latter objective its practical approach comes
with beneficial tools that are worthwhile considering for IT process
improvement initiatives based on ITIL's best practices.

Topics:  International Standards, SLA
Tags:  TQM/Six Sigma/ISO 9000, business process, information
technology, ITIL, process improvement, Six Sigma

-------------------------------------------------

http://au.itpapers.zdnet.com/abstract.aspx?kw=process+improvement&x=140&docid=44704
Change Management Best Practices

Overview: This document provides a template for change management that
promotes high-availability networks. Specifically, the template
provides the critical steps for creating a change management process,
a high-level process flow for planned change management, an emergency
change process flow, and a general method to evaluate the success of
your process.

Topics:  High Availability
Tags:  change management, Cisco Systems Inc., network

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.ballsolutions.com/pdf/BSG%20-%20Business%20process%20improvement%20and%20performance%20management.pdf
Business Process Improvement & Performance Management

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.wipro.in/apac/resources/casestudies/cs_aleadingconsumergoods.pdf
Integrated Business Process Improvement

A leading Consumer Goods
Wipro Infotech, using IBPI methodologies, helped one of the leading
consumer goods companies of Australia to improve its processes and
increase sales force productivity by 15%.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.sybase.com/content/1031221/ImprovingBiz.pdf
Improving Business-Process Workflow
Sybase mobile technology powers SAT and Lyondell-Citgo to
Computerworld Honors Program finals

Frieden believes that that solution-IntelaTrac-is the best
process-improvement support software available for field workers, a
belief that is reinforced by the company's selection as a finalist in
this year's Computerworld Honors 21st Century Achievement Awards
Program. The effectiveness of IntelaTrac and the enthusiastic
reception it has received from leading companies in the refining and
chemical industries are also a testament to Frieden's ability to grasp
the significance of his prospects' early feedback and to use it to
create a solution that truly is a killer app.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.bptrends.com/resources_publications.cfm?publicationtypeID=DFC61D66-1031-D522-3EBDAB1F65A451AA
Business Process Trends

White Papers & Technical Briefs
White Papers are in depth essays that explore a specific topic of
interest to business process change managers, such as an emerging
trend, a particular methodology or a standards initiative. Technical
Briefs are shorter papers.

-------------------------------------------------

http://technologyservices.cmp.com/search/keyword,Business%20Process%20Improvement%20White%20Paper/topSearch.htm
Result 1-25 of 108 for: "Business Process Improvement White Paper"

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.zdnet.com.au/jobs/news_trends/soa/CIOs_under_pressure_to_deliver_business_growth_in_2006/0,2000056653,39234270,00.htm
CIOs under pressure to deliver business growth in 2006

IT departments face increasing boardroom pressure in 2006 to
contribute to business growth, improve competitiveness and increase
efficiency, according to Gartner.

Gartner's annual survey of 1,400 CIOs in 30 countries found that
business process improvement is the top priority for the next 12
months, followed closely by controlling operating costs, growing
customer relationships and improving competitive advantage.

-----

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/IT_budgets_to_grow_by_2_5_percent_in_2005_Gartner/0,39023166,39177569,00.htm
IT budgets to grow by 2.5 percent in 2005: Gartner

(2) The survey also showed that only 39 percent of CIOs believe they
have the right people to meet current and future business needs. Only
20 percent of CIOs who put business process improvement in the top 5
priorities for 2005 believe the IS oganisation has the necessary
skills to implement this. Gartner said the skills gap must be
addressed before enterprises can leverage this opportunity. Around 51
percent of CIOs also reported concerns around an aging workforce as a
result of difficulty in attracting new people with the right skills to
meet the new requirements.

-------------------------------------------------

http://snipurl.com/knowledgestormBPI
Knowledgestorm ? Australia

Your search for keyword: "business process improvement" returned 18 results.


==============================================
MAGAZINES, PERIODICALS, JOURNALS, PUBLICATIONS
==============================================

http://www.bptrends.com/publications.cfm

This section contains all of the current and past BPTrends
publications. We have grouped the publications in the following seven
(7) categories: Advisors, Case Studies and Success Stories, Columns
and Articles, Newsletters, Product Reviews, White Papers and Technical
Briefs, and Book Reviews.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.qualitydigest.com/
Quality Digest

Welcome to Quality Digest Online, your source for quality news, tips,
techniques, provocative articles and the ISO 9000 and QS-9000
registered company database. Quality Digest Online contains the
complete text of Quality Digest magazine and a whole lot more. And,
unlike some other publications, all the text may be viewed for FREE.

-----

http://www.qualitydigest.com/quality_links.shtml
This site provides a huge list of relevant links.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.idm.net.au/whatinet.asp
Image & Data Manager

idm.net.au now brings you Image & Data Manager magazine online for
quick access to the latest on information technologies with weekly
up-dates for enterprise readers. idm.net.au is the only online
resource in the Asia-Pacific region which covers knowledge management
technologies, incorporating imaging, workflow, document management,
business intelligence, corporate portals, the Internet and related
storage solutions.


===========================
ORGANIZATIONS, ASSOCIATIONS
===========================

http://www.aiim.org/
The Association for Information and Image Management International
(AIIM) is the global authority on Enterprise Content Management (ECM).
ECM technologies are used to Capture, Manage, Store, Preserve and
Deliver information to support business processes.

AIIM defines Enterprise Content Management (ECM) as the technologies
used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and
documents related to organizational processes. ECM tools and
strategies allow the management of an organization's unstructured
information, wherever that information exists.

The ECM industry provides information management solutions to help users:
 -- guarantee business CONTINUITY, 24x7x365
 -- enable employee, partner, and customer COLLABORATION
 -- ensure legal and regulatory COMPLIANCE
 -- reduce COSTS through process streamlining and standardization

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.tawpi.org/about.html#mission
The Association for Work Process Improvement

TAWPI's Mission
To enhance the performance of organizations and strengthen the value
of professionals that employ emerging technologies in mail,
remittance, document and forms processing.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.apo-tokyo.org/01about_what.htm
Asian Productivity Organization

Mission
The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) was established by
Convention on 11 May 1961 as a regional intergovernmental
organization. Its mission is to contribute to the socioeconomic
development of Asia and the Pacific through enhancing productivity.
The meaning of productivity has evolved and expanded over the years
from simply producing quality products at minimum cost to the
improvement of the quality of life for all. The character of the APO
is nonpolitical, nonprofit, and nondiscriminatory.

-----------------------------------------------==

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/iprc/overview/index.html
Carnegie Mellon University -- Software Engineering Institute 
International Process Research Consortium (IPRC)

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University
is leading an exciting new venture in the field of process research.
The SEI has assembled a core team of distinguished experts from around
the world, recognized leaders in the field, to jointly explore the
frontiers of process research and lay the groundwork for future
process technologies. The principal goal of this International Process
Research Consortium (IPRC) is to formulate a research agenda, a
roadmap of ?what?s next? in process research, that will enable the
research community and early adopters of process technology to prepare
for the next generation of challenges.


========================
CONSULTING ORGANIZATIONS
========================

http://www.compassmc.com/australia/home_aus.htm
Compass ? Fact Based Consulting

Compass in Australia
Since opening its doors in 1994 the Sydney Office has built up a
prestigious list of clients across all industries. The Compass "Fact
Based Approach" to consulting engagements has delivered significant
operational improvement to major organisations within both the private
and public sectors bringing quality, productivity, cycle time and cost
efficiency levels to world-class standards.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.bmgi.com/locations/win_aus.htm
Breakthrough Management Group - New Zealand/Australia

Our global offices provide a variety of services from on-site
consulting and training to complete eLearning programs, and in some
cases, public classroom training in the region. Choose from Six Sigma,
Lean, TRIZ, DFSS and more. All of BMG's technology products are also
available in multiple languages.

-----

http://www.bmgi.com/about_us/whatwedo.aspx
What We Do

If you want to improve your business performance, BMG can help. Be it
Six Sigma or another methodology, we have a solution that will get you
there. We focus on helping companies:
 -- Improve processes 
 -- Reduce waste 
 -- Accelerate innovation efforts 
 -- More effectively design new processes and products 
 -- Be stronger strategic thinkers and planners 

Some of the methodologies we use when helping clients include: 
 -- Six Sigma and Lean 
 -- Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) 
 -- Workout 
 -- TRIZ (the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) 
 -- Strategic Thinking and Hoshin Planning 

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.worksimp.com/about.shtml
http://www.worksimp.com/the%20ben%20graham%20corporation.pdf
The Ben Graham Corporation
Consulting, Workshops and Process Mapping Software

Mission: 
The Ben Graham Corporation provides education, consulting and software
to advance, promote and put into practice the best methodologies and
tools available for documenting, developing and improving business
processes.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.ballsolutions.com/capabilities.htm
Ball Solutions Group (BSG)

Our business services range from business analysis and process
improvement to business planning, contract management, integrated
logistics support and project management.

-----

http://www.ballsolutions.com/contact.htm
National Office: 
Canberra
Ball Solutions House 
80 Northbourne Avenue Braddon ACT 2612
PO Box 3276 Manuka ACT 2603
Freecall (within Australia): 1800 007 301
Telephone: +61 2 6200 2600 
Facsimile: +61 2 6200 2699 
Email: Information@ballsolutions.com
Ball Solutions Group ABN: 66 072 963 690 

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.bpm.fit.qut.edu.au/about/
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Business Process Management

BPM Research at QUT
Business Process Management forms one of five research foci within the
recently re-designed research portfolio at QUT's Faculty of
Information Technology. It is one of the fastest growing research
groups with significant third-party funded research projects and major
industry linkages.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.bpmg.org/Principals/rtregear.php
Roger Tregear
I spend my working life talking, consulting, thinking and writing
about analysis, improvement and management of business processes.

A fully certified BPMG Coach, the only one in Australasia, I deliver
the BPMG courses in Australia and New Zealand. I am also one of the
six BPMG Principals worldwide.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.fujitsu.com/au/
Fujitsu Australia

About Fujitsu Consulting
Fujitsu Consulting is the management consulting arm of Fujitsu
Australia with over 80 Consultants in Australia and New Zealand.
Fujitsu Consulting provides a range of professional services to the
public and private sector, in both the business and technology
domains.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.pwc.com/Extweb/service.nsf/docid/9D3FFC92403FFE2185257107005058AC
http://www.pwc.com/extweb/home.nsf/docid/1cddf96d6ba83827ca257046004e2e8f
PricewaterhouseCoopers - Australia

Our process improvement services include:
 -- Finance Function Effectiveness
 -- Monitoring & Evaluation
 -- Shared Services
 -- Supply Chain Management
 -- Business Process Reengineering
 -- Business Process Management
 -- Embedding Compliance



===============
SEARCH STRATEGY
===============

business process improvement
business process improvement Australia
books "business process improvement" Australia
portal "business process improvement" Australia
training OR workshops OR education  "business process improvement" Australia
"white papers" OR reports OR surveys "business process improvement" Australia
magazines OR periodicals OR newsletters OR journals  "business process
improvement" Australia
organizations OR associations   "business process improvement" Australia
consulting OR consultants   "business process improvement" Australia

---

Request for Answer Clarification by silversix-ga on 04 Jun 2006 17:21 PDT

Thanks CZH. Sorry for delay - I hadn't been regularly checking for an
answer. I need a little time to review your comprehensive response.
Please give me a few days. Your patience is appreciated.  Dave
(silversix).

---

Clarification of Answer by czh-ga on 04 Jun 2006 19:18 PDT

Hello silversix-ga,

Unfortunately, the notification system is down at the moment. Please
take your time with reviewing what I've provided and don't hesitate to
ask for clarification.

~ czh ~

A very comprehensive answer, thank you.  There were plenty of good
references in the response that I can use.  The only reason why I
haven't given five stars is that not all of the links were useful.
However, in all fairness, I suspect the researcher would have to be a
subject matter expert to have been able to assess each link as I have.