Case Study: Key Learnings From CAM-I’s Process Based Management Case Study Series

Patrick Dowdle is the Program Director of the ATI/CAM-I Process Based Management (PBM) Program, which is conducting leading edge research in Process Based Management, including the recently published CAM-I book, "Process Based Management: A Foundation Of Business Excellence." He is also the President and a Process Architect with Process Advantage, which focuses on helping organizations improve customers services.

Pat Dowdle's main message is about Process Based Management (PBM), which is different from BPM. PBM is about how businesses supply services and products to customers. The problem, according to Dowdle, is that most organizations do not understand or manage their processes, or they do so in isolation so they don't really manage their products and services. Dowdle maintains that it isn't enough to have a BPM initiative. If you don't understand process-based management, your BPM effort will probably fail.

Process Based Management focuses on:

One of the key findings of the case studies was that executive engagement and commitment is critical. Process-based management needs to be part of the management philosophy of the organization. A mindset shift is required. There needs to be a different way of looking at how work is performed, how employees are managed, and how performance is measured. The traditional view of management is top-down, with separate silos of information and departments. The process-based view shows the processes running across the organization.

Process owners are required at a high level because they have a key role in the process infrastructure. PBM needs to be embedded in the strategy so that it becomes more than just another initiative. It affects the focus of the organization. There even needs to be a process for process-based management because this defines the direction of all the initiatives.

Integration of the initiatives is crucial for success. There are many different initiatives and there is always competition for resources. Aligning all the initiatives gets them moving in the same direction.

There are a lot of management tools available now. Dowdle showed a list of twenty-five including ABM, CRM, TQM, outsourcing, reengineering, core competencies, strategic planning and many others. The problem is choosing the right tools for your organization's specific needs.

PBM has multiple entry points because of various business conditions and the different initiatives that are in place. The size of the organization does not matter, although the complexity increases with size.

The PBM shift requires a long term perspective. There is a basic and fundamental change in how work is performed and how the organization will be managed. It requires the organization to stay focused.

Process performance measures are critical because:

Process maturity and Metric maturity need to be synchronized because as processes mature, the measures must evolve. Measures have to be developed to manage and monitor the process and how well it is doing.

According to Dowdle, this is all leading toward:

The next step is to create a process based management program and an implementation framework for process-based management that includes a roadmap, assessment, training, and certification.

Patrick Dowdle recently spoke on this topic at BrainStorm's Business Process Management Conference. For more information, visit www.BPMConference.com

To hear the archived audio file of this presentation and see the PDF file, visit:

www.bpminstitute.org/presentations/featured-presentation/article/case-study-key-learning-s-from-cam-i-s-process-based-management-case-study-series/news-browse/3.html

Jon Huntress

Special Events Correspondent

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