Quality has quickly become one of the most important decision-making factors for consumers. And although organizations invest considerable resources into building the right quality management systems (QMSs), in many instances, the adoption of such quality improvement tools are just not enough. Building Quality Management Systems: Selecting the Righ

Performance management, the primary focus of a Lean organization, occurs through continuous improvement programs that focus on education, belief systems development, and effective change management. Presenting a first-of-its-kind approach, The Lean Management Systems Handbook details the critical components required for sustainable Lean management.

"The decades of experience-based wisdom that Graupp, Steward and Parsons share will set you on a new path to a more joyful organization and the tangible results it will produce." Rich Sheridan, CEO, Menlo Innovations; author of Joy, Inc. and Chief Joy Officer "A fine book by skilled practitioners that integrates Kata and TWI, with Strategy Deployment in pursuit of an integrated management system. Well done, Skip, Brad and Patrick." Pascal Dennis, president, Lean Pathways Inc.; author of Lean Production Simplified, Andy & Me, Andy & Me and the Hospital, Getting the Right Things Done, and The Remedy "In this practical and engaging book, Patrick Graupp, Skip Steward, and Brad Parsons give a concise and extremely clear explanation of what systems thinking looks like in a healthcare setting. And they do so in a way that translates easily to any type of organization. Highly recommended!" Alan Robinson, co-author of Ideas Are Free and The Idea-Driven Organization Despite the vast library of knowledge on Lean tools and models, the majority of Lean implementations fail to sustain themselves over time for lack of a functioning management system. In turn, when organizations try to apply a prescribed, one-size-fits-all, management system they inevitably find that what works for others may not work quite as well in their unique situation. Putting the right pieces in the right places is the prime challenge for every organization and no two successful management systems will, or should, be the same. This book provides and examines core principles that must be in place for an organization to find what an effective management system should constitute for them. It outlines key elements and how they work together as a necessary system to achieve overall success. Based on their extensive experience with organizational development and hands-on leadership in policy deployment, TWI and Kata, the authors describe their own journey in helping organizations discover and develop systems that function like well-designed and smooth-running machines while capturing the humanistic aspects of the foundational skills that emphasize the inherent synergy of the system. Readers will learn to help their own organizations "connect the dots" between the various pieces of Lean methodology and effectively create their own management systems that ultimately fulfil customers’ needs and expectations.

Information and knowledge have fundamentally transformed the way business and social institutions work. Knowledge management promises concepts and instruments that help organizations to provide an environment supportive of knowledge generation, sharing and application. Information and communication technology (ICT) is often regarded as the enabler for the effective and especially the efficient implementation of knowledge management. The book presents an almost encyclopedic treatise of the many important facets, concepts and theories that have influenced knowledge management and integrates them into a general knowledge management framework consisting of strategy, organization, systems and economics. The book also contains the state of practice of knowledge management on the basis of a comprehensive empirical study, and concludes with four scenarios of the successful application of ICT in knowledge management initiatives.

Talent Management Systems addresses the transformation Web-based technologies have brought to workforce acquisition and management. It examines proven and leading-edge best practices, and what tactics and strategies organizations should employ to remain competitive in this arena. The book is part practical, offering advice on how to institute best practices in e-recruitment and talent management, and strategic, discussing trends and state of the art technology and practices that should be adopted or avoided. "We're at the brink of the next global battle in the war for talent, and companies with a firm grasp on today's technologies, and the best view over the horizon, are positioned to win. No one understands the intersection of talent and technology better than Allan Schweyer and, as this book demonstrates, no one tells us the story as clearly as he. This is an essential read and an important work in the now-critical discipline of human capital management." —Michael Foster, CEO, AIRS, and Author of Recruiting on the Web "Allan Schweyer has been on the leading edge of recruitment technology since the dawn of the Internet. In many ways the Internet has created more confusion than solutions for the world of recruiting and talent management. It has certainly made things more complex. HR professionals and even company presidents have become desperate for clarity on the future of talent management-Allan Schweyer's book provides that clarity and establishes him as the authority on web-based hiring and talent management. No major implementation decision should be made without this invaluable guide." —Graham Donald, President, Brainstorm Consulting "Talent management has suddenly gone from being a nice idea to a core business function. No one knows more about this new function, and the technologies that make it possible, than Allan Schweyer." —David Creelman, Senior Contributing Editor, HR.com, and Independent Human Capital Analyst "Once again, Schweyer has produced the best writing in North America on this subject, which I've covered for fifteen years." —Bill Kutik, Technology Columnist, Human Resource Executive "As corporate executives quickly come to the shocking realization that the global workforce-and how that talent is managed and developed both locally and globally—will almost unilaterally determine their future success in global markets, few workforce experts have bothered to provide business leaders with a useful compass and map for the next chapter of workforce management. Mr. Schweyer generously and eloquently provides the talent compass and workforce map for the first pragmatic steps of the new global journey." —John Chaisson, CEO, Global Workforce Solutions

Aimed at health care professionals, this book looks beyond traditional information systems and shows how hospitals and other health care providers can attain a competitive edge. Speaking practitioner to practitioner, the authors explain how they use information technology to manage their health care institutions and to support the delivery of clinical care. This second edition incorporates the far-reaching advances of the last few years, which have moved the field of health informatics from the realm of theory into that of practice. Major new themes, such as a national information infrastructure and community networks, guidelines for case management, and community education and resource centres are added, while such topics as clinical and blood banking have been thoroughly updated.

"A very rich book sprinkled with real-life examples as well as battle-tested advice.” —Pierre Haren, VP ILOG, IBM "James does a thorough job of explaining Decision Management Systems as enablers of a formidable business transformation.” —Deepak Advani, Vice President, Business Analytics Products and SPSS, IBM Build Systems That Work Actively to Help You Maximize Growth and Profits Most companies rely on operational systems that are largely passive. But what if you could make your systems active participants in optimizing your business? What if your systems could act intelligently on their own? Learn, not just report? Empower users to take action instead of simply escalating their problems? Evolve without massive IT investments? Decision Management Systems can do all that and more. In this book, the field’s leading expert demonstrates how to use them to drive unprecedented levels of business value. James Taylor shows how to integrate operational and analytic technologies to create systems that are more agile, more analytic, and more adaptive. Through actual case studies, you’ll learn how to combine technologies such as predictive analytics, optimization, and business rules—improving customer service, reducing fraud, managing risk, increasing agility, and driving growth. Both a practical how-to guide and a framework for planning, Decision Management Systems focuses on mainstream business challenges. Coverage includes Understanding how Decision Management Systems can transform your business Planning your systems “with the decision in mind” Identifying, modeling, and prioritizing the decisions you need to optimize Designing and implementing robust decision services Monitoring your ongoing decision-making and learning how to improve it Proven enablers of effective Decision Management Systems: people, process, and technology Identifying and overcoming obstacles that can derail your Decision Management Systems initiative

Updated to the latest standard changes including ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and OHSAS 18001:2016 Includes guidance on integrating Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Organizations today are implementing stand-alone systems for their Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949, or AS 9100), Environmental Management System (ISO 14001), Occupational Health & Safety (ISO 18001), and Food Safety Management Systems (FSSC 22000). Stand-alone systems refer to the use of isolated document management structures resulting in the duplication of processes within one site for each of the management standards—QMS, EMS, OHSAS, and FSMS. In other words, the stand-alone systems duplicate training processes, document control, and internal audit processes for each standard within the company. While the confusion and lack of efficiency resulting from this decision may not be readily apparent to the uninitiated, this book will show the reader that there is a tremendous loss of value associated with stand-alone management systems within an organization. This book expands the understanding of an integrated management system (IMS) globally. It not only saves money, but more importantly it contributes to the maintenance and efficiency of business processes and conformance standards such as ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO/TS 16949, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, FSSC 22000, or other GFSI Standards.

Explains how companies must pinpoint business strategies to a few critically important choices, identifying common blunders while outlining simple exercises and questions that can guide day-to-day and long-term decisions.

With a focus on strategy and implementation, James Chang discusses business management practices and the technology that enables them. He analyzes the history of process management practices and demonstrates that BPM practices are a synthesis of radical change and continuous change practices. The book is relevant to both business and IT professi