This book is best suited to those business leaders who have a burning desire to win. It's a book with a compelling message about the resurgence of business process thinking for competitive advantage. In an easy-to-read format, the book outlines why and how thoughtful CEO’s and leadership teams can manage enterprise business processes as the means to transform their good companies into great ones.
Spanyi's book is a must read for business leaders searching for ways to manage the business in a more integrated manner by applying 21st century BPM techniques, thinking and technologies. Business process thinking is the prerequisite for executives to take advantage of powerful new BPM technologies. The book is, however, less about tools, templates and technologies and more about the set of values, beliefs and business practices needed to navigate through challenging economic times. Indeed, that’s why Spanyi says BPM is a team sport--Play it to Win! And to win, leaders must manage the cross-functional teams throughout the organization who must work collaboratively to create enduring value for customers and shareholders.
Much of what has been written on BPM is mechanistic and technical. Several of the works are long and tough to digest, and the links to strategy, organization design, people issues and technology are lost in the details. In a fast-paced and engaging manner, Spanyi describes how BPM can provide a robust framework enabling an organization to achieve strategic focus, organizational alignment and operating discipline.
Spanyi proposes that organizations need to consciously work on transforming the mental models of the executive team from the traditional functional paradigm to a customer-driven model that is based on business process thinking. The book provides insight into why change initiatives like reengineering, continuous improvement and Six Sigma, when implemented piecemeal, are not nearly enough to achieve dominance in today's turbulent business environment. BPM is needed to provide the context for both change initiatives and the application of emerging technology, so that change programs can be deeply and fully integrated across the organization.
The book is written such that the initial reading can be done in less than the time it takes to fly from Dallas to Boston or from Toronto to Miami. A quick read can acquaint the reader with the essential concepts. Readers can then consume the book more carefully a second time, and combine its reading assignments to gain a more complete background and understanding of this vital subject (all the readings can be acquired through the book’s Web site).
Andrew Spanyi is the Managing Director of Spanyi International Inc., a consulting and training company that operates in the field of organization and business process design.
Spanyi was previously affiliated with the well-known business process innovation firm, The Rummler-Brache Group [RBG], as a Principal of the firm, and subsequently as Managing Partner of the Canadian practice. In these roles, Andrew managed or participated in over 100 major performance improvement projects across several key in-dustries in both the USA and Canada.
He served as the Senior Vice President of SCONA, a specialty financial services firm, with responsibility for new product introduction and geographic expansion. He was the Director of Marketing and Product Development for the Canadian division of Xerox Learning Systems (a.k.a. Learning International, Achieve Global) and significantly increased the volume and quality of custom training programs in the areas of management and sales skill development.
Spanyi is regularly asked to speak at conferences on business process management, and has written extensively on business process issues in publications, including Industrial Engineer Magazine, Contingency Planning & Management, Wireless Review and Plant Magazine.
He earned an MBA [Marketing/Finance] from York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is a member of the American Management Association and the American Society for Quality.
