ASQ Quality Press

Common sense project management.

Writing in a down-to-earth style with a little humor thrown in, Turk, a management consultant, addresses basic management as well as project management in this handbook of suggestions, guidelines, and warnings. The book is broken down into three primary sections on the project manager and basic management, project management, and problems and potential solutions. Most of the chapters are based on articles written for print and online magazines, including Defense AT&L, ProjectMagazine, Information Technology Managers Journal, and Engineering Management. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Innovation generation; creating an innovation process and an innovative culture.

In the past decade or so, US industry has focused more closely on touching up and delivering existing products and has let critical innovation functions and people slide. Consultant Merrill links quality management, and its ability to work efficiently, with the needs of design teams. He argues that creating and conceptualizing can be built into the product design cycle along with concept development and commercialization. He urges design teams to learn to use the related elements of the process and system available, develop strategy, and create a process that supports the concept and practice of innovation. He also urges firms to build up people, networks and cultures and implement innovation by supporting each with principles taught by quality management. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Insights to performance excellence 2008; an inside look at the 2008 Baldrige Award criteria. (CD-ROM included)

Blazey is a recognized expert in the application of the Baldrige Criteria to help organizations improve and achieve outstanding levels of performance. Written for beginners as well as experts in organizational development and operational excellence, his text describes the six major process-oriented components of Baldrige Award-type management systems — leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce focus; and process management — and how they can lead to excellent performance results. The 2008 edition includes new information from the Baldrige 2008 Criteria for Performance Excellence. The accompanying CD-ROM has been modified to bring templates and related analyses up to date with the changes in the Criteria, and includes new 2008 versions of Insights to Performance Excellence Health Care Supplement and Insights to Performance Excellence Education Supplement. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Mapping work processes, 2d ed.

The format of this workbook makes it suitable for classroom use as well as a concise self-study guide. The authors, all academics or practitioners, include several new types of process maps but stick to the idea that using a straightforward map is a good idea, specialized types of map make for more efficient and accurate results. The guide is heavily illustrated and includes plenty of exercise and opportunities for practice, with topics including the process of mapping a process, creating a stakeholder map, creating a value-chain map or high-level process model, creating a basic flowchart, creating a cross-functional flowchart, and creating a bottleneck chart or flowchart with load statistics. The final chapter gives solid advice on using the process maps. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)