| APS-600: ENHANCING PERFORMANCE IN TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS Field Assignment on Process Management This assignment requires field work. Therefore, you should start well before the due date so that you have plenty of time to complete it. It requires documenting and reviewing an ongoing process; for example, hospital admissions process, order fulfillment process, claims process, school admissions process, hiring process, capital procurement process or any work process in an existing organization. You do not need the mentor’s approval for the process you select. The length of this assignment should be about 2 500 to 3900 words (10 to 14 double-spaced pages).Complete the following six requirements for the process selected: 1. Provide background information on the organization, why the process was selected for study, and the approach/PI (Process Improvement) tools used to complete this assignment. 2. Describe, document, and create a flowchart of the existing process. You may use a software tool for flowcharting (see Resources at the end of this document). 3. Identify specific performance measures you would use to determine the baseline performance for the current process in order to assess any improvements. 4. Research the web and other sources for benchmark information (best practices) on the selected process and/or similar processes. Summarize your research findings. Identify the sources and best practices you found that could be transferred to your redesigned process in Item 5. 5. Identify and discuss opportunities for improving the present process and create a flowchart of your new process. Identify the sources and best practices found in Item 4 that could be transferred to the redesigned process. Explain why your proposed changes were suggested and discuss, in depth, the potential impact of your proposed changes on the baseline measures identified in Item 3. Describe any tools used in the improvement process. 6. Identify control measures you would use at key points within the new process to ensure the process is operating properly. Describe where you would apply them and why you selected them. Thus the table of contents for this assignment should be as follows: I. Background Information Provide background information on the organization, why the process was selected for study, and the approach used to complete this assignment. II. Existing Process Describe, document, and create a flowchart of the existing process. Copyright © 2020 by Thomas Edison State University. All rights reserved. III. Performance Measures Identify performance measures you would use to determine the baseline performance for the current process in order to assess any improvements. IV. Benchmark Information Research the web and other sources for benchmark information (best practices) on the selected process and/or similar processes. Summarize your research findings. Identify the sources and best practices you found that could be transferred to your redesigned process in Item V. V. Opportunities for Improvement Identify and discuss opportunities for improving the present process and create a flowchart of your new process. Identify the sources and best practices found in Item IV that could be transferred to the redesigned process. Explain why your proposed changes were suggested and discuss, in depth, the potential impact of your proposed changes on the baseline measures identified in Item III. Describe any tools used in the improvement process. VI. Control Measures Identify control measures that you would use at key points within the new process to ensure the process is operating properly. Describe where you would apply them and why selected. References (Course objectives covered in the field assignment include CO 2, CO 3) If you have questions about the requirements of this assignment, be sure to discuss them with your mentor well in advance of the final submission. You can ask any questions using the Field Assignment Q&A Discussion Forum in the Field Assignment section of the course website. Resources The following background materials can assist in completing this assignment. 1. Determining a process to work on—Review the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award ApplicationofMEDRAD,asitdidagreatjobinidentifyingitsprocesses.UsingtheMEDRADmodel as a guide, you can look for your most important work processes in the following places (you can substitute the language of healthcare or education as needed): Value Creation Process ● Identifying, understanding, and serving customers and markets ● Designing products and services ● Producing and delivering products and services ● Marketing and selling products and services ● Billing and supporting/servicing customers ● Determining customer satisfaction and retention Support Processes Copyright © 2020 by Thomas Edison State University. All rights reserved. ● Developing and deploying strategies, goals, and plans ● Managing financial and physical assets ● Managing information resources and technology ● Recruiting, developing, and retaining high-performing employees ● Managing legal, regulatory, environmental, health, and safety issues ● Managing improvement, innovation, and change ● Managing external relationships (suppliers, distributors, partners, etc.) 2. Process improvement—Medium has issued a helpful blog post originally published by Filestage (2018,May25)titledthePracticalProcessImprovementGuide:HowtoImproveYourWorkflow. This is a great resource guide if and when you would get involved in a process improvement activity, including our process improvement assignment. In addition, the B alanced Scorecard Institute websiteoffersahelpfulH andbookforBasicProcessImprovement.3. Developing a process flowchart—For help in developing your process flowcharts, you can search various videos listed in YouTube. Flowcharts can be developed using Excel, Visio, Word, PowerPoint, SmartDraw, and so on. Below are some links to flowcharting resources. ● Lynch, A. (2019, October 31). F lowchart tutorials—flowchart resource center. Edraw. ● American Society for Quality (ASQ). (n.d.). W hat is a flowchart? (This is a good tutorial site covering all aspects of flowcharting.) ● Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 Training. C reate a flow chart [Video]. ● Microsoft.CreateabasicflowchartinVisio. (Download Microsoft V isio, a process flowchart tool.) |
