Graded Homework

kaplan MT400 unit 1 discussion latest 2016 may
Business Process Examples

This Discussion should help prepare you for the Assignment in Unit 2, in which you will select the process that you may be using for subsequent Assignments. As part of your preparation, also read the Assignment instructions.

Take extra time this week to read what kinds of processes are being described by your classmates. Use the Discussion to focus on a good selection for your Assignment.

For this Discussion topic, do the following:

Describe two examples of a business process from your professional experience. For each process, follow this format and number your sections for each example as you clearly state the following:

1. The objective.
2. The scope (where the process begins and ends).
3. A brief description of those involved. (Is this a one-person process, or do multiple people get involved?)
4. How BPM would help in this process.

As you progress through the course, you will need to analyze elements such as the connection of this process to company strategy, metrics and goals of the process, stakeholders and team members involved, etc.

Use this Discussion topic as a preparation for the Assignment. Try to pick two examples that will provide you with enough information without being too general. Your instructor will provide you with additional guidelines and feedback. If you have found a good example in this Discussion, you will be ready to complete the Assignment.

kaplan MT400 unit 2 discussion latest 2016 may
Strategy Alignment

Using BPM to change a process (or processes) or to development new processes must first begin with a comprehensive understanding of the organization’s strategy. If the proposed new process does not align with the organization’s strategy, the entire modeling process may be doomed to failure.

Different business strategies require different approaches, which means the business processes must be aligned to accomplish the goals set by the strategy. A business process may appear to be working well, but if it does not support the strategy of the company; it will have a negative impact on the business.

For this Discussion, give an example in which a process, although itself not broken, does not match a company’s strategy. Then describe the problems that arise because of this. Chapter 13 has a discussion of various business strategies, and Table 13.2 shows the characteristics of various strategies. You will also find a lot of information on various business strategies through your own research. Your examples can come from this research or your observations, but your arguments must be well supported using sources.

Please note that the point here is to explore a fit between strategy and process; you are not trying to identify bad or broken processes. Rather, you are looking for processes that are fine in and of themselves but that do not fit what the company is trying to accomplish and hence are an obstacle. Giving examples of process that are clearly broken will not satisfy this question.

Use the following template:

1. Briefly describe a company and its business strategy (must be one of the three strategies from Figure 13.19 or one specified in the Seminar).
2. Briefly identify a business process used by the company that does not match the company’s strategy.
3. Explain how this causes problems.
4. Why/how do you think this mismatch has occurred and continues to take place?

kaplan MT400 unit 3 discussion latest 2016 may
Launch Pad Phase

Now that the foundation has been set for the BPM project, it is time to launch. The Launch Pad phase is where the project is scoped, established, and launched.

According to your book, the first two results that should be expected from the Launch Pad phase will include:

1. Definition of stakeholders involved or associated with the project.
2. Stakeholder engagement and commitment, and documented and agreed upon expectations.

The first five steps in this phase are all about ensuring this is done properly. Even though the project team is engaged and working hard, it is possible to fail in a project when the stakeholders or executive management is not properly engaged. In fact, this is one of the most commonly cited reasons for failed projects and an often discussed cause for frustration for all involved.

For this Discussion topic, search for and discuss a news article or a case study in which a company has failed in a project due to lack of stakeholder engagement. Answer the following questions, copying the numbered format.

1. Describe what the project/situation was.
2. List who the stakeholders were.
3. Describe why they were not properly engaged. What happened?
4. Describe how this impacted the outcome of the project.

Do not forget to cite and reference your sources in APA format (use the Kaplan Writing Center for APA help).

kaplan MT400 unit 4 discussion latest 2016 may

Determining Targets Through Root Cause Analysis

It is important to identify what issues will be targeted before revision can begin in the upcoming Innovate phase. In the Understand phase, you conduct root cause analysis, which not only helps to determine the right problems to attack, but also to gather an understanding of where you are currently and where you need to be. Correct identification will allow you to make quick improvements, which would not be possible if you only treated the symptoms.

For this Discussion topic, first:

• Explain, in your own words, the difference between root cause analysis and simply identifying issues in a process.

Then, research and describe an article or a case study where a company has performed a successful root cause analysis. This means they went deeper than identifying just the symptoms.

• Explain what the symptoms were and what root causes they identified as the culprits.
• How did this analysis help the company create quantifiable, specific targets/objectives in their improvement efforts?

Make sure to describe how they accomplished this; there are various specific methodologies beyond sitting and talking in a room that can be used for this purpose. For example, root cause analysis is part of Six Sigma, which has specific tools for carrying this out.

If you cannot clearly show the distinction between the root causes and symptoms in the case, then you do not have the right case. You are not looking for cases where someone just identified problems by talking to people — root cause analysis is a very specific term that describes using formal methodologies to go beyond the most obvious issues. Your example should demonstrate this in-depth analysis.

kaplan MT400 unit 5 discussion latest 2016 may

Innovate Phase

Your book suggests that the purpose of the Innovate phase is to make the process(es) within the scope of the project as efficient and effective as possible. Further, it says that the best way to develop the new process options and alternatives is through the use of various workshops. The practice of using workshops and group input to examine processes and identify potential avenues for improvement has been well researched (see step 7 in your text for some discussion). There are various potential obstacles in this effort and many methods have been suggested to handle them.

For this Discussion, do the following:

• Research and describe one methodology suggested for improving the efficiency of innovate workshops for evaluating processes and recommending improvements. The book contains a list of various innovation activities.
• Describe your experience with such a process where you were part of a process improvement effort. What kinds of difficulties did you experience and how were these resolved, if at all?

You may find that you will need to do additional research using the Kaplan virtual library or the Internet.

Do not forget to cite and reference your sources in APA format (use the Kaplan Writing Center for APA help).

kaplan MT400 unit 6 discussion latest 2016 may


Performance Management

When it comes to performance management and measurement, it is said that “you get what you measure” or “you get what you set.” When studying issues in this area, it is very useful to see cases where management motivated the unintended behavior from employees.

For this Discussion, research and summarize an article that discusses a situation in which the performance management and measurement systems put into place either failed to promote the desired behavior, or outright backfired. Include the following details:

1. Brief description of the situation.
2. The desired outcome.
3. The actual outcome.
4. Reasons why the effort failed.

kaplan MT400 unit 7 discussion latest 2016 may

Implement Phase Strategies

Table 20.1 lists four strategies for implementing projects. As with other strategies, each approach may work or fail depending on the specific situation. For this Discussion, select one of the four strategies. Then, using the Kaplan Library or the Internet, find an example of a real-world implementation that used this strategy. After you describe the example, analyze why you think they went with the strategy they selected and provide your assessment of whether they made the right selection.

kaplan MT400 unit 8 discussion latest 2016 may

Realize Value Phase

The chapter on the Realize Value phase describes the steps that must be taken to ensure targeted business benefits are realized. While these steps are all listed in this chapter, they are meant to be carried out during the earlier phases. These will tie the revision to a focused effort on accomplishing the clear and justifiable goals set in the beginning of the project.

For this Discussion, research news articles and give an example in which a BPM project failed to provide the expected benefits due to skipping one or more of these steps.

1. Describe the situation.
2. Assess which of the steps listed in the chapter appear not to have been carried out properly.
3. Were there clear metrics and justifiable goals in this project? Why were these goals not achieved?

kaplan MT400 unit 9 discussion latest 2016 may
Balanced Score Card

In step 3 of the Sustainable Performance phase, balanced score card (BSC) is discussed as one way of embedding ongoing performance measurement into management. BSC is used quite a bit in organizations that want to ensure that their strategies are reflected in the performance metrics.

For this discussion:

1. Research and describe a real-world implementation of balanced score card.
2. Discuss how BCS is used for sustaining performance as described in this chapter.

This connection between the BSC implementation and sustainable performance is the key to this discussion, so make sure your example demonstrates this connection.

kaplan MT400 unit 10 discussion latest 2016 may
BPM in the Global Marketplace

Throughout this course, many discussion opportunities come up where you need to respond to other people’s opinions and comments. After you have completed your reading, respond to your Discussion topic in the Discussion Board. Then read the responses of your fellow students and comment on their postings.

For companies whose operations span the globe, BPM can be a strong tool in implementing change or establishing standards across all operations. These efforts are very challenging, however, since the scale is so large and the project is so difficult to coordinate.

For this Discussion, research and summarize an article about a global company executing a BPM project either successfully or unsuccessfully. Include the following elements:

1. Summarize the situation and the company.
2. What were the motivations for the effort? How did the company expect the BPM project to help with their global competitiveness?
3. What were some challenges they faced in this project?
4. Were they successful? If they did well, what were the critical success factors they were able to implement? If they failed, what were the risks they failed to mitigate?