The Breakthrough Strategy for Total Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness

FM Staff

Where did Bristol-Myers Squibb get the idea for its business process improvement effort? From a 15-year-oldie but goodie business book classic— Business Process Improvement:

The Breakthrough Strategy for Total Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness, by James Harrington (McGraw-Hill 1991, 274 pp, $28.95).

Harrington's book and the ancillary products it spun off, such as the Workbook shown above, provides detailed steps on how to determine customer needs and expectations; how to create process improvement teams and train team leaders; how to measure progress and provide feedback to participants; how to document improvement and how to ensure ongoing improvement. Also included are case histories, illustrating how the process works in real life examples.

(To read the full story on Customer Satisfaction program at Bristol Myers Squibb, read "Taking the Guesswork Out of Customer Satisfaction," in the January 2006 issue of FM)