This Guest paper was submitted for publication and is copyright to Mark A. Seely© 2016.
Published here March 2017

PART 2 | Editor's Note & Table of Contents
Chapter 4: Level 1 - Process Management | Level 1 Management | Performance
Chapter 5: Level 2 - Project Management | Level 2 Management | Performance
Chapter 6: Sociolytic Mindscaping  | Analysis of Analysis | Custom vs. the Standard Stereotype
Open System vs. a Closed System Stereotype | Governance versus Management
Level 2 in a Level 4 World - Much Simpler than Possible | Gaming Systems | PART 4

Chapter 4: Level 1 - Process Management

Process Management

Have you ever played jacks? No matter how bad you are, the more you play, the better you get. This is because you repeat and reinforce the good habits and dispense with the bad habits. This is the epitome of Level 1 management. There is a preconfigured product, a widget of sorts, the production of which is a matter of running the components through an assembly line. Accuracy in the repetition, and adjustment to counter deviations, enable a "fine tuning" of the exercise. The reference for management is a "Rules" baseline that carefully sets out who does what to whom and when. These are production rules.

This Level 1 of the DBM is arguably not project management — it is process management. It does, however, establish an important marker in our DBM continuum for defining higher levels of practice.

How do I know I am at Level 1?

For Level 1 we have:

  • Tasks within your control,
  • An existing concept for which normalization is required,
  • Conduct established within a rules framework,
  • No significant external determinacies,
  • Authority devolved to a supervisory level.

Level 1 particulars are summarized in the following table:

Level 1: Process Management

Features:

• Closed System
• Internal Determinacy
• Standard Environment
• Detail Complexity

Focus:

• Yield
• Directs vs. Indirects
• Quality Expectations

Test:

The extent to which yield and efficiency target are met.

Control Point:

The product configuration is the control point.

Archetype:

This corresponds to "Rules" lowest static baseline.

Performance Management:

Direct Costs vs. Indirect Costs

Performance Measurement:

Control Charts[1]

Performance Expectation:

Greater than 100%

Success:

Provided yield expansion targets are reasonably aligned with commodity standards, the initiative will succeed.

Failure:

If the targets are beyond reason, the initiative will fail.

Resources:

Canadian Institute for Procurement and Materiel Management[2]


 
Editor's Note & Table of Contents  Editor's Note & Table of Contents

1. Walter A. Shewhart, Economic Control of Quality of Manufactured Product, ASQ Quality Press, 1931.
2. he Canadian Institute for Procurement and Materiel Management (CIPMM), formerly the Materiel Management Institute (MMI), is a leader in: Information Sharing, Professional Development, Advocacy and Recognition for the public sector procurement and materiel management communit (ref. http://cipmm-icagm.ca/en/)
 
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