Management System Architecture
Corresponding to the Management System Hierarchy is a set of tools that collectively can be used to design and organize the management system (see Fig. 13). Just as with the BA, these tools can be used to define and analyze an organization's current state (“is”) or future state (“should”). The Management System components
Fig. 12 Performance planned and managed hierarchy
Fig. 13 Management system architecture
are anchored by the processes to be managed. Starting from the bottom, the components are arranged in rough order of their development when building a management system.
Measures Chain
For each process in the BA, a Measures Chain identifies what critical dimensions of performance and measures are applicable, and where in the process the performance data should be monitored. The way a Measures Chain is developed is to start at the right, with the requirements of customers and stakeholders and translate them into dimensions of performance such as timeliness, quality, and price, and applied to the process. For example, if the timeliness requirement is to deliver a product within 30 days, the requirements on the whole process might be 25 days (assuming 5 days for shipping), and then those 25 days are allocated appropriately to the subprocesses based on the worked required. The result is a set of measures for a given process. When Measures Chains are created for all the key processes in an organization's BPA, the management team has a powerful means of monitoring and controlling process performance across the organization.
Performance Trackers
Performance Trackers are tools for collecting and displaying performance data. The trackers are derived from the performance measures required by the Measures Chains. Typically, a tracker shows the trends in performance for a given measure, such as cost, timeliness, or quality. A hierarchy of trackers corresponding to the management levels contained in the Management Domain Matrix and covering all the key processes in the BPA results in a comprehensive “dashboard” for viewing and management organization-wide performance.
Troubleshooting Logic Diagrams
Much of the management work required to manage the organization as a system is diagnosing and acting upon performance feedback with the appropriate corrective action, which might be to provide coaching, better training or feedback, different tools or methods, etc. Troubleshooting tools are intended to help managers assess data, make the right conclusions, and choose the right actions.
