The Book
Description
Driven by the need for global excellence and customer value, agility and innovation have become imperative for business. However, most business process engineering and information system approaches address only operational efficiency and economics. This unique book closes this gap. It shows you how innovation can be systematized with normalized patterns of information. You learn how business processes and information systems can be tightly aligned and how they can automatically adapt to change by re-configuring shared patterns of knowledge. This is a practical resource that combines world class experience from industry with the best in academic experience and leading edge research. It will help you design business processes and systems that are both agile and adaptable, coordinate integration of information across supply chains and extended enterprises, reduce time-to-market, and improve computer aided systems engineering and computer aided process engineering tools.
Moreover, the book offers expert guidance on facilitating standards, prototyping for continuous improvement, designing enterprise information systems software, and achieving process maturity to rapidly absorb and utilize innovative technology for competitive advantage. The basic premise of the book is that meanings are patterns of information. This groundbreaking volume lays the foundation of a new computing paradigm in which computers manipulate meaning, not blind symbols. This book is the nexus between service oriented architecture, business process management, knowledge management and business process automation.
Table of Contents
Preface.
Prologue – What Is this Book About and Who Should Read It? What Will the Information Be Used For? Technology’s Broken Promise. Component Reuse. Scope of this Book. Foundation of Knowledge Reuse: Three Pillars.
On Components and the Nature of Reality: Introduction to the MetaWorld.
Part 1 - Patterns of Business: Reusable Components of Knowledge
The Universal Perspective: Scope of Business – Universal Perspective, Universal Pattern. The Universal Perspective: Its Use and Abuse. Work Breakdown Structure. The Repository of Shared Knowledge.
The Knowledge Machine: A vision of the Future.
Part 2 – The Book of Change
On the Nature of Change and Winged Pigs – The Technology Dimension. The Process Dimension. The People Dimension. Why Change?
Managing Emotions Unleashed by Change – Preparing for Change. Implementing Change. Implementing Change. Determination. Fruition and Continuing Improvement.
Governance of Change: Developing and Keeping Organizational Capability: Consistent Repeatability. Standardizing, deploying and using Best Practices Putting Quantitative Standards and Controls in Place. Making Continuous Process Improvement and innovation routine. Gaps and Red Tape. Chief Information Officer, chief Knowledge Officer or Chief Process Officer? The Journey’s End.
Epilogue: Visions Past and Future. Endnotes. Bibliography.
Author Bio
Amit Mitra is a Managing Consultant with Headstrong and specializes in IT governance and architecture. He holds a Black Belt certification in Six Sigma and has extensive industry experience, serving in leadership positions for such prominent companies as AIG, NYNEX, KPMG, and AGS. He has assisted several Fortune 500 corporations to comply with the CMM and to leverage it to improve their best practices. Mr. Mitra is also the vice president of the Data Management Forum and a member of SPIN, New York, an association dedicated to improving the software process.
Amar Gupta is the Thomas R. Brown Chair, management and technology, professor of entrepreneurship and MIS, and senior director of research and development at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He was the co-founder and co-director of the productivity from Information Technology (PROFIT) initiative at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management. Dr. Gupta is the author of more than 100 technical papers and articles, as well as eight books.