Vital Signs: Using Quality, Time, and Cost Performance Measurements to Chart Your Company's Future

By Steven M. Hronec

Book Overview

A partner at the premier professional services firm Arthur Andersen--a leading authority on cost and quality managment--Hronec reveals that most companies just don't measure the right things the right... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814450733
• ISBN13: 9780814450734
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Amacom Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Basic, but with sound approach

This is a relatively basic book on using key performance metrics. The foundation of the approach is TQM, with a nice focus on how to use associated techniques to gather, analyze and manage the metrics. Some of the material is wrapped in "Quantum Performance" and its associated measurement matrix. The terminology and approach embodied in these are, at the basic level, a refactoring and tailoring of existing tools and techniques. I like the way effective tools ranging from affinity diagrams to statistical process control charts are employed throughout the book. The realistic examples using these tools and techniques the tactical and strategic levels makes this book especially valuable to companies that have embraced TQM. However, each tool or technique can be effectively used in environments in which management is seeking a systematic way to measure the right things for competitive advantage.Another valuable aspect of this book is the focus on processes, and how they apply to the big picture of performance measurement.Overall, this is an easy-to-read book that is equally easy to understand and apply. Aside from a few unique perspectives and the focus on TQM and associated tools, the material is not groundbreaking. That is not to say that this book does not merit a place on your reading list if you are seeking a systematic performance measurement program, because the approach set forth is valid and will prove effective in the real world. I recommend reading this book as a starting point, then augmenting the knowledge gained with "Operational Performance Measurement: Increasing Total Productivity" (ISBN 1574440993) to get a complete picture before embarking on any performance measurement initiative.