Documents Hewlett‐Packard’s (HP’s) systematic approach to benchmarking, as an integral part of its total quality system. Describes the organization’s IMPACT project which was born out of corporate priorities to find specific ways and means of improving customer satisfaction after a...

Compares ISO certification in Belgium and The Netherlands from a comprehensive viewpoint of organizational structure of quality assessment and certification, the certifying bodies involved and, a survey analysis according to industry sector. Provides a brief historical overview of ISO 9000, its...

Describes a business process re‐engineering project in the department of surgery of a publicly‐funded hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Through the creation of an internal marketing approach, by splitting the health system into purchaser and provider elements, the need to refocus on service...

Describes the development of an applied business process improvement methodology which will enable existing business improvement related initiatives to be integrated and refocused on business/ customer needs. Discusses the need for such a methodology, showing how existing business improvement...

Explores the reorganization of a sales and distribution operation. Describes a case study in which an integrated yet flexible organization was created by focusing strongly on identifying and re‐engineering the core business process. Presents a structured approach which was developed in the...

Reports on a study on the concept of car after‐sales service as applied in Germany. The study was undertaken by benchmarking four key players: Fiat AG, Nissan Deutchland, Toyota GmbH, and Ford Werk AG. Describes the factors responsible for the growing importance of the after‐sales sector in...

Based on a submission for the European Best Practice Benchmarking Award of 1995, in which IBM UK Ltd won the second prize. Discusses how IBM UK Ltd has benchmarked aspects of customer service and satisfaction within its National Call Management Centre. Describes how, by focusing on model...

Examines business process re‐engineering (BPR) from a theoretical standpoint. Elaborates on antecedent concepts to the BPR construct and highlights their usefulness in strengthening the conceptual foundation of BPR. Develops a model of BPR based on the elements of process, radical...

Describes an empirical study of 15 business processes in three organizations. Business process data were collected in the context of action research projects where the researcher was involved in organizational development activities. Suggests that business processes tend to cut across different...

Most of the 50 largest organizations in Finland have undertaken business process re‐engineering (BPR) projects during the last five years. This study concentrated on business process re‐engineering projects in 21 large Finnish organizations. Of the 21 organizations interviewed, six represent...