Chapter 12, Problem 10E

Refer to Exercise 12.8. Suppose that clerical error is the common root cause of the non-value-added activities. Paying bills is a subprocess that belongs to the procurement process. The procurement process is made up of three subprocesses: purchasing, receiving, and paying bills.

Required:

1. 1. What is the definition of a process? Identify the common objective for the procurement process. Repeat for each subprocess.
2. 2. Now, suppose that Thayne decides to attack the root cause of the non-value-added activities of the bill-paying process by improving the skills of its purchasing and receiving clerks. As a result, the number of discrepancies found drops by 30 percent. Discuss the potential effect this initiative might have on the bill-paying process. Does this initiative represent process improvement or process innovation? Explain.