Decision dynamics

• US 20020049621A1
• Filed: 03/29/2001
• Published: 04/25/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elisa M. Bruce
• Original Assignee: Elisa M. Bruce
• Inventors: Bruce, Elisa M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,117,161 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06393 Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The invention is a method and a means for analyzing a process in terms of the elements that are the drivers of the process. The invention evaluates a process in terms of one or more scheduling drivers and process drivers, measures the metrics around the drivers and relates the measured values to key performance indicators of the drivers and the overall process. The metrics of the drivers can be correlated to past performance to determine if the attributes of the drivers being measures should be changed. The invention is appropriate for evaluating the processes of an business organization where the processes can be defined by one of the five process flows of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a process having activities to achieve desired goals, the method comprising the steps of:

mapping the activities based on their time scheduling relative to each other;

determining at least one scheduling driver of the activities;

measuring the metrics of the at least one scheduling driver;

determining at least one operations driver of the activities;

measuring the metrics of the at least one operations driver;

evaluating driver metrics accounting for the relative effects of the at least one scheduling driver and the at least one operations driver on the process;

controlling the process by controlling the drivers, based the evaluation of the driver metrics, such that the desired goals of the process are achieved.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the scheduling driver is derived by determining what attributes, namely what activities, resources, input entities, output entities or controls, most significantly affect the scheduling of activities within a process.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein driver metrics are measured by measuring the metrics of the attributes of the driver which are considered to be the selection criteria of the driver.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the operations driver is derived by determining what attributes, namely what activities, resources, input entities, output entities or controls, most significantly affect the operation metrics of the process.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating driver metrics further comprises evaluating the driver metrics measured directly as well as evaluating the driver metrics as they relate to the metrics of the overall process.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the process is done be controlling drivers which directly affect the overall process.

7. A method of controlling a process of an organization having activities to achieve desired goals, the method comprising the steps of:

selecting a process flow which most closely resembles the process from the group consisting of, research, research and development, development, project and operations and maintenance;

determining at least one scheduling driver of the activities by determining what entity or entities affect the metrics of the scheduling of the activities by 50% or more;

measuring the metrics of the at least one scheduling driver;

determining at least one operations driver of the activities by determining what resource or resources affect the metrics of the operation of the activities by 50% or more;

measuring the metrics of the at least one operations driver;

evaluating driver metrics accounting for the relative effects of the at least one scheduling driver and the at least one operations driver on the process;

controlling the process by controlling the drivers, based the evaluation of the driver metrics, such that the desired goals of the process are achieved.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein driver metrics are measured by measuring the metrics of the attributes of the driver which are considered to be the selection criteria of the driver.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein evaluating driver metrics further comprises evaluating the driver metrics measured directly as well as evaluating the driver metrics as they relate to the metrics of the overall process.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein controlling the process is done be controlling drivers which directly affect the overall process.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the process is the dominant process of the organization.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises evaluating the correlation of the scheduling driver and the operations driver of a process to past performance to determine if different attributes of the scheduling driver or the operations drivers should be measured.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein evaluating the project quantitatively further comprises:

determining at least one scheduling driver of the activities;

determining at least one operations driver of the activities;

evaluating driver metrics accounting for the relative effects of the at least one scheduling driver and the at least one operations driver on the process;

controlling the process by controlling the drivers, based the evaluation of the driver metrics, such that the desired goals of the process are achieved.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the scheduling driver is derived by determining what attributes, namely what activities, resources, input entities, output entities or controls, most significantly affect the scheduling of activities within a process.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein driver metrics are measured by measuring the metrics of the attributes of the driver which are considered to be the selection criteria of the driver.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the operations driver is derived by determining what attributes, namely what activities, resources, input entities, output entities or controls, most significantly affect the operation metrics of the process.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein evaluating driver metrics further comprises evaluating the driver metrics measured directly as well as evaluating the driver metrics as they relate to the metrics of the overall process.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein controlling the process is done be controlling drivers which directly affect the overall process.

13. A continuous and automatic data collection means for continuously evaluating a project over a period of time from T₁ to T_FINISH,

the project is comprised of individual activities or jobs J_N, where N=1 to ∞

,

data collected is comprised of individual data sets DS_N, where N=1 to ∞

,

the period of time is comprised of individual units of time T_N, where N=1 to ∞

, said data collection means comprising;

a means for sending a signal S₁ for collection DS₁ on J₁ at T₁;

a means for collecting DS₁ on J₁ at T₁ by data entry to a central computer system;

a means for storing DS₁ or J₁ at T₁ in the central computer system;

a means for sending a signal S₂ for collecting DS₂ on J₁ at T₂;

a means for collecting DS₂ on J₁ at T₂ by data entry to the central computer system;

a means for storing DS₂ on J₁ at T₂ in the central computer system;

a means for repeating the above steps for all J_N from T₁ to _FINISH for project; and

a means for evaluating the project quantitatively with all DS_N for all J_N at periodic intervals of time.

14. A continuous and automatic data collection method for continuously evaluating a project over a period of time from T₁ to T_FINISH,

the project is comprised of individual activities jobs J_N, where N=1 to ∞

,

data collected is comprised of individual data sets DS_N, where N=1 to ∞

,

the period of time is comprised of individual units of time T_N, where N=1 to ∞

, said data collection method comprising the steps of;

sending a signal S₁ for collection DS₁ on J₁ at T₁;

collecting DS₁ on J₁ at T₁ by data entry to a central computer system;

storing DS₁ or J₁ at T₁ in the central computer system;

sending a signal S₂ for collecting DS₂ on J₁ at T₂;

collecting DS₂ on J₁ at T₂ by data entry to the central computer system;

storing DS₂ on J₁ at T₂ in the central computer system;

repeating the above steps for all J_N from T₁ to _FINISH for project; and

evaluating the project quantitatively with all DS_N for all J_N at periodic intervals of time.