Publications & resources

Our latest release, Working With the Grain

Launched in our 25th anniversary year “Working With the Grain – Uncommon Sense for Leaders” is Jan Gillett and Jane Seddon’s book  which defines and proposes improvement and transformation approaches and explains how leaders can transform their organisations to become more efficient and provide a better service to their customers.

Available for £28.99. 

Our bestseller, The PMI Process Manager

New updated edition!  We’ve updated our handbook on process improvement and team training with an extended glossary of Six Sigma terminology and some fresh ideas.  An invaluable reference, it contains an array of improvement tools and techniques as well as tips for applying them in real-world situations.  Much of PMI's toolset is covered, from developing an interrelationship diagraph to conducting a team review.

Available for £18. 

To order either of these books call us on +44 (0)1676 522 766 Monday to Friday between 08:30 am and 5:30 pm GMT.

Case Studies

• Read about achieving goals through transformation.  We have been working for several years with the Americas Business Unit of a global corporation. Read about the achievements flowing from a comprehensive programme of leadership and project support, training and programme management. Download the pdf (491KB).

White papers

• Don't Suggest Suggestion Schemes (PDF, 56K). PMI's Jan Gillett and Jane Seddon respond to the news that an NHS scheme is being launched to use £20m as prizes for the best ideas for improvement.
• PMI's Silver Anniversary (PDF, 177K). PMI was 25 in 2009.  1984 seems like yesterday to some of us, but it's a whole lifetime to others. How far have we come? Is it easier or harder to improve our work after all this time? PMI's Jane Seddon and Jan Gillett, consider these questions and others in this introductory article about PMI's 25 year history.
• If Toyota Can, Why Can't We? (PDF, 194K).  The history of the quest to catch Toyota, and suggestions for leaders wanting to improve quality and efficiency.  This paper is aimed primarily at managers preparing for or considering involvement with PMI and at those with experience of applying improvement principles who are weighing the prospects of achieving their goals.
• The Beautiful System (PDF, 136K).  Jan Gillett and Jane Seddon consider the worldwide appeal of football, the rules of the beautiful game and parallels with Toyota’s beautiful system — simplicity is the key.  Create beauty in your organisation with PMI’s principles and practices — new rules for a whole new ball game.
• Use Six Sigma to Achieve Excellence (PDF, 144K).  Written by Jan Gillett for the British Quality Foundation Awards 2003, this paper explores the relationship between Six Sigma and the Excellence Model, and how Six Sigma methods can be used in every part of the model to transform the system.
• Joined-Up Leadership (PDF, 208K). An evidence-based approach to improving your system.
• Cooking Up Improvements (PDF, 1.9MB).  Using the PDSA cycle for problem resolution, improvement and strategy in any working environment.
• Developing Systematic Leadership (PDF, 124K).  Using PMI’s strategic model to transform performance.
• Human Motivation: the real key to success in Six Sigma (PDF, 338K).  This paper makes the case for change programmes that develop self-esteem in all who play a part, whether in developing strategies, implementing projects or managing processes.

essential.genius Case Studies

A selection of case studies are available here to download which will tell you more about how essential.genius can help you or your organisation to deliver compelling and complete learning solutions.

• Taking errors out of the equation in exam marking (pdf,407kb)
• Removing global barriers to deliver process improvement (pdf, 546kb)
• Realistic scenarios in the classroom (pdf,844kb)
• Creating paper-free, hassle free surveys that get returned (pdf, 411kb

  Papers by Professor Tom Johnson 

  • Lean Accounting: To Become Lean, Shed Accounting (PDF, 473K).  This paper draws on comparative case research documenting the claim that the pathway to genuinely lean operations is to shed accounting.
  • Sustainability and Lean Operations (PDF, 176K).  Drawing on the author’s study of the Toyota production system, which inspired the concept of lean operations, this paper discusses two steps businesses can take to create a truly sustainable economy.
  • Work Lean to Control Costs (PDF, 174K).  It's a mistake to assume that management accounting systems are necessary to control and evaluate shop-floor operations.
  • Bringing Quality Management to Life: Variation and Sustainability in the Writings of W. Edwards Deming and Gregory Bateson (PDF, 56K). The writings of both W. Edwards Deming and Gregory Bateson suggest that management thinking and practice should be guided by an appreciation of human organisations as natural living systems, not mechanical systems.  This is evident in both men’s ideas about variation and sustainability, which have been amplified and reinforced by late 20th-century findings in evolutionary cosmology and biology.  These findings suggest important new avenues for research in quality management.

  Webcast

  •  PMI on BBC Radio Four's In Business (MP3, 8.3MB).

  Links

  • Chartered Quality Institute. The CQI provides Six Sigma public training courses in association with PMI.  As the world's oldest quality body, it provides professional recognition and support for those working in business improvement.
  • The Deming Forum. A not-for-profit educational organisation promoting the study and application of the management philosophy developed by Dr. W.E. Deming.

   Process Management International Ltd is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.