C-Level Clarity is a new software that provides real-time operational business intelligence through measuring key performance indicators of business processes. It flags unstable or inefficient processes, allows prioritization of process improvements, and provides inward and forward-looking information on business operations. The benefits include identifying previously unknown problems, enabling structured process improvement, improving management and communication, reducing waste, and improving customer experience.

1. Because Knowledge is Power,
You Need To Know Everything Going On In Your Company.
An Operational Business Intelligence System Using Statistical Business Process Control.
Bob MacLeod, Enterprise Data Consulting, LLC, Phoenix, AZ
Of the current Business Intelligence tools, the best
Executive Summary
will provide measurements and reporting on
business performance at the Key Business Indicator
This paper discusses a deficiency in current
(KBI) level. This is where the strategic Balance
business reporting and Business Intelligence
Scorecard meets the actual results of the business.
systems. Current reporting gives information on what
But, this by itself is not good enough. The problem
was produced but gives little information on the
with only KBI reporting is it tells about results, things
mechanisms that produced it. This leaves
that have happened and the results are weeks or
companies in the dark on their systemic operational
months old. It will tell you how many sales occurred
problems. A new and innovative product, C-Level
in the mid-west, by state, and by product for the last
Clarity, provides extensive information, both
quarter. It will tell you how may customers called in
summary and detailed, on the operational
and their average wait time for the last week. It may
characteristics of the business processes that
even tell your inventory levels and whether the
perform the work inside a company. Reporting in
levels are rising or falling, month over month. This
real-time on how well the business processes are
information is valuable and has its place but by itself
functioning, their efficiency and stability, allows
the information is incomplete in being used to
business owners and managers to identify and
manage a business. It’s
respond to process weaknesses and changes in the
like steering a ship by
business environment. No other reporting system
looking at the ship’s
provides this information. The benefits of C-Level
wake. The information is
Clarity are extensive and extremely strategic. The
reassuring and relaxing if
benefits are discussed in full detail in the body of the
everything is running
paper.
right, but it does nothing
for navigating what’s coming at you or dealing with
Introduction what’s happening in various parts of the ship right
now. For those things you need a different kind of
Successful business management has always information. You need inward and forward-looking
required the proper blend of the right behavioral information.
attributes as well as good solid business information.
It’s as important to have the 7 habits of highly You need to know if you’re going to meet your
effective people, as it is to know your sales figures service level agreements with a major customer.
and your current profit/expense ratio. Operating a You need to know if your sales people are going to
business well requires information on a multitude of meet their targets. You need to know if every part of
aspects: sales, customers, orders, products, etc. your business is operating correctly or if you have a
The better the information the more likely the correct problem somewhere that is hidden from you and
decision will be made. Information is therefore the waiting to bite you. And you need to know if
lifeblood of the business. Business information something is changing in your business and if it will
systems have evolved over time from the basic impact your ability to deliver. You need to know all
accounting ledger through to today’s massive and these things and you need to know that the
complex Business Intelligence systems. However, information is accurate and timely. The information
until now, all business reporting has missed one key must tell you what is happening in the business right
aspect of the business, it doesn’t tell you how now. Today. Not last week, not last month, and not
smoothly your business is running. It doesn’t tell you last quarter. This is inward and forward looking
if the business operates in fits of starts and stops or information. This information will give you the
if it hums along like a well-oiled machine. knowledge and the power to manage your business
Allegorically, it doesn’t tell you how much internal to win.
friction, and hence internal waste, that you have.
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2. measuring the output of the business, C-Level
C-Level Clarity
Clarity measures the characteristic of the processes
that produce the result; a fundamental difference.
Enterprise Data Consulting has developed a new,
This is the concept of Business Process Metrics.
innovative product, C-Level Clarity, based on the
The outputs of a process are a function of the health
collaboration of the fields of Business Process
of a process. You cannot get good results from a
Metrics and Statistical Business Process Control.
process that isn’t working properly. Measure the
This software provides business owners and
outputs of a process and you know what the
managers the inward and forward-looking
process produced; measure the characteristics
information that they need. C-Level Clarity shows
of the process and you know what the process is
the owners and managers everything that is taking
capable of producing. By measuring the
place in their business, right now, and shows the
performance characteristics of the process you can
expected performance of the business into the near
tell how stable the process is, how well it is
future. C-Level Clarity works by measuring,
operating, and you can predict the future
analyzing, and reporting the health and performance
performance of the process. This is the concept of
of the company’s business processes. It is those
Statistical Business Process Control. Together
business processes that do all of the work of the
Business Process Metrics and Statistical Business
company and therefore knowing how well the
Process Control are the inward and forward-looking
processes are actually functioning will tell the
reporting that business owners and managers need.
owners and managers how well the business is
operating. Remember, no work can be done in the
By measuring the processes, C-Level Clarity
business that is not done by a process so knowing
performs two primary functions. First, it flags and
how well the processes are operating is akin to
alarms when a process is performing so badly that
having gauges on your business. It’s like a central
reliable predictions of the future behavior of the
command and control room for your company.
process are not possible. The process is deemed
unstable and out-of-control. Processes of this type
are the source of the hidden problems in your
business. Totally unexpected things (surprises)
happen here. Typically these processes are
responsible for the bulk of the waste and
inefficiencies in a business. Identifying and
correcting these processes can very quickly achieve
large profits.
The second main function is that C-Level Clarity
allows the business owner and managers to analyze
how things are operating in all sections of the
The measuring, analysis, and reporting that C-Level
business and to make informed, knowledgeable
Clarity performs is based on the same operational
decisions on the operations of the whole company
improvement methodologies that were used in the
based on the performance capabilities of each
manufacturing environment starting over 50 years
section. In a highly predictable manner.
ago. It is these process improvement methodologies
that have given us TV’s that never break and cars
C-Level Clarity is non-intrusive. It installs over top
that run over 250,000 miles. C-Level Clarity takes
of, not replacing, your current enterprise information
these same concepts and through modern
system. C-Level Clarity easily installs and adapts to
technology applies them to business processes. By
changes in your business. Once installed, C-Level
definition, a process is the mechanism for the
Clarity starts automatically reading the business
conversion of inputs into outputs. A business
process metrics from your business. The analysis
process is different from a manufacturing process
takes place in real-time and the results are made
only in that a business process is not limited to
available to users through an easy to use and
physical objects and may also convert either
intuitive dashboard. Armed with this new knowledge,
intellectual or cognitive objects such as knowledge
about how the business is performing, many new
or perceptions. A business process can be a
things are possible.
manufacturing process; it can also be the processing
of a purchase order, hiring a new employee, or
answering a customer’s phone call. Identify Unknown Problems
Your business, whether you have explicitly
Through C-Level Clarity all the unstable and out-of-
recognized it or not, is an amalgamation of individual
control processes in your company are flagged. You
processes all working for a common goal. Instead of
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3. now know instantly and automatically where all the managers decide when and how to tackle the job of
major problems are in your business. You now know correcting broken processes.
those processes that are either broken or near
breaking. No more surprises. Once the broken processes have been handled,
either repaired or quarantined, then the owners and
Under the old way of business reporting you were managers can move on to the more encompassing
never given information on how well the processes task of business process improvement. Keep in mind
were operating, only the volume of the output. Never that the processes must be repaired before they are
any of the details on what it took to produce the improved; you cannot improve something that you
do not control. C-Level Clarity supports a proactive,
results. Therefore if you wanted to increase the
volume of the work through the process you had no well-managed approach to business process
idea if the process could handle it or not. improvement by providing the managers with
detailed analysis of the performance levels of the
Now you know if the process must be watched processes. This information allows for a structured
carefully and handled gingerly. You cannot increase approach to process design and reengineering
the workload of these processes. You cannot where the strategic goals of the company drive the
remove any of the resources. You must be extra process capabilities requirements. The analysis from
C-Level Clarity shows the level of improvement
careful on the quality of the work going into the
process and the quality of the work coming out. It’s required to meet the company’s goals. The process
like having a car with the check engine light on. is changed by incremental improvement or by radical
You’re probably all right to drive to the corner store reengineering, as required. There is no point in a
but you wouldn’t want to go on an extended trip out massive redesign if a 20% improvement will suffice.
C-Level Clarity gives owners and managers better
into the desert in the summer. Imagine if you never
had the light to warn you. That’s the warning that C- control of the process improvement effort.
Level Clarity provides you. If the red light comes on
then you need to fix that part of your business, or
Improve Internal Communications
bad things will happen. The following figure shows
one of the ways that bad processes are flagged by
With C-Level Clarity in place you can talk
C-Level Clarity.
knowledgably to managers and subject matter
experts about the actual performance of a process.
C-Level Clarity provides a singular focal point for all
discussions regarding process operation and
process performance. It provides that one true
picture. Many times there is a disconnect between
how a manger or supervisor thinks a process is
being done and how the workers actually do the job.
C-Level Clarity documents how the work is actually
done. Additionally, C-Level Clarity allows the
business to assign a process owner. Depending of
the scope of the process, the process owner can be
a manager, a supervisor, or a team leader. In any
Plan & Prioritize Process Improvements case the process owner is the most knowledgeable
person in the company on how the process is
supposed to work and is the go-to person when
With C-Level Clarity you can fix the worst
something goes wrong.
performing and most important parts first. Given that
the typical business has 30% - 40% waste and
inefficiency you can safely assume that more than
Manage Your Business
one part of your business is currently broken. C-
Level Clarity not only shows the processes that are
C-Level Clarity allows better management of the
broken but also it assigns a ranking level to each
business, both reactively and proactively. If one part
process and shows how the processes are grouped,
of the business is having a problem or is overloaded
interconnected, and interdependent. This
then move resources (people, machine, materials)
information allows the business owner and
from another part of the business that is slack and
managers to prioritize the process repair and
has extra. Compensate immediately and with
process improvement plan. You can’t fix everything
confidence. Know the impact and scope of
at once. You can fix the most important processes
disruption of any abnormal event in the business.
first and then move on to the lesser important. The
Know if a problem in one area will cascade through
information that C-Level Clarity provides lets the
the business like an avalanche, picking up more
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4. destruction as it moves through subsequent deliver. The second change is the improvement in
processes or if it will peter out when it reaches a service. Well-designed processes are customer-
process more stable and with higher capacity. This centric. Your processes will deliver what the
will allow the owners and managers to react customer wanted and when and where they
accordingly, not too much but also not too little. expected it.
Being able to manage a business, to keep it stable
and functioning correctly, provides owners and
Identify and Standardize Best Practices
managers with both the skills and confidence to
expand and grow their business. With C-Level
Your company may perform similar activities at
Clarity business growth is much more secure.
various parts of the business; customer callbacks for
example. C-Level Clarity will help identify those
Identify & Eliminate Waste and Inefficiency similar activities so that a single best practice can be
applied across the company. If you do the same
C-Level Clarity helps add profit to the bottom line. thing 10 different ways then 1 way is the best and 9
are not quite as good. C-Level Clarity identifies the
Most waste occurs in the unstable and out-of-control
processes. There, the high amount of rework, 1 best way and helps to easily transfer that best
overtime, employee turnover, theft, and ineffective practice over to the other areas.
waste of resources eats 30% - 40% of a business’s
operating budget. For every dollar you spend, 33
Easy Access to Operational Information
cents is thrown away. The figure below shows what
33 cents wasted out of ever dollar looks like.
C-Level Clarity allows owners and managers to
immediately find the information they need. No
longer waste time searching for it. Additionally the
information is always current, never weeks or
months old. If you need to know how well
Purchasing is operating then the information is at
your fingertips. The same applies to Sales,
Accounting, Production, Shipping, and Engineering;
C-Level Clarity identifies those areas of waste and
any part of your business.
inefficiency. By eliminating them through process
repair and process improvement then all the money
previously spent does not now have to be spent. Conclusion
You can take the 30% – 40% savings and send it
straight to the bottom line. Or, if you like, you can This paper showed the existing deficiency in current
invest the money back into the business to make business reporting and the problems it causes.
more money. In any case it’s no longer leaving the C-Level Clarity integrates Business Process Metrics
company as waste. and Statistical Business Process Control to deliver a
new innovative dimension in business reporting. C-
Level Clarity reports on the health and performance
Improved Customer’s Experience
of the internal business processes and thereby
provides owners and managers inward, forward-
With your business now operating using well
looking, and real-time information on business
designed and managed business processes, your
operations. A multitude of benefits ensue including:
customers will experience two key changes. First,
identify all previously unknown problems, structured
the errors that your customers used to see will
business process improvement, improved internal
disappear. Now things are done right, and done right
communication, improved business management,
the first time. Well-designed processes will eliminate
reduced waste and inefficiency, improved customer
nearly all possible ways that errors could occur. You
experience, standardized best practices, and
will be able to tell your customers the probability of
improved access to business information.
an error and know with confidence that you can
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Bob MacLeod is the founder and CEO of Enterprise Data Consulting, LLC. He has been a thought leader in business process
improvement for the last 20 years. Enterprise Data Consulting specializes in strategy and tools for business process improvement. The
company has a new innovative tool, C-Level Clarity, specifically designed for business improvement that marries business process
metrics and statistical business process control for the next great competitive advantage.
Enterprise Data Consulting, LLC
Bob MacLeod, CEO
2337 West Solano Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85015
602-451-8480 bobmac@edataconsulting.com www.edataconsulting.com
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