Information systems educators, professionals and students can learn best from the real-life experiences of others. Successes and failures from others can help the information systems community to further develop and flourish. An effective means for conveying these experiences and lessons learned is through case studies. This collection of original case studies from IGI Global describes information technology experiences in both U.S. and non-U.S. organizations. Each case has been carefully structured to provide background information, project description, current status of the case/project, and successes and failures.

Abstracts of the studies are fully searchable and each record links to a PDF file containing the fulltext of the case study.

Major areas of coverage include:
• Business Process Reengineering
• Client/Server Technologies
• Data and Database Management
• Decision Support Systems
• Distance Learning
  
• E-commerce
• Emerging and Innovative Technologies
• End User Computing
• Healthcare
• Human Side of IT
• Information Resource Management
• Internet-Based Technologies
• IS/IT Planning
• IT Education
• IT Management
• Knowledge Management
• Organization Politics and Culture
• Software Engineering Tools
• Strategic Information Systems Design, Implementation and Management
• Systems Planning
• Telecommunication and Networking
• Virtual Offices

TI:	Title A Comprehensive Process Improvement Methodology: Experiences at Caterpillar's Mossville Engine Center (MEC)
AU:	Author Paper, David; Dickinson, Steve
AF:	Author Affiliation Utah State University; Caterpillar, Inc.
RL:	Resource Location http://www.csa.com/htbin/igp.cgi?t=988293405& s=6e613fe25bbaa4d0bea2cd5a9c9c4343&pdf=IT5566.pdf
AB:	Abstract Since the beginning of the 1990s, business process reengineering (BPR) has received considerable attention from the management information systems (MIS) community. However, dramatic improvements touted by BPR advocates have failed to materialize in many organizations. Current research has provided limited explanatory power concerning the underlying reasons behind BPR failure. Hence, in-depth research is needed into companies experimenting with BPR. This case provides a longitudinal view of Caterpillar Inc. Mossville Engine Center experiences with BPR since 1991. It describes how Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, IL) introduced BPR into one business unit, Mossville Engine Center (MEC), five years ago and saved between US $10 and $20 million. Caterpillar believes that its success with process improvement can be directly tied to adoption and implementation of an enterprise-wide methodology called Business Process Simplification and Improvement (BPS/I). BPS/I provides a systematic methodology for analysis, design, and implementation of reengineering principles. The methodology provides the structure, techniques, and new job roles to effectively implement redesigned business processes. The role of information technology includes facilitation of data transformation, information flow, and communication through each stage of the BPS/I methodology. The case was co-authored by the Process Improvement Manager. His job was to facilitate, instruct, and oversee BPR initiatives. Information was gathered via in-depth interviews, observation, company documentation, and consultant information. Our hope is to introduce mechanisms and guidelines to help other firms effectively implement and manage BPR initiatives.
PG:	Pages 12 pp
PY:	Publication Year 2001
DE:	Descriptors Manufacturing; U.S.; Business Process Reengineering; Emerging and Innovative Technologies; Software Engineering Tools
TA:	Target Audience Undergraduate, Graduate
AN:	Accession Number IT5566