Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Fundamentals of Process Improvement: Ele...

Chao, Raul O., Gol...

Technical Note

Fundamentals of Process Improvement: Elements of Process-Improvement Systems

Chao, Raul O.; Goldberg, Rebecca

OM-1667 | Published September 25, 2025 | 2 Pages Technical Note

Collection: Darden School of Business

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This technical note is part of a set that focuses on the fundamentals of process improvement, including a brief background on process improvement, the basic elements of a process-improvement program, and common tools used in process improvement. While designed to be used together, these three notes can also be used as stand-alone documents to support particular learning objectives. The other notes in this set are “Fundamentals of Process Improvement: A Brief Background of Process Improvement” (UVA-OM-1666) and “Fundamentals of Process Improvement: Tools Used in Process Improvement” (UVA-OM-1668). These materials form one module in our collection of introductory operations management topics, and all are appropriate for an advanced undergraduate- or graduate-level introductory course on operations management. The complete list of the materials in this collection is available in the teaching materials included with this technical note.

1. To describe the history of process improvement and the characteristics common to all successful process-improvement programs 2. To define cost and quality in the context of creating value and to explore the different types of costs and the trade-offs involved in managing them 3. To present the fundamental tools of process improvement, including process flow diagrams, run charts, control charts, scatter diagrams, and fishbone diagrams