Use of DMAIC for Business Process Improvement in eBusiness

James Dellinger

MECB1 - MSc in Electronic Commerce (Business)

MT530 Business Modelling & Process Innovation

Option 1: Select a business that does not have, or has a limited eBusiness platform.

Objective: Take a magazine from a publishing platform specific process, to a publishing
platform neutral process.

Goal: Assess current business operations and content creation processes within the
publishing process. Use analysis tools (DMADV) and (DMAIC) respectively and to apply
the lessons of this exercise and best practices of lean six sigma to craft a new publishing
process that is platform neutral allowing magazine to reach new audiences via new
digital channels.

Declaration

I the undersigned declare that the project material, which we now submit, is my own
work. Any assistance received by way of borrowing from the work of others has been
cited and acknowledged within the work. I make this declaration in the knowledge that a
breach of the rules pertaining to project submission may carry serious consequences.

I are aware that the project will not be accepted unless this form has been handed in along
with the project.

Due Date: 20th December 2011

MT530 Business Modelling & Process Innovation Assignment #3
Lecturer: Dr. PJ Byrne

Student Name Student Number
James Dellinger
Signed:_________________________

Describe the Enterprise

The business chosen for this project is a small Irish publisher of a modern living and
interiors magazine, Ur Dream Home. The small organization has very limited e-
commerce and e-business activities on urdreamhome.ie toward this end. It is a great time
to be in the publishing business, but not if your enterprise is tied to one mode of content
delivery.

Unfortunately, this one is platform specific (glossy magazine), but the challenge faced by
Ur Dream Home is not unique and is being faced by all publishing organizations adding
digital operations and attempting to become platform neutral. The staff count is relatively
small one editor, one advertising sales associate, three page designers, and five part time
contributing authors. One core assumption of this review is that Ur Dream Home is not in
a position to hire more full time staff and that any changes to the business to increase
efficiency and product quantity will need to be done via changes in the way work is
completed and some staff may be required to be trained to fulfill more roles and duties in
the organization and within their current job descriptions.

This is an understandable issue given the declining profit margins in the publishing
industry. Primarily, this change is due to the proliferation of content created with the
advent of amateur, semi-pro, and professional web only content sparked by first the blog
and then web 2.0 changes. Given that this content is on virtually every subject and
refreshed rate faster than the old daily, weekly, monthly, and bi-monthly, and quarterly
categories the magazine industry was comfortable with this is a real work problem.

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Ur Dream Home will not stay immune to the same market forces forever. The content
quality of this magazine is very high, premium in fact; however, the readership is
extremely limited by the availability and distribution of the physical glossy magazine.
This mode of delivery hampers growth or brand awareness about the product.

Our goal is to adapt this magazine to distribute its premium to the modern publishing era
and move from a publishing platform specific process, to a publishing platform neutral
process. This shift will require a review and likely changes to the organizations operating
processes.

Description of the process(es) being reviewed
Option one was chosen for this assignment, because Ur Dream Home has a limited
eBusiness platform. Currently it’s website at urdreamhome.ie is a primarily signpost site.
Ur Dream Home is in need of a new digital approach that encompasses both, e-commerce
and e-business (Canadian Business Network, 2011). Why?

From the e-commerce perspective there is no wait to purchase a subscription to the
magazine online or the website. From an e-business perspective, in examining
urdreamhome.ie it is quickly quite clear there is currently no coherent strategy for digital
presentation of ‘UR Dream Home Magazine,’ content. Some content is available, but it
remains difficult to find the site or content via search engines, or when navigating the
website. Thirdly, the website is neither self-supporting with revenue or yielding seeable
marketing value, from either brand marketing or content marketing perspective. Basic
customer services via the website are missing.

The problems stem from the two sub-processes that make up the magazines publishing
process, business operations and secondly content creation and the positive synergies
working or failing. The two vital processes are interlocked and interlinked components of
the overall publishing process. In publishing you can’t sell advertising and subscriptions
against bad content and great content without advertising and subscriptions are just

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authors and writers without a paychecks. Some even argue to tear down this boundary
(Benkoil, 2011). In order to keep focus and boundaries these are the to defined sub-
processes that are in our scope of the publishing process.

There is a dance done everyday between those running both of these processes inside
every content publisher and journalistic endeavor across the planet in the form of
managing the page count. Sales and marketing needs to have an idea what content is
coming for the next volume/issue and content needs to know that their checks will not
bounce the next time the go to cash it and maintain their ethical credibility and trust with
readers. So despite mutual suppositions’ both processes must work together yielding a
mix in a publication of paid ads, content and unpaid house ads.

First we will examine, “business operations” including ad sales, subscriptions sales,
marketing, printing, and delivery. Second we will examine the “content cycle,” an article
from idea to writer, to editor, to page designer, to readership then using process
improvement tools to get our magazine with a new publishing process that is platform
neutral and cash flow positive. Lean / SixSigma analysis tools have been chosen to
evaluate the processes of this company as time management and maintain a low mistake
ratio are very important elements in publishing given the high levels of human capital
given in the ability to create a product. Despite critiques by (Davenport, 2008) Lean
SixSigma remained the strongest most relevant evaluation tool for this environment.

Use of (DMADV) for analysis of Business Operations
The process tool to be review business operations side within the framework of Ur Dream
Home’s business operations we will use is Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify,
(DMADV) (isixsigma.com, 2010) to think deeply and analyze and brainstorm about Ur
Dream Home’s business operations from start to finish. The new products being sold and
new operations being managed require the use of DMADV and not another analysis tool
since the deliverables coming from the change are new and elements of the process are
new.

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• Define: the project goals and customer (internal and external) deliverables
(isixsigma.com, 2010)

Our goals for Ur Dream Home is to make the publishing process platform neutral (not
just selling advertisements and subscriptions to a glossy magazine) and create a new
monetization means via digital streams, for current and additional content products and
that are revenue positive and are engaging to new readers are engaged with the content.

• Measure and determine customer needs and specifications (isixsigma.com, 2010)

The production process capabilities will need to be altered, in order to make Ur Dream
Home platform neutral without hiring more staff. The risks are great and come from the
potential for employees possible backsliding into old habits, job tasks, and methods of
operation. Readerships desire a publisher to engage them where they are during their
changing busy reading schedules, online: at work early morning; before lunch; before the
rush to the door; and on the new devices they own, mobiles and tablets. However, this
must be cash flow positive. The business operations side the customers are its advertisers
as well as and current subscribers. How long does it take to complete the key tasks? If the
times were shorter would advertisers purchase more ads?

• Analyze the current business operations process and options needed for Ur Dream
Homes to meet customer needs (isixsigma.com, 2010)

Ad sales, subscriptions sales, marketing, printing, and delivery are core business
operation functions of the magazine. Ur Dream Home currently has one employee
covering many of these, which makes it difficult to do all of them well, but they do sell
advertisements and sell magazine subscriptions or current expenses could not be paid.
Marketing seems quite a bit weaker as it is not anyone persons core responsibility, nor
does a good marketing campaign pay next month’s rent and a company’s payroll. Finally,
we have printing and delivery in larger organizations this is called circulation, which are

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contracted out due to the magazines size. However, here is how the current operations

!"##$%&'&()*"$+,-"./0"1"*20 !"##$!%&'()*+,-.'

can be summed up in big yellow blocks.

Notice the intentionally disconnected feel above and no marketing. Even if the same
person is conducting the business operations, he/she is not meeting the changing
customers changing needs.

• Design (detailed) the process to meet the customer needs (isixsigma.com, 2010)
Technology can help this process along the way immensely.

!"##$!35*6(./)0,*$-0$72829.,"$
'.2$23-0+2-"&$:0(+$0,#.,"$2,&$
!"##$%&'"()*"+",-*$.,$/(.,-$0($
2//*$2'2.#25#"$-;(038;$.<3,"*$
0,#.,"$10($23-0+2-"4$
2,&$%,&(0.&$72(="-$2,&$
7"-"("&$/2>?2##$-0$?"5*.-"

The virtuous circle @(2,&$2,&$A0,-",-$72(="),8$
is allowed to ﬂow
-0$.+/(0'"$'.*.5.#.->$-0$
/0-",)2#$*35*6(.5"(*$2,&$
2&'"()*"(*$

Here are some of the areas where business operations can be improved by focusing on e-
business and e-commerces solutions to improve processes and complete tasks with more
self-service (Canadian Business Network, 2011).
- Cut transaction times
- Trade in digitized goods and services

6

- Electronic banking and payment systems
- Commercial transactions conducted by Internet
- Customer service
- Compete globally with your website against businesses of all sizes without setting up
offices in other countries

If the business side of this operation is going to stay small many new features will need
rely on self-service e-commerce payment platforms for ordering and fulfilling
advertisements and subscriptions, paying for both, and the availability to read the content
on a digital platform or website based on the readers preference via subscription model of
the readers choice (paywall thresholded website and blog, iBooks, Android market,
Kindle market). We will get her by developing each delivery method with a contractor
based first on the monthly pdfs created for the magazine converted into paid apps an then
with the launch of a new website featuring a paywall and built in customer support
features for both readers and advertisers. The ability to scaleably deliver more
advertisements on new content channels without incurring the costs associated with
tradition printing is the value proposition to our new process model.

This will free up the business operations to be able to focus on brand and content
marketing and developing longer-term relationships with strategic advertisers and
partners and allow the virtuous circle to drive positive feedbacks into the business
operations (Gupta, 2011).

• Verify the design performance and ability to meet customer needs
Reevaluate digital business operations in a year after launch in order to make sure scope
creep has not taken it beyond its intended e-business goals.

7

Use of (DMAIC) for analysis of the Content Cycle
For the content cycle of the publishing process we will assess it with Define, Measure,
Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) (isixsigma.com, 2010) as the content process is not
new or radically different than what is currently being done by the content creators and
editors. This is a useful tool to discover how the content cycle currently operates and
what constraints may present if improve strategies are undertaken.

• Define the project goals and customer (internal and external) deliverables

Our goals for Ur Dream Home is to make the publishing process platform neutral (not
just content produced for a glossy magazine) and create a new delivery means digital, for
current and new content products and that added revenue areas are engaged with these
additional products and new readers are engaged with and enjoy reading our content.
Externally, readership desires a publisher to engage them where they are during their
changing busy reading schedules, online: at work early morning; before lunch; before the
rush to the door; and on the new devices they own, mobiles and tablets. Internally, the
magazine risks are great and come from the potential for contributors and editors to
backsliding into old habits, job tasks, and methods of operation if their daily tasks are
changed.

• Measure the process to determine current performance (isixsigma.com, 2010)

Question must be asked about how articles make it through Ur Dream Home’s current
content cycle from start to finish and brainstorm a bit. Who is chosen to write the article?
When is it due? Who edit it? What is the turn around time from editor to layout? How
long does it take for the content to be laid out of on a specific by a page designer? Where
or when does this article get published in the magazine? Where is the article read and by
whom? These question all must be measured regularly and timed as the digital publishing
cycle requires much faster turnarounds than tradition magazine publishing and is more
lean by nature up front before it gets bogged down in new forms of, “techno-slows.” The

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point is to create a reasonable benchmark for times it takes to conduct elements of each
steps task.

• Analyze and determine the root cause(s) of the defects (isixsigma.com, 2010)

The root cause is the current content cycles one-way communication and task-oriented
structure. For example: An Editor assigns a story to a contributor. The contributors
researches and writes this new article. The editor edits the new article. A page designer
lays out the article on a page with art photos and advertisements. The magazine gets read
by it’s paying subscribers.

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/)")*+-(&*%0&1+#')&'()&
!""#$%&'()&*+,-.) 20#'&'()&*+,-.) 7*$) !+,-.)&8"&/)*0&#%&9*$*:#%)
*+,-.)

However, this leaves little room for the positive creative feedback loops of an open
publishing environment where communication goes in every direction and the needs as
desires of staff and readers are in better sync with more conversation. This lack of
conversation is the primary defect of this sub-process of this organizations publishing
process.

• Improve the process by eliminating defects (isixsigma.com, 2010)
The publishing process for Ur Dream Home must be improved; however, the changes are
not radically different from the old ways. The primary process difference is the greater
level of feedback and communication heading in the direction of story creation, so that
every member of the editorial group as well as readers are playing a role in finding the
most interesting stories for the next bi-monthly magazine and the new digital products.
The other changes that have been made add the steps layout for web and publish for
digital and to allow a new blog to be a place for quick interesting notes to be allowed to
return to step of assigned article if further details may be considered interesting additions
to a future magazine or online edition.

9

6*738'&'()&*+,-.)&3%&'()&
/)")*+-(&*%0&1+#')&'()&
!""#$%&'()&*+,-.) 20#'&'()&&*+,-.)&3+&4.3$&53"' 5*$) !+,-.)&9"&/)*0&#%&:*$*;#%)&<+#%'
*+,-.)

6*738'&'()&4.3$&53"'&3+&
*+,-.)&3%&1)45*$)&*%0& !+,-.)&3+&4.3$53"'&9"&+)*0&3%&
=*74)&+)*""#$%&.3%$&>3+=& A)4"#')B&#<*0B&C#%0.)B&!%0+3#0B&&*&
?)+"#3%&>3+&%)@'&=*$*;#%)&& =34#.)&

New open editorial
communication
structure with Platform
Neutral Publishing

This will open the content cycle up to become platform neutral and still be focused on the
highest level of product for the content. However, the volume of work each team member
on the content cycle will increase, but the stature and value propositions of the magazine
will increase. The basic ratio to understand here is much more lean in time per content
item, more content creation expectations per person per month, but at the same pay, until
the new digital channels are revenue positive. This will remain a huge point of strain
between the editorial and the business side until a new equilibrium is reached. However,
the authors will become more influential and known as the churn a higher volume of
work.

• Control future process performance (isixsigma.com, 2010)

The future is difficult to tell. However, the newer ways to consider future process
improvements will be based on the greater performance metrics available in the online
content production space. The future process will have much more data for performance
evaluation. However, the trick is to realize that quality is actually more important than
quantity. The new digital streams will allow Ur Digital Home to continue to (Canadian
Business Network, 2011).
- Cut transaction times
- Compete globally with your website against businesses of all sizes without setting up
offices in other countries

10

This will occur via web-based content. These new delivery models will cut costs
associate with adding addition readers, raise revenue, and reduce transaction times and
allow Ur Dream Home to compete with modern interior and living magazines through
out the world in the English language not only Ireland and be Ireland’s voice on this
subject world wide.

The evaluating and improving the publishing process was the scope for analyzing Ur
Dream Home’s two sub-processes of “business operations” and its “content cycle.” The
magazine can use a digital business strategy that works within a flexible process
improvement framework like Lean / SixSigma. A Lean / SixSigma framework for
developing a platform neutral operation was the objective and grow its business with
growing its staff substantially. Training however would be key given that this is a human
capital-intensive enterprise.

Is Lean /SixSigma the next big thing for publishers? I am doubtful of this due to its more
rigid edges in-person implementation; however, its relentless focus on time management
and quality control are could be helpful. This would be especially so in the case of very
large publishers where the two sub-processes discussed above are much less cut and dry
as many smaller person-by-person efficiencies would need to be wrung out of both sub-
processes.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Benkoil, D. 2011. Tear Down the Wall Between Business and Editorial! PBS.org Mediashift
blog 7 December. [Online] Available from:
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/12/tear-down-the-wall-between-business-and-
editorial341.html [Accessed 19 December 2011]

Brutu, M. The Improvement of Processes' Quality in Organisations Using the Six Sigma Concept.
Annals of the University of Petrosani Economics, 2010, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p37-42, 6p.

Canada Business Network, 2011. What is e-business? [Online] Available from:
http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/145/148/4325/ [Accessed 19 December 2011]

Davenport, T. 2008. Why Six Sigma Is on the Downslope HSR Blog Network 7 January. [Online]
Available from: http://blogs.hbr.org/davenport/2008/01/why_six_sigma_is_on_the_downsl.html
[Accessed 19 December 2011]

Gupta, S. and Armstrong, K. and Clayton, Z. 2011. Social Media. Harvard Business Review,
Note. 510-095.

iSixSigma, 2010. DMAIC Versus DMADV [Online] Available from:
http://www.isixsigma.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1252:&Itemid=111

Madison, D. (2005). Process Mapping, Process Improvement and Process Management.
California: Paton Press. [Online] Available From:
http://books.google.com/books?id=n0k0Rbkbq3YC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
. [Accessed 19 December]

Ur Dream Home, 2011. [Online] Available from: http://urdreamhome.ie
Henk de Koning, Ronald J.M.M. Does, Arjan Groen, Benjamin P.H. Kemper, (2010) "Generic
Lean Six Sigma project definitions in publishing", International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol.
1 Iss: 1, pp.39 – 55.

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