This unique and comprehensive book presents a unifying paradigm for understanding operations, based in the belief that a large part of operations management is the design and management of business processes. The overall objective of the book is to demonstrate how managers can control process structure and process drivers to achieve desired business process performance. This framework is applied to understand which levels managers have to control: cycle time, capacity, inventory, and quality. Providing a conceptual and logically rigorous approach, Managing Business Process Flows discusses the subject in three steps: model and understand the process and its flows; study causal relationships between process structure and certain performance metrics; and formulate implications for managerial actions by filtering out managerial levers ("process drivers") and their impact on process performance. The book also identifies managerial levers, and establishes a connection between operational and financial measurements. An essential resource for all management professionals, especially Management Consultants specializing in operations and supply chains, Managers and VPs overseeing supply chains, and Plant Managers. ÿ