A 360-degree process improvement approach based on multiple models

Several models and methodologies have been defi ned in order to support organisational process improvement. The implementation and institutionalisation of these approaches allow organisations to improve, mature, acquire and institutionalise best practices and management systems from multiple approaches. However, there are two issues, which have to be kept in mind. On one hand, it is possible to fi nd several similarities amongst improvement, management and governance approaches. Experts and practitioners can thereby save, improve and optimize the organisational efforts using the best parts of existing models as building blocks; they can thus be prepared to deconstruct models, aiming for their designs to meet multiple needs. On the other hand, nonetheless, there are other factors which may infl uence, for example, compliance, or those aspects related to structural differences such as terminology, size, process, element structure, content, granularity, and complexity, which make diffi cult to work in multi-model environments. This being the case, the people involved need a map or guideline telling them how to carry out the harmonisation of models and standards that have to be implemented inside their organisations. In the quest to help support the work of harmonization of multiple models, this paper presents a framework that defi nes elements needed for the harmonization of multiple reference models to occur, as well as its application to three case studies. The results obtained show that the framework proposed has allowed the harmonization of several models.