Abstract:
A high performance capability assessment model helps a pulp and paper business meet the challenges of the global marketplace. As a result, the pulp and paper business can achieve the clarity, consistency, and well-defined execution of core processes that reduce inefficiencies and waste that result from unnecessary process complexity and exceptions. In addition, the high performance capability assessment model helps the pulp and paper industry business to identify specific areas in which improvements may be made and understand how to make the improvements, and establishes levels of capability along the way to reaching an ultimate capability goal.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of priority from Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/164,618, entitled Pulp and Paper High Performance Capability Assessment, filed Mar. 30, 2009, and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     This disclosure concerns a system and method to identify the performance of an organization on a scale of mastery across representative capabilities of the organization&#39;s industry. In particular, this disclosure relates to an efficient and cost effective way to assess the performance level of key capability areas within the processes of a pulp and paper industry organization. 
     2. Background Information 
     Modern pulp and paper industry organizations operate in an increasingly challenging environment. To survive, pulp and paper industry organizations must adapt to this environment and execute in a clear, consistent, and efficient manner. Furthermore, the regularity requirements and resource management challenges of pulp and paper businesses greatly increase the complexity and difficulty of surviving on a day-to-day basis. 
     Despite the need for a pulp and paper organization to meet the challenges of the global marketplace, it is still often the case that the business lacks clarity, consistency, and well-defined execution of its core processes. These shortcomings severely constrain the business, and lead directly to inefficiencies and waste due to unnecessary complexity, process exceptions, and customer dissatisfaction. At the same time, it can be very difficult to identify specific processes to which improvements may be made, either because the business itself does not have the expertise to identify the processes or because the complexities of the business frustrate attempts to clearly delineate the processes to be improved. 
     Even if the pulp and paper business, on its own, could identify one of the many processes that it needs to improve, the business would not necessarily know how to improve the process or be able to identify a concrete and measurable improvement goal. Another difficulty exists in determining whether there are any intermediate goals that should be reached along the way. As pulp and paper businesses struggle to meet the demands of the modern economic landscape, they fail to identify opportunities for maximizing compliance and margin improvement, category expansion, multi-channel execution, selling performance, customer satisfaction improvement, and to reach other important goals. 
     Therefore, a need exists for an efficient and effective system and method to assess the performance level of key assessment areas within the processes of an organization. 
     SUMMARY 
     A high performance capability assessment (HPCA) model helps pulp and paper businesses meet the challenges of the global marketplace by defining a scale of performance mastery along which the current practices of the business may be located. The HPCA model accelerates the discovery of process and performance gaps within business operations. In addition, the HPCA model also helps the business to identify specific areas in which improvements may be made, how to make the improvements, and how to establish performance measures during the course of attempting to achieve an ultimate goal. As a result, the business can achieve the clarity, consistency, and well-defined execution of core processes that maximize the operating budget for optimum outcomes. 
     The HPCA model includes a key factor dimension and a performance mastery scale dimension. The performance mastery scale dimension defines multiple mastery levels. The performance mastery levels form a scale of increasing organizational performance. The scale includes a ‘Basic’ mastery level, an ‘Intermediate’ mastery level, and an ‘Advanced’ mastery level. Each performance mastery level includes criteria specific to a corresponding key assessment area. Each key assessment area identifies some aspect of a capability of a business. 
     A business capability can be defined as a bundle of closely integrated skills, knowledge, technologies, and cumulative learning that is exercised through a set of processes and that collectively represents an organization&#39;s ability to create value by producing outcomes and results. Capability area does not represent a delineation of organizational responsibilities as the business outcomes of a capability may be the result of a number of cross-functional teams. Capabilities of a business may be grouped into platforms. For example, the HPCA model groups the capabilities of the pulp and paper industry into ten high-level platforms, including a pulp fiber platform, a manage fiber supply platform, a produce rolls platform, a maintain production capability platform, a source and supply goods and services platform, a plan and manage supply chain network and inventory platform, a perform sales and operations planning platform, a provide production capability and operating services platform, a finish products platform, and a market and sell products platform. Examples of capabilities within the pulp fiber platform, for example, include prepare fiber, pulp and bleach, and dry and bale. Platforms may include sub-platforms, as well as capabilities. 
     The key factor dimension establishes a set of key assessment areas in which to analyze the capabilities of a business. Key assessment areas include performance capability criteria. Performance capability criteria populate the performance capability assessment model. The performance capability criteria may be specific to any one of many different business capabilities. For example, the manage fiber supply platform includes develop site, manage forest operation, and transport logs key assessment areas at each of the capability levels along the performance capability scale dimension. Any number of performance capability assessment models and performance capability criteria may be defined and stored in a capability detail pool for subsequent retrieval and application to a business under examination. Accordingly, the HPCA model provides a flexible and adaptive scale of performance capability against which business practices may be compared to ascertain where the capabilities of a business under examination fall along the scale. 
     Other systems, methods, features, and advantages will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. All such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages are included within this description, are within the scope of the invention, and are protected by the following claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The pulp and paper industry high performance capability assessment model and system may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the capability assessment techniques. In the figures, like-referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. 
         FIG. 1  shows a high performance capability assessment model with a performance scale of mastery and performance criteria shown for different capabilities. 
         FIG. 2  shows a high performance capability assessment model with pulp fiber capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 3  shows a high performance capability assessment model with manage fiber supply capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 4  shows a high performance capability assessment model with produce rolls capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 5  shows a high performance capability assessment model with maintain production capability capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 6  shows a high performance capability assessment model with source and supply goods and services capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 7  shows a high performance capability assessment model with plan and manage supply chain network and inventory capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 8  shows a high performance capability assessment model with perform sales and operations planning capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 9  shows a high performance capability assessment model with provide production capability and operating services capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 10  shows a high performance capability assessment model with finish products capabilities shown. 
         FIG. 11  shows a high perform capability assessment model with market and sell products capability shown. 
         FIG. 12  shows a capability detail pool providing a multidimensional pulp and paper industry performance reference set where multiple key assessment performance reference tables are collected and stored. 
         FIG. 13  shows a capability assessment system. 
         FIG. 14  shows a flow diagram for establishing high-performance capability assessment models. 
         FIG. 15  shows a flow diagram for retrieving and applying high performance capability assessment models. 
         FIG. 16  shows a flow diagram for analyzing representative practice data to determine a pulp and paper industry and a pulp and paper key assessment area to which the representative practice data applies. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  shows a high performance capability assessment (HPCA) model  100 . The HPCA model  100  specifies ten high-level platforms, including a pulp fiber platform  102 , a manage fiber supply platform  104 , a produce rolls platform  106 , a maintain production capability platform  108 , a source and supply goods and services platform  110 , a plan and manage supply chain network and inventory platform  112 , a perform sales and operations planning platform  114 , a provide production capability and operating services platform  116 , a finish products platform  118 , and a market and sell products platform  120 . The HPCA model  100  is not limited to the form shown in  FIG. 1 . Instead, the HPCA model  100  may be adapted and modified to fill a wide variety of analysis roles. Additional, different, or fewer platforms may be used in other implementations, with each platform defining additional, different, or fewer capabilities. Each platform includes one or more multiple &lt;platform name&gt; capabilities  130 . 
     The HPCA model  100  establishes a multidimensional pulp and paper industry performance reference set that includes multiple key assessment performance levels  138 , further described below in reference Tables 1-3. The performance levels  138  establish a scale of increasing effectiveness in delivery of each capability. The key assessment performance reference tables include a ‘Basic’  140  delivery level, an ‘Intermediate’  142  delivery level and an ‘Advanced’  144  delivery level. The performance levels establish a scale of mastery  146  along which current business practices may be located and identified with respect to any platform and capability within a platform according to an analysis of performance capability criteria (PCC). The capability under evaluation may be assigned the performance level  138  based on a delivery effectiveness position  158  along the scale of mastery  146 . 
     The ‘Basic’ delivery level  140  specifies ‘Basic’ performance assessment criteria, the ‘Intermediate’ delivery level  142  specifies ‘Intermediate’ performance assessment criteria, and the ‘Advanced’ delivery level  144  specifies ‘Advanced’ performance assessment criteria. The HPCA model  100  receives input data that specifies a pulp and paper business platform (e.g., a pulp and paper industry area) and a pulp and paper industry key assessment area for analysis. The HPCA model  100  searches the multidimensional pulp and paper industry performance reference set for a matching key assessment performance reference table that matches the pulp and paper industry platform and corresponding industry capability within the platform and the pulp and paper industry key assessment area, and retrieves the matching key assessment performance reference table. The HPCA model  100  initiates analysis of the matching key assessment performance reference table to obtain a resultant performance assessment level for the pulp and paper industry key assessment area. 
     Tables 1-3 below provide an explanation of each of the capability levels  140 ,  142 , and  144 . 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 ‘Basic’ Delivery Level 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Description: 
                 Capability mastery at a basic level is indicative of a high level,  
               
               
                   
                 unclear, undisciplined, or unsophisticated ability to execute  
               
               
                   
                 the capability in a consistent, traceable, and repeatable  
               
               
                   
                 manner in alignment with the organizational goals and  
               
               
                   
                 objectives. For non-core, low priority, new, or early  
               
               
                   
                 adoption of certain process capabilities, a basic level may be 
               
               
                   
                 acceptable to the organization or the organization may not 
               
               
                   
                 have the resources to expand beyond the basic capability  
               
               
                   
                 level. At this level of mastery, the organization is mostly  
               
               
                   
                 unaware of how to measure the performance of the capability,  
               
               
                   
                 or which part of the organization should be entrusted with 
               
               
                   
                 oversight and execution of the capability, and further may 
               
               
                   
                 not be enabled by IT. Thus, a basic level of mastery often  
               
               
                   
                 indicates that an organization is lagging behind its 
               
               
                   
                 competitors in its ability to execute the capability. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 ‘Intermediate’ Delivery Level 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Description: 
                 Capability mastery at an intermediate level is indicative of a  
               
               
                   
                 conservative ability to execute the capability in a fairly 
               
               
                   
                 consistent, traceable, and repeatable manner with proven  
               
               
                   
                 techniques, tools and commonly accepted practices 
               
               
                   
                 that are readily available and maintained. This capability  
               
               
                   
                 mastery is either a strategic decision by the organization to  
               
               
                   
                 be a follower or “good enough” operator in many respects 
               
               
                   
                 or is an interim step that organizations aspire to move 
               
               
                   
                 beyond and achieve a market leading mastery of the given 
               
               
                   
                 capability. At this level of maturity the organization has  
               
               
                   
                 mechanisms to measure the performance of the capability  
               
               
                   
                 with clear execution responsibilities within the organization  
               
               
                   
                 but with mostly unclear oversight which often leads 
               
               
                   
                 to alignment issues. An intermediate level of mastery 
               
               
                   
                 often indicates that an organization is performing  
               
               
                   
                 consistently with its competitors in its ability to  
               
               
                   
                 execute a capability. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 ‘Advanced’ Delivery Level 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Description: 
                 Capability mastery at an advanced is indicative of a highly  
               
               
                   
                 detailed, clear, and often iterative and sophisticated ability  
               
               
                   
                 to execute the capability. The advanced practice is the  
               
               
                   
                 recognized and referenced benchmark of continuous 
               
               
                   
                 improvement and high performance for a given process 
               
               
                   
                 capability. At this maturity level the process capability  
               
               
                   
                 has been optimized for efficiency and effectiveness, is  
               
               
                   
                 well understood, traceable, and consistently executed 
               
               
                   
                 to the point of being competitively differentiated or at 
               
               
                   
                 the top level of peer-to-peer comparison. It is measurable  
               
               
                   
                 and aligned with the overall organization goals and  
               
               
                   
                 objectives and is mostly enabled by IT. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     For  FIGS. 2-11 , the capability under evaluation may be assigned a level of mastery  138  based on the business&#39; position along the scale of mastery  146  (e.g., the ‘basic,’ ‘intermediate,’ or ‘advanced’ delivery level). Performance criteria corresponding to the basic  140 , intermediate  142  and advanced  144  performance levels populate the HPCA model  100 . The performance criteria capture characteristics, and/or other features of the delivery of a capability at a particular performance level. Examples below illustrate performance criteria that provide analysis and benchmarking for pulp and paper industry organizations. The HPCA model  100  performance criteria provide a tool for determining where a platform and capability under examination falls along the scale of mastery  146 . 
     For example, business consultants and business process engineers may interview a business or receive data about the business to determine, measure, or otherwise ascertain the characteristics, criteria, and other features of a particular capability implemented within the business. The consultants and engineers may compare the characteristics of the business to the performance criteria in the HPCA model  100  and arrive at an assessment level  138  for the capability under examination. In doing so, for example, the consultants and engineers may identify where the capability under examination falls in terms of the performance level for each key assessment area of a capability and determine an overall position on the scale of mastery  146  for the capability under examination. Performance criteria may populate the HPCA model  100  in whole or in part. Multiple high performance capability assessments may be collected and stored with the performance criteria for future retrieval and possible modification in a capability detail pool, discussed below. 
       FIG. 2  shows the pulp fiber platform  102  divided into respective capability areas  202 . The pulp fiber platform  102  includes a prepare fiber capability  220 , a pulp and bleach capability  222 , and a dry and bale capability  224 . 
       FIG. 3  shows the manage fiber and supply platform  104  divided into respective capability areas  302 . The manage fiber supply platform  104  includes a develop site capability  320 , a manage forest operation capability  322 , and a transport logs capability  324 . 
       FIG. 4  shows the produce rolls platform  106  divided into respective capability areas  402 . The produce rolls platform  106  includes a prepare furnish capability  420 , and a manage machine operation capability  422 . 
       FIG. 5  shows the maintain production capability platform  108  divided into respective capability areas  502 . The maintain production capability platform  108  includes a develop maintenance plan capability  520 , a plan and manage shutdowns capability  522 , a schedule and execute maintenance work capability  524 , a monitor maintenance capability  526 , and a general practices-all capabilities capability  528 . 
       FIG. 6  shows the source and supply goods and services platform  110  divided into respective capability areas  602 . The source and supply goods and services platform  110  includes a perform strategic sourcing capability  620 , an execute transactional sourcing capability  622 , a manage supplier relationships capability  624 , and a manage MRO stores and inventory capability  626 . 
       FIG. 7  shows the plan and manage supply chain network and inventory platform  112  divided into respective capability areas  702 . The plan and manage supply chain network and inventory platform  112  includes a develop supply chain network strategy capability  720 , a plan and manage warehouses and finished inventory capability  722 , a plan and manage logistics capability  724 , and a plan and manage transportation capability  726 . 
       FIG. 8  shows the perform sales and operations planning platform  114  divided into respective capability areas  802 . The perform sales and operations planning platform  114  includes a develop plan demand capability  820 , a plan supply and inventory capability  822 , a balance demand and supply capability  824 , a develop master schedule capability  826 , a develop finite schedule capability  828 , and a general practices-all capabilities capability  830 . 
       FIG. 9  shows the provide production capability and operating services platform  116  divided into respective capability areas  902 . The provide production capability and operating services platform  116  includes a build or expand production capability capability  920 , a provide quality assurance services capability  922 , a manage quality of inbound materials and supplies capability  924 , a manage certification capability  926 , a perform recovery management capability  928 , and a general practices-all capabilities capability  930 . 
       FIG. 10  shows the finish products platform  118  divided into respective capability areas  1002 . The finish products platform  118  includes a perform coating capability  1020 , a rewind and slit capability  1022 , and a manage conversion capability  1024 . 
       FIG. 11  shows the market and sell products platform  120  divided into respective capability areas  1102 . The market and sell products platform  120  includes a develop market insight capability  1120 , a develop marketing and customer strategy capability  1122 , a manage customers and merchants capability  1124 , a manage sales channels capability  1126 , a manage pricing and establish customer contracts capability  1128 , a process and service sales orders capability  1130 , and a general practices-all capabilities capability  1132 . 
     The tables provided in the appendix listing immediately following the abstract, which form part of this disclosure, provide an explanation of the capabilities and corresponding key assessment areas and performance criteria for each capability within the respective platforms. Each capability may include one or more key assessment areas. Each key assessment area may include one or more additional key assessment areas. In other words, a business capability may include sub-capabilities, and therefore, key assessment areas corresponding to the multiple sub-capabilities. The tables in the appendix show specific criteria used to analyze each capability. 
       FIG. 12  shows a multidimensional pulp and paper industry performance reference set  1200  (“reference set  1200 ”) that provides a capability detail pool from which the system described below may obtain benchmarking tables for a pulp and paper business. The reference set  1200  includes multiple key assessment performance reference tables (“reference tables”), two of which are labeled  1202  and  1204 . Each reference table may provide the benchmarking criteria for a specific capability, such as those noted above with respect to  FIGS. 2-11 . 
     One dimension of each table may establish the ‘Basic’ performance level  140  specifying ‘Basic’ performance assessment criteria, the ‘Intermediate’ performance level  142  specifying ‘Intermediate’ performance assessment criteria, and the ‘Advanced’ performance level  144  specifying ‘Advanced’ performance assessment criteria. Another dimension of each table may specify one or more key assessment areas (KAAs), several of which are labeled  1206 ,  1208 , and  1210 . As noted above, performance criteria, e.g., the PCC  1212 , populates each key assessment performance reference table to provide benchmark criteria for ‘Basic’, ‘Intermediate’, and ‘Advanced’ characteristics. 
     The reference set  1200  represents the HPCA model  100 . Consistent with the HPCA model  100 , the reference set  1200  may organize multiple reference tables into a hierarchical structure defining discrete changes in granularity. In one implementation, the hierarchical structure includes reference tables, sub-platforms, platforms, and models.  FIG. 12  labels three sub-platforms  1214 ,  1216 , and  1218 . The reference set  1200  may further organize the sub-platforms into platforms, two of which are labeled  1220  and  1222 . Platforms aggregate into the HPCA model  100  and corresponding reference set  1200 . Additional, different, or fewer levels of granularity may be defined in the HPCA model  100 . 
     The reference set  1200  may dynamically populate the reference tables with the most up-to-date performance criteria, for example upon retrieval and presentation by a business analysis consultant. The performance criteria may be retrieved from a performance capability criteria database or other information source. 
       FIG. 12  also shows an example of a database implementation  1224  of a portion of a reference table. In particular, the database implementation  1224  includes records (e.g., the records  1226 ,  1228 ,  1230 ) that establish each PCC  1212 . In the example shown, each record includes a PCC field  1232 , a category specifier field  1234 , and a KAA specifier field  1236 . Other fields may be provided, such as a reference table assignment field or reference set assignment field. The records categorize each PCC into a specific category (e.g., Basic), into a specific KAA, and, optionally, into a specific reference table in a specific reference set for any particular HPCA model. 
       FIG. 13  shows a high-performance capability assessment system (“system”)  1300 . The system  1300  includes a processor  1302  and a memory  1304 . Several databases support the operation of the system  1300 , including a performance capability database  1306 , a performance measured database  1308 , a capability detail pool database  1310 , and an assessment results database  1326 . The system  1300  may include a local display  1312  and input/output interfaces  1317  (e.g., including a keyboard, mouse, microphone, speakers, or other device), and, through the communication interface  1314  and networks  1316 , may communicate with remote devices  1318  and remote displays  1320 . The networks  1316  may be any combination of external networks (e.g., the Internet) and internal networks (e.g., corporate LANs). The displays  1312  and  1320  may, for example, present performance capability assessment models  1322  that the system  1300  retrieves from the capability detail pool database  1310  for review, modification, and application by process engineers or other individuals. With regard to local access or access by the remote devices  1318 , the system  1300  may include a login processing program  1324  to authenticate and/or authorize access to the system  1300 . To that end, the login processing program  1324  may include username/password verification, private/public key encryption, or other validation and data protection capabilities. 
     In one implementation, the capability performance database  1306  stores performance criteria. As will be described in more detail below, the system  1300  may populate performance capability assessment models with performance capability criteria suited to any particular platform (e.g., pulp fiber  102 , manage fiber supply  104 , produce rolls  106 , etc.) and business capability at one or more capability levels across one or more key assessment areas. The performance measured database  1308  may store the determined, measured, or otherwise ascertained characteristics, criteria, and other measured data of a particular key assessment area as representative practice data  1348 . The representative practice data  1348  may be obtained through interviews with business consultants and industrial engineers, through online questionnaires, through manual or automated analysis of business data (e.g., year end operating reports), or in other manners. The capability detail pool database  1310  stores the capability detail pool  1200 , which includes pre-defined performance capability assessment models  1322 . The assessment results database  1326  stores determined capability levels for specific capabilities that have been analyzed. 
     The system  1300  facilitates the review, modification, creation, and application of performance capability assessment models. In that role, performance capability assessment model manipulation logic (“manipulation logic”)  1346  within the system  1300  creates, retrieves, and stores capability assessment data  1328  in the memory  1304 . The manipulation logic  1346  may establish capability assessment data  1328  in the memory  1304 , including a capability assessment data structure  1330  with multiple capability levels (“CL”)  1332  organized along a scale of mastery dimension, multiple key assessment areas (“KAA”)  1334  organized along a key factor dimension, and performance criteria (“PCC”)  1336  that populates the performance capability assessment model  1330 . The manipulation logic  1346  may vary widely in implementation, and, as one example, may include data storage logic  1352  that saves data in memory and user interface logic that accepts capability level specifications, key assessment area specifications and performance capability criteria inputs to create new performance capability assessment models, modify existing performance capability assessment models, delete performance capability assessment models, or retrieve performance capability assessment models for review. 
     In one implementation, the manipulation logic  1346  establishes the capability assessment data structure  1330  to include a multidimensional pulp and paper industry performance reference set that includes multiple key assessment performance reference tables in which the key assessment performance reference tables include a ‘Basic’ capability performance level, an ‘Intermediate’ capability performance level, and an ‘Advanced’ capability performance level. 
     The capability assessment data  1328  may also include a capability position specifier  1338 . The capability position specifier  1338  may record the capability level along the scale of mastery  146 , as determined for any particular capability. Thus, the system  1300  may store the performance level in the assessment results database  1326  or elsewhere for future retrieval and review. 
     In one implementation, the data population logic  1340  may be a data population program executed by the processor  1302  that populates template performance capability assessment models. For example, the data population logic  1340  may include input logic  1350  that accepts input specifying a capability of interest that indicates a particular performance capability assessment model. The data population logic  1340  may include query logic  1345  that executes database queries and prompts a user for input to obtain the corresponding performance capability criteria for the capability of interest. 
     In another implementation, for example, the query logic  1345  may receive an input specifying a pulp and paper industry area and a pulp and paper industry key assessment area with the pulp and paper industry area for analysis. The query logic  1345  searches the multidimensional pulp and paper industry performance reference set for a matching key assessment performance reference table that matches the pulp and paper industry area and the pulp and paper industry key assessment area, and retrieves the matching key assessment performance reference table. 
     The data population logic  1340  may further include storage logic that adds the retrieved performance capability criteria to the template performance capability assessment model. The data population logic  1340  produces populated performance capability assessment structures  1342  that may be stored in the capability detail pool database  1310 . 
     In addition to the analysis process described above, the system  1300  may provide an automated analysis of representative practice data  1348  that identifies relevant performance capability criteria and determines the position on the scale of mastery  146  of each key assessment area corresponding to the performance capability criteria for the representative practice data  1348 . As one example, the system  1300  may implement capability assessment logic  1344  that includes comparison and/or matching logic that analyzes the representative practice data  1348  with respect to performance capability criteria to locate key assessment areas for which the system  1300  can determine capability levels to obtain a resultant performance level for each key assessment area. 
     Furthermore, the capability assessment logic  1344  may determine an overall position on the scale of mastery  146  as the capability position specifier  1338 , for a capability under examination given the knowledge of where the key assessment areas corresponding to the capability under examination fall in each capability level. Thus, for example, the capability assessment logic  1344  may determine an overall capability level for a capability corresponding to the capability level for the majority of the key assessment areas, or it may apply a weighted analysis technique to give more emphasis to some key assessment areas than others in determining the overall position on the scale of mastery  146  for a capability. As another example, the capability assessment logic  1344  may implement an expert system (e.g., based on a neural network trained on prior determinations) that analyzes the determined characteristics with respect to the performance capability criteria and ascertains where the capability under examination falls along the scale of mastery  146  for each of the key assessment areas, or overall on the scale of mastery. 
       FIG. 14  shows a flow diagram  1400  for creating performance capability assessment models. The performance capability assessment model creator (e.g., the manipulation logic  1346 ) establishes a key factor dimension for the performance capability assessment model ( 1402 ). The performance capability assessment model creator also establishes a capability scale dimension for the performance capability assessment model ( 1404 ). The capability scale dimension may define a scale of increasing organizational capability. For example, the structure creator may create the ‘Basic’ level  140 , the ‘Intermediate’ level  142 , and the ‘Advanced’ level  144 . The performance capability assessment model creator also populates the performance capability assessment model with capability performance criteria ( 1406 ). A capability detail pool  1200  may be formed to hold multiple tailored key assessment performance reference tables ( 1408 ). The performance capability assessment model creator may store the populated assessment structure in the capability detail pool for subsequent retrieval and analysis ( 1410 ). 
       FIG. 15  shows a flow diagram  1500  for retrieving and applying performance capability assessment models. A selection of a capability to be analyzed is obtained ( 1502 ). In one implementation, the system  1300  receives input data that specifies a pulp and paper industry area and a pulp and paper industry key assessment area for analysis. For example, the system  1300  may accept input from a business consultant that specifies a capability for analysis. The system  1300  may query the capability detail pool  1200  for a corresponding performance capability assessment model ( 1504 ). The corresponding performance capability assessment model may be pre-defined in the capability detail pool  1200 , or the data population logic  1340  (or other actor) may populate a performance capability assessment model template that the system  1300  newly creates, or that the system  1300  retrieves from a data store, such as the capability detail pool database  1310 . 
     In another example, the system  1300  searches the multidimensional pulp and paper industry performance reference set in the capability detail pool  1200  for a matching key assessment performance reference table based on the input data that specifies a pulp and paper industry platform and a pulp and paper industry key assessment area. The system  1300  retrieves the matching key assessment performance reference table and initiates analysis of the matching key assessment performance reference table to obtain a resultant performance level for the pulp and paper industry key assessment area. 
     The system  1300  obtains representative practice data  1348  for the capability under examination in the specific business under review ( 1506 ). For example, a business consultant may interview the business to determine how the business currently executes the capability under review. As another example, a representative from the business may complete a questionnaire, submit business data for analysis and parameter extraction, or otherwise provide the characteristics of their current capability execution. As a further example, the system  1300  may retrieve the representative practice data  1348  from a database of previously obtained representative practice data. 
     The system  1300  compares the representative practice data  1348  to the performance criteria in the performance capability assessment model ( 1508 ). For example, a business consultant may use his or her expertise to arrive at a determination of level for the business and the capability under examination ( 1510 ). Alternatively or additionally, the capability assessment logic  1344  may perform an automated analysis of the assessment results data in the assessment results database  1326  and ascertain the performance level on the scale of mastery  146 . The system  1300  may store the assessment results, including the determined performance level, for future reference in the assessment results database  1326  or other location ( 1512 ). 
       FIG. 16  shows a flow diagram  1600  for analyzing representative practice data  1348  to determine a pulp and paper industry and a pulp and paper key assessment area to which the representative practice data applies. The system  1300  receives representative practice data  1348  as input data ( 1602 ). The system  1300  may receive the representative practice data  1348  from a database query performed by the query logic  1345  that the query logic executes periodically, when instructed by an operator, and/or automatically against any number of available database sources that store representative practice data  1348 . The capability assessment logic  1344  analyzes the representative practice data  1348  to identify performance capability criteria in the capability detail pool  1200  that the capability assessment logic  1344  determines relevant to the representative practice data  1348  ( 1604 ). For example, the capability assessment logic  1344  may compare and/or match the content of the representative practice data  1348  with the performance capability criteria using natural language processing (NLP), text string and/or substring matching, by comparing tags linked to the representative practice data  1348  and that specify that any portion of the representative practice data  1348  is applicable to a specific PCC, by querying for a manual classification of the representative practice data  1348  to a PCC, or other matching technique. The capability assessment logic  1344  may score and/or weight a performance capability criteria and compare the score and/or weight to a user specified relevance threshold to rank the relevance of the performance capability criteria to the representative practice data  1348  ( 1606 ). The user may specify particular terms and/or phrases to search and match between the performance capability criteria and the representative practice data  1348 , in order to score the performance capability criteria. 
     The capability assessment logic  1344  may determine, based on the number of performance capability criteria that meet or exceed the relevance threshold, that the capability assessment logic  1344  has identified a sufficient number of performance capability criteria for a specific key assessment area in order to determine a performance level for the capability as a whole or any key assessment area within the capability ( 1608 ). As one example, where at least 51% of the performance capability criteria for a particular key assessment area meet or exceed the relevance threshold, the capability assessment logic  1344  applies the performance capability criteria to the representative practice data  1348 . In another example, the performance capability criteria for a particular key assessment area may be ranked in importance and/or designated as mandatory in order to assess the key assessment area. In the event the capability assessment logic  1344  identifies the mandatory performance capability criteria for a key assessment area, the capability assessment logic  1344  applies the performance capability criteria to the representative practice data  1348 . 
     The capability assessment logic  1344  may apply the performance capability criteria meeting or exceeding the relevance threshold to the representative practice data  1348  to determine whether any particular PCC is met. Accordingly, as the capability assessment logic  1344  analyzes the PCC, the system  1300  tracks the best fit of the representative practice data  1348  to the PCCs in the key assessment performance reference tables. In other words, the system  1300  determines how the representative practice data  1348  meets (or does not meet) each PCC, thereby gaining insight into whether the representative practice data  1348  is indicative of Basic, Intermediate, or Advanced practices. 
     The system  1300  may also gauge the position on the scale of mastery  146  of each key assessment area corresponding to the performance capability criteria ( 1610 ). The capability assessment logic  1344  may further determine an overall position on the scale of mastery  146  for a capability ( 1612 ). The capability assessment logic  1344  may establish that a desired number and/or designated mandatory performance capability criteria for the key assessment areas have been identified as relevant to a capability and sufficient to determine the position on the scale of mastery  146  for the capability. For example, the capability assessment logic  1344  may determine an overall performance level for the capability based on the performance level determined for the majority of the key assessment areas. The capability assessment logic  1344  may apply a weighted analysis technique to give more emphasis to some key assessment areas than others in determining the overall position on the scale of mastery  146  for the capability. Although selected aspects, features, or components of the implementations are depicted as being stored in computer-readable memories (e.g., as computer-executable instructions or performance capability assessment models), all or part of the systems and structures may be stored on, distributed across, or read from other computer-readable media. The computer-readable media may include, for example, secondary storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs; a signal, such as a signal received from a network or received at an antenna; or other forms of memory, including ROM or RAM, either currently known or later developed. 
     Various implementations of the system  1300  may include additional or different components. A processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a DSP, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete logic, or a combination of other types of circuits or logic. Similarly, memories may be DRAM, SRAM, Flash or any other type of memory. The processing capability of the system may be distributed among multiple system components, such as among multiple processors and memories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems. Parameters, databases, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, and may be implemented in many ways, including data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, or implicit storage mechanisms. Programs may be combined or split among multiple programs, or distributed across several memories and processors. 
     The HPCA  100  model provides unexpectedly good results for a performance capability assessment model, particularly in the pulp and paper industry. In particular, the combinations of key assessment areas and particular assessment criteria of the HPCA model, including the criteria noted in the Appendix of Tables, provide significant advantages over other assessment models. The unexpectedly good results include clearly identifying and delineating from among multiple related complex processes the specific processes to improve, how to improve said process, and identifying concrete and measurable improvement goals. 
     While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. 
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                 The patent contains a lengthy table section. A copy of the table is available in electronic form from the USPTO web site (http://seqdata.uspto.gov/?pageRequest=docDetail&amp;DocID=US08442857B1). An electronic copy of the table will also be available from the USPTO upon request and payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.19(b)(3).