Acknowledgments
It is important that I acknowledge the valued questions, discussions, advice, and inputs provided by my former students and a number of my colleagues, friends, and the staff at Business Expert Press. These individuals include:
René Reitsma, V. T. Raja, Michael Curry, Zhaohui Wu, James Moran, Bryon Marshall, Randal Smith, and Mark Van Patten in the College of Business at Oregon State University.
John Sloan, a long-time friend and colleague at both Hewlett-Packard and the College of Business at Oregon State University and current fellow culinary student.
James and Mona Fitzsimmons, who coauthored the textbook2 we used for the service process content in the integrated information and process management course described earlier. They were the ones who inspired me to begin writing business application books.
David Parker, Scott Isenberg, and Cindy Durand of Business Expert Press, who provided encouragement, great feedback, and patience during the completion of the text.
Don Stengel of California State University—Fresno who reviewed the manuscript and provided useful suggestions.
Last, but far from least, I must express my thanks and appreciation to my wife, Judy, and our children, Rachel and Jeremy, for their patience and encouragement when I often worked long hours and some weekends to understand business processes better.