The Process Edge resolves a paradox that affects many organizations, that the many
 measurable benefits of process change - time, staff, cost, and accuracy -- result in worse, not better, business performance.
Total quality management, reengineering, the learning organization, virtual organization and the like have shown us how to get a process right, but they give little idea as to which process to get right.
Process improvement isn't the same as process investment. The Process Edge shows how to prioritize investments by examining processes as financial capital. They are literally assets and liabilities to be managed as such. That means the base for investment is economic value added: the foundation of shareholder value. Much of the process paradox comes from firms putting their investment into "background" liability processes, the many workflows that are dominated by paper and steps and well-suited to streamlining, particularly through the combination of reengineering and computers. They neglect what The Process Edge terms more "salient" identity asset processes and priority processes.
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