Chapter 1-A Flashcards
(35 cards)
The art and science of overseeing how work is performed in an organization to ensure consistent outcomes and to take advantage of improvement opportunities
Business Process Management (BPM)
The term “improvement” may take different meanings depending on
The objectives of the organization
BPM is not about improving the way individual activities are performed
Rather, it is about managing processes
The chains of events, activities, and decisions that ultimately add value to the organization, and its customers
Processes
Type of process performed by a vendor, which starts when a customer submits an order to purchase a product or a service and ends when the product or service in question has been delivered to the customer and the customer has made the corresponding payment
Order-to-cash process
Type of process that typically precedes an order-to-cash process. It starts from the point when a supplier receives a Request for Quote (RFQ) from a customer and ends when the customer in question places a purchase order based on the received quote
Quote-to-order process
The combination of a quote-to-order and the corresponding order-to-cash process
Quote-to-cash process
Type of process that starts when someone in an organization determines that a given product or service needs to be purchased. It ends when the product or service has been delivered and paid for
Procure-to-pay process
Type of process that starts when a customer raises a problem or issue, such as a complaint related to a defect in a product or an issue encountered when consuming a service
Issue-to-resolution process
Variant of the issue-to-resolution process that can be found in insurance companies that have to deal with insurance claims
Claim-to-resolution process
Type of process that starts when someone applies for a benefit or privilege and ends when the benefit or privilege in question is either granted or denied
Application-to-approval process
What companies do whenever they deliver a service or a product to customers
Business processes
The way process are designed and performed affects
The quality of the service that customers perceive
The efficiency with which services are delivered
Correspond to things that happen atomically, which means they have no duration. Example: the arrival of a piece of equipment at a construction site
Events
An event may trigger the execution of a series of activities that take time. Example: when a piece of equipment arrives, the site engineer inspects it
Activity
When an activity is rather simple and can be seen as one single unit of work. Example: just checking that the equipment received corresponds to what was ordered
Task
If the equipment inspection involves several checks; such as checking that the equipment fulfills the specification included in the purchase order, checking that the equipment is in working order, and checking the equipment comes with all the required accessories and safety devices
We will call it an activity instead of a task
Points in time when a decision is made that affects the way the process is executed. Example: as a result of the inspection, the site engineer may decide that the equipment should be returned or that the equipment should be accepted. This decision affects what happens later in the process
Decision point
Including human actors, organizations, or software systems acting on behalf of human actors or organizations
Actors
Equipment, materials, products, paper documents
Physical objects
Electronic documents and electronic records
Informational objects
Those who operate inside the organization where the process is executed. These actors are also called process participants
Internal actors
Those who operate outside the organization where the process is executed. These actors are also called business parties
External actors
The execution of a process leads to
One or several outcomes