vol. XX no. 3
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Hear
the term “business process” and what likely comes to mind is a series
of tasks and activities involving the physical flow of goods and
materials. Think Henry Ford’s assembly line.
A new form of the
practice, called Business Process Management, or BPM, is helping firms
unclog bottlenecks in the flow of information between functions,
streamline the execution of end-to-end services performed by different
business units, and enhance the overall customer experience.
Richard
J. Welke, director of Robinson’s Center for Process Innovation, says
the underpinnings of Business Process Management trace back to document
work flow systems developed in the mid-1970s. BPM itself emerged within
the last few years through advances in information technology (IT) and
the convergence of supporting services. As a field of study, he notes,
“BPM is so new that there isn’t a true textbook for the area.”
Although
it ultimately will be applied to C-level issues including agility,
real-time business intelligence, regulatory compliance, market
innovation, value chain management, and reduction of transaction costs,
BPM thus far has been implemented most broadly in front-office
applications used to deliver information-intensive services to
end-users.
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