A module that is an introduction to business proesses which may also be known as business activiites, functions, tasks, procedures, etc. This module makes extensive use of actual process examples; but it does not detail ony one organization's processes.

1. This module is an introduction to the concept of business processes,
which may also be known as business activities, functions, tasks,
procedures, steps, etc.
This module makes extensive of actual process examples; but it does not
detail any one organization’s processes.
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2. The first section of this module on business processes answers the
question “Why focus on them?”...
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3. Every business does WORK...
•Objectives: WHY we work
•Functions: WHAT kinds of work are performed within the whole company
•Data: WHAT information is needed to perform work &/or results from work
•Processes: WHAT work tasks are performed by individual people &/or machines
•Organization: WHO are the people and HOW are they organized to perform work
•Procedures: HOW and WHEN processes are performed by people
•Technology: HOW and WHEN processes are performed by machines
Work is defined by the stable activities that a business does, like functions and processes.
All other non-activities (e.g., objectives, data, organizations) can be linked (related) to specific
activities.
So, stable activities (functions, processes) can be used as the common denominator or focus for
understanding HOW and WHEN work is done and WHO performs the tasks.
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4. Sloan Management Review / Summer 1996. Davenport, Jarenpaa, Beers
“Improving Knowledge Work Processes”:
Professional knowledge workers [e.g., Operations Managers, CSCs]
center their professional intellect around:
• know-what [business activities, functions, processes, tasks]
• know-how [policies and procedures]
• know-why [business direction, goals and objectives]
• self-motivated creativity
... in job roles that involve the use and application of knowledge.
A process approach attempts to separate the work (what you do) from
the particular worker (who does the work) and to obtain an end-to-end
view of how to best structure, sequence and measure work activities to
reach targeted outcomes.
Processes...are a specific ordering of work activities across time and
place, with a beginning, an end, and clearly identified inputs and
outputs: a structure for action. The process approach promotes an
examination of what and how things are done from a viewpoint of
producing value for a customer.
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5. Every business organization is a collection of business activities
(functions, processes, tasks, procedures). These business
activities produce value, serve customers and generate income.
Managing these activities is a key to the success of the
organization.
Business activities can be used as a focal point or the common
denominator with other basic business objects (i.e., activity-based):
WHY: Business goals and objectives
WHAT: Business data and information
WHO: Organization roles & responsibilities and job descriptions
HOW:
• Manual policies and procedures and/or
• Technology use as either tools / machines or computer
systems
WHERE: Locations and places
WHEN: Timeframes when work is performed
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6. “Dispatch Trip” and “Perform Trip” are two real examples business activities
that are the focal points for other basic business objects:
WHY: Business goals and objectives
WHAT: Business data and information
WHO: Organization roles & responsibilities and job descriptions
HOW:
•Manual policies and procedures and/or
•Technology use as either tools / machines or computer systems
WHERE: Locations and places
WHEN: Timeframes when work is performed
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7. Continuous improvement is exhibited in customer satisfaction,
business retention and growth.
Business activities are used as a focal point or the common
denominator for continuous improvement.
The process approach allows us to separate what work is
performed (business activities) from who performs the work
(workers). The process approach allows us to peel away the
complexity of organizational structures, internal politics,
personalities, and so forth, in order to concentrate on the
processes that are the heart of business.
So, when a problem exists, we can use business activities as the
focal point of problem solving, rather than the more common
approach of looking for a scapegoat (e.g., pointing fingers at
individuals or job roles within the organization). Using activity-
based problem solving and continuous improvement allows for
more logical, accurate, and complete business analysis and
solutions.
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8. The second section of this training module on business processes
answers the question “What are they?”...
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9. A business action or series of actions may also be called one or more
units of work.
A process approach focuses on the breakdown of work into small,
standardized, measurable tasks (i.e., a work breakdown structure) and
on how these tasks are interrelated to one another (i.e., the output of one
task is the input to another task).
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10. A business activity can be described and assessed in terms of :
♣ What Work done / actions taken = the task
♣ Inputs Resources (people, materials, equipment,
finances, data)
♣ Outputs Products and services
• Who Roles, organizations, skills, staffing levels
• Where Locations and places
• When Frequency, timing, durations, events
• How Manual and technology-enabled procedures
• Why Purpose and goals
• How much Measurements (volumes, costs)
♣ = the core ingredients of a business activity are the work performed,
the inputs and outputs to the work done
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11. Four kinds of business activities are reviewed:
•Functions
(which are the logical, ongoing activities that describe “what” the business does
at the highest level)
• Processes
(which are logical, executable activities that also describe “what” is done)
• Tasks
(which are lowest level processes that usually are performed by
one person or team)
• Procedures
(which are the physical steps that describe “how” a
specific task is performed)
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12. “FUNCTIONS” are the largest kinds of activities that a business
performs. Collectively, one company’s functions are generally very
similar to other companies within the same industry (e.g., distribution
or logistics businesses generally do the same kind of work).
For the City of Chicago, the highest level “FUNCTIONS” include
• Operations
• Administration
• Human Resource Management
• Customer Services
• Emergency Services
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13. In other words, CHARACTERISTICS OF A FUNCTION:
• Lower-level business activities are grouped together into a business
function, which describes some major objective of the company (e.g.,
Human Resource Management)
• Functions have no-beginning and no-end. They keep going on and on.
They are too high level for any one person to actually accomplish one
occurrence of the activity
• By naming functions as nouns or verbal nouns (i.e., gerunds)
according to this rule of thumb, they can be distinguished from lower
level activities that do have a beginning and end.
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14. The word “process” has different meanings and definitions.
We are going to try to clearly define and clarify what a process is...
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15. A process is another kind of business activity which is at a lower level
and is more precise (i.e., more detailed), as compared to a business
function.
Since a process has a distinct beginning (starting point) and end
(stopping point), a process can be “executed” or “performed” once or
many times.
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16. In other words, CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROCESS:
• Since it only describes “what” work is performed (e.g., bill customer),
a process name does not describe “how” the work is performed (e.g.,
mail bill to customer)
• A process describes or is part of a “work breakdown structure” that
can be assigned to a specific job role, but that job role is never included
in the name of the process
• A work processes does something that is valuable to the business; so
you shouldn’t see an activity like “Wait for Customer Order” as a
process, since it doesn’t have any meaningful result/output.
• Since a process is executable (i.e., starts and stops), the lowest level
(i.e., most precise, detailed) processes usually are performed by one or
more specific job role
• A process is named using an action verb with a singular noun phrase,
which helps to distinguish it as an executable versus ongoing work
activity
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17. A task is a special kind of process, which is generally performed by one
person or team from start to finish.
Since a task is the lowest level kind of process, it cannot be further
broken down and still describe “what” (versus “how”) work is
accomplished..
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18. • As a lowest level process,
to try to decompose it further would only result in a procedure or
steps that describe how the process is performed.
• Usually, one person or team performs a task
from beginning to end
without needing to take a break ...
• e.g., “Dispatch Trip”
• usually one CSC dispatches a trip
• once the CSC starts to dispatch a trip to a driver,
s/he usually doesn’t stop
until the individual dispatch is completed.
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19. FUNCTIONS (ongoing activities) are composed of
PROCESSES (executable activities), which are composed of
TASKS (lowest level unit of work that still describes “what” not “how”)
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20. FUNCTIONS are named using nouns/verbal nouns to denote ongoing
activities,... no distinguishable beginning or end
PROCESSES and TASKS are named using verb and noun phrases to
denote executable activities which have distinct beginnings and ends
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21. A procedure is
• the lowest level of activity
(it’s a physical, not a logical activity like functions, processes and tasks)
•mapped to one or more processes
(one procedure can accomplish more than one process... generally a computer system
or may perform only one process... generally a tool or a manual process)
• a means of executing or a way of performing a process
= method to do a task
(ie, describes how a processes performed, not what is performed)
•a series of physical steps that perform a process by means of:
• a person or a team
(e.g., an individual can accomplish the steps required)
• a technique using some kind of tool
(e.g., using fingers vs pencil vs pen vs calculator vs computer)
• information technology
(e.g., a computer system or program, a database, a telecommunication system)
• named by a technology-specific or a role-specific verb & noun
• process = route deliver; this may be accomplished by :
• the ROUTER application which constructs a route
•a CSC or a driver who manually or mentally figures out the route
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22. In other words, CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROCEDURE:
• The step-by-step way of accomplishing a task is a procedure
• In describing “how” to do a task, usually a procedure includes tools or
instruments that are used, whether a person or a computer/machine
does the task, and specific techniques that are used
• Procedure names describe “how” an activity is done, not “what” is
done like a process does
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23. Two real examples of related business activities:
↓ Functions (logical, ongoing “what” is done)
↓ Processes (logical, executable “what” is done)
↓ Tasks (one person executes “what” is done)
↓ Procedures (the physical steps “how” it’s done)
...............................................................................................................................
• Operations: Trip Management
• Perform Trip
• Dispatch Trip
•Print Dispatched Trip Report
• Human Resource Management
• Train Employee
• Orient Employee to Customer’s Facilities
• Walk New Employee Around Customer’s
Warehouse and Dock
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24. Both activity analysis techniques are used as means
• to communicate our understanding of activities to others
• to illustrate and describe activities
• to document activities
• to better understand and analyze activities
• to perform continuous improvement on processes
These activity analysis techniques are known by many different names.
ACTIVITY DECOMPOSITION
• Indented lists
• Outlines
• Hierarchy diagrams
• Work breakdown structure
ACTIVITY FLOW DIAGRAMS
• Dependency diagrams
• Workflow diagrams
• Process flow diagrams
• Data flow diagrams
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25. (segue... from previous slide’s bullets)
Activity Decomposition illustrates that activities are related by
• Top-down specification of components
• Decomposition defines lower level activities by
detailing (or specifying) more specific activities
• Bottom-up generalization of components
• Composition reduces complexity
by categorizing or generalizing detailed activities
into higher level activities
As activities are progressively decomposed,
the lower level activities define more details
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26. Decomposition begins by taking an activity and determining the precise
activities that make it up.
The parent activity must be completely defined by all of its children
activities. If any children activities are missing, then the parent has not
been completely decomposed.
Decomposition stops when all tasks (i.e., lowest level processes) have
been identified.
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27. Basically, follow the same rules of “outlining” that you were taught in
grammar school...
• For any activity to be appropriately decomposed,
it should have more than one child activity
• All siblings (children under one parent)
should be the same level,
either all functions or all processes:
• Functions are broken down
into either other functions or processes
• Processes are broken down
into multiple lower-level processes or tasks,
but not into procedures / steps
• Decomposition stops
when all tasks have been identified.
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28. The purpose of ACTIVITY DECOMPOSITION is to easily understand
work activities by breaking down work activities into increasing levels of
detail.
The purpose, scope and definition of each parent work activity is fully
identified by its explicit subordinate children activities.
If an activity can be detailed into two or more activities which when
combined are equal in functionality to the parent activity, then these
should be diagrammed as subordinate activities.
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29. Activity analysis techniques are used as means
• to communicate our understanding of activities to others
• to illustrate and describe activities
• to document activities
• to better understand and analyze activities
•to perform continuous improvement on processes
These activity analysis techniques are known by many different names.
ACTIVITY DECOMPOSITION
• Indented lists
• Outlines
• Hierarchy diagrams
• Work breakdown structure
ACTIVITY FLOW DIAGRAMS
• Dependency diagrams
• Workflow diagrams
• Value stream and value chain diagrams
• Process flow diagrams
• Data flow and object flow diagrams
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30. An activity flow diagram shows that each activity has
• inputs, which are the outputs from other activities, and
,
• outputs, which are inputs to other activities.
These inputs and outputs illustrate how one activity is related to or dependent upon
another activity.
This activity flow diagram of the “Trip Management” function shows that
• Trip Management is composed of 5 processes (Process Orders, Schedule
Resources, Perform Trip, Close Out & Document Trip, and Plan Long-Term
Resources)
• Each of these 5 processes is interdependent or linked with another process
because their inputs and outputs make them related
• All of the processes are performed in a sequence that is related to the order in
which the inputs and outputs are made available.
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31. Note that the only mandatory rule is the first which requires that
within an activity flow diagram, every activity has
• inputs, which are the outputs from other activities, and
• outputs, which are inputs to other activities.
All other rules are optional guidelines.
There are many types of activity flow diagrams:
• Dependency diagrams
• Process flow diagrams
• Data flow diagrams
• Event diagrams
• Use case diagrams
• IDEF diagrams
• Workflow diagrams,
which are usually the only diagrams that may include “procedures”.
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32. • The use of a specific type of activity flow diagram is tailored
• to analyze business activities
• to help solve business problems
• to best communicate with the business
• Workflow diagrams are often used for continuous improvement
because they can include:
• HOW: manual procedures on steps how the task gets done
• HOW: technological machines and computers
that perform specific work activities or
that help people do work (i.e., enable workers)
• WHO: organizations, job roles and job titles
• WHERE: locations where work is done
• WHEN: time events and frequencies when work is done
• WHAT: resources are inputs and
products &/or services are outputs
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33. Plan Trip
Execute Trip
Close Out & Document Trip
DOT Payroll Billing
Compliance
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34. The final section of this module on business processes answers the
question “How do they help us?”...
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35. Every business organization is a collection of business activities
(functions, processes, tasks, procedures). These business activities
produce value, serve customers and generate income. Managing these
activities is a key to the success of the organization.
Because business activities are:
• the target of the organization’s mission
• used as the focal point for other business objects (e.g., goals,
information, job roles, policies & procedures, technology,
locations and timeframes)
• the keys to continuous improvement
they are essential to organization’s vision of the future, since they are
used to:
• analyze, redesign and document the organization’s initiatives
• be the stable building blocks for front-line jobs.
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36. AS IS processes
• Establishes initial current processes and baseline
• the way people are actually doing work today (warts & all)
• a fragmented, inconsistent ad hoc state for front-line processes
• difficult knowing what to do (not defined)
• limited and uncertain measuring of work (not improvable)
• limited and unclear controls (not repeatable, not managed)
SHOULD BE processes
• Defines and engineers our current processes and designs a new baseline of the way
work should be performed and managed
• according to policy & procedures
• using our existent or short-term developed technology
(i.e., state of the practice versus state of the art)
• consistent, repeatable state (predictable) for front-line processes
TO BE processes
• Optimizes our processes into a totally integrated business solution for DOH customers
• adding all integrated logistics processes
• cutting edge, state of the art technology
• an optimized, integrated state for processes
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37. Part of MAGIC’s recommendations deal with detailing all the work
processes that the front-line currently performs and then selecting which
processes should be performed in the future.
The functional scope of MAGIC focuses on 3 highest level functions
which in turn decompose into the following functions and processes:
Operations
• Trip Management
• Customer Logistics / Finance Planning
• Safety & Security
• Quality Assurance
• Compliance
• Administration
• Human Resource Management
Review the names of all the lower level functions and processes that are
the children of the higher level functions above them.. This activity
decomposition comprises the entire work breakdown structure for front-
line employees and is the scope of MAGIC.
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38. Part of MAGIC’s recommendations deal with accurately measuring the
performance of its front-line processes and then rolling these
performance measurements up into Critical Success Factors.
Activities link process performance measures to CSFs.
Front-Line Functions
Each of 7 highest level front-line functions contains many low level
processes or tasks. These tasks can be objectively measured.
Performance Measures
Some of these tasks have special outputs which are key performance
measurements that indicate how well these tasks are performed at
customer locations by front-line employees.
Critical Success Factors
The key performance measurements not only can yield objective
information on how well location-tasks are performed, but also can be
rolled up (i.e., data is accumulated and summarized) to the
manager/supervisor level, Department/Commissioner level and the
City/Office of the Mayor level. When these performance measurements
are rolled up, they are funneled into the appropriate major categories
that are well-known as Critical Success Factors.
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39. Business activities can be used as a focal point or the common
denominator with other basic business objects (i.e., activity-based):
WHAT: Business data and information
Since all front-line activities have been analyzed, the data output of
specific tasks can now also be captured, reported on, analyzed and
managed.
This example illustrates that the outputs of the processes involved with
Trip Management: Close Out & Document Trip (e.g., captured in the the
details of the Driver Exception Report, Driver HOS Report and Driver
Log Audit) are used as the inputs to the processes involved in DOT
Compliance: Comply with Drivers HOS Records.
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40. Part of MAGIC’s recommendations deal with streamlining work away at
the front-line. Work was selected to be removed where it could be
accomplished more proficiently, more cost-effectively or with better
quality by other job roles.
Examples of removing work from the front-line include:
• Extensive use of functional experts
• Full utilization of the Driver Recruiting Centers
• Safety & Security functional experts assisting customer
locations with developing safety action plans
• Leveraging a team of Operational Vehicle Deputies across
Departments to deal with
dispatching and work management responsibilities.
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41. Business activities can be used as a focal point or the common
denominator with other basic business objects (i.e., activity-based):
WHO: Organization roles & responsibilities and job descriptions
This example illustrates how the tasks in Safety & Security, that should
be performed by and/or supported by functional experts, are defined.
This type of functional expert / Go To Person list is now available in
hardcopy and is accessible on-line in the MAGIC computer application
linked to each task.
This capability is possible because each RIL process was analyzed and
because the job role responsible to perform each task was designated.
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42. Business activities can be used as a focal point or the common
denominator with other basic business objects (i.e., activity-based):
WHO: Organization roles & responsibilities and job descriptions
As these example extracts from 2 different job descriptions (i.e., CSC and
Ops Manager) illustrate, different job roles generally perform different
work tasks. The CSC role performs many more tasks in Trip
Management than the Ops Manager. But the opposite is true in other
front-line functions.
This capability is possible because each process was analyzed and
because the job role responsible to perform each task was designated.
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43. Business activities can be used as a focal point or the common
denominator with other basic business objects (i.e., activity-based):
WHO: Organization roles & responsibilities and job descriptions
This is a more complete version of an example job description for the
CSC, than the previous slide.
Note that not only are all job tasks listed for the specific job role, but the
frequency (i.e., “when” it’s done) for each task is also defined.
These job descriptions are now available in hardcopy and are basis of
how the on-line user’s main MAGIC desktop window is laid out (i.e., by
job-specific job tasks).
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44. Part of MAGIC’s recommendations deal with enabling front-line
workers with better tools, techniques and procedures.
Work was selected to be enabled by technology (e.g., tools and
computers) where it could be accomplished more proficiently, more
cost-effectively or with better quality.
Examples of technology enabled work are:
• Leveraging existent technologies
• Deploying On Board Computers (OBCs) in all City vehicles to
completely and accurately capture trip data at its source
• Implementing new technologies to help perform some processes
• Using Computer Based Training (CBT) for specific types of
front-line training
•Creating MAGIC computer application as a user-friendly way to
deploy
process-oriented work
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45. Business activities can be used as a focal point or the common
denominator with other basic business objects (i.e., activity-based):
HOW:
• Manual policies and procedures and/or
• Technology use as either tools / machines or computer systems
WHEN: Timeframes when work is performed
The City’s Operations Policy & Procedure Manual has been significantly
augmented in the MAGIC initiative:
•to include all the business processes and
•to cross-reference (i.e., map) each process to all relevant policies
and procedures
The revised City’s Operations Policy & Procedure Manual will be
available in hardcopy and accessible on-line in the MAGIC computer
application linked to each task.
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46. Business activities can be used as a focal point or the common
denominator with other basic business objects (i.e., activity-based):
WHAT: Business data and information
HOW:
•Manual policies and procedures and/or
•Technology use as either tools/machines or computer systems
WHEN: Timeframes when work is performed
The MAGIC computer application is a Windows-based client/server PC
tool that contains a series of process menus which correlate directly to
MAGIC’s business processes. MAGIC’s desktop is designed to be the
standard computer interface for all front-line personnel at all locations
that uses this process-based interface as the...
• foundation for standardized job-specific functions, processes & tasks
• base architecture for the development of the MAGIC suite of
application modules / automated procedures
• driver access into MAGIC’s information systems (i.e., automated procedures)
• launching tool to various policy & procedure manuals and references
• deployment vehicle for MAGIC’s training and process-specific HELP
• framework for interfacing and integrating current technologies
(eg, 311, GIS/GPS)
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