What is Business Process Management (BPM)?

DEFINITION

BPM is a discipline that seeks to study, analyze and understand the processes that run a business, with the aim of deriving methodologies that could be selectively or collectively used for harnessing, improving and creating processes to achieve operational efficiencies, institutionalized knowledge and organizational resilience.

SOME EXPLANATIONS

“discipline” = formal and structured approach

“study, analyze” = inquire into and model the processes; modeling is the recommended approach

 “understand” = derive and define a collection of theories, concepts and ideas that lead to the development of a methodology; 

“methodologies” = methods, policies, metrics, management practices and software tools

“selectively or collectively” = the theories, concepts and ideas will not all apply equally well to every situation; the BPM expert must choose and decide what best applies under what circumstances; experience matters!!!

“harnessing the processes” = BPM must “manage” the processes; 

“operational efficiencies” = examples: business optimization (better business); business agility (quicker reaction to changes); alignment with the needs of the stakeholders (including customers); streamlining (better workflow); flexibility; standardization of processes within the enterprise; cost optimization; manpower optimization; automation optimization; etc. – you name it – take the holistic approach. 

“institutionalized knowledge” = the knowledge about the business processes should belong to the organization and not reside inside the heads of individuals and be lost when these individuals leave the company; successful BPM must create a knowledge repository that belongs to the organization.

“organizational resilience” = ultimately BPM must seek to make the organization more robust; more immune to threats; more likely to survive in conditions where others fail; more likely to thrive in any market condition.