by Tony Gill

In Phrontis, we differentiate between organizational and business processes. Organizational processes are focussed on making the organization more efficient and thereby indirectly ensuring customer satisfaction. Business processes are directly focussed on improving the customer experience during an interaction with the organization. During the 90’s, many writers referred to the horizontal organization, one that is managed around business processes cutting vertically across the functionally based organization. In a similar way, organizational processes are in effect the vertical processes that result in effective and efficient management and have a structural dimension – they cut across hierarchy or preferably recursion.

A definition of process is offered by Thomas H Davenport in Process Innovation (Harvard Business School Press, 1993): “..a process is simply a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specified output for a particular customer or market. … A process is thus 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.”

Business process management is then the coordination of actions and processes to achieve superior customer satisfaction. This implies a process of continuous improvement and learning. Process and performance measurement are thus a key part of this process.

Learn more about our approach in an introductory workshop.