BPM/Businnes

Business process management (BPM) has been referred to as a "holistic management" approach[1] to aligning an organization's business processes with the wants and needs of clients. BPM uses a systematic approach in an attempt to continuously improve business effectiveness and efficiency while striving for innovation, flexibility, and integration with technology. It can therefore be described as a "process optimization process." It is argued that BPM enables organizations to be more efficient, more effective and more capable of change than a functionally focused, traditional hierarchical management approach. [2] These processes can impact the cost and revenue generation of an organization. As a managerial approach, BPM sees processes as strategic assets of an organization that must be understood, managed, and improved to deliver value-added products and services to clients. This foundation closely resembles other Total Quality Management or Continuous Improvement Process methodologies or approaches. BPM goes a step further by stating that this approach can be supported, or enabled, through technology to ensure the viability of the managerial approach in times of stress and change. In fact, BPM offers an approach to integrate an organizational "change capability" that is both human and technological. As such, many BPM articles and pundits often discuss BPM from one of two viewpoints: people and/or technology.

BPM or Business Process Management is often referred to[by whom?] as 'Management by Business Processes'. The term "business" can be confusing as it is often linked with a hierarchical view (by function) of a company. It is therefore preferable to define BPM as "corporate management through processes". By adding BPM the second meaning of 'Business Performance Management' used by August-Wilhelm Scheer[3] in his article "Advanced BPM Assessment",[4] BPM can therefore be defined as "company performance management through processes". And it's this resolutely performance-oriented definition which is chosen[by whom?] here. Dominique Thiault, in Managing Performance Through Business Processes,[5] defines BPM as a management-through-processes method which helps to improve the company's performance in a more and more complex and ever-changing environment. Management through processes is a management method based on two logical levels: process governance and process management:

Process governance is all of the company's governance activities which, by way of allocating on the processes, work towards reaching its objectives, which are both operational and progress-related.

Process management is all the management activities of a given process which work towards reaching the objectives allocated for this process.

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