Business Process Management

  Business process management (BPM) is a multi-phase approach that involves defining the landscape of the business. A business process landscape describes the key starting events, outcomes, and activities of the business. This includes potential future activities, products, clients, and markets. It also describes the top activities. A business process can be described in detail, creating an activity schema . Each phase in the BPM life cycle must be addressed. Once these three steps have been defined, the next phase is called design. Throughout the BPM life cycle, each step needs to be monitored and evaluated. The goal is to improve overall performance by identifying any trends, bottlenecks, and opportunities for growth. This monitoring can be ad hoc or real-time. It is imperative that the data be used to improve processes. The design and monitoring phases are complementary. Each phase focuses on a specific process that must be improved. During the design phase, the business should ...

  A KPI is an indicator of the effectiveness of a specific business process. This KPI can be long term or short term, and it should be based on corporate goals. For example, a long-term KPI will measure the actions needed to increase conversion rates or customer retention. A short-term KPI can track how long a specific process takes, including bottlenecks. It will also help identify how many documents are required for a specific step. The most relevant type of KPI is the one used for business process management. The key is to develop a list of metrics for each department and analyze the results. The goals should be measurable and should be tied to processes. A KPI can also be used to determine whether employees are performing to the standards set by the company. For example, if a particular person is inefficient and completes tasks outside of the system, the company should take corrective action. Other examples include reinforcing the new process to team leaders. Similarly, if the...