This section provides definitions of words, terms, phases and acronyms, frequently used or referenced in the business process change community. As the business process change market evolves, these terms evolve and change, as well. Formal business process languages like BPML have semantic definitions that are enforced by the language standard. Other groups, such as the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC), publish formal glossaries. Still other groups define terms in ways specific to their particular community. Most of these communities use or define these terms in slightly different ways. Old terms take on new and varied meanings, new terms emerge, and it is often confusing to business managers trying to communicate across the various business process change communities. This glossary recognizes these differences, seeks to provide generic definitions and suggests a common language. In cases where we know that communities use these terms in ways significantly different from those we provide, we note the fact. We hope our members and visitors find this glossary helpful and we pledge to work hard to keep it current.

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P

PIP (Potential for Improving Performance)

Measure used by Human Performance Technologists. One measures the performance of the best person performing a task and also determines the average performance of the average worker. Large differences suggest that performance can be improved by bring average performance up closer to the best performance. Small differences suggest little potential for improvement. Term is usually associated with Thomas Gilbert. (Some other business process people use the term PIP as an acronym for Performance Improvement Project.)

Packaged Applications

Generically, any pre-packaged software application. Normally it is used as a way of referring to vendors who sell ERP or CRM application suites that are organized to be used to integrate all of a company's main software applications. By installing a number of packaged applications a company can assure that major business process applications in finance, accounting, human resources, and manufacturing all communicate smoothly and store data in a common database. The dominant packaged application vendor is SAP. Other well-known ERP vendors are Baan, J.D. Edwards, Oracle and PeopleSoft.

Parallel Process

A process in which two or more sequences of activities are going on simultaneously. If a physical document is being passed from one person to another, the process is necessarily a single sequence. An electronic document in a workflow system, on the other hand, can be sent to several people, simultaneously.

People-CMM

An adaptation of Carnegie Mellon's CMM model to the analysis of the best practices employeed in the management of a workforce, as organizations move from an immature to a mature use of processes.

Performance

Generically, the work involved in and the results or products that accrue from conducting a process or activity. Human performance describes how people do a task and what results. System performance describes how systems do a task and what results. Organizational performance describes what an organization does and what results.

Performance Framework

See Three Levels of Performance.

Portal

A Web site that allows the user to find other Web pages or Web sites. As a generalization, a portal is a train station. You go there in order to find out where else you can go and then to go there. Most companies will maintain one portal for their employees, where they can go to get information and to access company services, and another public portal for customers to provide customers with information and the opportunity to buy products or services from the company.

Porter's Model of Competition

A general model of the environment in which companies operate that suggests what factors strategists should monitor. They key factors are buyers, suppliers, competitors, new companies that might enter the market, and new products or technologies that might replace those on which your organization depends. The model is defined in Michael Porter's book Competitive Strategy.

Positioning

A synonym for choosing a strategy. A marketing concept. One should always say that one's product is the best. If not best, overall, then best for the price, or best for some specific application. One positions a company by creating a strategy that allows the company to make such a claim.

Private Processes

A process that goes on inside a company. Most companies would rather not tell other companies how their applications accomplish things. On the other hand, certain kinds of coordination require that two or more companies know about each others processes so that they can integrate them more effectively. Some XML business process languages are written to communicate between a company and a public process and others are written to describe, and share, the private processes of multiple companies. Private business processes are sometimes called executable business processes. (Contrast with Public Processes.)

ProVision Workbench

A professional business process modeling tool sold by Proforma Corporation. We used this tool to illustrate some of the ways our Ergonomics case could have been streamlined if we used a software modeling tool.

Problem Analysis

Six Sigma practitioners often describe problem analysis in terms of three phases: Open, Narrow and Close. During Open, one brainstorms and considers every possible cause of the problem. During Narrow, one reduces the number of potential causes. During Close, one settles on a specific cause to focus on.

Process Architecture (Business Process Architecture)

A process architecture is a written or diagrammatic summary of the value chains and business processes supported by a given organization. A good process architecture shows how value chains and business processes are related to each other and to the strategic goals of the organization. Some companies use the term process architecture to refer to the process diagram for a single process. We refer to that as a process model or process diagram. We often add business or enterprise to process architecture to suggest that it's a high-level architecture of all of the processes in the organization.

Process Change

A purposely vague term chosen to embrace the complete range of process change methods and techniques, including the alignment of processes and strategies, the creation of a process architecture, the analysis of processes, redesign, improvement, automation, and implementation.

Process Diagram

One of the two basic diagrams emphasized in this book. A diagram that shows departments, function or indivudlas on the vertical axis and uses swimlanes to show which sub-processes or activities are managed by which departments, functions or individuals. The customer of the process always appears on the top swimlane. External processes are listed below the main process. The horizontal axis usually depicts the flow of time from left to right, although informal process diagrams sometimes allow loops which violate a strict time flow. Rectangles with rounded corners represent sub-processes or activities. Arrows represent various types of flow between rectangles (See below). Some developers divide process diagrams into IS process diagrams that show a process as it IS currently performed, COULD process diagrams, that show how a process might be changed, and SHOULD process diagrams that show how a process redesign team ultimately proposes to change a process.

Process Diagrams

Generically, a synonym for workflow diagram or UML activity diagrams. A diagram that shows the flow of information, control or materials from one activity to another. Any sub-process on one process diagram can become a process diagram in its own right of the designers need more details.

Process Fit

The way in which the elements of a business process are uniquely integrated. Companies with good process fit have worked hard to integrate everything around a specific strategic focus. It's easy for competitors to copy standard processes, but it's very hard for competitors to duplicate business process with a high degree of fit. A concept associated with Michael Porter.

Process Instance

A process diagram describes a generic sequence of events. An instance describes an actual process which includes data, real actions, and specific decisions. Workflow systems and simulation systems both keep track of the data from the execution of specific process instances in order to determine things like how long the process actually takes, who handled a specific instance or how much it cost. In the case of simulation systems, someone has to supply information about a set of actual instances.

Process Management

Most managers or supervisors are responsible for specific processes or activities. They are responsible for organizing the process or activity and securing the resources need to execute it, and they are responsible for measuring the results of the activity and providing rewards or corrective feedback when necessary. They are also responsible for changing and improving it whenever possible.

Process Measures Worksheet

A grid or matrix that one can use to analyze the relationships between measures. High level measures are listed on the vertical axis and then successively sub-divided as one moves to the right, into process, sub-process, sub-sub-process and ultimately activity measures. (Compare with the Measures Hierarchy which is a different way of representing the same information.)

Process Measures or Process Output Measures

Measures of whether a process or activity is achieving its goals. At every level, processes have outputs and those outputs should be measures to assure that the process is functioning as it should. In an ideal organization, company goals and measures are associated with value chains and then subdivided so that, at every level, managers are measuring process outcomes that are related to the ultimate goals and measures of the organization. If vertical alignment is ignored, its possible that activities or processes will be measured in ways that don't contribute to the overall success of the larger process or the success of the company.

Process Redesign Patterns

A pattern is an approach or solution that has often worked in the past. There are several patterns that have proved popular in redesign efforts. For example, one can try to eliminate all non-value adding activities, or one can try to simplify the flow of the process.

Process Sponsor or Process Manager

Person with responsibility for the entire process. The individual who monitors the entire process and its outcome measures and provides feedback and help to departmental managers who manage specific sub-processes or activities included in the overall process.

Process Thinking

A subset of systems thinking. Conceptualizing groups of activities as processes and seeking to understand how all of the processes in the organization work together to take inputs and produce products, services and profits.

Process-IT Matrix

A matrix created by listing processes on the horizontal axis and IT platforms or other architectural elements on the vertical axis. This matrix shows what IT applications, databases and other resources are required to support each process. If one has a clear idea of the value of one's various processes, then this is an excellent tool for prioritizing IT projects.

Process-Strategy Matrix

A matrix formed by as estimate of the strategic importance of a process on the horizontal axis and an estimate of the process complexity and dynamics on the vertical axis. Assuming that "low" is positioned at the lower right corner of both continua, then processes that fall in the lower-left are of little complexity, don't change very often and don't have much strategic importance. They should be automated if possible and given the minimum resources necessary for efficient functioning. Conversely, processes that lie at the upper-right are complex, dynamic and of high strategic importance. These are usually the processes that provide your company with its competitive advantage and should be nurtured accordingly.

Public Processes

A business process that two or more companies use to pass messages. Both companies send messages to the public process and neither know what the other does to generate the messages it sends to the public process. A public process simply defines a way for two companies to communicate and coordinate their processes. Some XML business process languages are written to communicate between a company and a public process and others are written to describe, and share, the private processes of multiple companies. Public processes are sometimes called business protocols or abstract processes. (Contrast with Private Processes.)