Understanding Business Process Management: Module Reflection, Case Study, And Challenges Essay.

Good organised slides and information, some slides contains very specific information like process infrastructure steps and benifits of its steps. most of the slides contain very general information not critically analyed relative to case study.
Cohort questions during our presentation
1. What were the challenges experienced?

2. Do you believe automating all process would be beneficial to the organization? Why?

3. What were the existing advantage that helped easy implementation of BPM in small business?

4. What were the errors minimized in the case study related to lean six sigma?

5. What type of redesign process was applied in OS?

6. Do you think application of BPM in the case study brought any benefits? Which one and how can you relate to the theory?

7. Can you give an example of platform system that was used in BPM application infrastructure process? And what was results or feedback of this tool or system?

Key Components of Business Process Management

Business process Management (BPM) being a broad management discipline it deals with upscaling the performance of an organization by making improvement, managing and controlling of business processes. It comprises of techniques, methods and software which are important in all its stages of process lifecycle which includes design, analysis, control and enactment. Greater flexibility, fast execution, increased accuracy reduced investment and cost savings are some of the targeted performance benefits by BPM.

BPM is critical to organizations since it helps in understanding business operations, facilitating designing of products and services, promotes stakeholder engagement, enhancing organizational change and also communication based on internet.

Module 1 covers: Business process model which comprises of several activity models and particular constraints while executing them e.g. quote to order, order to cash, procure to pay, etc. Pillars of BPM which are people, process and technology. BPM development which involves functional organization, process thinking, the Rise and Fall of BPR, technology advancement e.g. ERP and WfMSs systems. BPM life cycle which consists of design and analysis, configuration, enactment, evaluation and also, administration and stakeholders. Business process levels which composes of organizational and operational business processes.

Module 2 covers: it deals with drivers of BPM projects and opportunities. The interests in BPM are to be able in responding to market change fast and with agility, better understanding of business processes and be able to change them quickly, and elements of core business process. Key BPM capabilities such as leveraging for efficiency, responding faster and managing change. Basic components of BPM which comprises of modeling and simulation, business activity monitoring (BAM), rules and pre-built frameworks, content-centric processing, collaboration between people and process automation. The Ten principles of good BPM which are principles of context awareness, continuity, enablement, holism, institutionalization, involvement, joint understanding, purpose, simplicity and technology appropriation. BPM drivers and triggers related to organization, management, employees, customers, products and services, process and information technology.

Module 3 covers: Business process analytics which involves the using of tools and techniques for the purpose of turning data into business insights making it meaningful. Types of analytics consist of descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics. There is also traditional analytics, big data analytics and excel power user. Key BP analytics includes core competency, supply chain and, project and program analytics. Some of the commonly used business and analytical tools are spreadsheet (current in-use), databases, purchased information, gathering from business social media, regressions, statistical tools, modelling, Oracle, SAP and salesforce. Main BPI methods which contains Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), process mapping, Six Sigma and benchmarking.

Module 4 covers: Enterprise system, ERP system, ERP phases/Life cycle, ERP and E-Business, ERP business objectives, ERP implementation, ERP monitor and control, ERP customization and configuration, challenge of ERP, ERP evaluation and its tools.

In the presentation, it is describing the background and adoption of BPM techniques which were used in small businesses and organizations. Automation of manual business process and procedures was one of the common practice of the study. Improvement of the corporate functions of the businesses was the main focus. The case for the small and medium sized organizations was about services of outsourced management accounting.

Business Process Management in Small Businesses - A Case Study

A great percentage of business in Australia is contributed by the small business which consist of not more than 20 employees. The business process which was designed for the purpose of business long-term viability and competitiveness is in pilot phase and the final full suite is offered to the clients.

During the application of BPM, implementation of process infrastructure was done to research the small business effectiveness. This involved preparing a process governance framework, process architecture, modelling of the core service delivery processes, developing of pilot process and procedures library, and demonstration of a system for resource allocation.  

BPM methodologies were used for smaller organizations which have simpler structure and deviates from the ones used in larger businesses traditionally, and this method in minimizing complexities for the firm.

Compering the consistency in quality and time maintenance with the rivals was one of the adoption technique used in business processes of the small organizations. Labor management which involves minimizing labor costs would help in gaining competitive advantage. Technology implementation such as workflow and document management would be used in which the ability is limited.

The consequences of the BPM adoption are process models and documentations for training and reference purpose, assistance of having shared understanding of the system, resource allocation which are beneficial to the organization.

For recommendation, Small stream development, research and considerations, delivery techniques and specific implementation and demands are useful for achieving better focus of the businesses.

For conclusion, the presentation was from a case study of a single business, which shows application of BPM tools, techniques and technologies for small businesses with option of exploring the sector further and potential developments.  (Breyfogle III, 2014)

Normally small business operates under considerable pressure of time and cost, with constrains of financial and human resources, and which their access to skills is limited. These elements usually can negatively influence and impact the adoption of Business Process Management (BPM) by the small businesses. Stakeholders’ perception and limited access to references, comprehensive information and practical guidance made the process to consume more time.  (Imanipour, Talebi, & Rezazadeh, 2012)

If automation of all process is beneficial to an organization

Yes, having process automation is a sign of an organization operating its daily business activities and processes on a very powerful IT equipment and system. The automation process bridges both the business process expectation and business process reality. It helps in facilitating accelerated process efficiency in which it ensures there is quality and easy management, appropriate resource allocation and cost behavior. (Gardner, 2014)

Existing Advantages which helped easy implementation of BPM in small Business

According to Al-Mudimigh, the proliferation of ERP systems has been a major reason and contributor for increasing prominence of BPM. Small businesses usually have activities which are integrated tightly with rapid decision-making and strong work ethic. Having small businesses composing of a large proportion of global businesses, within this sector a successful and widespread adoption of BPM was essential in achieving a meaningful in-roads into productivity improvement.

More important, The Business’ structure and culture evolution as a process-aware organization was perceived as a strategic imperative.  (Al-Mudimigh, 2007) 

Errors Minimized in the case study related to lean six sigma

Some of the errors minimized were business Process complexity, key categories of process decisions identification, process roles and responsibilities outlining, process standards, performance measures and compliance activities. (Rosemann & vom Brocke, 2010)  

Type of redesign process applied in OS

As per SPR knowledge, the modelling, analysis and simulation of software processes can be employed from heuristics derivation based on results of theoretical or empirical studies.  (Mindtools, 2018)

Benefits brought by application of BPM in the case study.

Some of the benefits of the adoption of BPM as highlighted in “The Business” case study are: It helped the organization in ensuring consistent in quality and timeliness of outputs as compared to its rivals who don’t embrace them. It has led to better labor management by ensuring utilizing the cheap and appropriate resource. It developed the capacity to implementing technologies such as workflow system, document management systems and business intelligence in which their use is recently limited amongst its rivals. (Kirchmer, 2011) 

An example of platform system used in BPM application infrastructure process

Service-Oriented Architecture is one of the systems platforms used in BPM application. It is collection of services which communicates with each other. The services are offered to other elements or components by application communicated over a network.  (Siha & Saad, 2008)

Conclusion

The case study of process infrastructure development within a small business has outlined that BPM techniques and tools are applicable in a small business environment in order to be beneficial similar to those of larger businesses.

References

Al-Mudimigh, A. S. (2007). The role and ipmpact of business process management in enterprise systems implementation. Business Process Management Journal, 866-874.

Breyfogle III, F. W. (2014). Five Benefits from Implementing Business Process Management. 15-23.

Gardner, A. (2014). 7 Benefits of Business Process Automation. 4-9.

Imanipour, N., Talebi, K., & Rezazadeh, S. (2012). Obstacles in business process management (BPM) implementation and adoption in SMEs. 67-82.

Kirchmer, M. (2011). Small and medium enterprises also benefit from MPE. High performance through process excellence, 147-157.

Mindtools. (2018, December 04). Mindtools. Retrieved from Business Process Re-engineering: https://www.mindtools.com

Rosemann, M., & vom Brocke, J. (2010). The six core elements of business process management. Handbook on Business Process Management 1., 107-122.

Siha, S. M., & Saad, G. H. (2008). Business process improvement: empirical assesment and extensions. Business Process Management Journal, 778-802.