BUSINESS PROCESS

MANAGEMENT

Business Process Management, a huge bestseller, has helped thousands of leaders and BPM
practitioners successfully implement BPM projects, enabling them to add measurable value
to their organizations.
The book’s runaway success can be attributed partly to its overview of all major useful
frameworks (such as LEAN and Six Sigma) without over-investment in one over another,
and a unique emphasis on BPM’s interrelationship with organizational management, culture
and leadership—BPM is about people as much as processes. Its common-sense approach
teaches how BPM must be well-integrated across an entire business if it’s to be successful:
augmented and aligned with other management disciplines.
This highly anticipated third edition brings Jeston and Nelis’ practicable frameworks and
solutions up-to-date with the latest developments in BPM, including the application of the
frameworks to value-driven BPM.
This thoroughly revised and updated new edition includes:

• Enhanced pedagogy to help students learn and tutors use the book for their classes: now
includes learning outcomes, chapter topics, learning objectives, highlighted key points,
chapter summaries, critical discussion points and self-test questions
• New and revised case studies throughout
• New chapters on questions that have become more crucial since the second edition’s
publication: How should you start—top-down or bottom-up? Should we be
customercentric?
• How does BPM link to today’s most pertinent management and technology issues? What
are the critical success factors?
• Due to popular demand, a new and expanded section on IT in BPM
• Brand new companion website including slides and assignment answers!

John Jeston has over 40 years’ experience in senior executive and consulting positions. He
runs an international consultancy, Management By Process Pty Ltd.
Johan Nelis works for Oakton, an Australian consulting and technology firm as Business
Improvement Practice Manager. He was co-founder and Vice Chairman of the Dutch BPM
Forum and Chairman of the Sydney Forum.
 To our families

Yvonne, Brittany, Connor, Cassie and Kurt

and

Sandra, Angelique and Mystique

Without the support and inspiration of our families this would not have been possible;
we know it has been tough at times, your understanding will never be forgotten. Thank you.
We will now endeavor to make up the time we have lost with you.
John and Johan
BUSINESS
PROCESS
MANAGEMENT
Practical guidelines to successful
implementations
Third edition

JOHN JESTON AND

JOHAN NELIS
First published 2006
Second edition 2008
By Butterworth-Heinemann
Third edition published 2014
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2014 John Jeston and Johan Nelis
The right of John Jeston and Johan Nelis to be identified as authors of this
work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Jeston, John.
Business process management/John Jeston and Johan Nelis. –
Third edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Workflow – Management. 2. Reengineering (Management)
3. Business planning. 4. Industrial management. I. Nelis, Johan.
II. Title.
HD62.17J47 2013
658.5⬘33 – dc23
2013015403

ISBN: 978-0-415-64175-3 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-415-64176-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-08132-7 (ebk)

Typeset in Minion Pro and Futura

by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK
 CONTENTS

List of figures xii

List of tables xvii
Notes on contributors xx
Foreword by Thomas H. Davenport xxiii
Preface xxvi
Introduction xxviii
Introduction to the third edition xxxi
Acknowledgments xxxiii
Training services xxxiv
Positioning our books xxxv

Part I FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1

1 What is business process management? 3

2 How can we demystify business process management? 10

Brief history of business process management 10
The next big thing (or how mystification begins) 12
BPM hype cycle 13
What is mystifying about BPM? 13
The Iceberg Syndrome 15
Exploring “reality” 16
Change management and performance management 18
Conclusion 21

3 Who should be involved in BPM and what are the

critical success factors? 23
Management of business processes 25
Use of external BPM experts 27

v
CONTENTS

Critical success factors 29

A metaphor for BPM involvement 32

4 When should you do BPM—what are the main drivers

and triggers? 35

5 How should we start BPM—bottom-up or top-down? 42

Bottom-up approach 43
Top-down approach 45

6 Why is it important to improve business processes before

automating them? 49
What are the problems with automating first? 50
Why is this not working? 50
Why is this so? 51
Need to improve processes first 52
Key considerations 53
Conclusion 54

7 What are the technology components of BPM? 56

Modeling and design 58
Execution and tracking 60
Performance management 64
Technology standards 67

8 Should we be customer-centric? 70

9 Why is determining BPM Foundations a critical first step? 78

BPM Foundations 81
BPM Enablement 81
BPM Foundations and Enablement benefits 82

10 Why do you need a structured approach to

implementing BPM? 85
Typical common approach pitfalls 90

Part II BPM—HOW DO YOU DO IT? THE 7FE FRAMEWORK 95

11 7FE Framework overview 98

7FE Framework 103

vi
 CONTENTS

7FE Framework phases 106

Project essentials 109
A process-focused organization 111
Addendum: 7FE Framework and Six Sigma, Lean and Lean Six Sigma 113

12 Guidelines on how to use the 7FE Framework 119

Why a “one approach fits all” philosophy does not work 120
How are BPM activities initiated? 120
Four scenarios in implementing BPM 125
How to determine which scenario is applicable 126
Skipping of a phase 127
Paralleling phases 128
Assignment 130

13 Foundations phase 133

Why? 134
Results 139
How? 139
Detailed steps 139
Foundations phase outputs 170
Foundations phase risks 171
Assignment 173
Foundations phase checklist 174

14 Enablement phase 176

Why? 177
Results 180
How? 180
Detailed steps 213
Enablement phase outputs 214
Enablement phase risks 215
Assignment 217
Enablement phase checklist 217

15 Launch pad phase 219

Why? 220
Results 221

vii
CONTENTS

How? 222
Detailed steps 222
Realize value 248
Launch pad phase outputs 248
Launch pad phase risks 249
Assignment 251
Launch pad phase checklist 251
Extra reading 252

16 Understand phase 264

Why? 265
Results 266
How? 267
Detailed steps 271
Realize value 291
Understand phase outputs 291
Understand phase risks 292
Assignment 294
Understand phase checklist 295
Extra reading 295

17 Innovate phase 301

Why? 302
Results 302
Key misunderstandings about innovation 303
How? 305
Detailed steps 311
Realize value 337
Innovate phase outputs 337
Innovate phase risks 339
Assignment 340
Innovate phase checklist 340
Extra reading 341

18 People phase 354

Why? 355
Results 356

viii
 CONTENTS

How? 357
Detailed steps 358
Realize value 378
People phase outputs 378
People phase risks 379
Assignment 381
People phase checklist 381

19 Develop phase 384

Why? 385
Results 388
How? 388
Detailed steps 389
Realize value 406
Develop phase outputs 407
Develop phase risks 408
Assignment 409
Develop phase checklist 409

20 Implement phase 412

Why? 412
Results 414
How? 414
Detailed steps 415
Realize value 426
Implement phase outputs 426
Implement phase risks 426
Assignment 429

21 Realize value phase 430

Why? 431
Results 433
How? 433
Detailed steps 434
Critical success factors 445
Realize value phase outputs 446
Realize value phase risks 446
Assignment 449

ix
CONTENTS

22 Sustainable performance phase 450

Why? 451
Results 453
How? 453
Detailed steps 453
Realize value 460
Sustainable performance phase outputs 461
Sustainable performance phase risks 461
Assignment 462
Sustainable performance phase checklist 462

23 Essentials introduction 466

Why? 466
How? 467
What are the three essentials? 468

24 Project management 470

Why? 470
Results 475
How? 475
Project “gates” 475
Stakeholder management 481
Managing stakeholders for successful delivery 483
Continuous active project review 494
Project management risks 496
Assignment 497

25 People change management 498

Organizational culture 501
Process of people change management 505
Appreciative Inquiry approach 519
Assignment 525
Extra reading 525

26 Leadership 533
Why? 533
How? 535

x
 CONTENTS

What is leadership in the context of a BPM activity? 536

Overview 547
Assignment 549

27 Embedding BPM in the organization 550

Why? 551
What are the elements of embedding BPM in the organization? 552
Ownership of processes 554
Organizational structure of embedding BPM 555
Ad-hoc BPM 557
Building BPM 560
BPM enabled 564
Extra reading 566

Part III CASE STUDIES AND BPM MATURITY 573

28 Case studies from the USA, Asia and Europe 575

Case study 1: USA 576
Case study 2: Asia 580
Case study 3: Europe 586

29 BPM maturity model 602

Introduction 602
Business process management maturity 603
The BPM maturity model 607
Application of the BPM maturity model 616
Related work 617

30 Business process maturity models. What’s in a name? 619

Notes 633
Glossary 637
References and bibliography 641
Index 647

xi
 FIGURES

0.1 Management by Proccess Framework xxxv

1.1 BPM House: components of a BPM program strategy 7
2.1 How did BPM emerge? 11
2.2 BPM hype cycle 13
2.3 Perception, the tip of the iceberg called “reality” 16
3.1 Regatta as a metaphor for implementing a BPM activity 33
4.1 Typical BPM drivers 40
5.1 BPM House 44
7.1 BPM technology components 57
7.2 Fictitious travel agency workflow 59
7.3 Interactive dashboard example 66
8.1 Customer-centric: voice of the customer 71
8.2 Customer levels of service and satisfaction 72
8.3 Employee-centric: voice of the employee 73
8.4 To be the best is a balance 74
8.5 Employee motivation and satisfaction 76
9.1 BPM House: components of BPM 79
10.1 Traditional process project approach 86
10.2
10.3
ABPMP BPM CBOK
®
Performance components
87
88
11.1 Organizational alignment 99
11.2 BPM success stool 101
11.3 Perceptions of BPM vary 102
11.4 BPM Project Framework 104
11.5 7FE Framework 105
11.6 BPM Program Framework 107
11.7 Relationship of BPM project essentials 111
12.1 BPM activity approaches and triggers 121
12.2 Strategy led approach 122
12.3 Scenarios for process improvement 126
13.1 Foundations phase 134
13.2 Winchester House—why is a plan essential? 135
13.3 Strategy execution void 137

xii
 FIGURES

13.4 Foundations phase steps 140

13.5 Discovery meeting plan 143
13.6 Enterprise level 1 process model template 144
13.7 Enterprise level 1 process model 145
13.8 Enterprise level 2 process model template 145
13.9 Development of strategic themes 146
13.10 Summary of strategic themes 146
13.11 Execution plan 147
13.12 Planning to execution accounting for the reality of the organization 148
13.13 Management by Process strategy execution void model 150
13.14 The innovation “stack” 151
13.15 Management effectiveness and operational efficiency are used to
fill the strategy execution void 153
13.16 Management effectiveness processes 153
13.17 BPM House and strategy execution void 154
13.18 BPM strategy execution void closed loop 155
13.19 What is the organization’s core value proposition? 157
13.20 Case study of an organization’s perception of core value proposition 158
13.21 Determine width of BPM activities 161
13.22 Components of a BPM target operating model 167
13.23 Foundation phase outputs to other phases 170
13.24 Assignment high level value chain 174
14.1 Enablement phase 177
14.2 Organizational alignment 178
14.3 Components of a BPM target operating model 181
14.4 Enablement phase steps 181
14.5 Functional organizational structure 183
14.6 Functional organizational representation 183
14.7 An end-to-end process perspective 184
14.8 Process representation of Air Products 185
14.9 Process representation of an insurance organization 185
14.10 Process level structure 188
14.11 Strategic and execution governance 190
14.12 Sample organizational process governance structure 191
14.13 Business capabilities delivered by processes 196
14.14 Gradual roll-out 198
14.15 Process asset components 202
14.16 Process asset and change impact 202
14.17 Process Architecture, link between business and IT 203
14.18 Process model information links 203
14.19 Changing behavior and culture 211
14.20 Enablement phase outputs to other phases 213
15.1 Launch pad phase 220
15.2 BPM Launch pad 221
15.3 Launch pad phase steps 223

xiii
FIGURES

15.4 End-to-end process 228

15.5 Determine redesign width 228
15.6 Process Selection Matrix 232
15.7 Process Selection Matrix—case study example 234
15.8 Traditional implementation 242
15.9 Involve implementation from the start of the project 242
15.10 Benefits of Structural Implementation above Traditional Implementation 243
15.11 Sample BPM activity team structure for a large-scale BPM project 244
15.12 Launch pad phase outputs to other phases 248
16.1 Understand phase 266
16.2 Understand phase steps 271
16.3 Sample Simplified Costing Matrix 279
16.4 Alternate costing analysis 280
16.5 Critical to Quality tree 283
16.6 Sample Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA) 285
16.7 People Capability Matrix 286
16.8 Knowledge and information needs map 287
16.9 Process Selection Matrix heat map using FMEA scores 289
16.10 Understand phase outputs to other phases 291
16.11 Voice of Customer for on-boarding of new students process(es) 294
16.12 Voice of Customer for on-boarding of new students process issues 294
17.1 Innovate phase 302
17.2 An example of innovation 306
17.3 Conventional organization structure 308
17.4 Transaction processing 308
17.5 Customer levels of service and satisfaction 310
17.6 Organization effort 311
17.7 Innovate phase steps 312
17.8 Innovate phase outputs to other phases 337
18.1 People phase 355
18.2 People phase steps 359
18.3 Activity, job and structure creation 361
18.4 Performance measures by phase 364
18.5 Pyramid of performance targets 367
18.6 Sample throughput and service targets 368
18.7 Process performance report 370
18.8 People Capability Matrix with Gaps 371
18.9 Organization structure creation 372
18.10 Sample Span of Control distribution chart 374
18.11 People phase outputs to other phases 378
19.1 Develop phase 385
19.2 Business Process Management System 387
19.3 Develop phase steps 388
19.4 BPM components of an automated solution 390
19.5 Process and Service seem different 393

xiv
 FIGURES

19.6 Service is the result of the Process 393

19.7 Visualization of Waterfall and Agile development 395
19.8 V-diagram: linking specification, development and testing of software 397
19.9 Traditional SDLC approach to development of a BPM solution 402
19.10 Sample Burn Chart 403
19.11 Develop phase outputs to other phases 407
20.1 Implement phase 413
20.2 Implement phase steps 416
20.3 Classification of incidents during user acceptance testing 422
20.4 Implement phase outputs to other phases 427
21.1 Realize value phase 431
21.2 Project cost/benefits payback period 432
21.3 Benefits management context 433
21.4 Realize value phase steps 434
21.5 Scenario comparisons to baseline costing 440
21.6 Benefit Milestone Matrix 441
21.7 Benefits delivery matrix 442
21.8 Realize value phase outputs to other phases 447
22.1 Sustainable performance phase 451
22.2 BPM House and the Sustainable performance phase 452
22.3 Sustainable performance phase steps 454
22.4 Sustainable performance phase outputs to other phases 460
23.1 Project phases and essentials 467
24.1 The myth of project management methodology success 471
24.2 Project management essential 472
24.3 Stakeholder project impact and view analysis 589
24.4 Stakeholder enthusiasm and interest analysis 589
24.5 Basic conflict resolution model 592
24.6 Continuous active project review 594
25.1 People change management essential 500
25.2 Benefits from change management 501
25.3 Organizational culture 503
25.4 People change management steps 506
25.5 Adoption curve 509
25.6 Unfreeze–change–freeze method 511
25.7 National trust: trust level by country 516
25.8 Appreciative Inquiry 4-D model 522
25.9 Forces for cultural change 526
26.1 Leadership essential 534
26.2 Leadership’s sphere of influence 537
27.1 Organizational embedding of BPM influences success rate 552
27.2 BPM House and embedding BPM within the organization 553
27.3 Positioning of formal BPM group 556
27.4 Mapping of functional requirements required and provided 571
28.1 Engineering and capacity management structure 590

xv
FIGURES

28.2 Industrialization toolset 591

28.3 Process management training and simulation 591
28.4 Phase 1: Evolution and status of industrialization in Central
Service Center 592
28.5 Capacity planning 595
28.6 Phase 2: Evolution and status of industrialization in Central
Service Center 595
28.7 Workrouting 596
28.8 Phase 3: Evolution and status of industrialization in Central
Service Center 597
28.9 Accurate processing data 597
28.10 Phase 4: Evolution and status of industrialization in Central
Service Center 598
28.11 Future web-based process portal 599
28.12 Phase 5: Evolution and status of industrialization in Central
Service Center 599
29.1 Comparison of low and high maturity and the five maturity stages 605
29.2 The underlying model 608
29.3 The BPM capability areas 611
30.1 The conceptual framework of business process capability areas of
Van Looy et al. (2012), based on definitions and theories 625
30.2 Mapping the capability areas of de Bruin and Rosemann (2007)
to the capability areas of Van Looy et al. (2012) 627
30.3 A theoretical model for business process maturity 628
30.4 The BPMM Smart-Selector 630

xvi
 TABLES

1.1 Definition of terms used in our definition of BPM 5

2.1 Promotion v. reality 14
3.1 BPM activities and the type of involvement 24
3.2 BPM critical success factors 30
3.3 Successful BPM organizations and who drove BPM 31
4.1 Drivers and triggers that may cause an organization to consider BPM 37
5.1 BPM activities and BPM approach 43
11.1 Process-focused versus non-process-focused organization 112
11.2 DMAIC and DMADV comparison with 7FE Framework 117
12.1 Relationship between the type of BPM activity and the various approaches 124
12.2 Characteristics of different BPM activity scenarios 127
13.1 Examples of both aspects of the strategy execution void 152
13.2 Strategic options characteristics 158
13.3 BPM maturity metaphor 160
13.4 BPM width implications 162
13.5 Case study example of Red Wine Test outcomes 165
13.6 BPM activities and BPM approach 166
13.7 TOM components 169
13.8 Foundations phase—risks and mitigation strategies 171
13.9 Foundations phase—possible inputs 175
13.10 Foundations phase—deliverables 175
14.1 Process level structure details 188
14.2 Business integration and standardization categories 197
14.3 Enablement phase—risks and mitigation strategies 214
14.4 Enablement phase—possible inputs 218
14.5 Enablement phase—deliverables 218
15.1 Process Worth Matrix 237
15.2 Launch pad phase—risks and mitigation strategies 249
15.3 Launch pad phase—possible Inputs 262
15.4 Launch pad phase—deliverables 253
15.5 Step and duration 260
15.6 Steps 261
15.7 Innovate phase steps and duration 267

xvii
TABLES

16.1 Current issues of process modeling 269

16.2 Future challenges of process modeling 270
16.3 Understand phase—risks and mitigation strategies 292
16.4 Understand phase—possible inputs 296
16.5 Understand phase—deliverables 297
16.6 Sample SIPOC diagram 297
17.1 Innovation activities 325
17.2 Innovation techniques 327
17.3 Innovate phase risks and mitigation strategies 338
17.4 Innovate phase—possible inputs 342
17.5 Innovate phase—deliverables 343
17.6 Format of workshop 344
17.7 Sample schedule for realizing quick wins 352
18.1 Relationship between the extent of cultural activity and the various
BPM approaches 360
18.2 Sample RASCI model 362
18.3 Sample performance targets 369
18.4 Span of Control (team size) distribution chart 374
18.5 People phase risks and mitigation strategies 380
18.6 People phase—possible inputs 382
18.7 People phase—deliverables 383
19.1 Develop phase risks and mitigation strategies 408
19.2 Develop phase—possible inputs 410
19.3 Develop phase—deliverables 411
20.1 Implementation scenarios 417
20.2 Types of training 420
20.3 Implement phase risks and mitigation strategies 427
21.1 Benefit summary plan 438
21.2 Realize value phase risks and mitigation strategies 447
22.1 Sustainable performance risks and mitigation strategies 461
22.2 Sustainable performance phase—possible inputs 463
22.3 Sustainable performance phase—deliverables 465
24.1 Traditional versus BPM project management 474
24.2 Type of project and type of project manager 475
24.3 Individual stakeholder analysis 486
24.4 Stakeholder analysis matrix 487
24.5 Project management risks and mitigation strategies 496
25.1 Trust builders and busters 514
25.2 Distinguishing AI from traditional problem solving 520
25.3 The art of the question in leadership and change 522
25.4 Kotter’s change model and 7FE Framework 527
26.1 BPM activities and the type of involvement 535
26.2 Differences between leaders and managers 537
26.3 Relationship between leadership level, BPM activity and involvement 539
26.4 Leadership levels and components table 547

xviii
 TABLES

27.1 Relation between level of BPM embedded and BPM maturity 556
27.2 Difference between Federated and Central Model 567
27.3 Where should BPM reside? 568
28.1 Executive risks and project risks 578
28.2 Key pitfalls 580
29.1 Dimensions of the BPM maturity model 609
29.2 Delphi study participants 610
30.1a Definitions of terms used in BPMM definition 623
30.1b Definitions of terms used in BPMM definition (Continued) 624
30.2 An illustrative mapping to organization management theories 626

xix
 CONTRIBUTORS

John Jeston has over 40 years’ experience in senior executive and consulting positions.
Executing strategy to deliver business benefits is difficult. John has deep experience in
working with senior executives in assisting them in business transformation and to set up
their strategy for success. He has serious experience in getting things done—the right way.
For over 40 years he has covered business transformation, Business Process Management
(BPM), business process reengineering, project management, shared services creation,
strategic procurement, systems development, outsourcing, and general management. He has
held the positions of Divisional Manager; Company Director; HR Director and Chief
Information Officer (within GM); and Partner.
John is an internationally recognized thought leader in BPM transformation strategy and
implementation. He has provided these services to significant organizations throughout
Australia, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, Asia,
Russia, Turkey, the USA and southern Africa. John has advised some of the largest
organizations in the world on BPM implementations. He has authored a number of books
and more than 30 articles on BPM and high performance management, worked with the
London Business School and the London Speakers Bureau. He is a regular speaker at
conferences, a Master Project Director and is a Chartered Accountant. John can be contacted
at: [email protected].

Johan Nelis has a proven track record for over 20 years as an international Business Process
Management and Transformation Advisor delivering results. He works for Oakton, an
Australian consulting and technology firm (www.oakton.com.au) as Business Improvement
Practice Manager. He established and managed BPM practices in Europe and Australia. He
was co-founder and Vice Chairman of the Dutch BPM Forum and Chairman of the Sydney
Forum. Johan started his career as Advisor to the United Nations. He is known for his
eagerness to share knowledge and experiences, and is renowned for supporting and coaching
executives and professionals. He initiated many BPM training courses, presented at seminars
and hosted workshops at BPM conferences around the world.
Johan has successfully completed BPM and Transformation initiatives in a wide variety
of sectors, such as Finance, Retail, Property, Education, Telecom and Government. He
specializes in aligning processes with strategy, business objectives and IT; Business & Finance
Transformation and execution of strategy to achieve the intended benefits. He has established
and strengthened Centers of Excellence, performed process audits, identified fundamental

xx
 CONTRIBUTORS

problems and provided quick wins as well as innovative and sustainable solutions; improved
customer experience, assisted in improving service management and service integration,
initiated and managed implementations of BPM; enhanced BPM maturity and achieved
significant and sustainable improvement in performance.
Johan is available for international presentations and/or training. He can be reached at:
[email protected] or http://au.linkedin.com/in/johannelis

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE THIRD EDITION

Tonia de Bruin completed her PhD at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane,

Australia, while researching business process management maturity. Following her accept-
ance as a CPA in 2001, Tonia obtained an MIT from QUT in 2004. Tonia has an extensive
background in the financial sector, where she has worked for more than 20 years as both a
manager and consultant. Experience managing process improvement projects has seen
Tonia develop a strong interest in the relationship between business processes and IT.

Jerry Dimos is a Singapore-based management consultant with over 15 years’ experience

helping Fortune 500 firms design and implement business transformation initiatives across
Asia Pacific.
A highly experienced Business Process Management (BPM) practitioner, Jerry is a BPM
advocate for its practical role in transforming complex firms into more agile and productive
businesses. By optimizing the way work is performed (the interplay between people, processes
and technology), he has successfully implemented projects to reduce waste, unnecessary
complexity and process inefficiencies that lead to margin erosion.
Jerry has used BPM tools and techniques to assist global clients, especially those growing
or consolidating their operations in Asia to realign their traditionally fragmented operating
models. The end result is a more agile, centrally managed, trade-efficient business model that
delivers real and measurable shareholder value.
In 2008, Jerry began research into applying BPM to the areas of Sales and Marketing,
particularly in the highly competitive Consumer Markets sector. He has been helping clients
leverage new technologies to integrate their end-to-end processes and single view of the
customer to maximize the returns from marketing investments. This is an area of particular
interest to Jerry and he co-authored a book on marketing ROI in 2010, and has written several
articles.

Brad Power is the Principal, Palladium Group and Executive Director, Process Management
Research Center at Babson College. With over 20 years of management consulting and
research experience across a variety of industries around the world, he addresses the
important business opportunities and problems of clients by combining human, technological
and business perspectives. From 1981 to 1997, Brad worked for CSC Index, the business
reengineering firm. In addition to leading many process-innovation consulting projects, he
led CSC Index’s research service in business reengineering for three years, working with over
30 senior executives leading major reengineering initiatives, and the founders of business
reengineering. Brad has an MBA from UCLA and a BS from Stanford University.

xxi
CONTRIBUTORS

Michael Rosemann is a Professor for Information Systems and Co-Leader of the Business
Process Management Group at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
He received his MBA (1992) and his PhD (1995) from the University of Muenster, Germany.
His main areas of interest are business process management, business process modeling,
enterprise systems and ontologies. In his current research projects he is exploring, among
other things, the critical success factors of process modeling, issues related to process
modeling in the large, and the actual application of process modeling. Michael has intensive
consulting experience, and has provided process management-related advice to organizations
from various industries including telecommunications, banking, insurance, utility and
logistics. Besides more than 40 journal publications, 70 conference publications and 35 book
chapters, he has published two books on logistics management and process modeling, and
is editor of three books: Reference Modelling; Business Process Management and Business
Systems Analysis with Ontologies. He is a member of the Editorial Board of six journals,
including the Business Process Management Journal.

Andrew Spanyi is internationally recognized for his work on Business Process Management.
He is the author of four books: Business Process Management is a Team Sport; More for Less:
The Power of Process Management; and Operational Leadership.
He has delivered keynote speeches at conferences in North America, Europe and
Australia. He has published over 40 articles with a broad cross-section of print and
e-magazines. He is currently on the Board of Advisors with The Association of Business
Process Management Professionals. Previously he was an adjunct professor at Babson
College; a member of the research team at the Babson Process Management Research Center;
and an editorial board member with the BPM Institute.
He has over three decades of management and consulting practice experience. He has
managed or consulted on over 140 major improvement projects and led the development and
delivery of dozens of sales and management training programs.

Amy Van Looy holds a Ph.D. in applied economics. She is a lecturer and scholar at Ghent
University (Belgium). Before entering academia, Amy worked as an IT consultant, mainly
as a business and functional analyst, on various large e-government projects.
Her research focuses on business process maturity and capabilities in both public and
private organizations. Particularly, she builds a maturity theory based on a large sample of
business process maturity models (BPMMs). Furthermore, to orient practitioners to the right
BPMM, Amy conducted an international Delphi study with BPM experts, resulting in an
online decision tool, called “BPMM Smart-Selector” (http://smart-selector.amyvanlooy.eu/).
Other research interests include business process integration and business process modeling
(BPMN, UML).
Her research and publications can be accessed at http://www.amyvanlooy.eu/. Amy
may be contacted via email ([email protected]). You can subscribe to her tweets at
http://twitter.com/AmyVanLooy.

xxii
 FOREWORD
Thomas H. Davenport

This book shouldn’t be unusual, but it is. It should have been written a long time ago, but it
wasn’t. All books on business process management should be similar to it, but they aren’t. Books
that purport to tell people in organizations how to do something should be this clear, but they
seldom are. Process management should have already been demystified, but it hasn’t been.
What’s exceptional about the book is its extraordinary common sense. It suggests
seemingly prosaic ideas, such as that multiple different levels of process change are necessary
under different circumstances, and that technology alone isn’t sufficient to bring about
process change. These ideas seem obvious, but they are not often encountered in the world
of business process management, or BPM. In fact, in order for you fully to appreciate the
virtues of this book, you need to know something about what’s wrong with BPM.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

The idea that work can be viewed as a process, and then improved, is hardly new. It dates at
least to Frederick Taylor at the turn of the last century, and probably before. Taylor and his
colleagues developed modern industrial engineering and process improvement, though the
techniques were restricted to manual labor and production processes. The Taylorist approaches
were widely practiced in the early 1900s, but were largely forgotten by mid-century.
The next great addition to process management was created by the combination of
Taylorist process improvement and statistical process control, by Shewhart, Deming, Juran
and others. Their version of process management involved measuring and limiting process
variation, continuous rather than episodic improvement, and the empowerment of workers
to improve their own processes. It turned out that Japanese firms had both the business
need—recovering from war and building global markets—and the discipline to put
continuous improvement programs in place. Other firms in other societies have adopted
continuous improvement and “total quality management” based on statistical principles, but
it requires more discipline than most can muster.
Toyota, in particular, took these approaches and turned them into a distinctive advance
in process management. The Toyota Production System (TPS) combined statistical process
control with continuous learning by decentralized work teams, a “pull” approach to
manufacturing that minimized waste and inventory, and treating every small improvement
in processes as an experiment to be designed, measured and learned from. But few firms have

xxiii
FOREWORD

been able to successfully implement the TPS, and even Toyota has had more success with
the approach in Japan than at its foreign plants. A somewhat less stringent approach to the
TPS is present in the “lean” techniques that many American firms have recently adopted.
The next major variation on BPM took place in the 1990s, when many Western firms
were facing an economic recession and strong competition from global competitors,
particularly Japanese firms. Business process reengineering added, to the generic set of
process management ideas, several new approaches:

• the radical (rather than incremental) redesign and improvement of work

• attacking broad, cross-functional business processes
• “stretch” goals of order-of-magnitude improvement
• use of information technology as an enabler of new ways of working.

Reengineering was also the first process management movement to focus primarily on
non-production, white-collar processes such as order management and customer service. It
did not emphasize statistical process control or continuous improvement. Many firms in the
United States and Europe undertook reengineering projects, but most proved to be overly
ambitious and difficult to implement. Reengineering first degenerated into a more respectable
word for headcount reductions, and then largely disappeared (though there are some signs
of its return).
The most recent process management enthusiasm has revolved around “Six Sigma,” an
approach created at Motorola in the 1980s and popularized by General Electric in the 1990s.
In some ways Six Sigma represents a return to statistical process control; the term “Six Sigma”
means one output defect in six standard deviations of a probability distribution for a
particular process output. Six Sigma also typically involves a return to focusing on relatively
small work processes, and presumes incremental rather than radical improvement. Most
frequently, however, Six Sigma improvement techniques have been employed on an episodic
basis, rather than continuously, and while employees are somewhat empowered to improve
their own work, they are generally assisted by experts called “Black Belts.” Some firms are
beginning to combine Six Sigma with more radical reengineering-like approaches to
processes, or with the “lean” techniques derived from the Toyota Production System. It is
simply too early to tell whether Six Sigma will continue to prosper; I see some signs of its
weakening, but it is certainly still popular in many US firms.
The approach to BPM described in this book is a welcome amalgam of all of these
previous approaches. It doesn’t focus heavily on statistical process control or bottom-up
experimentation, but addresses the basics of process improvement and change. It doesn’t view
IT as being the core of process change, but doesn’t ignore it as did TQM and Six Sigma. It
considers all of the major vehicles by which organizations understand, measure and change
how they work.

LESSONS FROM HISTORY

What can we learn from this history, and how does it relate to the book you have in your
hands? First, it’s clear that process management has been somewhat faddish in the past.

xxiv
 FOREWORD

It has been a bit immature, coming and going in various forms as a management fad.
This does not mean that there is no value to the concept—indeed I am a strong believer
in it—but rather that managers and firms may have latched onto the more fashionable,
short-term elements of the approach instead of the more timeless ones. Some managers
have even made comments to me such as the following: “We’re doing Six Sigma—we’re
not really into process management.” This inability to see the forest for the individual tree
is problematic if (or, more likely, when) the appeal of an individual process management
offering begins to fade.
Perhaps the excitement of a “new” approach (or at least a new combination of previous
ideas with a new name) is necessary to get people excited, but the problem is that they become
less excited after a time with each new variant of process change. Basic business process
management—the essence of each of these faddish enthusiasms—may not be sexy, but it is
clearly necessary. Perhaps it should be adopted whether it is sexy or not, and then maybe it
will persist over the long term at a moderate level of popularity. This book is admirably free
of faddish elements, and provides a good guide to the basic principles of process management.
The authors refer to the “demystification” of process management, and they are correct that
the field has been clouded by faddishness and mystification for far too long.
It’s also apparent that process management, as it has changed over time, is an increasingly
synthetic discipline. This book, I am happy to note, also takes a synthetic, broad approach
to process management. Each new process management approach has built on previous
foundations, and added one or more new elements. Ideally, an organization would be able
to draw upon all of the elements or tools available to meet the process management needs
of any individual project. However, to wrap all of the possible process management tools into
one consolidated approach would be a bit unwieldy. They can’t all fit into one normal-sized
book. Therefore it seems likely that, in the future, firms will assemble the tools they need to
address a particular project using a customized or configured methodology. Such a
configuration process would require either very experienced process management consultants
who could assemble the proper tools or perhaps even software that could help a less
experienced user configure a methodology.
Despite these methodological issues, process management all boils down to human
change. This is true of all variations on process management. As Jeston and Nelis point out,
people are the key to implementing new process designs. If they don’t want to work in new
ways, it is often very difficult to force them to do so. Hence any successful process manage-
ment effort requires a strong emphasis on culture, leadership and change management.
Several chapters of the book are devoted to these issues.
Process management doesn’t replace everything else in organizations, and it’s not
a panacea. There have been other authors and publications that have strongly suggested
that all an organization needs to do to be successful is process improvement. This book
does not make that mistake; it simply argues that process management must become one
of the abiding approaches to managing organizations. It must augment and align with
strategy, human resource management, financial management, information management
and the other traditional management disciplines. This and other perspectives within the
book may appear to be only common sense. They are indeed sensible, but they are not
sufficiently common.

xxv
 PREFACE

This book began in 2003, when I was engaged in the early stages of a BPM project within a
large financial organization. I was struggling with how to help develop the skills of the
consultants in our BPM consultancy practice faster than just “on the job training.”
I searched the Internet and book shelves for a comprehensive text on “how to successfully
implement a BPM project.” I did not just want a big picture view but a detailed step-by-step
guide that we could give to our consultants and clients, and one that would force me to be
less intuitive (although I still think this is the most powerful insight one can have) and more
formal in approaching BPM projects. So I started to document my thoughts over the next
twelve months.
In mid-2004, we received the resumé of Johan from the Netherlands, where he headed
up the BPM practice of Sogeti (part of Cap Gemini). Johan was looking to migrate to
Australia; here he joined me in a BPM consultancy practice and soon thereafter we began
the journey of completing this book.
The journey has continued spectacularly fast as I have been invited to travel all over the
world to deliver conference keynote speeches, talks, training, advice and consulting services
to many varied organizations, including some extremely large commercial and government
organizations. This has enabled me to gain a unique insight to the critical success factors,
what works well and what could have worked better within organizations; and it has
continued to provide practical intellectual property for further editions of this book.

John Jeston

I have always found it amazing that in a time of information, the skills and expertise of a BPM
consultant are still predominantly based on experience, and grey hair is still an indicator of
this. BPM is still more an art than a science. There are very few sources of information for
people to rely on when delivering a BPM project: there are very few good books that cover
all the relevant aspects; Internet searches are crowded with advertising of vendors; and few
seminar or training courses live up to their promises.
I have always been very passionate about exchanging expertise and experience—right
from my first job at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization which was not
just about achieving results but also knowledge transfer. During my career at Sogeti B.V., The
Netherlands, I enjoyed the support and opportunities provided to develop process reference
models and guidelines; give BPM training and lectures as well as setting up a BPM expert

xxvi
 PREFACE

group and the Dutch BPM Forum. Jeroen Versteeg and Klaas Brongers have been very
supportive in this regard.
Writing a book that combines both a holistic view and the necessary details has been a
long cherished dream. When I moved to Australia and John told me about his plans for this
book and showed me the outline of the Framework, I knew that this dream would be fulfilled.

Johan Nelis

xxvii
 INTRODUCTION

WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?

Business professionals

• Senior business executives seeking an understanding of what BPM is; the critical success
factors; and why and how to implement it within their organization.
• Information systems managers and Chief Financial Officers also involved in supporting
the implementation of BPM and process management.
• Project managers on how better to manage a process-focused project or program of work.
• Process professionals, process analysts and business analysts to enhance their learning on
how to implement BPM and process-focused activities; together with detailed tools and
templates.

Students
This book provides students with the ability to gain a practical example and understanding
of how to implement Business Process Management from a small BPM activity or project
inside an organization through to an enterprise-wide process-focused business transformation
program. It will support the following students in their studies:

• Professionals studying; postgraduate students on specialist Master’s degrees; MBA students.

The book provides a comprehensive coverage of business processes, and process
management and implementation. It will provide non-business professionals (for
example, engineers, scientists) with an understanding of business and process
management.
• Undergraduate students who select this topic to gain an understanding of how businesses
work in practice and how to complete process-based projects improvements and business
transformation.

xxviii
 INTRODUCTION

WHAT DOES THIS BOOK OFFER TO LECTURERS

TEACHING THESE COURSES?

This book is intended to be a comprehensive guide to all aspects of implementing and

managing BPM or process-focused business transformation activities within an organization.
It is based upon sound research and wide and deep consulting experience with international
BPM programs.
Lecturers will find this book has a wide range of case study examples to support their
teaching.
A student assignment has been included that may be used to provide the context and
guidance through a practical BPM activity. This assignment will be continually updated and
improved with the latest version always available on a secure website specifically for lecturers.
A sample answer will also be provided on the secure website. As with any business project,
there may be several “correct” answers. We would encourage lecturers to provide the authors
with samples of their best student answers and these will be reviewed and posted on the secure
website for the benefit of all lecturers, with the lecturer’s and student’s permission.
The latest tools and templates will be posted on: www.managementbyprocess.com for
the benefit of students and lecturers. Again you are welcome to contribute towards the
enhancement and further development of these tools and templates by sending suggestions
to: [email protected].

LEARNING FEATURES

A range of features have been incorporated in the book to help the reader get the most out
of it. They have been designed to assist understanding, reinforce learning and assist readers
to find information easily. The features are described in the order you will find them.

At the start of each chapter:

• Overview: a short introduction to the relevance of the chapter and what you will learn.
• Overall learning outcome: a list describing what readers can learn through reading the
chapter and completing the self-test.

In each chapter:

• Key Points: critical aspect to the topic referred to in the text.

• BPM Insight: real-world examples of best practice approaches.
• Case Studies: examples of areas where organizations or consultants have executed things
well or not so well. Each case study is provided with a “Message” at the end of it—the
lesson to learn as a result of the case study.

xxix
INTRODUCTION

In Part II of the book, the section explaining the 7FE Framework, each chapter is also
structured to include:

• Why: is this phase necessary?

• Results: that will be expected once this phase has been executed.
• How: the detailed steps involve in the execution of the phase.
• Outputs to other phases: how this phase contributes towards the success of other phases
and feeds back into earlier phases.
• Phase risks: the typical risks that are associated with this phase.

At the end of each chapter:

• Summary: intended as a revision aid and to summarize the main learning points from
the chapter.
• Self-test questions: short questions that will test understanding of terms and concepts
described in the chapter and help relate them to your organization.
• Assignment: further information on the assignment and guiding questions to assist in
the completion of the assignment (for chapters 12 to 26).
• Checklists: where appropriate checklists have been provided to assist you in the execution
of your BPM activities.
• Extra reading: supplementary information on the main themes within the chapter.

At the end of the book:

• Glossary: a list of definitions of all terms and phrases used within the text.
• References and bibliography: a list of books and articles from where some of the
information was sourced and suggested additional reading.
• Index: all key words and abbreviations referred to in the main text.

xxx
 INTRODUCTION TO
THE THIRD EDITION

The understanding of BPM and process management has not stood still over the last five years
since the second edition of this book.
The authors have continued to work with many organizations in the development and
implementation of BPM strategies. This has allowed us to encounter many different and
varied business challenges. With challenges come solutions, and it is these challenges and
solutions that we wish to share with the readers.
The most dramatic evolution in BPM has been the growing acceptance that BPM is not
about the improvement of operational processes alone. BPM is a management discipline
focused on using business processes as a significant contributor to achieving an organization’s
strategy and business objectives by significantly and sustainably improving performance.
Business Process Management is more relevant than ever before and will assist in
enabling management to achieve a competitive advantage in a turbulent environment. Our
current environment is categorized by fundamental shifts in business models; increased
internationalization; increased market transparency; a need to support mobile, social and
Cloud functionality; and a need to service more informed, vocal and demanding customers.
These trends and how to anticipate and leverage them is now a fundamental necessity in
business.
You will read in Chapter 1 (What is business process management?) about the BPM
House; a metaphor for what is BPM and what are the various components.
Many of the initial ten chapters have either been rewritten or substantially updated.
The original two phases of the 7FE Framework (Organization Strategy and Process
Architecture) have been replaced with BPM Foundations and BPM Enablement. These
chapters are totally new and have a unique approach to the building of an enterprise-wide
approach to the implementation of a process-focused transformation program. This is
critical if you wish to create a sustainable competitive advantage within your organization.
You will learn in Chapter 5 (How should we start—bottom-up or top-down?) that the
authors have never seen a bottom-up approach to BPM work, enterprise wide; not unless it
changes from bottom-up to top-down.
You will learn what you need to do, from a process perspective, to ensure that a
sustainable competitive advantage is created within your organization.
Furthermore, the online appendices have been collapsed and where appropriate included
for each chapter.

xxxi
INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD EDITION

We are very proud of the book because it has become accepted internationally by both
business and educational institutions. It is used in many organizations as the preferred
method of implementing BPM. It has become used in many universities by professors and
lecturers as a textbook and reference book.
A wonderful example of this acceptance is the story of one CEO who was so impressed
with it that he had it translated into his language and then made it mandatory reading for
his executives and managers; and they are tested on it to ensure they have read and understand
it. This international organization employs more than 250,000 people worldwide.
This third edition has a number of new features which you will notice:

• It is in full color
• Enhanced pedagogy: now includes learning outcomes; chapter topics; learning objectives;
highlighted key points; chapter summaries; and self-test questions
• Enhanced case studies
• Specific detailed case studies from three continents
• A reader assignment that allows the reader to make the learning concrete
• A link to the publisher’s website for an ability to interact with the authors and obtain
the latest material on the assignment
• A link to the latest BPM tools at www.managementbyprocess.com.

LAYOUT OF THIS BOOK

The book is divided into three parts with each having a unique focus.

• Part I is aimed at executive level questions and takes a holistic view to a process-focused
organization. It asks and provides answers to ten questions. While all these questions
do not need to be addressed before an organization commences its BPM journey, some
do. All questions will however need to be addressed and answered along the journey.
• Part II comprises a detailed explanation of the 7FE Framework. It explains the ten phases
and three essentials that are required to be successful. This is where the reader assignment
is undertaken.
• Part III comprises a chapter that includes three detailed case studies from the USA, Asia
and Europe. It also includes two chapters on BPM maturity. One of these chapters is
new and provides an insight into how an organization should select a BPM maturity
model that is appropriate for itself.
• Within the companion website there are two appendices that provide a summary of the
7FE Framework (phases, steps, tools and techniques, deliverables and gates) and the 7FE
Framework Quality Assurance Checklist for project/program managers.

xxxii
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It has been a journey as we have researched and developed the tools and techniques in this
book. It is an approach to BPM projects and organizational transformation that has been
honed over many practical international consulting engagements, case studies and research.
The framework, approaches, scenarios, phases, steps, tools and techniques are what we use
in our day-to-day BPM consultancy. Without the ability to consult and develop the
intellectual property “on the job” within many large organizations this book would not have
been possible.
However, no book can be written in isolation, and there are people we would like to
thank who have reviewed, contributed to, critically commented and debated with us in the
development of this third edition. In particular we would like to thank Dr Adrian Rossi and
Gina Craig.
Adrian’s knowledge of BPM technology and implementations is outstanding. He has
donated his time to reading and commenting upon drafts of the entire book, and contributed
in part to Chapter 7, the technology components of a BPM system.
Gina critically read and edited many chapters in the book and greatly added to the clarity
of many chapters.
Once a robust draft of the book was completed, several people contributed their time in
reviewing, commenting and making suggestions for improvement. This has significantly
contributed to the betterment of the final outcome. As always it is the authors’ responsibility
for the final product. We would like to specifically thank: Professor Jan Recker, Michelle
Parker, Adrian Rossi and Dr Ralf Eder.
Finally, we would like to thank our editorial team of Amy Laurens and Rosemary (Rosie)
Baron. Thank you for your trust, support, never-ending encouragement and good humor
throughout this journey.

xxxiii
 TRAINING SERVICES

Management by Process Pty Ltd offers complete advice, training and coaching services in
Business Process Management and process-focused business transformation programs.
The training courses cover the content of this book and other BPM-related topics. Please
refer to www.managementbyprocess.com for course outlines, testimonials and further
information.

NEW DISTRIBUTOR AND PARTNER ENQUIRIES

Distributor and partner opportunities are available for qualified BPM experts and expert
organizations for the training material and courses. If you are interested please contact
[email protected].

xxxiv
 POSITIONING
OUR BOOKS

This book provides a practical guide to the successful and repeatable implementation of BPM
activities. Three reprints in the first year, the release of a second edition, a number of
translations into other languages and now this third edition highlight the enormous demand
for practical common sense guidance on businesses running their organizations via process
management.
Many readers have reacted and welcomed our suggestions regarding BPM activities.
However, many of you now face the next challenge: how to achieve a process-focused
organization. That is, not just to be able to successfully implement BPM activities but move
to the next stage of maturity where an organization needs to support performance
management by its processes. This is depicted as part of Figure 0.1

Process Leadership

Strategy

Process
Governance

Process Performance
Process Process
People Capability
Execution Execution
Technology

Management
by Process

Figure 0.1 Management by Process Framework

xxxv
POSITIONING OUR BOOKS

Strategy is the foundation and starting point for the formulation of an organization’s
strategic objectives. However, the strategy is only one part of the journey. Without an
outstanding competency in strategy execution, then success will not follow. We believe it is
essential to distinguish between two types of execution—project execution and process
execution.
Project execution is the topic of this book you are reading now. Process execution is the
topic of the our second book which is titled: Management by Process: A Roadmap to
Sustainable Business Process Management. In our experience with coaching and advising
organizations with the implementation of BPM, we have found that the following seven
dimensions are critical in the achievement of a truly process-focused and high performance
management organization:

1. Process leadership
2. Process governance
3. Process performance
4. Strategic alignment
5. People capability
6. Project execution
7. Technology.

For more information please visit www.managementbyprocess.com

We would be delighted to receive readers’ feedback and suggestions. You can provide
this by emailing us at: [email protected]

xxxvi
 Part 1

FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS

1
 The important thing is not to stop questioning.
(Albert Einstein)

Part I is aimed at an executive level of questions and takes a holistic view to a

process-focused organization. While all of these questions do not need to be
addressed before an organization commences its Business Process Management
(BPM) journey, some do; however, somewhere along that journey all will need to
be considered. Indeed, the answer to some of the questions will determine how
you should start BPM in your organization.
In this third edition of the book we have introduced several new questions to
ensure that evolving and contemporary BPM questions are answered. The global
financial crisis from 2008 has forced many organizations to take a critical look
at their performance, and business process performance, management and
control are critical aspects.
We start in Chapters 1 and 2 by providing an explanation of “What is
BPM?”; why some people find BPM a little confusing and why it is different from
what has come before. This still requires attention, as many people either don’t
understand or misunderstand these key concepts.
It is critical to know who should be involved in BPM and what the critical
success factors are. For an organization and its management, it is critical to have
a clear understanding of when you should do BPM and what the main drivers
and triggers are. These questions are covered in Chapters 3 and 4.
How to start is always an important consideration. Should it be top-down or
bottom-up? This is discussed in Chapter 5.
Our experience of implementing BPM transformations, programs and projects
all around the world has led us to believe it is important to improve the processes
before, or as part of, automating them. This is addressed in Chapter 6.
Given the importance of BPM technology and the opportunities that it is
starting to offer, we outline the nine technology components of a complete BPM
technology solution in Chapter 7, together with some thoughts of the future.
The majority of the literature on BPM and Lean will tell you that you must be
customer-centric and focus on the customer experience. Is this true? Is it the best
approach to achieving customer service and satisfaction? This question is what
Chapter 8 is all about.
We then discuss why determining or creating the right foundations for BPM
is critical to success in Chapter 9.
In the final chapter of this part, we address why you need a structured
approach to implementing BPM if you want to optimize your business benefits and
likelihood of success.

All human progress is preceded by new questions.

(Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within)

2
 CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS BUSINESS
PROCESS MANAGEMENT?

OVERVIEW
There are many definitions of BPM and to enable you to gain the most from
this book we need to have a common understanding.

OVERALL LEARNING OUTCOME

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
• Appreciate that BPM is not ALL about technology
• Have a working definition of BPM
• Understand at a high level the BPM House and how the components
are essential for BPM success and sustainability.

This is a question that needs to be asked and addressed right at the very beginning to ensure
we have a common understanding. There are as many answers to this question as there are
vendors, analysts, researchers, academics, commentators, authors and customers.
BPM is just like many other three-letter abbreviations in the recent past, such as CRM
(Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), which have
been misused and misinterpreted. In time these terms have mostly come to a common
interpretation; BPM has still to achieve this status.
Currently, BPM is being used by:

• some vendors who only focus on the technology solution of process improvement. This
is still true for some of the world’s largest technology companies;
• other vendors who think of BPM as business process modeling or business performance
management;

3
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• some consultants who use BPM to continue their message on business process
reengineering or improvement;
• other consultants who use BPM to sell their Six Sigma/Lean message to executives;
• some managers who want to jump on the BPM bandwagon, with no idea where it is
going;
• some process analysts who use BPM to inflate their process-modeling aspirations.

In our opinion, BPM does not equate to a technology tool or initiative for business
processes. In our experience, there is significant business process improvement that can be
achieved without technology. Can BPM involve technology, and is technology a good thing?
Absolutely, in the right circumstances and when it can be justified. Are Business Process
Management Systems (BPMS) and process modeling tools useful for achieving process
improvements in non-technology circumstances? If the tools referred to are used in the right
way, then yes, they can be extremely useful in this process. In fact, it is difficult to com-
plete complex process improvement projects in a time-effective manner without the use of
these tools.

BPM INSIGHT
One word of caution: there is a danger of organizations believing that once they have
purchased a BPMS or process-modeling tool, it will solve all their problems and the
process improvements will just follow. Nothing could be further from the truth. A BPMS
or process-modeling tool is just a piece of software, and without a methodology or
framework, skilled resources to use it and a genuine commitment from organizational
leadership, it is useless: remember the saying “a fool with a tool is still is fool.”

Refer to the Extra Reading section at the end of Chapter 27 (Embedding) for how to select
a process-modeling tool. If you are going to use a process-modeling toolset in your BPM
program or projects then we actively encourage you to use the opportunity to build a process
asset. What is a process asset, how it is populated, what are its benefits and use to the business
will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 13.
Many of the industry commentators and vendors provide definitions that specify
technology (automation tools) as an essential component of BPM—in fact they say that BPM
is technology. However, if you take a simple and commonsense view of BPM, it is about the
management of business processes which will be around for a very long time.

KEY POINT
A definition for BPM is:

A management discipline focused on using business processes as a significant contributor

to achieving an organization’s objectives through the improvement, ongoing performance
management and governance of essential business processes.

4
 WHAT IS BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT?

Table 1.1 Definition of terms used in our definition of BPM

Management Management need to clearly understand that business processes are a
discipline fundamental and critical part of business success. The proactive
management of these business processes will significantly assist in the
delivery of an organization’s strategic objectives. Process management
needs to be a fundamental part of how the business is managed and
executive commitment is essential.
Processes What is a process? There are as many definitions of process as there are
processes. However perhaps taking a simple view is best, “it is the way
things get done around here.”
Achievement Realizing the strategic objectives as outlined in the organization’s strategic
plan. At a project level, it is about realizing the value or business benefits as
outlined in the project business case and at a process level it is about
achieving the team’s operational targets.
Organization The organization in this context refers to either the entire organization or
parts of it, perhaps a business unit that is discrete in its own right. BPM
relates to the end-to-end business processes associated with this part of an
organization. This end-to-end focus extends beyond the boundaries of the
organization and should include suppliers and customers, which should lead
to a minimization of the silo effect within most organizations.
Objectives The objectives of a BPM implementation range from the strategic goals of
the organization through to the individual process goals. It is about
achieving business outcomes. BPM is not an objective in itself, but rather a
means to achieving a business objective. It is not “a solution looking for a
problem.”
Improvement Improvement is about making the business processes more efficient and
effective or indeed turning an organization or industry value chain upside
down or inside out. An example of this is a business transformation
approach to BPM.
Performance This refers to process and people performance measurement and
management management. It is about organizing all the essential components and
subcomponents for your processes. By this we mean arranging the people,
their skills, motivation, performance measures, rewards, the processes
themselves and the structure and systems necessary to support a process.
Governance BPM is about managing your end-to-end business processes both now and
of processes into the future to ensure they are always relevant to the business. An
essential component of governance is to have the ability to measure
correctly. If you cannot measure something, you cannot continually improve
and manage it. Process governance is also essential to ensure that
compliance and regulations are adhered to.
Essential Not every process in an organization contributes towards the achievement
of the organization’s strategic objectives. Essential processes are the ones
that do.
Business An implementation of BPM must have an impact on the business by
delivering benefits. It should focus on the core business processes that are
essential to your primary business activity—those processes that contribute
towards the achievement of the strategic objectives of the organization.

5
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

It is important to have a common understanding of what we mean by each of the

significant words in our definition, so each is defined individually in Table 1.1.
Thus, process management is an integrated part of “normal” management. It is
important for leadership and management to recognize that there is no finish line for the
improvement of business processes; it is a program that must be continually maintained.
As a management discipline BPM requires an end-to-end organizational view and a great
deal of common sense throughout the organization.
Now that we have provided a definition of BPM, let’s examine what this means in
practice within an organization.
There are many ways to commence BPM activities within an organization and the “right”
way will depend upon many factors, such as the organization’s culture, process maturity,
business drivers, to name a few. There are also several types of BPM activities that may be
commenced. Chapter 5 will outline four typical types of BPM activities that will be referred
to throughout the book. It also addresses the question of whether the BPM activities should
start from the bottom-up or the top-down and why.
Figure 1.1 provides a metaphor to describe BPM with all the necessary components of
an organization-wide BPM program strategy. It introduces many terms and some of them
may be new to you. If this is the case, please refer to the glossary section for a definition or
explanation.
A metaphor of a house has been used in this book—the BPM House.
When building a house you need to have solid foundations or it will not be stable as the
walls are erected and the roof installed. BPM is no different. The foundations of the BPM
program (BPM Foundations and Enablement) need to provide a solid operational focus that
has been agreed and is visible across the organization. Senior management is responsible for
determining the organization strategy and ensuring that the business processes support, or
contribute to, the fulfillment of the strategy. Processes that are aligned with the strategy are
most effective in achieving business objectives and are more sustainable in the medium to
long term. The purpose of the BPM Foundations and Enablement is to provide the necessary
discussion, determination, agreement and documentation of the high level “foundation
rules” for the business and BPM team to work within and apply. The Foundation is
determined by the senior management team and provide the very high level outline of these
“rules”; while Enablement takes these high level “rules” and expands upon them to make them
usable for the business and BPM teams in their execution of BPM programs and projects.
Chapters 13 and 14 provide the detail.
The walls provide an outline of the program of work, the frameworks for how the work
will be achieved, how the business will be operated and, importantly, how it will be aligned
with the organization’s strategy. This is where BPM activities:

• align with the organization’s strategy; ensuring that all the BPM activities contribute
towards the strategic objectives (strategic alignment);
• determine the priorities of which business processes to enhance first; and whether
working on the Management Processes or Operational Processes first will bring the most
benefit to the organization (or perhaps both together). Chapter 13 (Foundations phase)
will define and explain the difference between these two types of business processes
(management processes and operational processes);

6
 WHAT IS BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT?

Organization,
Sustainability & Performance Management
• Process governance • Organizational process
• Performance management asset
• Organizational culture • Benefits management framework
Strategic Alignment Management Processes Operational Processes
• Project selection & prioritization • Core operational processes:
Business Strategy • Strategic decision making Order to activate
• Simplification Procure to pay
• Portfolio management • Supporting processes:
• Business innovation Finance
• Formalized learning Human Resources
Strategic Themes • Agility/scalability IT

Process Change (Business Process Improvement)

•
Process-focused project management • People change management
•
Improvement methodology
Program(s) of work
Operate Manage Sustain
• Benefits realization • Performance management
• Process governance

BPM Enablement
Elements providing supporting capabilities to enhance and enable the delivery of all components
of the BPM Strategy

BPM Foundations
A BPM target operating model comprising a set of driving business foundation principles and guidelines
to manage business processes
Strategy Process Organizational design Performance management People Governance Technology

Figure 1.1 BPM House: components of a BPM program strategy

• use the Process Change (business process improvement (BPI) and people change man-
agement) methodologies or frameworks. These should be selected and in place first,
ensuring the business and BPM team are trained in it (process change);
• Operate, Manage and Sustain aspect refers how BPI projects will be handed over to the
business in a sustainable way.

Unless all these components are either in place or in progress within an organization, it will
not be able to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization’s business processes
in a sustainable way.
The BPM roof (Organization Sustainability and Performance Management) holds it all
together by providing the organizational-wide process focused culture and governance
structures resulting in managing the organization via its business processes. The creation and
management of a process asset will greatly assist in meeting these objectives. Without this
BPM roof, all the benefits gained from improving the management and operational business
processes will dissipate over time; sometimes rapidly.
We will discuss the BPM House in more detail during Chapters 13 and 14 when we
discuss the BPM Foundations and Enablement phases of the 7FE Project Framework. The
7FE Framework is the main focus within this book and provides the framework guidelines
for successful BPM programs and projects.
Once BPM is viewed as outlined in the BPM House it becomes clear that BPM provides
an organization with the ability to commence and sustain a program of work that can

7
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

A large telecommunications organization had spent a year and many millions of dollars
CASE STUDY
establishing BPM foundations within the organization. It was about to commence several
large BPM projects across the organization and they were still having difficulty explaining
and gaining agreement on what exactly BPM was for them.
The metaphor of the BPM House, slightly modified to its circumstances, provided the
mechanism for agreement within the organization.

transform its business. BPM will provide the mechanisms for changing the business value
chain, disrupting industry value chains, substantially altering the way business and decision
making is conducted. It will allow customers and employees to be delighted with the services
provided by the organization, while simultaneously reducing the organization’s costs. When
an organization’s management processes are addressed, as shown in the BPM House, the
organization is provided with an opportunity to create a sustainable competitive advantage;
but more of this later.
While the BPM House may appear a little overwhelming to some now, once the 7FE
Framework is introduced (from Chapter 11 onwards) it will be explained and expanded upon
in far more detail. If you wish to learn more immediately on the BPM House, read Chapters
13 and 14 now.

SUMMARY
BPM is:
• more than just software
• more than just improving or reengineering your processes—it also deals with
the managerial issues
• not just hype—it is an integral part of management
• more than just modeling—it is also about the implementation and execution
of these processes, and
• the BPM House provides a metaphor for the foundations, walls and roof of
an enterprise-wide implementation of BPM.

8
 WHAT IS BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT?

SELF-TEST
1 Can you implement a BPM project without technology?
2 Name a couple of ways how technology can assist with BPM in your
organization.
3 How would you define BPM and explain each of the key words/phrases in
your definition?
4 Explain each of the aspects of the BPM House, each of the sub-components
and why you think they will be important to an enterprise-wide
implementation of BPM?

9
 CHAPTER 2

HOW CAN WE DEMYSTIFY

BUSINESS PROCESS
MANAGEMENT?

OVERVIEW
Many people find the term BPM a mystery. There is no one definition
among the experts and management sometimes wonder if it is yet another
three-letter acronym or management fad that will disappear in the next
few years. We will explain the history of BPM and then some of the
realities of it.

OVERALL LEARNING OUTCOME

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
• Explain the history of BPM and where it evolved from
• Clarify if it is just the next “big thing” or not
• Explain the BPM hype cycle
• Appreciate what is mystifying about BPM and why
• Explain reality versus perception.

BRIEF HISTORY OF BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

The road to Business Process Management (BPM) has been a difficult one that was developed
from the successes and failures of various other attempts at achieving process-based
organizational efficiency. It has only been in the last several years that BPM has started to
gain significant momentum in many organizations around the world.

10
 Scientific
Management
Process Thinking
Business
Process
Reengineering

Lean

SOA
Six Sigma Business
Cloud Computing
Total Quality
Process Business Process
Management Management Management Systems
Kaizen Blitz Business Rules
Document
ISO Management
Workflow

Quality Thinking Automation

Figure 2.1 How did BPM emerge?

Perhaps it is worthwhile taking a few moments to understand the short history of

management’s focus on business processes and where BPM had its origins. Figure 2.1 shows
these origins.
In the 1980s there was a considerable focus on quality thinking. This was brought to
management’s attention with the focus on Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, ISO
and then the concepts of Kaizen (Blitz).
The concept of process thinking originated at least as far back as Frederick Taylor in the
early last century. It was then supported in the early 1990s by Business Process Reengineering
(BPR) as originally written about by Davenport and promoted by Hammer and Champy
(1990). BPR had a checkered history, with some excellent successes as well as failures. Lean
also gained momentum together with its variants.
In the mid- and late 1990s automation started to come into its own with Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) systems gaining organizational focus and became the next big thing.
These were supposed to deliver improved ways for organizations to operate, and were sold
by many vendors as the “solution to all your problems.” The ERP systems certainly did not
solve an organization’s process issues, nor make the processes as efficient and effective as they
could have been.
Towards the end of the 1990s and in the early 2000s, many Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) systems were rolled out with extensive focus on the customer view and
customer experience. While this provided focus on the front office, it did not improve the
back-office processes. Automation then grew into the concept of workflow and business rules
engines, which then morphed into Business Process Management Systems (BPMS) which we
will discuss in detail later in Chapter 7. BPMS incorporated many aspects of technology

11
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

including integrated document management. Cloud computing has now added a significant
and exciting dimension to the possibilities of a process view of the world.
All these components started to merge to bring business processes more to the thinking
of management and the term Business Process Management was coined.
At the end of the day, the term is not important. What is important is an organization’s
focus and ability to manage its business processes and this involves people.
According to Hammer (1993), “Coming up with the ideas is the easy part, but getting
things done is the tough part. The place where these reforms die is . . . down in the trenches”
and who “owns” the trenches? You and I and all the other people. Change imposed on the
“trench people” will not succeed without being part of the evolutionary or revolutionary
process:

Forceful leadership can accomplish only so much. The shift from machine-age
bureaucracy to flexible, self-managed teams requires that lots of ordinary
managers and workers be psychologically prepared.
(Hammer, 1994)

THE NEXT BIG THING (OR HOW MYSTIFICATION BEGINS)

While the term BPM has been around since the very late 1990s and early 2000s it is still yet
another three-letter acronym!
So why was BPM considered the “next big thing,” and why do the “next big things”
invariably come and go?
There are usually four steps to the creation of a “next big thing”:

1. The concept promoters (vendors/analysts, etc.) hype it up to the market in their

advertising, sales pitches, promotional materials, research and successful case studies.
2. These promoters then tend to disparage all the “old big things” that have preceded it,
and promote the “new big thing” as simply the best.
3. The next step is to make the “new big thing” very simple so the decision makers can
understand it, the message being that it is not complicated and can be easily
implemented.
4. Finally, the promoters (vendors in particular) market their existing products and service
offerings with this new label (in this case BPM) even if the offerings do not meet the
generally accepted definitions of the label. This leads to there being almost as many
definitions of the label as there are vendors.

In this case, the new label has been “BPM” and the same problems have emerged. If you
examine the historical context of the BPM “next big thing,” there is a common thread: it is
all about business processes and trying to make them better. Vendors and consultants all latch
onto new ideas, which are often extremely good, and hype them up until the idea matures
and is able to be used or implemented in a sustainable way.

12
 HOW CAN WE DEMYSTIFY BPM?

While it is true that BPM has lasted longer than we expected as a term, we think it has
matured over the last decade and there has been a growing acceptance that BPM is really a
management philosophy promoting the management of an organization’s business processes.

BPM HYPE CYCLE

The BPM hype cycle in Figure 2.2 shows a summarized view of how the process cycle has
progressed over the last two decades.

Hype

Growing acceptance
and executive maturity
and understanding
BPM Maturing
Movement technology
solutions

Michael Hammer &

Champy BPM
HBR “Don’t Automate Movement
Obliterate”
Six
Sigma Smith & Fingar
BPM Third Wave
published

1986 1995 2000 2005 2012 Time

Figure 2.2 BPM hype cycle

Six Sigma was invented in 1986, and created an awareness of “processes.” This was
followed in July 1990 by Hammer and Champy’s (1990) Harvard Business Review article
“Don’t automate, obliterate,” and the business process reengineering (BPR) movement
started. While BPM has been around for some time, BPM: The Third Wave (Smith and Fingar,
2002) created significant interest and discussion; and it could now be argued that BPM is the
most important topic on the management agenda.
BPM is now broadly accepted in business and while the level of understanding is good,
there is still confusion of what it exactly is and how to go about it, especially at an organization
level. Technology has also significantly matured and is getting better by the day.

WHAT IS MYSTIFYING ABOUT BPM?

BPM is advocated by its proponents as being different from and better than what has been
available in the past. The major advantages promoted are outlined in Table 2.1, as are our
comments supporting or refuting them.

13
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Table 2.1 Promotion v. reality

BPM major “mystifying” points versus reality
1 BPM is better than the past options for process improvement
BPM has certainly raised the visibility of process improvement for many organizations.
BPM has also focused many academics and consultants back onto processes and
several organizations have been created solely to focus on process. BPM is also
now taught in many universities around the world educating current and future
managers in the benefits of managing business processes. This is definitely a good
thing, as the discussion on standards and BPM in general continues to raise its profile
and maturity in the marketplace. Learning from past experience, such as BPR, has
also been taken into consideration. The key point is that BPM is only as good as the
buy-in you get from the organization and senior management and then how well
it is implemented.
2 BPM uses new and better technology
There is growing evidence that this is true. There are a growing number of fully
automated enterprise-wide BPM implementations. In our experience, technology
should not be the initial focus of a BPM activity. The initial work should relate to
reviewing the current processes with a goal of increased efficiency and effectiveness
(the importance of establishing process goals is discussed later in the book). While
these new improved processes could (if appropriate) contain suggestions for
automation, significant process improvements can be achieved without the use of
technology. While technology has improved significantly, the implementers of BPM must
ensure it is meeting the needs of the organization.
3 There is a robust methodology to support BPM
There are only a very small number of complete and proven methodologies for the
implementation of complex BPM programs. Be careful: a methodology or framework
can be a millstone as much as a savior, it is how you use it that matters. While you may
think your organization is unique, it is doubtful that you are. Do not start your BPM
program by developing your own methodology. It is a waste of time and valuable
resources; use an existing methodology, learn and then, if necessary, tailor to your
organizational needs over time. Remember, you will be evaluated on the business results
and not on the methodology.
4 BPM is simple (and, in fact, often oversimplified)
BPM is anything but simple. There are many components and elements to a BPM
implementation, and one of the purposes of this book is to explain this in more
detail. While each of these components might look simple, it is the way they relate,
interact and are implemented that is the challenge. You do not need to solve all
the organization’s process problems in one go with BPM. Start small, with one project,
learn and get executive buy-in. As the organization matures, BPM can be expanded. We
will look at the various ways to start a BPM program of work in Chapter 5.
5 External people are needed to implement BPM
This very much depends upon the maturity of the organization and the skill levels and
experience within an organization. Certainly external consultants can assist either in the
establishment phases, or acting in a coaching or consulting role if the organizational
maturity and/or skill levels are not sufficient. An experienced external BPM
program/project manager can provide significant focus that, sometimes, internal project
managers are unable to bring to a project.

14
 HOW CAN WE DEMYSTIFY BPM?

BPM INSIGHT
BPM is not a simple concept nor is it simple to implement—it is extremely complex
and difficult; and yet, absolutely achievable when approached in the right way.

While the introduction of technology can be a useful contributor for many organizations,
BPM does not always need technology to be successful. It is far more important to get your
processes right before you consider the implementation of technology. However, there is no
question, with the correct approach and timing to the implementation of BPM technology,
it can be extremely successful and beneficial to an organization.

THE ICEBERG SYNDROME

Icebergs typically only show about 10 percent of their mass above the water. BPM is often
like an iceberg; people and organizations only see what is above the water. The interesting
observation is that what appears above the surface depends upon the viewer’s perception. For
example, a vendor sees technology above the surface; a process analyst sees the processes;
human resources sees change management and people; IT sees the technology imple-
mentation; business management sees short-term gains (quick wins), cost reductions and
simple measures of improvement; and the project manager sees short-term completion of
project tasks and the deliverables of the project.
People often see the “perception” component as the completion process models, whereas
“reality” is addressed in the implementation of these processes and the achievement of
business benefits. An excellent strategy is of no use unless it is well executed.

KEY POINT
Execution is important, in fact critical:

You will achieve more from an average strategy that is executed well; than from an
excellent strategy that is executed in an average way.

Unfortunately, a BPM implementation is a multifaceted activity, and Figure 2.3 shows

that “reality” is what appears below the water line. Unless all the “reality” associated with a
BPM implementation is addressed, the risk to the project increases. This needs not only to
be addressed, but also made visible to the organization. A ship could cruise very close to an
iceberg on one side and not hit anything, and yet do the same on the other side and sink.

We will now briefly explore one of these “realities.”

15
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Perception

Reality

Figure 2.3 Perception, the tip of the iceberg called “reality”

BPM INSIGHT
The visibility of issues and activities is an important part of addressing them, as is
the establishment of the foundations necessary to commence a BPM program of work
and have the program a success.

EXPLORING “REALITY”

The most important component in any BPM implementation is the management of

organizational change and the associated people (staff) impacts. As mentioned earlier, the
implementation and its success are owned by the people in the trenches. People and their
engagement in the implementation are critical, and a holistic approach in meeting the people
and cultural aspects of managing an organization is crucial.

BPM INSIGHT
In fact, in our experience the people change management or organization change
management aspects are 60 percent plus of any BPM program effort.

The key to engaging the people in the trenches is leadership. Leadership from the CEO or
senior executives of the BPM program and from their line managers for BPM projects. The
leaders must be engaged first. The program director, project manager or project team cannot
achieve people engagement on their own.

16
 HOW CAN WE DEMYSTIFY BPM?

KEY POINT
The level of success of any BPM initiative is limited by the level of commitment and drive
from executive management.

It is the people who will determine the success (or otherwise) of your BPM activities.
You can have the most effective and efficient new or redesigned processes in the world, but
unless you can convince people to use them efficiently, or at all, then you have nothing (refer
to Chapter 8). People need to be included as an integral part of the development journey.
They need to be consulted, listened to, trained and communicated with on a regular basis.
If they do not understand the processes, the reasons for the new processes and why changes
to the existing processes are necessary, how do you expect people to take ownership and
responsibility for them?
People need to understand clearly what is expected of them and how they fit into the
new structure and processes. Their performance measures need to be developed in
consultation and agreement with them.
What is the role of management in the transformation? While it may seem obvious that
managers need to manage the operation of the organization, this is in fact not what most
managers do in their current positions.

KEY POINT
In our experience, with rare exceptions, today’s managers spend most of their time reacting
to critical situations and treating the symptoms and not the causes—commonly referred to
as “crisis management.”

This is not to be critical of managers. In general they are well-meaning and hard-working
individuals who generally do a great job with the tools they have to work with. There needs
to be a considerable effort in any BPM activity to work with the management and determine
what information managers require to manage the business. You need to ensure that there
is a deep and thorough understanding of how the business operates; what information is
required, and how to provide it in a timely manner, to enable managers to move from reactive
to proactive management and then to predictive management. It is this journey of
management maturity that provides the organization with a long-term continuous and
sustainable increase in productivity.

17
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

MANAGEMENT

The people change management components of programs/projects need to address the

organizational culture and modify it towards a new set of management behaviors that will
translate into the behaviors of the people they manage.
To support the drive to implement cultural change, management incentives need to be
aligned with the management information available, the process goals and organizational
strategy. Incentives and targets via performance management need to be well known and
realistic. They must also allow the best performers to overachieve, and the rewards need to
be worthwhile. This does not always translate as money incentives; human resource
departments can be very creative in providing non-monetary options. The challenge is how
to measure and manage this change in an effective and acceptable way.

KEY POINT
Most BPM activities just focus on making people able to use the new processes, through
training and one-way communication. Change management is about people wanting to
use the new processes and requires early, frequent and interactive two-way engagement.

In these first two chapters a definition and metaphor of BPM has been provided, as well
as some of the history, mystery and complexities of BPM. Chapter 28 provides three detailed
case studies of BPM. The results of one of these case studies (a bank) is outlined here to
demonstrate that BPM can not only be implemented, but be extremely successful. A second
case study has also been provided.

This organization was a large bank, and in the first 3.5 years of its BPM program the results
have been nothing short of spectacular. The Consumer division of the Bank:
CASE STUDY

• reduced their expenses ratio by 50 percent;

• increased the customer facing time within its 300 branches to more than 70 percent. Note:
a reputable consultancy completed an industry review that determined that branch staff
spent 17 percent of their time with customers. With the removal of the majority of the back-
office processing, the bank branch staff are now spending more than 70 percent of their
time with customers;
• reduced errors significantly, from 25–30 percent to 3–5 percent, which is considered an
acceptable level;
• staff and customer satisfaction increased significantly, as measured by surveys.

18
 HOW CAN WE DEMYSTIFY BPM?

A more detailed case study of what can be achieved with BPM and how to achieve it.

Background
This was a small business unit of a much larger bank, insurance and wealth management
organization. The business unit had in excess of 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff and an
annual operating budget of $10m. The business unit develops financial products and sells
them via a network of independent intermediaries (financial advisors, banks, building societies
and so forth). It develops and markets for the superannuation or pension fund marketplace.
Two business units were joined together following an acquisition. Historically, the main
business unit was always client focused. Staff were able to process any request from members
or advisors within the one geographic region. The newly acquired business unit was
functionally based—that is, a staff member would only process one type of transaction but
would do so for every client and advisor regardless of their location.
These two business units were left that way under the one management structure until it
was decided to merge them under the one client-focused structure. It was fully understood by
management that there would be a significant training exercise required to achieve this new
client-focused approach. So customer-focused training was delivered to provide staff with the
necessary skills. The business was structured on a geographical regional basis and all work
coming into the organization was segregated by region and then processed. Staff had the
dual responsibility for processing the transaction and liaising with customers. Management
believed that the additional costs associated with this approach would be outweighed by the
benefits of increased job satisfaction for staff, greater accountability and better customer
satisfaction.

Business challenge
One of the prime goals of this new approach was to improve customer service within six
months; this was not achieved, despite extensive on-the-job and formal customer service
training. This was further compounded by an unacceptably high expense ratio, work
duplication, increasing error rates and service standards not being achieved.
The fact that the two original business units were still being administered on different
system application platforms (legacy applications) did not help the situation. It required
everyone to be fully familiar with both systems. So a decision had been made to rationalize
onto one platform but that was still likely to be several years away.
CASE STUDY

The customer service in the original business unit, which was originally rated as very
good, began to fade. The customer service in the newly acquired business unit, which was
rated below average before the amalgamation, failed to improve.

Approach
The overall business unit decided to approach three service providers in the area of business
process management to provide proposals of how to remedy the situation. They did not include
the incumbent software workflow vendor in the short list as previous experience indicated that
the vendor concentrated solely on the workflow software whereas the business unit wanted

19
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

to review the processes from an end-to-end perspective and then review and understand the
business implications.
The management was fully committed to the success of this review project and
demonstrated this by the level of management time allocated to the project. The business unit
manager and his three client service managers allocated two days a week to the project for
the project duration. Other staff, including team leaders and senior fund administrators, were
also involved in workshops, reviewing outcomes and revising estimates—a commitment of six
staff from the overall business unit of 100+ for about 20 percent of their time over the project.
The selected BPM consultancy recommended a phased approach with several “gates”
to allow the business to stop at any stage, ensure it was receiving value for money and that
the project was delivering as expected. There were four phases recommended, with the
expected duration indicated below:

Approach (phases):
• Discovery (2 weeks)
• Current state analysis (< 5 weeks)
• Future state analysis (~ 6 weeks)
• Final report (2 weeks).
These phases were delivered by the BPM consultancy with a lead consultant and one senior
consultant for the duration of the engagement. The consultants:
• met with key stakeholders
• conducted workshops (process execution staff and management)
• ensured that all necessary stakeholders who were external to the main business unit were
fully engaged. This included the finance department and IT
• modeled the current processes and the proposed new processes
• completed significant metrics analysis.
At the conclusion of each phase the client received a report that provided an opportunity to
evaluate the phase and stop or redirect the project if necessary. The timeframes indicated
were met and there was no project overrun from a time or budgetary perspective.
The small project team engaged the staff and management significantly in the project.
An early engagement was considered an essential part of the human change management
aspects of the project and necessary to achieve the results the business needed.

Project findings
CASE STUDY

The Discovery and Current state analysis phases revealed a number of significant pieces of
information:
• there were 12 quick win opportunities identified and the business commenced implementing
six of these immediately
• there were 20 primary business processes, which represented 95 percent plus of the
business operational costs, the other processes were considered to be of no great
consequence in the context of this project
• the top four processes accounted for 65 percent of the operational costs

20
 HOW CAN WE DEMYSTIFY BPM?

CASE STUDY • a further 23 percent of costs were spent on enquiries and complaints
• checking (to ensure no errors) of the transactions processed was considered necessary
because of the exceedingly high error rates and these checking activities accounted for
17.5 percent of staff time.
This provided an indication of where to expend effort in the Future state analysis phase.

Results
At the conclusion of the Future state analysis phase the savings indicated a conservative cost
saving of 39 percent, with an 83 percent staff utilization factor.

CONCLUSION

Many people are still confused about what constitutes BPM, which is not surprising when
the BPM community itself has not yet agreed on a common definition and approach. BPM
is all about the efficient and effective management of business processes—people are at the
center of business processes, so make them part of the solution.

KEY POINT
We had improvement programs, but the real difference came when we decided it was
no longer a program, it was a business strategy.
(Stephen Schwartz, IBM)

BPM INSIGHT
Without trivializing the work involved in the implementation, the project is the easy
part. It is the institutionalization of process improvement and management as a
fundamental management practice that is the key, and this cannot be effectively
achieved without the ability to manage your processes proactively and predictively.

SUMMARY
While BPM may appear a mystery, there are several ways to unravel it:
• BPM had its origins in the coalescing of quality thinking, process thinking
and the evolution of technology.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• We discussed the concept of where the “next big things” come from.
• BPM is now broadly accepted in business and while the level of
understanding is good, there is still confusion of what it exactly is and how
to go about it, especially at an organization level. Technology has also
significantly matured and is getting better by the day.
• The Iceberg Syndrome is a metaphor for the complexity of BPM. What
appears above the water is only a small part of any BPM implementation
program and will depend upon the viewer’s perspective.
• BPM is not a simple concept nor is it simple to implement—it is extremely
complex and difficult; and yet, absolutely achievable when approached in
the right way.
• The visibility of issues and activities is an important part of addressing them,
as is the establishment of the foundations necessary to commence a BPM
program of work and have the program be a success.
• The people change management or organization change management
aspects of BPM are 60 percent plus of the implementation effort.
• Management focus on “crisis management” needs to be refocused to the
causes of issues and not treating the symptoms.

SELF-TEST
1 Where did BPM have its origins?
2 How does mystification begin?
3 List the five mystification factors and their relationship to “reality”?
4 In the Iceberg Syndrome, what are the six different viewers’ perspectives
that appear above the waterline?
5 Why is people change management important and how much effort should
a BPM program expend on it?

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 CHAPTER 3

WHO SHOULD BE
INVOLVED IN BPM AND
WHAT ARE THE CRITICAL
SUCCESS FACTORS?

OVERVIEW
Once we have a common understanding of what is meant by “involve” and
“the type of BPM activity,” there are proven answers to the question of who
should be involved in BPM. Successful BPM implementations have clearly
shown who needs to drive BPM and identified the critical success factors.
We will examine these in this chapter.

OVERALL LEARNING OUTCOME

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
• Have a clear understanding of who should be involved in the various
types of BPM activities
• Identify the two aspects of operational management of business
processes
• Understand when external BPM experts can add value
• Identify some of the critical success factors
• Have an understanding of a metaphor for BPM.

Before we deal with who should be involved in BPM there are two things we need to define.
First, what we mean by “involved”; and second, “what type of BPM activity” are you dealing
with.
“Involved,” in this instance, includes such diverse aspects as driving BPM, establishing
the business activities, detailed process reviews, process modeling, process redesign or

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Table 3.1 BPM activities and the type of involvement

Type of BPM activity Typical leaders Role
Simple low impact Sponsor: business unit leader • Deliver to the business case
BPM project Manager: Project Manager • Manage the project effectively
High impact BPM Sponsor: Divisional Leader; • Deliver to the business case
project Senior Executive • Manage the project effectively
Manager: Project Director • Ensure that the organizational change
aspects of the project are effectively
managed
Large-scale BPM Sponsor: CEO or another very • Personal involvement (not just turning
program senior executive up to steering committee meetings once
Manager: Program Director a month)
• Publicly aligning program and individual
projects with the organization strategy
• Communications—formal and informal
to all stakeholders
• “Walk the talk”
Enterprise-wide Sponsor: CEO • Personal involvement (not just turning up
business transformation Manager: Transformation to steering committee meetings once a
program Program Director (usually a month)
senior executive) • Publicly aligning program and individual
projects with the organization strategy,
especially to external stakeholders
• Communications—formal and informal to
all stakeholders
• “Walk the talk”

innovation, metrics analysis, BPM implementation, ongoing management and improvement

and organizational change management. It could also involve customers, suppliers, suppliers
of suppliers, and many other stakeholders.
Second, the “type of BPM activity” could range from a simple small low impact BPM
project to improve a process(es); to high impact projects; large-scale BPM programs; and even
enterprise-wide business transformation programs being predominantly driven from a
process-focus perspective. Table 3.1 outlines these types of activities together with the leaders
who would typically drive the activity and an indication of the role they may fulfill.
The first two types of BPM activities shown in Table 3.1 are often initiated or driven
from the bottom-up as they are typically projects. Even if a BPM project has a large impact
upon a business unit it is often initiated by a knowledgeable and passionate process-focused
manager or executive. It most probably will not have significant attention from the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO).
Whereas the last two, program and transformation, activities shown in Table 3.1 will
typically be top-down driven as they cannot be initiated or successful without the drive and
detailed support of the CEO. Even if driven or sponsored by another senior executive, the
success will depend upon the continued support of the CEO.
Refer to Chapter 5 for more detail on bottom-up and top-down approaches and why
one will never (or rarely) work for an enterprise-wide BPM implementation.

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 WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED AND SUCCESS FACTORS?

BPM INSIGHT
It must be remembered that processes are not a goal in themselves. They are simply
a means to achieve a business objective.

Processes will not achieve a business objective automatically or by chance; they need
continuous and effective management.

KEY POINT
Process management is the management and organization of processes crucial for your
business.

Processes need to be as efficient and effective as possible. This can be achieved by periodic
projects (step improvements) or larger scale projects to significantly reinvigorate them by
introducing innovation. Either way processes can only be sustained by ongoing management
and measurement.

MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS PROCESSES

We would suggest that there are two aspects to operational management of business processes:

1. Management of business processes as an integral part of “management.”

2. Management of business process improvement.

Who is involved will vary depending upon which aspect you are addressing.

Management of business processes as an integral part of

“management”
This aspect of management is responsible for the realization of the business objectives and
ensuring the business processes are linked and contributing to the organization strategy. This
management of business processes should be performed by line management (in conjunction
with process governance—business process owners/stewards), and cannot be delegated to
internal or external BPM consultants, as this role forms an integral part of “management-
as-usual.” For example, senior managers should be responsible for the end-to-end processes,
while middle management should be responsible for the individual process(es) that com-
prises the end-to-end process or parts of the process. It is crucial for line managers that they
take responsibility as the owners of these processes.1 Typical process ownership related
responsibilities include:

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• specifying objectives (goals) and measures that relate to the objectives and targets to be
achieved—these targets should be broken down into daily or weekly measures to enable
continuous monitoring and management;
• communicating the objectives, measures and targets to the people executing the
processes and, if necessary, providing rewards and incentives;
• monitoring and managing progress of the targets, and verifying whether the objectives
and measures are still accurate and relevant;
• motivating staff to exceed objectives and deal with process disturbances;
• encouraging staff to identify bottlenecks and possible process improvements.

These line managers can be classified according to their main scope of activities:

• Operational managers should be working with clearly defined processes and related
objectives. Their main involvement in the processes are to adjust the resourcing of the
people aspect of the process(es) (for example, more or less staff) and solve operational
problems (for example, errors as a result of the processes).
• Tactical managers will be looking at improvements of the processes.
• Strategic managers will be looking at the business model and the related processes.

Management of business process improvement

This role relates to the identification, development, implementation and roll-out of the
benefits of BPM. These managers are responsible for supporting the business/organizational
managers in improving their processes, and they should not be responsible for the day-to-
day management of the business processes. We call these managers BPM managers, and
distinguish between the following types:

• The BPM project manager, whose main responsibility is to ensure that the objectives of
the BPM project, as outlined in the business case, are being met.
• The BPM program manager, whose main responsibility is to facilitate multiple BPM
projects so they meet the program’s objectives and, by sharing best practices and lessons
learned, to do it in the most effective and efficient way.
• The manager of the Center of Business Process Excellence, whose main responsibility
is to ensure that the business and processes are aligned to ensure that the maximum
benefits are obtained from the business processes.
• The chief process officer, whose main responsibility is to ensure that the processes and
IT are aligned with the strategy, business and organization, and that this initiative is
continuously managed from the executive level of the organization.

In any activity, be it a project, program or business transformation, it is critical that the

employees are heavily involved in all aspects.

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 WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED AND SUCCESS FACTORS?

BPM INSIGHT
In our experience in consulting to and implementing BPM programs/projects all
around the world, there is one constant—the people organizational change aspect
is 60 percent plus of the effort in all BPM activities. Unless you ensure involvement,
transparency and visibility for the people, chances are you will not optimize success
and risk outright failure.

Close to the business

All the various types of BPM managers must understand that their role is to assist in the
achievement of targets established by the line managers/process owners/process stewards, and
not to build a BPM empire. The people working with or reporting to the BPM managers
should ideally be sourced from the business units involved with the project, as these people
will provide the opportunity for a “closeness” to the business and an understanding of the
business processes that cannot be obtained from non-business people. Designing processes
on paper is easy, but to be relevant and able to keep on executing them as things change is a
challenge and will remain a challenge long after the project is complete.
The most important criterion for success is not to have the best “looking” process models
or solution, or the most sophisticated process modeling and management tools.

KEY POINT
The most important criterion for success is that the organization actually uses the BPM
solution and that the desired results are being achieved or exceeded.

On average, about 80 percent of a business line manager’s time should be spent on

business-as-usual activities, such as reviewing results, coaching and solving problems, and
only about 20 percent on new process development or business initiatives. On the other hand,
BPM managers will spend in excess of 80 percent of their time on process improvement
activities. (Note: these percentages can of course vary from time to time and situation to
situation.)
This difference of focus between the two roles is a reason for tension between the line
manager and the BPM manager: the line manager focuses on achieving the short-term target,
and any change can affect his or her ability to do this, in the short term. The BPM manager
focuses on change necessary to achieve the long-term objectives. Successful managers are
those able to agree a win–win solution.

USE OF EXTERNAL BPM EXPERTS

By its very nature—namely, managing people and processes—it is recommended, in the long
term, that it is always internal personnel who fulfill the management roles discussed above,

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

to ensure continuity and acceptance. In the initial phases of an organization’s BPM maturity
and its first few projects, it will be appropriate for the organization to appoint external BPM
experts and BPM project managers to assist in bringing BPM experience and knowledge
transfer to the internal staff.
After the initial projects, and as the organization process maturity grows, external
support for the managers can take on a different set of responsibilities, such as:

• Setting up a project, program or Center of Business Process Excellence. External consultants

can leverage their experience from multiple organizations and provide guidance. This
can be of particular assistance in ensuring that the scope of the activities is not too
ambitious or has ambitions that are too small. The activities should start pragmatically.
Having no ambition will lead to no fundamental change, while the lack of a pragmatic
approach leads to the inability to meet expectations or maintain the initial effort.
• Monitoring the progress of a project, program or Center of Business Process Excellence.
An external consultant has the ability and independence to ask tough questions. Often
internal people become engrossed in the details of process models and the structure of
the project, program or Center of Business Process Excellence, and can lose sight of the
overall objective.
• Monitoring the performance of the business and identifying areas for improvement. The
external consultant can periodically review the performance of the business unit and staff.
These reviews can then be discussed with the line manager for any necessary corrective
action.
• Conflict resolution and project/program revival. The external consultant can assist the
organization if the original project/program or Center of Business Process Excellence
does not deliver the agreed results. The first step is to identify the core problem(s) and
determine whether the original objectives can still be met; the necessary steps can then
be taken. An external consultant can function as an icebreaker.
• Support for the manager. The external consultant can assist the BPM manager if he or
she is overburdened with work—which can often occur with large organizational
changes. The external consultant becomes an advisor to the BPM manager. The BPM
manager should still be responsible for stakeholder management and decision making,
and the consultant can assist in analyzing and overseeing the various activities under
responsibility of the BPM manager.
• Evaluating (or quality assuring) project(s) and program(s). During and at the conclusion
of a project or program it is crucial that the results are evaluated; this will assist with
formulating lessons learned for the next initiatives and may also assist in evaluating and

BPM INSIGHT
BPM projects/programs can be extremely complex, and there is a growing trend
towards providing internal business project managers and BPM managers with a BPM
coach.

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 WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED AND SUCCESS FACTORS?

identifying outstanding key issues that have not yet been addressed within the project.
In these situations, an external consultant can ask unpopular questions.

The coaching role is typically filled by a senior BPM consultant (internal or external),
who will coach a BPM manager/project manager on a frequent basis about the main
challenges and how to deal with them. This can also be appropriate for business line managers
who want to introduce process thinking among the employees to achieve sustainable
improvements. Most of these coaching engagements commence with a project or workshop,
followed by the ongoing coaching sessions.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

The reality of implementing a BPM solution is far more complex than it first appears to be.
A BPM project/program has the potential to (and usually does) cut across departments and,
increasingly, organization boundaries, as clients, vendors and partners become more involved.
It will involve many varying and complex stakeholder relationships both inside and outside
the organization.
While each project will be unique and have its own characteristic success factors there
are a small number of critical success factors that we believe are common across all
organizations and BPM, as shown in Table 3.2.

KEY POINT
If you do not have the first critical success factor, support of the CEO or senior executive
team, then you should simply stop. The other critical success factors (2 to 6) will be
irrelevant without this dedicated and unambiguous support of the senior leadership team.

To support the view that large-scale BPM programs or enterprise-wide process-focused

(BPM) transformation programs need to be driven by the CEO or senior executive team
review Table 3.3 and observe at what level within the organization the BPM programs were
driven.
There are a number of other considerations and comments to make in support to these
success factors. We have created a list below that you should take into account:

• Leadership—it has been suggested that unless you have the undivided and total support
of the CEO, you should not attempt any BPM projects. The reality is that few CEOs are
yet at the point of turning their organizations into totally process-focused businesses.
While there is undeniably a growing awareness of the importance of processes to
organizations, there is still a long way to go. As we will discuss later, leadership does not
always equate to the CEO; there are many leaders within an organization, some of whom
are experimenting with BPM projects. Leadership in this context means having the
attention, support, funding, commitment and time of the leader involved in the BPM
project. Obviously, the degree of each of these will vary according to the BPM maturity

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Table 3.2 BPM critical success factors

Critical success factor Description
1 Driven by senior leadership As shown in Table 3.1, if you are planning to execute a BPM
program of work or enterprise-wide business transformation
program then you must have the demonstrable support of the
CEO and senior executives. This is the single most important
critical success factor for these types of BPM activities.
2 Clearly understood If you do not understand what is driving you to do BPM then
business drivers stop doing it until you do. You may be solving the wrong
problem!
3 Clearly understood project/ Vision in this instance is much more than the traditional project
program/transformation vision “scope” statement. The scope of a BPM project is always difficult
—what will the business look to specify early in the project. It does get easier later in a
like afterwards? project. BPM program and transformation scopes are near
impossible to clearly articulate (in the project scope sense). It is
more about agreeing what the business will look like after you
have been successful. If you do not “start with the end in mind”
(the vision) how do you know you are heading in the right
direction? Chapter 13, Foundations phase, will discuss this in
more detail.
4 Clearly understood, agreed You need to clearly understand when you have been successful.
and measurable business value This requires measures of success. If you can’t measure your
outcomes—how will the business success, then how do you know you have been successful?
be better off afterwards?
5 Appointed and empowered This is especially critical for BPM programs and transformations.
BPM leader and team Empowered implies having the authority, experience and
backing of the CEO and senior executive team.
6 Senior executives, managers People probably will need to be motivated via Key Performance
and other appropriate people Indicators (KPIs) and rewards. The rewards may be financial,
need to be provided with the non-financial, promotions, etc. HR departments can be quite
right incentives and creative.
disincentives There also need to be disincentives for non-performance.

of the organization and leader. Time is critical to the project, and does not mean that
the leader “turns up” to project steering committee meetings once a month. The time
commitment will involve the leader supporting the project amongst colleagues,
stakeholders, customers, suppliers and the people within the organization. The leader is
the “head sales person” for BPM, and will need to continually “sell” the expected benefits
and outcomes and “walk the talk” of BPM.
• A structured approach to BPM implementation—without an agreed structured and
systematic approach to the implementation of BPM projects/programs that takes into
account the organization strategy, how it is to be executed and the significant behavioral
aspects of the implementation, a project will be chaotic and have very high risks
associated with it.

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 WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED AND SUCCESS FACTORS?

Table 3.3 Successful BPM organizations and who drove BPM

Organization name BPM “driver” Business benefits
Citibank, Germany Chief Operating Officer • 50+% reduction in operating costs
(COO) and Board • Increased branch customer facing time:
member from 17% to 70+%
• Error rates down from 25–30% to 3–5%
• Increased customer and staff satisfaction
Air Products, global Chief Executive Officer • 32% increased operating return on net assets
organization (CEO)
Nedbank, South Africa COO and Chief • Large operational savings
Information Officer (CIO) • Organizational understanding of time, cost,
(same role) quality, risk for processes
• Increased BPM maturity
Aveant Home Care, CEO • 50% reduction in administration staff levels
The Netherlands • Significant improvement in operational work
rates
• Significant reduction in error rates

BPM INSIGHT
BPM projects that are executed using only traditional project management
methodologies will yield sub-optimal outcomes. The 7FE Framework described in this
book provides the required systematic and structured approach that will significantly
increase the likelihood of success and minimize risk.

• People change management—processes are executed either by people, or by people

supported by technology. It is people who will make or break the implementation of a
BPM project, and unless they are “on board” and supporting the project, the chances of
failure are high. Human organizational change management on a BPM project/program,
in our experience, can take upwards of 60 percent plus of project time, tasks and effort.
How often do you hear it said that “people are our greatest assets”? Yet most
organizations spend less than 1 percent of project budgets on the people aspects of the
project. This is simply not enough in any project, and with the increased impact upon
people of processes, this percentage must increase substantially. The project team needs
to spend a great deal of time and effort on human change management. The people
aspects of every process change and activity need to be assessed and acted upon in an
understanding and sympathetic manner.
• Sustainable performance—a project has a defined period of life, whereas processes, if
maintained, supported, measured and managed, will continue to exist in a business-as-
usual environment far beyond the life of the project. It is a project’s task to hand
over processes in such a way that the business understands how to “look after” them.

31