Business process – what is it?
A business process is a structured sequence of interrelated activities that transforms input data—such as a customer inquiry, a document, or materials—into a specific output, such as a fulfilled order or an approved invoice. It serves to achieve the organization’s goals, and its executors are people, IT systems, or both.
A characteristic feature of a process is that it typically crosses departmental boundaries. Fulfilling an order involves sales, warehousing, accounting, and often logistics as well, so no single department has a complete view of the process. That is why processes are described separately, regardless of the company’s organizational structure.
What does a business process consist of?
A business process is a structured sequence of interrelated activities that transforms input data—such as a customer inquiry, a document, or materials—into a specific output, such as a fulfilled order or an approved invoice. It serves to achieve the organization’s goals, and its executors are people, IT systems, or both.
A characteristic feature of a process is that it typically crosses departmental boundaries. Fulfilling an order involves sales, warehousing, accounting, and often logistics as well, so no single department has a complete view of the process. That is why processes are described separately, regardless of the company’s organizational structure.
What does a business process consist of?
Every process has a starting point—an event that triggers it, such as the receipt of a request or order. From that moment on, a series of actions—called tasks—are performed, for which specific individuals or roles are responsible. In many places, the process branches out: business rules—such as order value or customer type—determine the subsequent path. Along the way, data and documents are created and utilized. The process ends with an outcome that is delivered to the recipient—an external or internal customer, such as another department within the company.
Types of Business Processes
Most often, processes are categorized according to their role within the organization:
- core processes—these directly create value for the customer and are related to the company’s core business activities, such as sales, production, or order fulfillment,
- support processes—provide the resources and conditions necessary for core processes to function, such as recruitment and human resources, accounting, procurement, or IT support,
- management processes—involve planning, control, and decision-making, such as budgeting, performance evaluation, or risk management.
A single company may have dozens of processes of varying scales, ranging from complex ones involving multiple departments to minor ones, such as approving a vacation request.
Business process and related concepts
A procedure is a formalized description of how a process is supposed to proceed. It is usually an instructional document that specifies who is to do what, while the process itself is the actual sequence of actions. In companies, it sometimes happens that procedures describe one thing, but the process looks different in practice.
A workflow is the way a process is executed within an IT system: a defined sequence of tasks, approvals, and handoffs managed by the software. A process is therefore a broader concept, while a workflow is its representation and execution within the system.
A project has a defined start and end and leads to a unique result, such as the implementation of a new system. A process, on the other hand, is repeatable and carried out multiple times, each time following a similar pattern.