Editing Business process modeling (section)

=== Definition of business processes ===
[[File:VAC-production-company3.png|thumb|A definition of product development]]
The definition of business processes often begins with the company's core processes because they
* Fulfill their own market requirements,
* Operate largely autonomously/independently and independently of other business areas and
* Contribute to the [[contribution margin|business success]] of the company,
For the company
* Have a strong external impact,
* Can be easily differentiated from other business processes and
* Offer the greatest potential for business process optimization, both by improving [[Business performance management|process performance]] or [[productivity]] and by reducing [[costs]].

[[File:VAC CRM Sales order-processing-and-project management.png|thumb|A definition of customer relationship management]]
The scope of a business process should be selected in such a way that it contains a manageable number of sub-processes, while at the same time keeping the total number of business processes within reasonable limits. Five to eight business processes per business unit usually cover the performance range of a company.

Each business process should be independent – but the processes are interlinked.

The definition of a business process includes: What result should be achieved on completion? What activities are necessary to achieve this? Which objects should be processed (orders, raw materials, purchases, products, ...)?

Depending on the prevailing corporate culture, which may either be more inclined towards embracing change or protective of the status quo and the effectiveness of communication, defining business processes can prove to be either straightforward or challenging. This hinges on the willingness of key stakeholders within the organization, such as department heads, to lend their support to the endeavor. Within this context, effective communication plays a pivotal role.

In elucidating this point, Jörg Becker and Volker Meise elucidate that the communication strategy within an organizational design initiative should aim to garner support from members of the organization for the intended structural changes. It is worth noting that business process modeling typically precedes business process optimization, which entails a reconfiguration of process organization – a fact well understood by the involved parties. Therefore, the communication strategy must focus on persuading organizational members to endorse the planned structural adjustments."<ref name="BECKER-MEISE" /> <sup>(Chapter 4.15 Influencing the design of the regulatory framework) ← automatic translation from German</sup> In the event of considerable resistance, however, external knowledge can also be used to define the business processes.

[[File:VAC PLM with SCRUM.png|thumb|Value chain diagram with exemplary representation of "product life cycle management" with SCRUM]]

==== General process identification and individual process identification ====
''Jörg Becker and Volker Meise'' mention two approaches (''general process identification'' and ''individual process identification'') and state the following about general process identification: "In the general process definition, it is assumed that basic, generally valid processes exist that are the same in all companies." It goes on to say: "Detailed reference models can also be used for general process identification. They describe industry- or application system-specific processes of an organization that still need to be adapted to the individual case, but are already coordinated in their structure."<ref name="BECKER-MEISE"/> <sup>(Chapter 4.11 General process identification) ← automatic translation from German</sup>

''Jörg Becker and Volker Meise'' state the following about individual process identification: "In individual or singular process identification, it is assumed that the processes in each company are different according to customer needs and the competitive situation and can be identified inductively based on the individual problem situation."<ref name="BECKER-MEISE"/> <sup>(Chapter 4.12 Individual process identification) ← automatic translation from German</sup>

The result of the definition of the business processes is usually a rough structure of the business processes as a value chain diagram.