List of Terminology
Various sources of business process make use of terms in slightly different ways. The terms
used in this dissertation are applied in the most generic manner. The broad view of business
process terms used in this dissertation is defined as follows:
Business process “…at its most generic, any set of activities performed by a
business that is initiated by an event, transforms information, materials, or business
commitments, and produces output. Value chains and large-scale business processes
produce outputs that are valued by customers. Other processes generate outputs that
are valued by other processes” (Harmon, 2003).
Business process design or redesign “…business process redesign focuses on
making major changes in existing process or creating new processes. Depending on
the size of the process, this can be a major undertaking or is done infrequently.
Once done, it should be followed by continuous business process improvement.
Compared with BPR, business process redesign usually focuses on smaller-scale
processes and aims for more modest improvements. Redesign focuses on major
improvements in existing processes. Design focuses on creating entirely new
processes” (Business Process Trends, Not Dated).
Business process improvement (BPI) “…focuses on incrementally improving
existing processes. Usually narrowly focused and repeated over and over again
during the life of a process” (Harmon, 2003).
Business process management (BPM) “...aligning processes with the
organisation’s strategic goal, designing and implementing process architectures,
establishing process measurement systems that align with organisational goals, and
educating the organisation so that the organization will manage processes
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effectively. BPM can also refer to various automation efforts” (Business Process
Trends, Not Dated).
Business process reengineering (BPR) “…the fundamental rethinking and radical
redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical,
contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed”
(Hammer and Champy, 1993)
Core business process “…relies on the unique knowledge and skills of the owner
and that contributes to the owners competitive advantage” (Harmon, 2003).
Customer service “…customer service is the service provided in support of the
organization’s core products” (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003).
Change Management “…Change Management is an organized, systematic
application of the knowledge, tools, and resources of change that provides
organizations with a key process to achieve their business strategy” (Thyagarajan
and Ali Khatibi, 1994).
Information technology (IT) “…sometimes called IS or data processing. Generic
term for department or function that analyses, creates, maintains and supports
applications and databases used in an organisation” (Harmon, 2003).
Process “…A process is a set of linked activities that obtains an input, transforms
the input, and creates an output” (Carr and Johansson, 1995).
Total quality management (TQM) “…a movement, and industrial discipline, and
a set of techniques for improving the quality of process” (Harmon, 2003).
Value chain “…includes everything that contributes to output and results in the
delivery of a process or service to a customer” (Harmon, 2003).
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