Processes are described in order to help people to comprehend consequences of actions throughout the whole organization. (Laamanen 2005, p. 155). Furthermore, Laamanen (2005) argues that processes exist whether they are described or not.
Therefore, processes should be described, to be able to manage and develop them.
In order to describe the process, the process steps need to be captured and represented and formalized (Al Fedaghi & Alahmad, 2017). From the process management viewpoint, process description is essential because it allows people to comprehend what actions are required to obtain an efficient process. Processes play important role on companies’ business functions and they allow systematic development. (Laamanen 2005, p.156, 161).
The figure below describes creating a functional operation system by utilizing process thinking methods. It can be seen that at first the core processes need to be identified before the creating process description. Furthermore, the figure provides insight concerning the importance of process description also in further development of the process. Continuous improvement is rendered vital for business development and therefore business process management applications should be exploited (Laamanen, 2005, p156; Hedge, 2007, p. 33). Furthermore, in accordance with the previous, especially processes which are managed by ERP system should not be interpreted as a static. Since the process is defined, the process should be improved continuously.
(Quiescenti et al., 2006, p. 3798).
22 Figure 4. Development steps of operations system. (Adapted from Laamanen 2005, p.
156).
A process description includes for instance the describing of inputs, outputs and critical success factors of the specific process. (Laamanen, 2005, p. 161; Hedge, 2007, p.
31). Hedge (2007) outlines the process modeling steps as follows: prepare, model, validate. The preparing phase includes the defining of the process scope and customers and participants. Basically, the defining of the process scope requires defining the whole process. The modeling phase includes determining the initiating event, defining the output of the process, developing the process charts and determining the expectations from the process as well. The validating phase aims to ensure that what has been captured is in accordance with the actual process. (Hedge, 2007, p. 32). Below Laamanen has created a model for standardizing a process description which is possible to be adjusted in order to fit the needs of different organizations.
1. Limits of application
- For what is the process exploited and what is left outside?
- From where does the customer process begin and where does it end?
- How the process planning is executed and how the efficiency is measured?
2. Customers, their needs and requirements?
- Who are the customers and stakeholders of the process?
23 - What is the customer’s process and what are the requirements they have?
3. Objective
- What is the objective of the process (goal, function and mission) and how is the succeeding measured?
- What are the critical steps on the way to accomplish the objective and how is the succeeding measured?
4. Inputs and outputs
- What are the inputs and outputs of the process?
- Who holds the information and how it is managed?
5. Process chart
- What are the rough steps of the process?
- What kind of process chart is it?
6. Responsibilities
- What are the fundamental roles and the most relevant tasks and decisions related to the roles?
- What are the teams related to the process and what are the most relevant tasks and rules?
(Laamanen, 2005, p. 160)
Laamanen (2005, p. 160), states that the process description should be presented in a way that it only includes rough steps of the process. Highly specific process descriptions are intended mostly on software development problem solving. In other words, the process description is supposed to support the understanding of the selected process. When the process description is created, the process should be captured from the passive process and described and further divided into events or core processes. The actual process controlling is conducted within an active process.
The figure 5 is demonstrating the relationship between the process and its model. (Al Fedaghi & Alahmad, 2017).
24 Figure 5. Relationship between actual process and process model. (Adapted from Al Fedaghi & Alahmad, 2017).
To be able to do a process description, it is important to recognize the critical steps and the core purpose of that specific process. Laamanen (2005, p. 166) argues that the purpose of the process can be perceived as follows:
1. Purpose of the process is to accomplish a task or a mission 2. Purpose of the process is to produce output
3. Purpose of the process is to produce benefits or to create an impact
When critical steps are identified, Hedge (2007) proposes to conduct the steps in several iterations in which all craziest ideas are gathered a side. After completing the identification of the steps, the earlier gathered ideas should be reviewed again (Hedge, 2007, p. 32). Furthermore, the critical steps of the process can be defined as a bottleneck. These steps require a lot of expertise and resources, but on the other hand, these steps are creating plenty of added value for the process. One common feature of the critical steps is that they hold a lot of risks. Recognizing the critical steps is crucial because the developing of critical steps can be much more effective on process performance comparing to developing non-critical process steps. (Laamanen, 2005,
25 p. 168). Furthermore, critical steps must be identified as well because if process includes manual steps, usually employees tend to create their own ways to perform that specific task. These “own” ways can be recognized and improved to achieve efficient and coherent process description. (Hedge, 2007, p. 33).