Types of Business Processes - Classifications




Business Process Modeling and Simulation
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Marten van der Zee
Analyst, Netherlands

Types of Business Processes - Classifications

Henk Kleijn and Fred Rorink in their book 'Change Management' distinguish between 5 different kinds of business processes in any company (organization):
1. Primary processes: these are the main processes in a business, typically being Porter’s inbound logistics, operations (incl. production), outbound logistics, marketing and sales, services. According to some also R&D and purchasing could be viewed as primary activities / processes.
2. Secondary or supporting processes: these processes support the work of the primary processes. Examples: financial management & control, HR, administration and facility management.
3. Systems, or steering systems: these are the processes which help the primary processes (typical on a corporate level). Examples: planning & control, logistics.
4. Decision processes: these processes interact with and guide the primary processes.
5. Communication and information processes: these are also integrated in the other processes. The accuracy of the choices and decisions made by managers is strongly dependent on the maturity of these communication and information processes.
 

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7
Jim Burke, United States
 

5 Kinds of Biz Processes

Would be interesting to see these laid out as a systems map, with leverage points identified, for pa... Sign up

 
4
K.V.MOHANAN
Turnaround Manager, India
 

5 Categories of Business Processes

Thanks for this enlightenment; though I'm interacting with each of these processes everyday, I never... Sign up

 
4
Doug Gilbert
Professor, United States
 

Innovation and Logistic Processes

I believe that Dr. Scheer at one time used a classification of only two types: - Innovation process... Sign up

 
-1
Michael Wood
Business Consultant, United States
 

The Anatomy and Physics of Processes

Interesting. However, I find that it is the anatomy & physics of a process that eludes most. Unders... Sign up

 
3
Leodegardo M. Pruna
Professor, Philippines
 

Most Critical Business Processes

Note that the last two (4. decision and 5. communication processes) are the most critical, because t... Sign up

 
4
Marco Coronado
Manager, Mexico
 

Understanding Business Processes Well

I think this types of classification is important and helpful to understand some specific character... Sign up

 
1
Fernando Valdez
Consultant, Panama
 

Communication Processes are Key

@Leodegardo M. Pruna : 100% agree with you. The communication processes are key for all others, spec... Sign up

 
0
Ben Schlussel
Career Consultant, United States
 

Value Stream Business Processes

Also when you are considering the specific business' value stream, there are those processes that mo... Sign up

 
8
Claudio Priolo
Director, United States
 

Business Process Types like Wooden Barrels

Great comments on business processes! It is very important to acknowledge the value and key part tha... Sign up

 
5
nan zeng, China
 

There is Complex Interaction Between the 5 Types

The efforts in corporate process categorization are appreciated. However, the processes, systems and... Sign up

 
2
Mansingh Jaswal
Director, India
 

Organisational Framework is Important for Communication Processes!

@Fernando Valdez : (On the other hand) the communication processes are based on the framework set by... Sign up

 
0
Abdullahi Mohammad Hari
HR Consultant, Nigeria
 

Understanding Different Kinds of Business Processes

I am impressed with this discussion because it helps me a lot to understand which kind of business ... Sign up

 
4
eugenio bastianon
Professor, Italy
 

Strategy Process is Missing...

I find that is the strategic management that lacks most.... Sign up

 
6
Lawrence Chinkhunda
Student (MBA), Malawi
 

The Link between Business Processes and Management Functions

The 5 processes are quite alright. Managers should however bear in mind that these processes are int... Sign up

 
2
Miguel Sacramento
Business Consultant, Brazil
 

Isn't the Decision Process Most Important?

@Leodegardo M. Pruna: in order to keep a company alive in a constantly mutant environment as the cur... Sign up

 
2
Dayson Castilhos
Consultant, Brazil
 

All Business Processes are Important!

Interesting discussion; we see that every comment enlightens the subject: Coronado and the SIPOC; Pr... Sign up

 
7
Jackeline Molina
Consultant, Dominican Republic
 

3 + 4 + 5 = Management Processes

@Lawrence Chinkhunda: I haven't read the book, but to classify communications, taking decisions and... Sign up

 
1
ashraf serry
Financial Consultant, Egypt
 

Creating Process Interactions

Should we want to consider the levels of process in a business environment, then we have to track th... Sign up

 
4
Jerry Talley
Business Consultant, United States
 

An Alternative Category Scheme

I'd suggest a different schema; I distinguish processes that.. 1. Operate on things (make, ship, et... Sign up

 
5
Miguel Sacramento
Business Consultant, Brazil
 

6th Business Process Type

I would suggest an additional category of business Processes: 6. Monitoring the environment. This h... Sign up

 
2
Leodegardo M. Pruna
Professor, Philippines
 

Communication and Decision-making

@Miguel Sacramento: I believe that a decision maker would best be in the position to decide when the... Sign up

 
1
Andy Lake
Management Consultant, United Kingdom
 

Does This Categorisation Work for All Organisations?

Interesting. But I wonder if it works for all organisations? Say you are a public sector organisati... Sign up

 
1
Alice Quevedo O.
Consultant, Mexico
 

New Classification of Business Processes is Very Interesting

Thanks Marten for sharing this new classification. In my personal opinion, the implementation of th... Sign up

 
3
Suman Rao
Turnaround Manager, India
 

Are the Classifications Mutually Exclusive?

Hello Marten - thanks for bringing this to our attention. However I think one of the fundamental re... Sign up

 
0
Sohail Ejaz
Consultant, Pakistan
 

Is R&D a Primary or Secondary Process?

I have one question, R&D is listed as a primary process. Why it is not under category 2 as R&D is ge... Sign up

 
0
LESAFFRE Serge
Consultant, France
 

Add 6. Environment Monitoring Including Competitive Intelligence

@Miguel Sacramento : I agree to add environmental monitoring process which includes the competitive ... Sign up

 
4
Akin Akinreti
Management Consultant, Canada
 

Process Integration

@Jackeline Molina and @Lawrence Chinkhunda intelligent contributions: the business process model of ... Sign up

 
2
Le My
Student (University), Viet Nam
 

Internal and External Business Process Types

Business processes can also be divided in 2 types: internal and external: - External processes incl... Sign up

 
-2
Jerry Talley
Business Consultant, United States
 

Type versus Location of Processes

I urge a distinction between where a process occurs and the essential nature of a process. To call a... Sign up

 
2
shahmohammadi
Business Consultant, Iran
 

Process Classification Framework (PCF)

I think the PCF (Process Classification Framework) is a more comprehensive and better classification... Sign up

 
4
Mick Breare, United Kingdom
 

Business Process Relevance Depends per Organization

Very interesting but in my experience, things do not generally work like that in reality. What might... Sign up

 
0
Alex
Accountant, China
 

Alternative Business Processes Classification

We can also classify business processes by their role and duties: 1. Operation process 2. Analytic... Sign up

 
0
Suman Rao
Turnaround Manager, India
 

Agree on PCF

@Shahmohammadi: Yes indeed agree that PCF (the important one I am atleast aware of is APQC's PCF) i... Sign up

 
3
Fernando Valdez
Consultant, Panama
 

3 Categories of Business Processes

I tend to disagree with large lists of categories. I only see primary processes (in the value chain)... Sign up

 
3
Osman Abdel-Rahman
CEO, Ghana
 

Position of Financial Processes

@Mick Breare : I very much like the 5 business process types, and I think it will work for most orga... Sign up

 
0
Ajanaku Adewunmi
Consultant, Nigeria
 

Internal and Expernal Business Processes

@Le My : The internal business processes could encompass: decision processes, systems or steering sy... Sign up

 
0
Alba Lucia Duque Salazar
Project Manager, Colombia
 

eTOM

What about eTOM (enhanced Telecom Operations Map)? This framework has been developed for telcos ind... Sign up

 
0
Leodegardo M. Pruna
Professor, Philippines
 

Business Processes Differ per Industry

@Alba Lucia Duque Aalazar: every industry has its own business processes to follow. Besides, sequent... Sign up

 
3
Kurt Ludikovsky
Consultant, Austria
 

Summary

This is somewhat an interesting thread, and the comments are valuable. Nevertheless is seems to me a... Sign up

 
0
venkataramanan
Professor, India
 

Business Process Classification

I agree with the first classification. 1) primary processes and 2) secondary processes. All others... Sign up

 
1
Tin Win
 

Keep Business Process Categorization Simple

Making a categorization simple is better than making complicated ones. The first two is more prevai... Sign up

 
0
Matthias Bittrich
Business Consultant, Germany
 

Think End-to-end And..

Think end-to-end: what about redundant processes? If your goods or services are perfect, for example... Sign up

 
2
Kurt Ludikovsky
Consultant, Austria
 

... But also Left and Right

@Matthias Bittrich: _disagreement! Think at Nokia: they had excellent products, now they lack custom... Sign up

 
2
Matthias Bittrich
Business Consultant, Germany
 

Voice of Customer is Fundamental

@Kurt Ludikovsky: Very true. Same as Microsoft, or is anyone here who likes the new menu structure o... Sign up

 
0
Kurt Ludikovsky
Consultant, Austria
 

Processes are Essential, But Uniformity is a Risk

@Matthias Bittrich: fully agreed. So for me the point is: each organisation is different. And this i... Sign up

   

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