SECTION 2.2
BUSINESS processes
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Learning Outcome 2.5: Explain the value of business processes for a
company, and di*erentiate between customer-facing and
business-facing process.
A business process is a standardized set of activities that accomplish a
specic task, such as processing a customer’s order. Business processes
transform a set of inputs into a set of outputs (goods or services) for another
person or process by using people and tools. Without processes,
organizations would not be able to complete activities. Customer-facing
processes result in a product or service that is received by an organization’s
external customer. Business-facing processes are invisible to the external
customer but essential to the e%ective management of the business.
Learning Outcome 2.6: Demonstrate the value of business process
modeling, and compare As-Is and To-Be models.
Business process modeling (or mapping) is the activity of creating a detailed
&owchart or process map of a work process showing its inputs, tasks, and
activities, in a structured sequence. A business process model is a graphic
description of a process, showing the sequence of process tasks, which is
developed for a specic purpose and from a selected viewpoint.
Business process modeling usually begins with a functional process
representation of what the process problem is, or an As-Is process model.
As-Is process models represent the current state of the operation that has
been mapped, without any specic improvements or changes to existing
processes. The next step is to build a To–Be process model that displays how
the process problem will be solved or implemented. To–Be process models
show the results of applying change improvement opportunities to the
current (As-Is) process model. This approach ensures that the process is fully
and clearly understood before the details of a process solution are decided
upon.
Learning Outcome 2.7: Di*erentiate among automation,
streamlining, and reengineering.
Business process improvement attempts to understand and measure the
current process and make performance improvements accordingly.
Automation is the process of computerizing manual tasks, making them
more e*cient and e%ective, and dramatically lowering operational costs.
Streamlining improves business process e*ciencies by simplifying or
eliminating unnecessary steps. Bottlenecks occur when resources reach full
capacity and cannot handle any additional demands; they limit throughput
and impede operations. Streamlining removes bottlenecks, an important step
if the e*ciency and capacity of a business process are being increased.
Business process reengineering (BPR) is the analysis and redesign of
work&ow within and between enterprises and occurs at the systems level or
companywide level and is the end-to-end view of a process.
CLASSROOM OPENER
Cable Ready
A current cable subscriber calls up to change the date for activating the
service at a new address from Feb. 22 to March 1. The subscriber is
successful and hangs up the phone happy. However, on February 22nd the
cable at the current home is disconnected and the customer is no longer
happy. The customer service representative forgot to change the date of the
disconnection and only changed the date of the activation.
Practically speaking, these two events will almost always be linked – and the
system probably should have prompted the customer service representative
to ask if they were. The point: In focusing on business process, it is important
to facilitate real-world tasks that are, by nature, “integrated.”
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Examining And Reengineering A College Business Process
Ask your students to discuss issues they have encountered around the
college due to an ine*cient or ine%ective process. Choose one of the
processes, break your students into groups, and ask them to reengineer the
process. How would they change it to make it more e%ective or more
e*cient? Would they add a new technology device to help with the process
such as a scanner, PDA, or RFID? Be sure to have them diagram the As-Is
process and the To–Be process. Have them present their reengineered
processes to the class.
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Reengineering a Process
There is nothing more frustrated than a broken process. Ask your students to
break into groups and discuss examples of broken processes that are
currently causing them pain. The process can be a university process,
mail-order process, Internet-order process, return merchandise process, etc.
Ask your students to agree on one of the broken processes and to reengineer
the process. Students should diagram the “As-Is” process and then diagram
their “To–Be” process. Bring in a large roll of brown package wrapping paper
and masking tape. Give each group two large pieces of the paper and ask
them to tape the paper to the wall. These make for great “As-Is” and “To-Be”
process maps.
BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING ACCENTURE – VIDEO
Excellent video to help students understand the processes involved in outsourcing.
http://www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/success-bpo-learning-telstra-video-su
mmary.aspx
Oracle Business Process Management – Video
http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/bpm/index.html
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Videos on BPM
Microsoft’s business and industry o%ers a surprisingly good introduction to
people driving business success through business process.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa559473.aspx
Funny video to kick-o% your process modeling lecture – Finding Love is a
Process
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Mbr31f2dg
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
How’s My Driving – Just Ask My Car?
Using gadgets while you’re driving can be a very bad thing, but an expert on
automotive distractions says using a gadget that watches you while you’re
driving can be a very good thing. More than 40,000 people die every year in
motor vehicle crashes, and research indicates that failures of attention –
including distractions or drowsiness – probably played a role in most of those
crashes.
Meiji Zhang tries to use a cell phone while she’s behind the wheel in a driving
simulator that’s designed to work like a Chevy Malibu. The University of
Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator was used to study the e%ects of
driving distractions.
In one case he studied, a driver looked away from the road for 6 seconds to
tap out a text message on her phone, slipped out of her lane and came to
attention only when the tires hit the curb. “When she actually saw the video
from the perspective of the camera, she was shocked to learn that she
almost hit a telephone pole at 40 miles per hour,” Lee said.
How many of your student’s text, dial cell phones, etc. while driving?
Would this type of technology benet your student drivers?
Break your students into groups and ask them to create a product that could
help drivers pay greater attention to driving and less attention to gadgets.
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Honda Develops Brain Interface for Robot Control
The research wing of Honda Motor has co-developed a brain machine
interface (BMI) system that allows a person to control a robot through
thought alone.
Ask your students to read the following article
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/033109-honda-develops-brain-inter
face-for.html
Break your students into groups and have them develop two businesses uses
for this type of technology that includes a DSS or EIS
Ask your students to discuss AI and what other types of inventions could they
build that could benet business
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Grand Challenge
Ask your student to review the DARPA website to become familiar with the
competition.
http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Programs/DARPA_Robotics_Challenge.
aspx
http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2012/04/10.aspx
How is the DoD using AI to improve its operations and save lives?
The DARPA Grand Challenge was designed to leverage American ingenuity
to develop autonomous vehicle technologies that can be used by the
military. Using AI driven vehicles the DOD will be able to send vehicles
into dangerous situations without endangering any soldiers.
Why would the DoD use an event, such as the DARPA Grand
Challenge, to further technological innovation?
By o%ering a generous prize, along with notoriety the DOD is able to get
many of the greatest minds in the country working on creating
autonomous vehicles. It is a win-win. The DOD receives the technology
and the winning team receives a prize and notoriety.
Describe how autonomous vehicles could be used by
organizations around the world to improve business e>ciency
and e*ectiveness.
There are numerous ways that autonomous vehicles could be used around
by businesses from making deliveries, transporting goods and services to
taking employees to and from the airport. The uses are limitless.
The Ansari X is another technological innovation competition
focusing on spacecraft. To win the $10 million Ansari X Prize, a
private spacecraft had to be the Brst to carry the weight
equivalent of three people to an altitude of 62.14 miles twice
within two weeks. SpaceShipOne, a privately built spacecraft,
won the $10 million Ansari X Prize on October 4, 2004. Describe
the potential business impacts of the Ansari X competition.
Space travel is the next exciting frontier. Business impacts could range
from vacation trips to the moon to picking up space materials for the
production of goods and services. The competition could also inspire other
types of competition such as underwater houses and personal &ying
machines.
DARPA Videos
The DARPA challenge is an excellent topic when discussing AI. Here is the
latest article on this year’s DARPA challenge.
Robots And Their Masters Ready For DARPA ‘War Zone’ Race
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=THMMT
XP1BKGDIQSNDLRCKH0CJUNN2JVN?
articleID=193401499&queryText=aug+14
DARPA Grand Challenge Stanford Winning Team
http://reviews.cnet.com/4660-11443_7-6358785.html?tag=vid.1
DARPA Challenge – 2005 Overview
http://reviews.cnet.com/4660-11443_7-6353439.html?tag=vid.2
Special Features: Inside the DARPA Challenge
http://reviews.cnet.com/4660-11443_7-6358769.html?tag=vid.3
CORE MATERIAL
The core chapter material is covered in detail in the PowerPoint slides. Each
slide contains detailed teaching notes including exercises, class activities,
questions, and examples. Please review the PowerPoint slides for detailed
notes on how to teach and enhance the core chapter material.
