An enterprise is a ‘factory’, or mechanism, producing services &/or tangible goods. As such, it comprises processes, made up of tasks and procedures, the activation of which results in turning ideas and inputs into final tradable services and products. Similar to constructing a building, a blueprint is necessary for the final services and/or products and a definition/description for each of the processes (and hence tasks and procedures) which will produce the final service &/or product. The input raw or semi-final materials must, of course, be prescribed. Similarly, the roles and posts of the people who will execute the processes must be defined in competences and competencies aiming at achieving the highest possible productivity (i.e., effectiveness and efficiency at the prescribed quality), as measured by suitable performance measures (or key performance indicators –KPIs). Lastly, mandatory and voluntary standards apply to either the final services &/or products &/or certain processes &/or certain roles or posts and must be incorporated into the respective definitions. Defining and managing the corporate architecture and processes is a prerequisite for effectively managing the organization.
Technology, customer or market requirements, standards, competition or even executive management or ownership changes dictate the need for radically changing the way the organization operates and hence business reengineering –commonly called in a rather narrow way ‘Business Process Reengineering’. Business reengineering should be carried out rarely, since it causes a major disruption.
Hoshin Kanri (or Policy Deployment) dictates that processes must be managed by using appropriate indicators, setting target values to them and measuring regularly actual performance. Depending on the process nature, tolerance levels (bands) must be set for actual performance and target limits revised regularly (usually during annual business planning).
Systematic process management demands regular review and revision of process and performance definition/specification. In this way, process productivity can be continually optimized and process re-engineering be kept to the absolutely minimum required –usually, though not always, dictated by external or internal disruptive changes.
The EFQM model is widely acknowledged as an excellent tool for enforcing a high quality, high productivity all-embracing management system. Its implementation pays back very quickly and ensures, inter alia, continuous high quality process and people management.
A systematic method for setting balanced objectives and goals, especially at the strategic level, and effecting strategy alignment. This approach is not all-embracing as the EFQM model.
A scorecard or dashboard presenting in a decision-making way the most important corporate KPI actual values vis-à-vis targets, allowing, ideally, drilling down to more information up to raw (non-statistical) data.
So as to be able to recruit/allocate the most suitable person(s) for carrying out productively (i.e., most effectively and most efficiently at the prescribed quality) each corporate process and further developing his/her (their) competences and competencies, it is essential to identify and define the requisite competences and competencies for each role and post. These definitions help design personal development plans aiming at bridging any gaps between actual and requisite competences & competencies.
Work roles are required for carrying out a specific business process or a task/procedure group belonging to a process. A role can execute a whole process or part thereof. A job or post may comprise one or more roles.
A role or job/post is not only defined by the requisite Expertise (competences & competencies) and Workload (i.e., time-table and level of whole or partial process workload) but also by the requisite Authority and Responsibility for carrying out optimally the respective (whole or partial) process. Only a balanced RAEW can ensure the possibility of optimal process execution. A holistic Job Description must, therefore, define the whole RAEW and the respective fixed and variable emoluments including any applicable benefits.
Organization is defined as the architecture (i.e., the blueprint) of all corporate posts and their hierarchies and relationships. It changes as the corporate Mission evolves by realizing the Corporate Vision &/or as the corporate processes are improved or redesigned and as the enterprise expands or contracts. Managing the Organization (Chart) is an important Executive Management duty, which should not be neglected.
Mapping business processes against competences, competencies, roles, posts, employees, products, customers and all other data types (data entities) to which they relate helps design and develop information systems enabling optimal execution and management of the core and support processes by the people, the organization and ultimately the business as a whole.
