The scope and evolution of business process management

Abstract

Business Process Management describes a broad movement toward improving how business people think about and manage their businesses. There are many different approaches to business process change and this article explores the three most important approaches. The oldest tradition is work simplification and quality control which is currently represented by Six Sigma and Lean. A second tradition is a management tradition driven by teachers and consultants like Porter, Rummler and Hammer. The third tradition is driven by Information Technologists and focuses on process automation of all kinds. Each tradition has its heroes and its own vocabulary and each emphasizes some practices over others. There is a growing emphasis on combining the various traditions in a comprehensive approach.