Seeking business improvement: a systematic approach

In analysing business processes and the ways in which they might be improved, redesigned or even recreated, it is possible to use some aspects and tools of systems thinking. The methods developed over recent years by the software and systems engineering community are applicable to business process analysis and can complement the more strategic thinking of the management theorists. An approach to the redeployment of certain systems analysis tools was developed by the Cranfield EDI research team, and includes three different analytical perspectives looking separately at processes, flows and the deeper components (high level entities) in a business. By allowing flexibility in the application of these techniques, and by allowing any one to be the starting point, a sound understanding of business operations and the potential for their improvement can be gained. Features of the analysis method include the circularity of the approach, leading to completeness in the results, and the use of the Value Chain and the Cranfield Enterprise Model as devices to check relevance and balance in the process and entitl models. Four practical studies show how this analysis method can be used to assess the potential for EDI and other business improvements in quite different business situations.