BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT AS KEY FOR INNOVATION Whitepaper
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BPM AS KEY FOR INNOVATION
document type
authors
publication date
Whitepaper Jurgen Balink and Michel Jungbluth September 2013
Na(a)m(en)
Reproducing the information The authors would like to see the information contained in this whitepaper put to constructive use. The information may therefore be reproduced, copied, etc. without permission; however, the source of the information must be stated. This document has been produced with the greatest of care; however, no liability is accepted for incomplete or incorrect information which, despite this, may have been included.
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CONTENTS
Page 1
INTRODUCTION
4
2
WHAT IS (GOOD) INNOVATION?
5
2.1
INNOVATION, (IN ESSENCE) AN UMBRELLA CONCEPT
5
2.2
CREATING ROOM FOR INNOVATION
6
3
BPM AND INNOVATION: THE STATE OF PLAY
7
4
ADDED VALUE WITH BPM
9
4.1
PROVIDING STRUCTURE TO THE INNOVATION PROCESS
9
4.2
THE ROLE OF BPM EXPERTS IN THE INNOVATION PROCESS
5
6
BPM TECHNIQUES WITHIN INNOVATION
14
5.1
UNSTRUCTURED PROCESSES
14
5.2
PERSONAL PROCESS MANAGEMENT
16
5.3
TECHNICAL POSSIBILITIES SURROUNDING BPM
18
CONCLUSION
19
ABOUT THE AUTHORS AND CONQUAESTOR BIBLIOGRAPHY
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1
INTRODUCTION
The environment in which organisations find themselves is and remains in a state of flux; markets are volatile, customers are able to manage on their own and are more articulate than ever and it’s impossible to imagine society today without social interaction. In addition, organisations are faced with more (new) legislation than they have ever experienced before and there is unprecedented pressure on margins and profit. These developments are forcing organisations to change and within the changes taking place the demand for innovation is becoming increasingly greater. Why is that? Simple: to add value both internally and (preferably) externally. The question is whether and, if so, how a discipline such as Business Process Management (BPM) can and must contribute towards innovation. This whitepaper answers that question by addressing the following subjects: What is (good) innovation? BPM and innovation; the state of play Delivering added value through BPM The (emerging) techniques for BPM within innovation Conclusion September 2013, Michel Jungbluth and Jurgen Balink
This whitepaper is a more in-depth study of the article ‘Innovation and BPM’ which is part of the publication ‘INNOVATION – Business Process Management in 2013’ (ConQuaestor, 2013).
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2
WHAT IS (GOOD) INNOVATION?
2.1 INNOVATION, (IN ESSENCE) AN UMBRELLA CONCEPT Innovation is ‘hot’; it has a prominent position in many strategies and within many core values of organisations. These days, many organisations therefore regard innovation as the way of distinguishing themselves from their competition. The result of this is that many conventions, a considerable amount of research and numerous publications address the topic of innovation. However, the word innovation is an umbrella concept and its proper interpretation is absolutely necessary in order to address this subject in a focussed manner, otherwise it will continue to be an umbrella concept. It is for this reason that we have adopted the following definition of innovation: Innovation is the development of new and practical ideas, combined with successful implementation (Von Stamm, 2003). Innovation can be divided into a number of categories, namely: Product innovation: development, improvement and marketing of new services and products Service innovation: changes to the way in which services and products are sold (for example via online channels) Process innovation: changes to the way in which products are produced and services are delivered (for example more efficiently, more flexible and/or more customer-focussed) Business model innovation: the (re-)configuration of an organisation or part of an organisation (issues can relate to the areas of chain integration, (out)sourcing, mergers and acquisitions as well fundamentally changing the structure, the processes and the way of competing in a business sector) A combination of the above For each type of innovation the outcome must be innovative, it must be implemented successfully (otherwise it just remains an idea) and it must have demonstrable added value for the organisation and preferably, in our opinion, for the customer. Because innovation ensures a competitive edge it is vital that organisations develop and launch new products quickly and successfully (Tidd, Bessant & Pavitt, 1997).
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2.2
CREATING ROOM FOR INNOVATION Innovation is not something that becomes a success through a mechanical approach alone. For example, in many cases an innovation “originates” because a person on the shop floor was struggling with a problem and then came up with a clever idea to solve it. This employee did not require any ’order’ from the powers that be to come up with this innovation (or the idea that can subsequently be developed into an innovation), he or she has not followed any process and is unable to come up with the next innovative idea the following month on command. The idea simply originated at the right moment due to the convergence of knowledge (about system, customer, technique, process, market or other relevant knowledge) and a certain degree of creativity. Perhaps the employee came up with the idea on his or her own or perhaps it was just the result of chatting to a colleague from another discipline at the coffee machine. Although you cannot arrange for these types of innovations to be originated (“create three innovations this afternoon”), there does have to be an environment in which this is made possible. In any event, do not create an environment in which employees are not allowed to deviate from the rules, in which ideas are not appreciated and in which errors are punished. In our opinion a good environment for allowing innovations to be created has the following characteristics: The importance of innovation is disseminated by the organisation’s executives Suggesting ideas is rewarded (preferably by implementing good ideas and by properly substantiating why other ideas are not to be implemented) Having different ideas/opinions is accepted practice Errors are allowed to be made and are regarded as a learning process Knowledge about customers, techniques, markets, etc. is easy to access and the sharing of this knowledge is encouraged Work is undertaken in teams of diverse composition (diversity, different disciplines) Authorities are delegated to the lower levels of the organisation Employees know that resources such as time and money will be made available if the innovative idea is a good one
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3
BPM AND INNOVATION: THE STATE OF PLAY In the knowledge that innovation is global and how the organisations must create room for this, the questions then is what can BPM contribute to the demand for innovation? To come straight to the point: the BPM discipline does not offer a ready-made answer to the demand for innovation. The question is why is this and, even more importantly, how can BPM respond to it? The focus is on Control and Optimize BPM has detailed methods and best-practices and has a strong focus on risk control (“Control”) and optimization (“Optimize”). Experts have written hundreds of scientific articles and practical guides in this field. Many of these insights have been incorporated into standards and methods such as the COSO Framework for risk control and the (Lean) Six Sigma techniques for improving quality and reducing costs. For those who are new to this discipline there are a full range of courses available and the “for dummies” books can be bought in every bookshop. The focus that BPM has had in recent years on risk control and optimization is not difficult to explain. Because of the large amount of new legislation (often with the purpose of creating open and transparent markets), compliance with legislation became an important topic on the strategic agenda of almost every organisation. Similarly, the economic crisis has been an important driver for efficiency. Because BPM has been able to contribute towards these business objectives it has earned and been given a place within almost every organisation. This is expressed for example in the organisation chart or (even) in the governance of the organisation. In the near future as well a great deal of work shall have to be done in the area of risk control and optimization. This means that these topics will continue to have a prominent position on the strategic agenda. However, we expect that in the near future the control of risks, the efficient use of resources, compliance with legislation and a basic level of quality will become hygiene factors. Organisations that do not have these elements in order will disqualify themselves in the eyes of customers and regulators. The battle for customers will not be won by being very good in these areas. From Control and Optimize to Innovate The degree to which the company can win the battle for customers will be a specific determining factor for the overall success of companies in the future and innovation will play a very significant role in this. If the BPM discipline wants to deliver just as much added value in the future as it has done during the last decade we shall have to search for ways (in addition to “Control” and “Optimize”) of contributing towards “Innovate”.
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We see a clear growth model in BPM, whereby an organisation develops from Control and Optimize to Innovate. A condition for this is BPM maturity and the driver for the organisation to develop along this line is external pressure (customers, regulators, shareholders and other stakeholders).
Innovate BPM maturity
Optimize volwassenheid
Control
External pressure
Figure 1. Growth model to innovation capability It is a maturity model whereby each step is in fact an addition to the previous step. In the BPM context this means that one talks about ‘Ambidextrous BPM’ (Michael Rosemann, 2013). Within this the interpretation of Control and Optimize is called ‘Transactional BPM’ and the interpretation of innovation is ‘Transitional BPM’. Rosemann argues for interpretation to be given to both transactional BPM and transitional BPM, whereby the latter serves to deliver the added value for the customer. Organisations with a high degree of BPM maturity are more innovative Our own research (ConQuaestor, 2013) shows that organisations which specifically have a mature approach to BPM appear to have a higher innovation capability and are therefore able to deliver added value. As far as we are concerned this is natural: companies with a high degree of process maturity think in chains in which the customer is central, within this they identify opportunities for innovation and they are more successful in achieving and implementing an innovation. In addition to the more conventional aims of organisations such as customer-satisfaction and efficiency, BPM then also contributes towards the innovative capability of organisations. However, it is a fact that BPM is still not ‘equipped’ for occupying a structural position within innovation. Clearly put: BPM experts currently have no detailed vision about BPM within innovation, there are (therefore) no detailed methods or best-practices, no courses and no books… This does not detract from the fact that in our opinion BPM is ideally suited for offering structured added value within innovation.
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ADDED VALUE WITH BPM
We explain the way in which BPM can have added value within and with innovation in the next two topics: Providing structure to the innovation process The role of BPM experts in the innovation process Both topics are further explained in the following sections.
4.1
PROVIDING STRUCTURE TO THE INNOVATION PROCESS Innovation is not a process that can be forced. Because of the specific nature of innovation (“something new”) it is impossible for innovations to be planned in advance, for a rigid design process to be adopted or for the outcomes to be forecast precisely in terms of how the innovation is received by customers or what the financial results will be. The opposite conclusion, that the innovation process must left to have free rein, is also incorrect. This makes having a structure for an innovation (process) logical. The innovation process contains a number of steps. Tidd (2009) gives simple representation which consists of the steps: Search – How can we find opportunities for innovation? Select – Which ideas are we going to implement and why? Implementation – How are we going to achieve it? Harvest – How will we ensure that we reap the benefits of the innovation? We would argue for the first step (Search) to be divided into two sub-steps. This first of these is about gathering information that underpins innovation ideas. The organisation must have a feel for the customer’s requirements and the customer’s opinions about the products and the services provided by the organisation (by organising customer meetings for example). In addition, the organisation must know what developments are taking place in the market (for example by monitoring professional literature and attending conferences) and what new techniques will become available (suppliers can be a good source for this information). And, although less obvious, new legislation can also be a source for innovation. The second part of the Search step is about gathering ideas for innovation. It is important to create a good gateway for new ideas from all layers of the organisation. It is not sufficient if an employee is only able to approach a manager with his or her ideas. If this manager does not personally find the idea to be a good one (or will the consequences of that idea perhaps have a negative impact on his or her position?) the idea will run aground. If the employee sees that no action is being taken he or she will more likely keep their ideas to themselves. It is therefore better to set up a central “ideas box” as well and to reward employees for contributing, separate from the fact whether the idea will or will not be implement at this moment.
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By creating a central gateway for ideas the possibility arises for having a multidisciplinary and creative team evaluate the idea and for having questions answered, such as: Is the idea a solution for an actual problem? Is it possible to combine elements of the idea with other new or existing ideas? Can even smarter solutions be found for the problem being addressed? Are there also similar problems at other locations within or outside of the organisation that can benefit from this idea? Etc. Sometimes innovation ideas do not emerge during the idea phase. Employees may already have implemented ideas: employees who perform their work smarter in order to be of better service to customers, making a product variant that is officially sold or applying a better or easier procedure. By searching systematically for these best-practices a new source of innovation ideas can be tapped into. The Select step covers both the choice as to what extent the potential innovation fits with the strategic direction of the company and the distribution of limited resources across the various possibilities. The fact is that almost all organisations have insufficient resources for implementing all of the ideas. A specific outcome from the Implementation of innovations is that innovation is more predictable and that in many cases developments exist in the outside world that can ultimately influence the success of the innovation (for example actions taken by a competitor). It is therefore good practice to closely monitor the development of the implementation, to change course and, if necessary, to stop and release resources for other changes. A model such as the Cooper stage-gate model (2001) is ideally suited for this. The Harvest step denotes the realisation of the objectives that underpin the innovation. Examples of these are increasing profit, market share or customer-satisfaction as well as protecting the innovation by patents for example. In this phase the innovation shall have to be monitored closely, lessons shall have to be learned and fine-tuning may have to be undertaken, for example in the form of a new innovation. By structuring the innovation process and by “monitoring” the innovations within that process it will be possible to prevent innovations falling off the management radar, ending up in the realm of hobby indulgence and running around prematurely. It will then also be possible to ensure that initiatives which have considerable potential are provided with the necessary resources such as
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funds, knowledge and expertise. Progress can also be monitored where innovation is a major element in the battle for customers. The primary role of the BPM expert is to design and implement the innovation process. In our view, this is not about working out (and ‘nailing down’) the process in detail but rather offering simplicity and realism in the design and realisation. Examples of this are aspects such as creating a global process design, assigning and implementing ownership and dissemination of the procedure during implementation. In addition, the BPM expert can of course play a valuable role in the team that becomes involved in the substance of the innovations. The following paragraphs explore this in greater detail.
4.2
THE ROLE OF BPM EXPERTS IN THE INNOVATION PROCESS The organisation and of course the BPM experts do have to realise the power of BPM (experts). In our opinion, there are three elements to this power. Firstly, the discipline is ideal for helping to view situations from its context. This can be the socioeconomic context, the technological context and also, specifically, the chain and the field of influence that is determined by other stakeholders. This environment is often both the cause of limited innovation possibilities and a source of new possibilities. Secondly, the power is the fact that BPM experts are able to quickly and properly translate the consequences of ideas into the (consequences for the) business operation and are able to ‘land’ changes in the business. An additional benefit is that a (good) BPM expert is always aware of the fact that every idea and every change must have a direct relationship with the mission, vision and strategy of the organisation. This means that BPM experts represent absolute added value within innovation and specifically ensure, for example, structured acceleration in the time-to-market, a properly operating chain and/or a competitive edge. Finally, BPM experts are able to bring together different disciplines in an organisation (such as Marketing, IT, Finance, Compliance, Operations) and ensure that innovative ideas also link up with the aspects / preconditions from Control and Optimize. To be able to utilise this power the BPM experts do have to let go of their current way of thinking and doing. This current way of thinking and doing stems from the current focus (Control and Optimize), and often results in procedures being recorded in detail, employees being expected to adhere to these strictly and barriers being erected to prevent these procedures from changing. The result of this may be that many innovations end up being nipped in the bud.
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To be able to contribute towards innovation it is important that BPM experts start considering the restrictions that guide the business models in the sector in which they work. Once you are able to identify those restrictions and are able to remove them or bypass them then it is often possible to revolutionarily change the development and the offering to the client of a product or service. Examples of restrictions that are formative for a business model are: A customer has insufficient money/resources to purchase the product in one go or on his own It is difficult to identify potential customers for a niche product The customer has insufficient knowledge about the product (and may indeed not wish to acquire any knowledge) It takes a great deal of time to produce the product Transporting the product is difficult but essential for its use If the BPM expert makes clear to himself/herself the factors that determine the business model he or she can search out opportunities and possibilities to innovate the business model. One could brainstorm, for example with regard to the customer who has insufficient money to purchase the product. This would raise the following questions: Could customers with insufficient money buy the product together? Is there a party who will lend or even donate the money for the product? Is it possible for the customer to pay to use the product without having to buy the product? Are there techniques for producing the product less expensively? Can we arrange for our customer to have more money to spend on our product? Can we extend the lifespan of our product so that the cost over time is reduced? Is it possible to differentiate in our product range between customer groups who have sufficient money and customer groups with insufficient money? Another approach is to search for a sector that has struggled with the same or a similar problem and has found a smart solution. What is the lesson that can be learned from this? In addition, it is necessary for BPM experts working on innovation in the advance guard of a company to be able to familiarise themselves with the latest technological possibilities. Possibilities for sharing and making information available, for cheaper manufacturing, for distilling information from data, and for producing products and devices which until recently were impossible to produce, are emerging from technology faster than ever before. In addition, virtually every process has been automated to a large extent and familiarity with the technology (im)possibilities is no more than logical in order to set up an efficient and effective process.
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In some cases these possibilities are created as a solution to a real problem; in many other cases the problem has not yet been found and the added value of the new technique only becomes apparent after a certain amount of time. Companies that are not aware of the possibilities that exist will miss the opportunities associated with applying them and will only adopt them when the successful use of this innovation has been proven by their competitors. In addition to the ways of thinking associated with the BPM expert involved in innovation, it is important that we consider the competencies that he or she will require. As with the BPM experts in the traditional role, the analytical capacity continues to be an important competency. However, because this BPM expert shall have to work more often and more intensively with departments such as Product Development and Marketing, and with higher management, he/she shall more than ever before have to be able to find linguistic affiliation with these departments. In these discussions he/she shall no longer have to focus on explaining precisely how things work from a process point of view but will have to talk in terms of outcome (result), scenarios, preconditions, needs, etc. The fact that the consequences have been properly considered from a process point of view is something that goes without saying and requires no explanation. “Selling� innovations is, by definition, difficult. During dialogue, people use the reference framework they have constructed up to that moment. In the case of an innovation this is lacking from the reference framework or the reference framework even says that something is impossible. In order to convince people of the possibility and the benefit of an innovation the communication must take on the form of allowing the innovation to be experienced. This experiencing can also take the shape of an evocative/inspiring story that helps the listener expand his or her reference framework. This type of communication is new for many BPM experts.
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5
BPM TECHNIQUES WITHIN INNOVATION
Although no detailed methods and techniques exist within the BPM discipline that associate with the strong need for innovation, we have identified various developments of philosophies and ways of thinking which in due course can provide more interpretation for the “hard side” of innovation with BPM. These philosophies and ways of thinking have emerged from the ideas that are present for using BPM to deliver more and real added value which can be deployed, amongst other things, within innovation. We explain a number of these developments below, namely: Unstructured processes Personal process management Technical possibilities surrounding BPM
5.1
UNSTRUCTURED PROCESSES BPM experts are trained to think in sequential activities, in other words to think in a predefined sequence. Hardjono (2001) identified that in the majority of definitions of a process the sequence and the dependency of the activities take a central position. But what happens if it is unknown in advance what step follows step 1 and step 2? In many cases specific agreements are made with the customer about how a certain event will be pursued further (for example during the treatment of a customer in the hospital). During the initial contact with the customer the aim and the result is therefore not yet known. In other cases it is also possible that all information is not yet present in order to determine how the process will have to develop or the question from the customer changes. At the start of consultation meeting for a mortgage neither customer nor adviser has all of the information that is required in order to predict the result. Theoretically, the outcome of such a meeting could even be that the customer concludes that for the time being it is better not to move at all or to look for a rented property. Although research has never been conducted into the ratio between structured processes and unstructured processes, experts estimate that 70-80% of the processes are unstructured to a greater or lesser degree (source: Gartner). In this case, unstructured means: complex, dynamic processes that are driven more by end users and which are strongly dependent on human interaction, implied knowledge and indirect factors.
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In practice this category of processes is also often referred to by the term knowledge-intensive processes. Peter Drucker says the following about these processes: “The most important, and indeed the truly unique contribution of management in the 20th century was the 50-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker in manufacturing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly to increase the productivity of knowledge work and the knowledge worker”. Although the front-end of these unstructured processes was intangible until recently, the back-end of these processes often consists of several standard sub-processes (structured processes) such as making payments, updating administration or sending information. The moment in the process when it is clear which standard processes shall have to be used is called the Point of Conformity (PoF). Until now, many BPM experts have ignored those unstructured processes or have limited themselves to producing complex process models that try to capture all situations in a single model (which is not very useful to anybody) or have only described the standardised sub-processes that follow the complex start. In the worst case an attempt is made to structure unstructured processes, with all of the consequences this has for the customer. These days, thinking in these processes has moved on a step and BPM experts can organise these unstructured processes so that: The employees have a clear understanding of the complex knowledge that is often necessary for properly completing these processes Employees are then given the role of case managers in these processes, with sufficient decisionmaking authority for offering the customer what the customer wants The systems can be configured in such a way that employees are not forced to adapt to system logic but that the system helps the employee and, ultimately, the customer It is possible to monitor the progress in the processes and manage on that basis It is specifically these processes, which are complex by nature, in which a great deal of customer contact is required and which often concern events that are important for the customer, that determine the degree to which the customer experiences the service as being customer-friendly. Unfortunately, in many companies it is by no means matter-of-course that these processes are executed properly in a single pass. In the future the developments surrounding “unstructured processes” can therefore provide an important boost to service innovation and, ultimately, the battle for customers.
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5.2
PERSONAL PROCESS MANAGEMENT The time when companies produced products and didn’t need to concern themselves about how to attract customers has gone for good. It is specifically when one has to search for distinctive capacity, the use of social interaction and achieve a ‘positive surprise’ that the principles of Personal Process Management (PPM) can be used. PPM is about thinking and doing in real customer processes (whereby one looks at things from the customers’ perspective and not, as is traditionally the case, from the organisations’ own process). Chris Potts (2010) expressed the body of thought of PPM in his statement “It is not about how the customer participates in our processes, but about how we participate in the customers’ processes” A number of applications of PPM are explained below. Optimise your customer’s process Imagine that you have to model the customers’ process around the service that you provide. In many cases you will observe that this process involves a great deal of wasted time, effort and money (specifically) for the customer (travel time and waiting time for example). Eliminating this wastage can be of enormous added value and your services can have a positive impact on the dayto-day routine of the customer. One organisation that has seized upon this is Tesco (see YouTube: Tesco - Homeplus subway virtual store). They have dealt with ‘time-wasters’ within the customers’ process in a very smart way and have adapted their service to this process as a result of which they have been able to grow in a difficult market and beat the competition. Know your customer’s life-events Many customer process models that we see every day begin the moment the customer walks through the door, calls the organisation or fills in something on the website. If you look at the same process from the customer perspective you will almost always see that this process begins much earlier; before a customer enters a bank branch to arrange a mortgage he/she has already had many conversations around the kitchen table with friends, has spent many hours on Internet property sites looking at what is available on the market and has already entered details on websites to explore the possibilities of borrowing money and what the costs of that would be. What would happen if you, as a bank, were able to converse with your customer sooner? In that case your customer would be better informed before searching for a property and you would have already achieved an important commercial edge. You could do this by monitoring social media for buying signals (for example if a customer tweets that he/she is looking for property) or signals associated with life-events that are relevant to your services (in this case for example the birth of twins and the potential need for a larger house).
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Offer services as a package Services provided by many companies relate to significant customer life-events. Examples of these are cohabiting, marriage, having children, starting your own business, going bankrupt, moving house, death, etc. During these events customers often have to arrange an enormous amount of things; in the event of a death in the family it is not just the funeral that has to be arranged and the banking affairs that have to sorted out – in many cases a house also has to be sold, a removal company organised and a notary/solicitor engaged, etc. This is a great deal that needs to be organised during what is already a sad event. By applying PPM it is quite conceivable that more and more organisations remove the burden from the customer (in this case the next of kin) by taking over the management of all of this work, by potentially undertaking some of the work itself and by managing the other relevant parties by taking on the role of ‘broker’ - a type of wedding planner but in this case for a wide range of lifeevents. Monitor customer experience during the process In the examples provided above, we have seen that the focus was on the customer at customergroup level. Another interpretation of PPM is specifically at individual customer level. This involves monitoring your customer’s experience while he/she progresses through the process and, for example, creating a positive surprise for your customer. On YouTube you can see the KLM example (search for: KLM Surprise) in which customers are surprised in a pleasant and personal manner while they are are waiting for their flight. For many organisations, monitoring and responding to what your customer posts on social media is already a good initial step in the right direction. Discover the real customer process Fortunately, the majority of organisations have process models that show how customers are served. However, in the majority of cases only the “happy flow” is modelled – in other words only how you hope and think that the process will proceed. Reality is often more recalcitrant. These days there is a technique, based on historic data, for automatically gaining insight into how the process is actually proceeding and being experienced by the customer. This technique is known as process mining. Would it not be a good idea, for your customer and for your organisation, to occasionally compare that “happy flow” with the “real flow” and learn lessons from that? Truly thinking in customer processes has not yet matured; however, we see, as illustrated above, a great deal of potential for achieving service and process innovation.
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5.3
TECHNICAL POSSIBILITIES SURROUNDING BPM Who’s not familiar with the Little Britain sketches (“Computer says no”)? Unfortunately, the fact that technology can have an impeding effect on the service provided by organisations is something we encounter particularly often, both from the perspective of the customer and from our role as adviser. Fortunately, there are now increasing numbers of techniques that make it possible for the system support of a process to be configured quickly, to make it flexible and to allow employees of an organisation to help the customer in a quick and pleasant manner. An initial development that we have identified is the emergence of BPM suites. Unfortunately there are an exceptional number of discussions taking place around the nomenclature and definitions of these tools. The BPM suites that we mean are those that allow process support to be configured without the need for in-depth technical know-how. By modelling the process the supporting system is configured immediately and one is able to proceed with implementation quickly. As a result of this it becomes unnecessary to create detailed functional and technical system designs or to undertake extensive testing of these. Many of these packages allow various scenarios to be simulated before a decision is made for a process to be implemented. Many of the systems also offer dashboards in which information from the operational process is displayed so that, if necessary, interventions can be undertaken, for example by implementing process changes. Whereas in the past many of these systems were only able to work by pre-configuring every imaginable scenario, there are now systems, known collectively as ‘dynamic case management’, that are able to deal flexibly with process exceptions (think of the link with unstructured processes) and are also able to handle unstructured data. Innovative possibilities have also emerged from BPM in the field of testing new (IT) functionality. Testing is traditionally very labour-intensive (and therefore costly) and represents a substantial part of the (long) time-to-market for new products or services. A number of initial organisations are currently having testing undertaken using a high level of automation. This works approximately as follows: on the basis of process models, specialised software determines which logic test cases are required (in doing this the software mainly bases itself on different paths in the process and which path has to be followed under what conditions). On this basis of this, other software creates the physical test cases, executes these and presents the test results to the testers. If the processes are thought out and modelled well in advance, the deployment of such test software can achieve a saving of dozens of percents in costs and turnaround time and, ultimately, achieve greater flexibility and innovation capacity.
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CONCLUSION
To be able to start addressing innovation in a focussed manner we believe it is absolutely necessary that “Control” and “Optimize” are at a mature level. It is not really possible to say off the cuff what constitutes a mature level. After all, this depends on aspects such as the sector in which the organisation operates, the products and/or services the organisation supplies, the scope, the risks the organisation dares to take, the strategy of the organisation and the expectations of the customer. It can therefore be said that Control and Optimize have to be classed as a hygiene factor. As an organisation and a BPM expert, do not wait until all kinds of BPM methods, techniques and frameworks focussing on innovation have been developed. After all, the competition is not pausing and speed is of the essence. It is therefore also our view that many of the current methodologies and techniques can be applied very well in the context of innovation. Because the environment and the issues are also different it is therefore important that as a BPM expert you are very aware that you will need other or additional skills in order to be successful. For this, you will help yourself by gaining greater understanding of technical possibilities, movements in the market and developments relating to the customer. We hope that in a number of years the developments discussed in this whitepaper will have come to fruition and have developed into mature methods, supplemented with aspects that we are unable to predict at this moment. In any event, an initial trend has emerged in which BPM represents absolute added value within innovation. Finally, if the subject of BPM and innovation appeals to you or if you are struggling with a specific case, then please do not hesitate to contact one of the authors. Together we can develop this great discipline through dialogue and, of course, by putting it into practice.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS AND CONQUAESTOR About the authors
Jurgen Balink is an Associate Partner at ConQuaestor. Jurgen’s passion is the successful implementation of strategic change based on the discipline of Business Process Management and particularly from the point of view of the customer. He advises organisations and regularly delivers training courses in this field.
Michel Jungbluth is a Senior Consultant at ConQuaestor. Driven by a preference for the discipline of Business Process Management and closely-related disciplines such as business architecture, Michel achieves strategically relevant results for a wide range of Dutch-based organisations. Michel aims to increase the added value of BPM through research, dialogue and publications in this field.
About ConQuaestor ConQuaestor is an independent consultancy for CFOs. More than 400 consultants and interim managers resolve problems on the agendas of financial managers and financial controllers. ConQuaestor is a member of Grant Thornton International Ltd. ConQuaestor Orteliuslaan 871 3528 BE Utrecht The Netherlands Postbus 8227 3503 RE Utrecht + 31 (0) 30 290 6149 info@conquaestor.nl www.conquaestor.nl / www.conquaestor.tv / www.financeincorporated.nl
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brocke, J., & Rosemann, M. (2010). Handbook on business process management. Berlin: Springer. Rosemann Cooper, R. G. (2001). Winning at new products: Accelerating the process from idea to launch. Cambridge, Mass: Perseus Pub. Drucker, P. F. (2006). Classic Drucker: Essential wisdom of Peter Drucker from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Boston: Harvard Business Review Book. ConQuaestor, Innovatie, Business Process Management in 2013 [Innovation, Business Process Management in 2013], January 2013 Gartner, Hype Cycle for Business Process Management, 2012 Hardjono, T. W., & Bakker, R. J. M. (2001). Management van processen: Identificeren, besturen, beheersen en vernieuwen [Management of processes: Identifying, managing, controlling and innovating]. Deventer: Kluwer. Tidd, J., Bessant, J. R., & Pavitt, K. (1997). Managing innovation: Integrating technological, market, and organizational change. Chichester, West Sussex, England: Wiley. Von, Stamm. B. (2003). Managing innovation, design and creativity. Chichester: J. Wiley
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