James P. Womack’s research while affiliated with American Enterprise Institute and other places

This handbook focuses on two sides of the lean production debate that rarely interact. On the one hand, management and industrial engineering scholars have presented a positive view of lean production as the epitome of efficiency and quality. On the other hand, sociology, industrial relations, and labor relations scholars focus on work speedups, management by stress, trade union positions, and self-exploitation in lean teams. The editors of this volume understand the merits of both views and present them accordingly, bridging the gaps among five disciplines and presenting the best of each perspective. Chapters by internationally acclaimed authors examine the positive, negative and neutral possible effects of lean, providing a global view of lean production while adjusting lean to the cultural and political contexts of different nation-states. As the first multi-lens view of lean production from academic and consultant perspectives, this volume charts a way forward in the world of work and management in our global economy.

INTRODUCTION Business process and business process management (BPM) concepts have matured over the years and new technology, concepts, standards and solutions appear. In this chapter we will therefore focus on the current and future process trends. We will elaborate on the importance of trends, the maturity of the subject, giving a perspective on what emerging trends, industry trends, mega trends are, what is hyped at the moment, and what has reached a market adoption where it has started to become the de facto standard in terms of mega trends that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance. THE IMPORTANCE OF TRENDS A trend is defined as a general direction in which something is developing or chang- ing.1 Trends involve looking at the statistical analysis of historical data over a selected time frame and charting the progression. If the data suggest consistent increases, decreases, or even constancy or flatness, a trend exists. Businesses of all sizes use these kinds of data to help predict the future or shape strategic decisions. So why are trends important? Because trends help you prepare for the future! From a business perspective, there are three main types of trend: emerging, industry, and mega trends. If organizations ignore any of them, the business drivers or trends may eventually evolve to become a direct threat to their existing business model. If embraced, they hold the key for the next opportunity for growth. For example, business processes has matured over a decade into a manage- ment discipline that treats processes as assets that directly contribute to enter- prise performance by driving operational excellence and business process agility. Today, business processes has become an essential source of performance that sup- ports business success, some of which are: • Optimizing the performance of end-to-end business processes that span func- tions as well as processes that might extend beyond the enterprise to include partners, suppliers, and customers (the value chain). • Making the business processes visible (and thus explicit) to business and information technology (IT) constituents through business process modeling, monitoring, and optimization/simulation. • Keeping the business process model in sync with process execution and empow- ering business users and analysts to use the model to improve process perfor- mance and outcomes. • Enabling the effective integration of process activities, business measurements, rule management, content integration, and greater collaboration to set the base for continuous improvement. • Enabling rapid iterations of processes and underlying systems for continuous process improvement and optimization. • Delivering measurable improvement to enterprise performance that directly contributes to organizational success and competitive advantage. • BPM is just one approach to the larger challenge known as business process improvement (BPI). Other approaches to BPI include business process re-engi- neering (BPR) and business process automation. Hence, both executives and practitioners are focusing on process trends to gain a competitive advantage by being the early adopter. Our focus is on process mega trends and emerging trends as the driving force that will change how organizations work with and apply these trends successfully to their process landscape in order to gain a competitive advantage in the future.

In this book, we have until now covered key figures like Adam Smith, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Henry Ford, and many others who have dramatically impacted the way of thinking of, working with, and how we model processes. This chapter of the book will elaborate on the move from process-centric work around labor and people to the coupling of information technology (IT) aspects with process modeling aspects. We witness a much wider and more profound involvement of IT with the incorporation of processes in business and organizations across geographical borders and cultural differences.

Imagine yourself reading this chapter. You glance briefly to the side of your table only to realize that your coffee cup is now empty. A process is then sparked and initialized, and you (1) get up from your chair, (2) lift your cup from the table, (3) walk into the kitchen, (4) pour yourself another cup of coffee, (5) you then return to your chair, and (6) sit down and continue reading. That, in itself, is a process by nature. This is just one example of a very simple and descriptive process so as to better illustrate its elusive concept. A business process, however, is the same as a process, but with one major difference, namely with the emphasis on the word business. A business process is a collection of tasks and activities (business operations and actions) consisting of employees, materials, machines, systems, and methods that are being structured in such a way as to design, create, and deliver a product or a service to the consumer. As such, a business process can be understood in the following way: As such, a business process can be understood in the following way: >>It is a placeholder for the action (process area). >>An action is taking place (process group). >>A business task is taking place (business process). >>The location of the business task in the sequence (process step). >>The way the business task is carried out (process activity).

Throughout the first phase of the historical development of processes, we elaborated on some of the key figures who are widely regarded as pioneers—both in academia as well as in business—and laid the foundation for the upcoming—as well as today’s—process studies and the use of them in organizations across the world. The second phase of the historical evolution of process flows incorporates a far more extensive use of human involvement, however, and tells the story of human interaction around processes, process flows, tasks, and activities, as well as the necessary application and consumption of resources that are associated with carrying out each of these tasks and activities.

Business process and business process management concepts have matured over the years and new technology, concepts, standards, and solutions appear. In this chapter we will therefore focus on the current and future process trends. We will elaborate on the importance of trends, the maturity of the subject, giving a perspective on what the emerging trends, industry trends, and mega trends are, what is hyped at the moment, and what has reached a market adoption where it has started to become de facto standard in terms of a mega trend that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance.

This chapter of the book will elaborate on the move from process-centric work around labor and people to the coupling of information technology (IT) aspects with process modeling aspects. We witness a much wider and more profound involvement of IT with the incorporation of processes in business and organizations across geographical borders and cultural differences.

This is the most comprehensive body of knowledge around Business Process Modeling and Business Process Management, a practical guide for Practitioners, Managers, Executives and Students and hands on descriptions of how to work with it. It stands out as a masterpiece, being part of the BPM bachelor and master degree curriculum at universities around the world with revealing academic research and insight from the leaders in the market. The first volume endows the reader with a deep insight into the nature of business process and how to work with it. Volume 1 is the most comprehensive body of knowledge around Business Process Modeling and Business Process Management, a practical guide for Practitioners, Managers, Executives and Students and hands on descriptions of how to work with it. Written by the authorities that have shaped the way we think and work with processes today. What Executives, Managers, Practitioners, Research and Students need to know about: >> Learn what Business Process is and how to get started >> Explore the BPM Body of Knowledge >> In-depth look at the Process Anatomy, Semantics and Ontology >> Find out how to link Strategy to Operation with value driven BPM >> Uncover how to establish a way of Thinking, Working, Modelling and Implementation >> Explore comprehensive Frameworks, Methods and Approaches >> How to establish a Center of Excellence >> Discover how to apply Social BPM, Sustainable and Evidence based BPM >> Learn how Value & Performance Measurement and Management >> Learn how to roll-out and deploy process >> Explore how to enable Process Owners, Roles and Knowledge Workers >> Discover how to Process and Application Modelling >> Uncover Process Lifecycle, Maturity, Alignment and Continuous Improvement >> Practical continuous improvement with the way of Governance

Erfolg ist kein Zufall. Die Autoren zeigen, wie es Porsche schaffte, zu einem Vorzeigeunternehmen der deutschen Wirtschaft zu werden. Weder Wirtschaftsflaute noch Börsenabsturz gingen dem Unternehmen an die Substanz - Lean Thinking sei Dank.