What is meant by Process hierarchies?
Process hierarchies are structural representations of business processes in a tiered or hierarchical form. They show the relationship and ranking between different processes and subprocesses within a company. These hierarchies help in breaking down complex processes into understandable and manageable levels, allowing for clear definition and optimization of responsibilities and workflows.
Typical Functions of Software in the Area of Process Hierarchies:
- Hierarchical Modeling: Creation and visualization of processes in a hierarchical structure, encompassing main processes, subprocesses, and activities.
- Process Mapping: Representation of the relationships and dependencies between different processes and their subprocesses.
- Documentation and Management: Management of process documentation, including detailed descriptions, flowcharts, and responsibilities.
- Process Optimization: Identification of improvement opportunities through analysis of the hierarchy and interactions between processes.
- Role and Responsibility Assignment: Assignment of roles and responsibilities for each process and subprocess to ensure clarity and accountability.
- Versioning and Change Management: Tracking of changes and versions of process hierarchies to ensure the information remains current and accurate.
- Integration with Other Systems: Capability to integrate with other enterprise systems, such as ERP or BPM, to ensure a consistent and company-wide process overview.
- Reporting and Analysis: Generation of reports and analyses to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of processes at different hierarchy levels.
Examples:
- A software for creating process hierarchies that helps a manufacturing company break down and optimize its production processes into main, sub, and subprocesses.
- A tool that allows a service company to visualize and manage the hierarchical structure of its customer service processes.
- A platform that assists a financial company in representing and analyzing its complex settlement processes in a structured hierarchy.