ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the subject of business process management and focuses on process thinking. It shows a function-centric view of a business, where each function reports to the top management. The process-centric perspective helps to break down the functional boundaries to improve the information flow, and thus the flow of work, in an organization. Some examples of business processes are listed. The sales order process is also called the order-to-cash process, and it is by far the most important process in most organizations. It is also important to note that the sales order process cuts across many functions or departments like Sales, Inventory/Production, Logistics, and Accounting. The fruits of process thinking are realized in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. In order to execute important processes in an organization, an ERP system needs to have access to resources and information about them. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
