Business Process Change, 4th Edition

Appendix 4

Processes and capabilities

There has been much discussion on the relationship between processes and capabilities. We can’t offer a definitive solution to this ongoing debate because some of the definitions of “capabilities” are incompatible with one another. What follows, however, is our take on what we believe to be the most useful approach to defining and using capabilities in a process-focused environment.

Let’s start with some definitions.

Process (business process). A business process describes how work is accomplished in an organization. The work performed in a business process transforms physical or informational inputs into outputs. A business process is comprised of a set of activities, each of which may have its own set ...