Chapter 2. Business Process Pitfalls

Virtually everything that happens in an enterprise is the result of executing a business process. Filling orders, manufacturing goods, selling mortgages, and providing services all depend on the proper execution of business processes. As these core business processes constitute the very heart of the business, problems with them hurt the enterprise competitively and keep it from achieving its goals.

Despite the wide variety of business processes, there is a surprising similarity in the causes of their failure. What is common to most breakdowns is a simple lack of understanding about what the business process is supposed to be doing and what it is actually doing. In this age of enterprise-scale business processes ...

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