The process approach to management defines the consideration of a company’s commercial activity as a set of business processes that are interconnected by the company's mission and the purpose of its activity.
In modern conditions, more and more companies come to the conclusion that it is possible to manage a business as efficiently as possible not as a set of separate functions, but as a set of business processes, which are the essence of the business. This approach has been applied in management relatively recently in connection with increasing competition and an increase in the dynamics of the external environment. He aims to increase business flexibility, reduce reaction time to market changes, improve performance and achieve goals more fully.
Nevertheless, the process approach to management is not the only possible option, as there are other approaches - situational or systemic, for example. The system considers the company organization as a community of interconnected elements that are focused on achieving goals under regularly changing conditions. The situational approach claims that the application of certain methods and actions is always determined based on the situation.
Process approach to management: implementation features at the enterprise
The process of implementing this approach at the company takes place according to the following steps:
a network of key business processes is identified (in the form in which they are at the beginning of the use of the approach);
processes are ranked by significance level, a preliminary model is created;
there is an analysis of all processes and the identification of “bottlenecks,” that is, problem areas that should be worked out most carefully;
Based on the findings, models are constructed that show the ideal flow of the process.
This innovation can be introduced both in the entire enterprise and in a certain area of it.
Process approach: basic principles
Perceptions of business as a system:
the enterprise in any form is considered as a system, including its development;
the solution of local problems does not change the system; only the entire population as a whole can be changed.
Perception of activity as a process:
any activity can be improved - this is the goal pursued by process management;
in any activity there is a division according to the availability of material resources, personnel, time and so on.
Development of standards and introduction of the principle of transparency of responsibility:
any activity is aimed at obtaining a result by converting input products to output;
in each process, the supplier of input and output products must be determined - this is necessary to determine the responsibility. Also, the input and output product has its own consumer who is interested in its maximum quality.
Standardization and transparency of responsibility:
responsibility for creating the system lies with the top management of the company;
each process has its own owner, who is responsible for the quality of its implementation;
all processes must be standardized and transparent so that a problem can be quickly found.
The process approach to management includes a description of the business itself as a set of processes, as well as a system for monitoring, improving and managing these processes. We can say that to apply the process approach, a description, optimization and automation of processes is needed. This can be done most efficiently using special systems. A particularly process-based approach to management helps in those units where a high level of standardization is initially required and where all processes are as detailed as possible — these are accounting, economic, planning, and so on.