Business processes refer to the manner in which work is organized, coordinated, and focused to produce a valuable product or service. Business processes also refer to the unique ways in which organizations coordinate work, information, and knowledge, and the ways in which management chooses to coordinate work. Every business can be seen as a collection of business processes.

To a large extent, the performance of a business firm depends on how well its business processes are designed and coordinated. Many business processes are tied to a specific functional area, such as sales and marketing, while others cross many different functional areas and require coordination across departments.

Figure 2-1

FIGURE 2-1 THE ORDER FULFILLMENT PROCESS Fulfilling a customer order involves a complex set of steps that requires the close coordination of the sales, accounting, and manufacturing functions.

1. Increasing the efficiency of existing processes
   
   
2. Enabling entirely new processes that are capable of transforming the business