Chapter 7: Improving Business Services and Processes (12.5%)

Question 1

3 levels in the process model hierarchy (business process hierarchy):

Answer 1

Organisational / Enterprise level

Business process / Event-Response level

Task / Actor level

Question 2

enterprise level:

Answer 2

• represents high-level activities that together deliver a product/service to customers
• may be modelled using value stream or value chain diagrams

Question 3

event-response level:

Answer 3

• represents organisations’ business process response to an initiating event
• may be modelled using UML (unified modelling language) activity diagram notation with swimlanes
  or
  BPMN (business process model and notations)

Question 4

actor-task level:

Answer 4

• represents the sequence of actions performed by 1actor in 1 place at １point in time
• may be defined using both text + UML activity diagram notation

Question 5

reasons for modelling value streams + business processes

Answer 5

• clarify core activities required to deliver products + services to customers
• understand how a business process is carried out
• represent how each task relates to a business process + how each process relates to a value stream
• embed consistency + standardisation within an organisation
• recognise where ‘as-is’ is inefficient/ineffective to identify where improvements can be made
• demonstrate compliance with regulatory or standard bodies

Question 6

by definition a process…

Answer 6

has an input which the process transforms into an output.

Question 7

SIPOC stands for

and is used at what level in process hierarchy?

Answer 7

supplier
inputs
process
outputs
customer

used at enterprise level

Question 8

what is Porter’s value chain?

Answer 8

an alternative framework for building an ENTERPRISE view of processes

comprises 2 areas of activity: primary + support

Question 9

porter’s value chain, what are primary activities

Answer 9

activities handling business processes + tasks that together deliver the value proposition

e.g.
inbound logistics
operations
outbound logistics
marketing + sales
service

Question 10

porter’s value chain, what are support activities

Answer 10

activities handling business processes + tasks that support primary tasks

e.g.
firm infrastructure
HR
Tech development
procurement (managing suppliers of resources + services)

Question 11

The Value Proposition defines:

Answer 11

an organisations product or service and demonstrates to customers that we
understand and can satisfy their needs.

Question 12

Value proposition covers three key aspects which are:

Answer 12

Product or service attributes

Customer relationship aspects

Image and reputation

Question 13

The product attributes is broken down into five areas which are:

Answer 13

Functionality (features offered by product/service)

The Price (we charge)

Its Quality (how well the product performs)

Choice (the product range)

Availability or timing (tells customer about delivery times and overall product availability)

Question 14

Customer relationship aspects concerns:

Answer 14

relationship between organisation and its customers

(experience offered by an organisation throughout entire customer journey)

Question 15

The four aspects of the external environment are:

Answer 15

Suppliers
External Environment
Customer
Competition

Question 16

a business process is triggered by…

Answer 16

an event

Question 17

6 key components of a business process

Answer 17

1. the event that triggers the process
2. The tasks that make up the process
3. The process flow
4. The decision points
5. The actors that carry out the tasks
6. The outcome of the business process

Question 18

2 most popular standards for modelling business processes

Answer 18

UML (Unified Modelling Language)

BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation)

Question 19

UML diagrams are also known as…

Answer 19

swimlane diagrams

Question 20

elements of Business process model (UML)

Answer 20

drawn with horizontal swimlanes

each row on the diagram relates to work of 1 actor.

• normal to put the customer actor at the top of the diagram so they are usually read from top to
  bottom, and left to right.

Question 21

Reasons for business process models.

Answer 21

• represent the current process
• documentation
• training
• process improvement

Question 22

difference between business process model and actor-task level

Answer 22

business process model shows the work carried out to complete the business process but at an overview level of description.

The actor-task level of the process hierarchy concerns the work conducted within each
individual task

Question 23

how does BPMN differ from UML

Answer 23

extensive notation set available that provides additional detail regarding processes in BPMN

BMPN calls swimlanes ‘Pools’

decision gateways have further notation of ‘+’ (indicated parallel process flow’ and ‘O’ (represents a number of pathways, flow progresses along 1 or more of these pathways)

Question 24

what are the areas for analysis in actor-task level?

Answer 24

actor
event
input
output
costs
performance measures
steps

Question 25

generic business process improvement strategies (6 in total)

Answer 25

Simplification

Redesign

Bottleneck removal

Change task sequence

Redefine boundary

Automate processing

Question 26

what is the Six Sigma method

Answer 26

set of techniques used to improve process performance through applying statistical process control

Question 27

overall aim of Six Sigma method

Answer 27

eradicate performance deficiencies in business processes
(particularly those critical to meeting customer expectations)

Question 28

Six Sigma follows a 5 step approach called DMAIC. what does this stand for

Answer 28

Define (the problem)

Measure (the data)

Analyse (the data to understand why problems occur)

Improve (the process by addressing root causes)

Control (the effectiveness of the solution)

Question 29

what is customer journey mapping

Answer 29

technique used to represent all the touchpoints a customer has with an organisation while they’re receiving the products or services provided

Question 30

purpose of customer journey mapping

Answer 30

• offers a view of process improvement focused on how organisation presents itself externally to customers
• help organisations ensure proposed process improvements keep the customers in mind + identify where service offered to customers may be improved

Question 31

elements considered within a customer journey map

Answer 31

role (of customer)

Persona

Personal goal (outcome required by the persona)

Stages of customer journey (value stream/chain definition of high level stages)

Touchpoints (decomposition of high level stages into specific touchpoints between customer and organisation)

RAG assessment of touchpoints (colour coded using red (-ve), amber, green (+ve)

Emotional responses of persona (feedback that reflects emotional response to customer experience at each touchpoint)

Potential opportunities for improvement

Question 32

analysing ‘as-is’ business model

problems with business processes fall within 2 categories:

Answer 32

lack of customer focus

lack of organisation focus

Question 33

3 aspects for analysing the ‘as-is’ business model

Answer 33

Identifying problems

Analysing the handoffs

Analysing the tasks and procedures

Question 34

analysing ‘as-is’ business model

what problems can hand offs cause

Answer 34

• may cause info to be lost, communication to fail or work bottlenecks
• queues can form if 2 actors involved aren’t working to same timescale/priorities

identifying where hand offs occur + analysing to identify potential problems is a key element of business process improvement

Question 35

analysing ‘as-is’ business model

what are the areas to consider when analysing tasks and procedures

Answer 35

Duplication

Redundancy

Lack of standardisation

Inefficient work practises

Inappropriate measures