In several architectural frameworks, there is only one meta-object that represents the process (eg ArchiMate and AG, Arkitekturgemenskapen). No matter how big or small the object is, the same object is used. It may seem easy to avoid keeping track of different objects, but in practice it is the opposite.
Everyone who has mapped processes knows that the smallest building blocks consist of activities, simply expressing what a person does at a time without time slots. Nothing valuable comes out of an activity, but the closest you can get to any form of output is an event.
The example Shop Groceries gives examples of three activities:
- Pick goods
- Pack goods
- Pay for goods
Common to these is that no activity individually creates any valuable output, but when you put them together, an output arises in the form of a Lunchbox - valuable and tangible.
In the same way, the grouping can take place in a few more steps in ever larger groupings.
After mapping a process at different levels and grouping all objects, it is easy for all objects to end up with holes about noise in the repository. All of a sudden, it is difficult to distinguish "Shop Groceries " (level 4) from "Pay for goods" (level 5) even though one is actually part of the other.
Prime Arch, which is based on the best of the most used EA frameworks, including the Zachman Framework, has chosen to have different objects to distinguish the objects from each other in size.
An analysis of some other frameworks shows that this is common and can thus be seen as a standard.
We have chosen to analyze five different standards:
- LEAD (from LEADing Practice)
- SAP
- Traction (from Cordial)
- APQC
- ASCM (stands behind SCOR)
For those who want to read properly on the subject, we recommend the book "The Complete Business Process Handbook Volume 1" where there are excellent definitions of the objects used by LEAD at different levels.
The Complete Business Process Handbook is the most comprehensive body of knowledge on business processes with revealing new research. Written as a practical guide for Executives, Practitioners, Managers and Students by the authorities that have shaped the way we think and work with process today.
Some observations:
Levels
Five levels are applied in several of these, where activity is the smallest object at level 5 and process area the largest object at level 1.
Naming
Most people seem to agree that "activity" represents level 5 and that these are grouped into "process steps" at level 4 ("process step" in English).
At level 3, "process" is used, although several standards prefer to clarify with the word "business".
At levels 1 and two, "area" and "group" are used ("area" and "group") as these represent groupings of processes and they are not "real" processes.
A couple of "deviations" that are worth commenting on:
- In SAP, "Business Process Variant" is at level 3 and "Business process" is actually at level 4. Our conclusion is that these are rather at level 3 with the justification that a variant of a process is a horizontal copy rather than a vertical detailing.
- In Traction, "E2E Process" is used at level 2 and "Sub process" at level 3. We agree that E2E processes should be represented at level 2, but that it is more about a specific flow of processes than a specific process. In Prime Arch and LEAD, this is solved by distinguishing between process group (P21) and process flow (P22). Traction name selection at level 2 thus affects their naming at level 3 where they use the prefix "sub" to mark the affiliation to a process flow.
- APQC is strict in its hierarchy down to level 4 and there are several cases with minor details but that it is more about variants at the same level. "Activity" for APQC corresponds in terms of level to "process steps" in other standards.
- ASCM has no ambition to map with more than three levels, and "Activity" for ASCM corresponds in terms of level to "process" in other standards.
Conclusions
If you want to use levels in the process hierarchy, you should use the following levels and naming:
- Process area
- Process group
- Process
- Process step
- Activity
Nice mapping against Prime Arch's hierarchy!
Links
SAP: The Standard Process Model meets SolMan 7.2 Process Management
Traction: Traction 3.0 – uppdateringarna 2020 (Video)
APQC: Understanding the elements of APQC’s process classification framework (PDF)