A Sample Business Process Hierarchy

For those of you who have heard about Business Process Hierarchies (BPH) but never quite knew what they were supposed to look like, here is a great example from D. Russell Sloan, excerpted from his article “How SAP Solution Manager Can Lead Your Company to Business Process Excellence.” The full article originally appeared in Solution Manager Expert in May 2011.

When starting your BPH workshops it is all too easy to get caught up in thinking about how your business operates rather than understanding the concepts of scenario, process, and process step. For this reason, I like to use fictitious business models to teach these concepts so that you can truly focus on them before adding the complexities of the business to the mix. Child Management Services, Inc., is one of my favorite fictitious companies because it’s kind of fun, virtually everyone can relate to it, and it illustrates the concepts your team needs for a successful BPH build.

Business Background

•    Child Management Services, Inc.
o    Providing quality summer day care for your children so you can go about your life
o    Providing o
utings and other healthy diversions to keep your children constructively occupied during the summer vacation

Business Scenario: Whine to Shine

•    Scenario Whine to Shine (W2S): Child is upset and complaining, and the business value is to get the child back to happy
•    Two scenario variations within the W2S scenario:
o    W2S — Ice cream (two variations: ice cream sundae and milkshake)
o    W2S — Entertaining diversion (two variations: movie and time at an amusement park)

Business Process Decomposition for Ice Cream Variation 1: Sundae

•    Processes
o    Receive awareness of upset child

• Steps
• Child exhibits long or frowny face
• Child begins to whine

o    Determine ice cream resolution

• Steps
• Inquire about ice cream’s ability to bring child joy
• Proceed to ice cream shop

o    Determine ice cream style

• Steps
• Offer choice: sundae or milkshake
• Acquire chocolate sundae

o    Receive happy feedback from child and parent

• Steps
• Observe ice cream-smeared smile on child’s face
• Revel in the fact that you’ll return the child happy to the parent
• Retu
  rn child to parent
• Get paid

Business Process Decomposition for Ice Cream Variation 2: Milkshake

•    Processes
o    Receive awareness of upset child

• Steps
• Child exhibits long or frowny face
• Child begins to whine

o    Determine ice cream resolution

• Steps
• Inquire about ice cream’s ability to bring child joy
• Proceed to ice cream shop

o    Determine ice cream style

• Steps
• Offer choice: sundae or milkshake
• Acquire milkshake for child

o    Receive happy feedback from child and parent

• Steps
• Revel in the fact that you’ll return the child happy to the parent
• Return child to parent
• Get paid

D. Russell Sloan’s full article is a great introduction to Business Process Decomposition and how to use SAP Solution Manager to apply it. Sign in to Solution Manager Expert to read the full text.