Real-World BPM - Operational Triple

The triple intersection linking the Value Driver Fields “Balancing”, “Optimization” and “Configuration” visualizes a very vital element in keeping projects in balance and improvement initiatives at all levels aligned.

In only very few organisations the included issues are dealt with in any organized or systematic manner. This is of course not because they are deliberately ignored, but simply because their existence or interrelationship is not understood and the responsibility for handling them, therefore, not allocated.

The BPM function must in an active manner seek information about all bottom-up change and optimization initiatives, and try to balance these against the company process architecture, which reflects the relationship with strategically anchored and value-aligned strategies.

What the Value Driver Model© tells a BPM function through the Operational Triple-intersection is that the advantages of a BPM-based business balancing analysis must be actively promoted. The Value Driver Field “Optimization” exist as an issue shared by “Core Business” and “Capacity Management”. The way this is typically handled by the eventually “siloed” organization leads to business optimization and capacity development based on a narrow and interpretation of the business. The introduction of BPM to deal with the silos means focusing on the Operational Triple-Intersection instead of simple "Optimization" anchored within "Core business" alone.

To achieve and continuously maintain a solid process architecture the BPM-function must see to that all inconsistency is discovered and brought to the attention of process owners, strategic and other identified. A strategic process owner will then make sure that both development programmes and the line of control within the core business are made aware of the issues. Such a mechanism can be seen as a “pressure test” with a dual value. Thus, it ensures the validity of the process architecture and, at the same time provides local initiatives and strategic programmes a clear reference to the end-to-end value chains of the strategically identified business processes.

The “operational triple intersection” really does exist, and the BPM function has to deal with it and the logical meaning of it has to be acknowledged by business. Again, the field would not exist without the Business Sphere “Business Process Management” and BPM is, logically, the aspect to look towards to do better. Not understanding nor properly introducing BPM is one of the key reasons for the often-experienced disappointing result from investment projects.

Typically, the public sector is blamed for particular bad project performance, for instance when key digitization projects are overspending, delayed or simply unsuccessful. The Value Driver Model©, however, claims that the problems will exist in all organizations where BPM is not in place, and the necessary structure for handling value creation and the vital cross functional business-balance is absent. BPM is not to be ignored anywhere and the BPM function should do it utmost to keep it on the agenda.