Managing in the New World of Process

The contemporary business world is replete with references to the concept of process-a noun denoting how work is done. Managers are encouraged to practice process improvement, process control, process reengineenng, process innovation, even process management. The editor of the Harvard Business Review urges readers to manage processes as diligently as they manage products. Some writers have even gone so far as to say that in the not-so-distant future, processes will be the only important aspect of organizational structure. In my experience, however, most managers have only a murky view of what business processes really are and how they relate to their own jobs. Few organizations have even achieved consensus in defining their key processes, let alone determined how far they should go in converting themselves to a process orientation. Almost all managers are confused about how the various approaches to process management relate to each other and to what extent they conflict or complement each other. This confusion is even more pronounced in the public sector. In business