Business Process Models

This chapter explains business process models. Business process modeling is the third of the four business modeling disciplines. A business process model describes tasks and the ordering of these tasks: what work is performed and when it is performed. A business process model also captures who performs the tasks. A business process model describes the work that is being performed, the order in which work is performed, and who performs the work. A business process model includes a rich set of modeling elements—activities, gateways, events, and flows— that describe the complexity of a process. A business process is a collection of step-by-step tasks that a business uses when it performs its work. For example, all restaurants pursue the same goals of serving food for hungry customers, but they differ in the details of their business processes. They greet customers differently, they take reservations differently, and they prepare dinners differently.