Unit 57 - Business Intelligence

2.4 Business and Business Processes

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Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit students will be able to:
• LO1 - Discuss business processes and the mechanisms used to
support business decision making
• LO2 - Compare the tools and technologies associated with
business intelligence functionality
• LO3 - Demonstrate the use of business intelligence tools and
technologies
• LO4 - Discuss the impact of business intelligence tools and
technologies for effective decision-making purposes and the
legal/regulatory context in which they are used.

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Learning outcome and assessment criteria

Pass Merit Distinction

LO1 Discuss business processes and the mechanisms
used to support business decision making
D1 Evaluate the benefits
P1 Examine, using M1 Differentiate between and drawbacks of using
examples, the terms unstructured and semi- application software as a
‘Business Process’ and structured data in an mechanism for business
‘Supporting Processes’. organization. processing.

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Content

▪ 2.4.1 Types of Business Processes

▪ 2.4.2 Methods for Improving Business Processes
▪ 2.4.3 Steps of Business Process Improvement

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What is a Business ?

A business is an organization or enterprising entity engaged in

commercial, industrial or professional activities. A company
transacts business activities through the production of a good,
offering of a service or retailing of already manufactured products. A
business can be a for-profit entity or a nonprofit organization that
operates to fulfill a charitable mission.

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Core Business Activities

• Crafting a budgets
• Accounting operations
• Marketing plans
• Growing sales
• Hiring employees
• Customer service

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 2.4.1 Types of Business Processes
• A business process is a series of steps performed by a group of
stakeholders to achieve a concrete goal. These steps are often
repeated many times, sometimes by multiple users and ideally in
a standardized and optimized way.

• In other words, a business processes can be defined as a

collection of linked tasks which find their end in the delivery of a
service or product to a client.

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2.4.1 Types of Business Processes

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2.4.1 Types of Business Processes

• Operational processes

• Supporting processes

• Management processes

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2.4.1 Types of Business Processes
Operational processes (or primary processes):

Operational or primary processes deal with the core business and

value chain. These processes deliver value to the customer by
helping to produce a product or service.
Eg – Manufacturing processes

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2.4.1 Types of Business Processes
Supporting processes (or secondary processes)

Support processes are the processes which do not deliver the final
product/ service to the client, but it creates an environment that is
suitable for the primary processes to function smoothly. These
processes do not directly generate value to the customer.

Eg – Finance business processes, human resource business

processes, marketing processes, technical support

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2.4.1 Types of Business Processes

Management processes

Management processes do not add value to the end customer.

These processes are more oriented to monitoring and analyzing
the business activities. These processes deal in up scaling the
business, introducing new verticals and bringing innovation to the
firm.
Eg – Administrative process

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2.4.2 Methods for Improving Business
Processes
Business process improvement is an approach to evaluate
and redesign existing business processes to improve
efficiency, enhance workflow and increase production.

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Benefits of Business Process Improvement

• Decrease Time
• Improve Output Quality
• Reduce Errors
• Lower Waste

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Methodologies and Tools for Business
Process Improvement
• Predictive Reasoning
• Automating processes
And other methods
• Six Sigma
• Lean Management
• Total Quality Management (TQM)
• Kaizen
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2.4.3 Steps of Business Process Improvement

1. Outline: What Needs to Change?

2. Analyze Pain Points
3. Redesign: Design the Process, Create a Strategy
4. Implement: Get It Done
5. Review and Possibly, Refine

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THANK YOU

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