Business Process Innovation

A business process is a set of steps that a business goes through to create value for a “customer.” Every process is composed of three major components: one or more inputs, some activities, and one or more outputs.

• Inputs are the resources that go into the process at the start or at various points along the way.
• Activities transform Inputs into Outputs.
• Outputs (or Outcomes) — are the results of the activities performed.

The ability of a process to “create value” depends on the way in which its activities are designed to use inputs of people, technology, and information to produce outputs that are of value to customers. The sum of your firm’s business processes describes everything that it does.  In some cases, these processes are executed for your firm by third-parties to whom you’ve chosen to outsource certain business processes or portions of those processes.  Because they embody what you do, your processes largely determine your cost structure, your level of customer satisfaction, and the internal and external resources the firm needs. The Innovation@Work approach to business process innovation starts with the recognition that every process has customers — and that every customer “hires” the business process to execute a Job to be Done. A Job to Be Done (JTBD) is the purpose for which the customer buys a service.