This article summarizes the study “Process orientation: Conceptualization and Measurement” by Kohlbacher M. and Gruenwald S., to be published in the Business Process Management Journal in 2011, Volume 17, Issue 2.
The paper empirically explores the “building blocks” (“components”) of business process management. The article first considers the following definitions of business process management:

• The approach of process orientation emphasizes processes as opposed to hierarchies (McCormack and Johnson, 2001).
• Process orientation means focusing on business processes ranging from customer to customer instead of placing emphasis on functional structures (Reijers, 2006).
• Process management capitalizes on improving an organization’s efficiency through high-level coordination of an organization’s activities in a rationalized system of end-to-end processes (Benner and Tushman, 2002).
• The process management philosophy is a comprehensive problem-solving heuristic that is process-oriented, customer-focused, fact-based, and participative throughout a firm (Winter, 1994).
• Business process management incorporates the discovery, design, deployment, execution, interaction, control, analysis and optimization of business processes (Smith and Fingar, 2003).

Based on these definitions, the paper builds up a model consisting of different business process management aspects. The final empirical analysis of the model suggests that process management is a concept consisting of seven “building blocks” (“components”):

1. design and documentation of business processes
2. management commitment towards process orientation
3. the process owner role
4. process performance measurement
5. a corporate culture in line with the process approach
6. application of continuous process improvement methodologies, and
7. process-oriented organizational structure.

At present, many managers are looking for ways to make their organization more process-oriented. The findings of the paper indicate that business process management involves many different aspects, ranging from design and documentation of business processes to process-oriented organizational structure. The developed model in the paper has potential use for an organization to review its internal progress of process-oriented organizational design and has potential use for process assessment, either as an alternative or supplementary measurement of process capability and organizational maturity.