Process versus Service.... Fiiiiiiight!!!!

I read this comment recently in a BPM forum: "Learn the language of the senior management and find that they do not talk 'processes', they talk functions".

This comment made me wonder, is there a process versus service divide between senior management within enterprise firms and those delivering the service?

If so, who is 'right' here? From my experience, 'do-ers', front-line staff and subject matter experts do indeed tend to work in a 'process-centric'/'process-oriented' manner (since that’s the world that they occupy), whereas senior management, as the comment above seems to suggest, seem more focused on the ultimate function or service.

I may well be wrong here, but ultimately I feel the trouble is the relationship between processes and the ultimate service offering is typically many to one (many process components fulfil one service offering) – those at the top of the food chain don’t have the bandwidth to focus holistically on granulation – merely the ultimate service offering that they champion.

My thoughts are, when service offerings ultimately fail the customer, they do so because the underlying processes that drive the service are too clunky and possibly not even ‘concrete’, static, accessible, fit-for-purpose and maybe even transient in nature (i.e. there may well be a rough set of processes; but then there’s that bit that Joe Bloggs does, and then the enrichment that Jane Doe normally does every Tuesday that has an even number date, and after that we need to get Department X to add their 5 cents worth).

Without having visibility and control over a complete end-to-end process topography, understanding the full service-machine can be a headache. And if one component fails; the result can be nasty.

Something I think BPM technology does quite well (and obviously PRPC is my main reference point), is allow an agile platform through which senior management can command service improvement (as is their desire), which is ultimately achieved by using business experts to bring processes directly in to the servicing backbone (rather than have such processes reside solely in their minds), and so enforce a kind of harmonious process conformity – after all, as a customer myself, something I find more infuriating than just general poor service is inconsistent service; the end result of capricious processes.

In the BPM world, something I would like to see gain momentum is the recognition of processes as components of service – so improving service can then become about replacing, adding or inter-changing process components rather than having service commandments dictated to the lower-echelons, with then middle management and the business experts having to rely on a ‘rabbit-out-of-hat’ approach to getting the customer serviced to the letter of the overarching service promise.

With the opportunity of bringing the time-to-market ratio for end-to-end solutions down to sub 90-days, and then near immediate (agile) change being possible through business-led customization & configuration, perhaps 2010 is the year we will start to see granular process improvement really driving customer success?

What do you think?