Chapter 1. Business process definition

This chapter has a dual purpose in this Handbook. On the one hand, it presents an overview of research developments into business process definition, as this forms a basis for business process management as a scientific discipline. On the other hand, the chapter provides a basis for other chapters in this Handbook by providing a broad overview of topics related to process definition. In doing so, we provide examples of research to illustrate these topics - given the broad scope, without the intention to be complete. In this chapter, we first address the importance and status of process-oriented thinking in business, contextualizing it with the notion of digital transformation in business. We continue with a discussion of the various interpretations of business process definition. Then, we devote attention to research into the main elements of business processes: control flow and activities, actors and resources, and data, objects, and documents. Next, we discuss the difference between process design and process redesign. We end this chapter with looking into process architectures, that is, business process definition ‘in the large’ and its relation to enterprise architecture and information system architecture.