Chapter 8. Process performance measurement

If you measure it, you can manage it! In line with this idea, the current chapter explains which performance dimensions can be used to measure a business process throughout its lifecycle and beyond. We also make the link to higher-level corporate strategies in order to show the ultimate purpose of business processes (as value chains) for serving an organization’s business value and thus reaching higher-end objectives. Based on a holistic process performance framework with three levels, six dimensions and 12 sub-dimensions, we gradually guide the reader through a plethora of possible process-related metrics to fully capture true process performance. Besides a strategic and operational level, we also call for more attention toward the sustainability performance of business processes. Our intention is, however, not prescriptive given the fact that performance objectives are inherently strategy-related and thus organization-dependent. Nevertheless, any organization is challenged to obtain high-performant business processes, in whatever meaning that may be.