---
title: Business Process
type: concept
tags: [bpm, definition, foundation]
sources: ["[[sources/2018-dumas-fundamentals-of-bpm]]", "[[sources/2026-calvanese-agentic-bpm-manifesto]]"]
created: 2026-04-13
updated: 2026-04-20
---

# Business Process

A **business process** is a collection of inter-related events, activities, and decision points that involve a number of actors and objects, and that collectively lead to an outcome of value to at least one customer ([[sources/2018-dumas-fundamentals-of-bpm]], §1.2).

## Ingredients (Dumas et al. 2018, Fig. 1.1)
- **Events** — things that happen instantaneously (message received, deadline reached).
- **Activities / tasks** — units of work consuming time and resources.
- **Decision points** — branching conditions.
- **Actors** — humans, organisations, software systems performing activities.
- **Objects** — physical or informational entities consumed, produced, or transformed.
- **Outcomes** — positive (value delivered to customer) or negative (rejection, failure).

## Parallel APM definition
The APM Manifesto ([[sources/2026-calvanese-agentic-bpm-manifesto]]) cites Weske 2024 and Dumas et al. 2018 as the canonical BPM definitions, then reframes business processes in APM as "sets of activities performed to jointly realize a business goal" — foregrounding the **goal** dimension, which traditional BPM leaves implicit in operational specifications.

## Outside-in counterpart: the customer's "job" as a process
[[entities/tony-ulwick|Ulwick]]'s Outcome-Driven Innovation claims that "**all functional jobs are processes and can be analyzed as such**" ([[sources/2009-ulwick-what-is-odi]], p. 10) — with a universal 8-step job map (Define · Locate · Prepare · Confirm · Execute · Monitor · Modify · Conclude). This produces the sharpest bridge between BPM and [[frameworks/jtbd|Jobs-to-Be-Done]]: the company's business process (inside-out) and the customer's job (outside-in) are two views of the same value exchange, and seams between them are where redesign opportunities live. See [[concepts/outcome-driven-innovation]].

## Related
[[concepts/bpm-lifecycle]] · [[concepts/process-architecture]] · [[concepts/agentic-bpm]] · [[concepts/outcome-driven-innovation]] · [[frameworks/jtbd]]