What do we mean by "business process"? We typically mean a collection of business activities that takes one or more kinds of input and creates an output that is of value to the business. It is the focus by management theorists on the elements of this definition that has led us to BPM. This quotation from W. Edwards Deming, founder of the quality movement, is illuminating:
"If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing.