Process Organization (2)

The essential processes and the evolution’s levels

For the company, to be processed organized there are different evolution’s levels. When a company identify which one it is in, it can decide where to go next, in accordance with its operations and perspectives. In some companies, the evolution process happens level by level, in other companies it is possible to go straight to an advanced level.
There are five main levels from a pure functional model to a totally processed model.
In the level 1, the organization doesn’t even know exactly what process is and can identify just the processes in the manufacturing field, so the advantages can be done just inside the productions’ processes.
In the level 2, the organization identifies its processes, but based on its functional structure, so any improvement can just be done in aspects of time or in situations where a bottleneck is identified to improve its operational efficiency. Even though they already know their processes, they don’t know exactly which ones to choose to be the base of its new structure.
In the level 3, the organization has made improvements in its processes. Even though the idea of process owner exists, there is a vertical hierarchy, they still think about functions and the power is against the idea of horizontal management. There are gains in rationalizing the activities in the essential processes, once more technology is applied and activities that are not valuable to the final customer are eliminated.
In the level 4, the organization defines its processes and the resource allocation is made based on its processes that have an “owner”. However they still work in a traditional structure and even though they are starting to have good results, the process emphasis gives a discomfort in the organization. The main point now is to develop a new structure model, forgetting about the traditional functions and remaking the management strategy.
Finally, in the level 5, the organization is managed by its processes, functional departments quite doesn’t exists, goals are set up based on its processes and finally there is an integrated management of the essential processes. Its task now is to permanently monitor its business, making adjusts in the needed processes, tailoring the organization each new moment, as an alive organism.