Business processes are a series of structured, repeatable steps or activities that an organization follows to complete specific tasks. These processes describe how work is done from the initial trigger to the final result, across people, systems, and data.
Examples of business processes include order fulfillment, inventory replenishment, employee onboarding, expense approvals, and customer support handling. Information systems like ERPs help standardize and automate business processes, ensuring that tasks are executed consistently, efficiently, and with minimal errors.
A good business process is more than just a checklist of steps. It should be:
Well-designed processes reduce ambiguity and help teams work more confidently and independently.
Implementing and maintaining strong business processes can help organizations improve operational efficiency, reduce wasted effort, minimize errors, ensure consistent outcomes, ensure trackable and manageable progress, and supports scalability without relying on individual experience or memory.
Information systems play a key role in enforcing and supporting business processes. By combining forms, workflows, permissions, and automation, teams can build process-driven systems that reflect operational needs. Examples of information systems supporting business processes include:
Information systems make it easier for organizations to execute business processes.
