In an increasingly competitive market, many organisations in Luxembourg are acknowledging the importance of monitoring and improving their business processes. This is evidenced by the results of KPMG’s Business Process Management Survey 2008, which was published at the end of last year. “It shows that an increasing number of companies having identified BPM as a fully-fledged function within their organisational charts,” says Vincent Koller, Partner KPMG Advisory, who co-authored the survey alongside David Dominique and Jean-Christophe Denis.

Different companies may have different names for their BPM departments, be it Efficiency Management, Quality Management, Process Change Management and may also have different reporting lines. But, says Koller, one thing they have in common is that they share the same objective. “That is to develop process awareness within their organisations and to use BPM competence, methodologies and tools to improve overall operational efficiency and the service quality provided both internally and externally, and hence to the final customers.”

There are numerous benefits to be gained from applying different BPM approaches. A global approach can provide a comprehensive overview of all processes and enable companies to document and centralise processes and procedures within one single database. A more specific approach will enable businesses to pinpoint specific issues relevant to particular processes and facilitate the implementation of appropriate solutions. BPM, the survey’s authors conclude, can also add value in other areas such as monitoring operational risks, setting up or improving internal control systems, or in sales as it increases the time-to-market implementation of new products.