ACCA P5 Advance Performance Management
Distinguish:
Business Activity: Single task – E.g. Raising purchase requisition,
receiving order
Business Process: Series of tasks which turns input into
output – Purchase of materials (Includes activities from raising purchase
requisition to receiving order and settlement of payment)
Business Function: Set of similar tasks – Procurement function
(Includes purchase of raw materials, machinery, vehicles, land and buildings.
Integration: the act or process of combining two or more
things so that they work together. Oxford Dictionary
Integration is the need of changing environment and growth
of organisation. Simply, business integration is not a new practice. The
invention of electricity, plastic, chemicals and information technology and its
integration into business has changed the way of operation of business.
Activity integration – E.g. integration of technology into
calculation (i.e. using calculators which replaces manual calculation) Use of
new tools like electric saw which replace handsaw,
Process integration – E.g. introduction of new automated
processing line which replaces old practice
Functional integration – E.g. integration of information
technology into supply chain
Business integration – E.g. E-business
Synopsys from the article:
Process integration:
A business process consists of related sets of activities
that are performed by human and software actors according to business rules
that may be more or less stringently applied. The connection between the
software and human agents that perform a process is well integrated or
coordinated when the process is efficient, accurate, and appropriate to the
task at hand from a mechanistic, human, and organizational viewpoint. Moreover,
the process goals must align with those of the organization as a whole. This is
called within-process integration
Processes often cross departmental boundaries and can
therefore provide a coordination mechanism in the organization layer as
discussed below. This is called cross-functional coordination. Processes must
also be integrated / coordinated with each other. For example, the order entry
process needs to be integrated with accounts receivable and with the back end
processes that produce the product or service desired by the customer. This
form of integration is called internal process-to-process integration.
Finally, e-business demands that the internal processes of
the firm be integrated with those of its trading partners and customers.
External process integration means that the organization is able to connect its
internal processes seamlessly with those of its suppliers, intermediaries, and
customers. This is the basis of e-commerce.
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