Each process has a number of steps which constitute the workflow. In a world in which workflows accumulated bureaucratically over decades, substantial performance improvement could be achieved by simply rationalizing the workflow. In the short-term BPR produced real benefits by reducing the workflow's cost and cycle time. In such cases, desired efficiency gains are lost. Organizations that have redesigned the workflow have accomplished only a first step in boosting performance.
Every business process has two dimensions, a work process and a knowledge process.
The work process defines the work steps that are performed. The knowledge process addresses the judgments that must be made when conducting that work. It is the way in which accumulated knowledge relative to the conduct of work is captured, validated and communicated. Performance improvement requires as much focus on the knowledge to do the work as on the work itself. Tune each process to the strategy.