Thinking Tri-laterally About Business Processes, Services and Business Models: An Innovation Perspective

We propose a new, integrated “way of thinking” about processes, services and business models. The starting point of this paper is that “getting things done” is the set of services the organization employs. These services are often broken, ineffective and/or misaligned with client/users needs. Any attempt to pre-emptively or reactively respond to market change or internal transformations must invariably rely on some of these (broken) services while, at the same time creating new ones that, in turn, make use of pre-existing services as building blocks. It is argued that services (both internal- and external-facing) are two things: a business process (the “how” of a service), and a mini-business in its own right (the “why” of the service). Each service has clients (the “who”) that, through choice or mandate, solve some, or all, of a problem they have. In short, a service (and its underlying process) represents a “value proposition” to the service consumer (client) that enables them to “get their job done.” A service is, in effect, a mini-business or “business within a business” and therefore is implicitly governed by a business model of the process/service owner, the “CEO” of that business. Adopting this perspective affords a fresh way to view “process” innovation. It can be top-down by considering its business model. Or middle-out, where a specific service for an internal or external client is examined for innovation potential. Or bottom up, where the business process that delivers the service is modified and, in so doing, alters the characteristics of the service being delivered to the client.