Top-down decomposition
When you need to carry out a new business process which has never been done before or when you need to collect new indices, there is no need to model the whole business process in detail. The network of the business process is modelled while the process is running. The initiator starts the business process, and employees involved in it can create local business processes at their levels. The initiator of the main business process specifies what indices of the companys work are necessary for him/her, in what format and when they should be delivered, who is the provider of the indices.
At the next step the provider can increase the quantity of indices and, if necessary, can create a local business process, with subsequent providers of the more specialized data. Thus, the decomposition of the business process is done while it is running and the necessary indices are set by the initiator of the business process.
The adjustable system of reporting is built from the the top downwards and assumes the decomposition of indices in accordance with: the business owners requirements, strategic and operational tasks assigned to the top-managers, tasks for the departments, the scope of governance of every position. The topmost manager of the company is the architect of the system, he/she sets the idicies necessary for his/her managerial decisions and descends the indices to a lower level, a level of his deputies or functionally specialized managers. At this lower level the functionally specialized manager splits up the asked indices and formalizes the request for either his subordinates, or the same level managers, or the out-of-company sources, to get the information needed to provide the valid data timely and in a required format to the top-manager.
Before requesting the data from the employees, the functionally specialized manager can query the data warehouse. If the data is not found in the data warehouse, it is possible to query other databases of the company.
If the extended search shows that there is no required data, the functionally specialized manager creates a local business process and sets for his subordinates or the same level managers the time, the format and the level of precision for the data to be provided locally. The properties set in the local business process include the data provider, the frequency of providing the data, the rules for processing the data. The business process, thus, comprises a number of formalized requests with the set input forms and rules for collecting and processing the data, the business process is saved into the database.
The extent of indices decomposition and of number of local business processes, branching out from the main one, depend on the size of an enterprise, the sphere of operation, the number of structural/manufacturing departments, on how detailed reporting should be.
