Process definition to initiate document management

It seems that processes are a key component of taxonomy construction and enablement. Generally speaking, we have four different types of processes: operating processes, support processes, management processes, and control processes.

Porter explored these issues in "Competitive advantage" under the general rubric of "value chain".

There are a few different standard process models including: APQC-PCF, SCC-SCOR, Canadian Municipal Reference Model, Exploration and Mining Business Process Reference Model, VCG-VRM, eTOM, and ACORD. In reviewing processes, one can identify a variety of different facets:

• does it exist with the enterprise?
• who is the owner (person or department)?
• what are the support systems?

Lehmann introduces some other categories (slide 29), including:

• value (core, secondary, low, outsourced, NA)
• asset type (operating, support, management, exception control, resolution control)
• use (routine, periodic, occasional, not used, unknown, new)
• complexity (simple, low, moderate, complex, highly complex)
• discipline (formal, informal, rely on 3rd party)
• automation (manual, semi-automated, fully-automated, rely on third party)
• documentation (detailed, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, undocumented, rely on third party)
• training (sufficient, insufficient, not available, not necessary, rely on third party)
• effectiveness (very effective, effective, adequate, not very effective, not at all effective)
• efficiency (very efficient, efficient, adequate, not very efficient, not at all efficient)
• ACTION (improve, consolidate, eliminate, benchmark, re-evaluate, design, outsource, insource, none)
• TIMING (immediately, near-term, long-term, unspecified)

This kind of exercise could be valuable during an early phase of a document management initiative. For example, IT could review these processes while enabling document management as a service. It would also be a valuable exercise when engaging with new business units.

With each business unit we could expand the discussion. Lambe suggests a variety of different facets that could be amenable to knowledge management, for example:

From Ranganathan:

• People and organizations (a controlled schedule)
• Things and parts of things
• Activity cycles
• Locations
• Time or sequence
• Subject matter (generally for a well defined discipline)

From Rosenfeld and Morville:

• Topic
• Product
• Document type
• Audience
• Geography
• Price

From Tiwana's Knowledge management toolkit:

• Activities
• Domain/subject matter
• Form (document, file, tacit, etc.)
• Type (document type)
• Products and services
• Time
• Location

Personally, I like to understand a few things from key business units:

• Document types they use
• Materials they use
• Activities or business processes
• How they describe locations (often linked to processes)
• How they describe times (also linked to processes)

So I guess I'm actually pretty close to Lambe on this one!