Definitions:

A business process consists of a set of activities that are performed
in coordination in an organizational and technical environment. These
activities jointly realize a business goal. Each business process is enacted by
a single organization, but it may interact with business processes performed
by other organizations.
After a first consideration of business processes, their constituents, and their
interactions, the view is broadened. Business process management not only
covers the representation of business processes, but also additional activities.


Business process management includes concepts, methods,
and techniques to support the design, administration, configuration, enactment,
and analysis of business processes.
The basis of business process management is the explicit representation of
business processes with their activities and the execution constraints between
them. Once business processes are defined, they can be subject to analysis,
improvement, and enactment.

A business process management system is a generic software
system that is driven by explicit process representations to coordinate the
enactment of business processes.

The process consists of a set of activities performed in a coordinated manner.
The coordination between the activities is achieved by an explicit process
representation using execution constraints. The process starts with the company
receiving an order, followed by activities in concurrent branches. In one
branch, the invoice is sent and the payment is received; in the other branch,
the products are shipped. When both branches complete their activities, the
order is archived, and the business process terminates.
When the business process terminates, the reseller has processed an incoming
order, including shipping the product and receiving the payment, which
realizes a business goal of the reseller.
While there are several graphical notations for business process modelling,
their essence is quite similar. This introductory chapter uses a simplified variant
of the Business Process Modeling Notation. In this notation, activities
are represented by rounded rectangles, marked with the name of the activity.