5.9 Key Terms

• Assignable Variation: Variation due to identifiable causes such as faulty equipment or human error that can be reduced or eliminated.
• Automation: The use of equipment or systems to perform processes with minimal human intervention.
• Backward Integration: A type of vertical integration where a company gains control over its suppliers.
• Batch Flow Process: A process structure that produces moderate volumes of similar products in groups or batches with some flexibility and setup times.
• Business process is a structured network of interrelated activities that utilize available resources to transform inputs into valuable outputs.
• Capital intensity refers to the extent to which a production process relies on equipment and technology relative to human labour.
• Continuous Flow Process: A highly standardized process structure used for uninterrupted, high-volume production such as oil refining.
• Degree of vertical integration reflects how many of these activities a firm chooses to perform internally rather than outsourcing
• Fixed Automation: Hard automation used for repetitive, high-volume tasks with little flexibility.
• Flexible Automation: Soft automation that allows for adaptable equipment capable of handling multiple product configurations.
• Forward Integration: A type of vertical integration where a company gains control over distribution or retail channels.
• Job Shop Process: A flexible process used for small batches of custom products, often requiring skilled labour and varied workflows.
• Labour Content: The amount of human effort and skill required in a process.
• Line Flow Process: A standardized, high-volume production process with a fixed sequence of operations, typical in assembly lines.
• Operational Processes: These are the core value-generating activities of the business. They encompass functions such as procurement, production or service delivery, marketing, and sales.
• Process: A structured set of activities that transforms inputs into outputs to create value.
• Process Charts: A documentation tool that visually represents the steps and activities in a process along with their characteristics.
• Process Documentation: The recording and visualization of how work is performed to ensure consistency and facilitate improvement.
• Process Flow Diagrams: Visual representations showing the flow of activities and decisions within a process.
• Process Management: The planning, execution, control, and improvement of business processes to meet organizational goals.
• Process Structure: The configuration or architecture of a process, including flow, volume, flexibility, and labour requirements.
• Process Variation: Deviations in process outcomes due to product variety, demand shifts, randomness, or assignable causes.
• Product Customization: Tailoring a product or service to meet specific customer requirements, often involving customer input.
• Project Process: A highly flexible, low-volume process used for unique, complex tasks such as construction or software development.
• Random Variation: Unpredictable variation that occurs naturally in any process and cannot be completely eliminated.
• Resource flexibility refers to the ability of an organization’s resources—namely, its workforce, facilities, and equipment—to adapt to changing operational requirements.
• Self-Service: A model in which customers perform tasks traditionally handled by the service provider to reduce costs and increase convenience.
• Strategic Implications: The broader effects of process decisions on efficiency, cost, quality, responsiveness, and competitive advantage.
• Structural Variation: Predictable variation in demand, such as seasonality or market trends.
• Supporting Processes: Business functions like HR or IT that support core operations but do not directly add customer value.
• Swim Lane Diagrams: A type of process flow diagram that visually separates activities by function, role, or department.
• Time and Location Determination: The aspect of process design that accounts for when and where a service or product is delivered.
• Types of Automation: The classification of automation into fixed (hard) or flexible (soft) based on adaptability and task specificity.
• Types of Business Processes: Categories of processes including upper-management, operational, and supporting.
• Types of Flexibility: Product and volume flexibility that allow operations to handle a range of outputs and demands.
• Types of Vertical Integration: The forms of integration—backward, forward, and balanced—that define a firm’s control over its supply chain.
• Upper-Management Processes: Processes that guide strategic direction and organizational governance.
• Variable Cost: The cost that changes with the level of output, typically higher in flexible, labour-intensive processes.
• Volume Flexibility: The ability to adjust output levels efficiently in response to changes in demand.

OpenAI. (2025, June 13). ChatGPT. [Large language model]. https://www.chatgpt.com Prompt: Provide a list of key terms, with definitions, for the following content.