University Accounting Information System: BPM and Workflow Analysis

This assignment delves into the comparison and contrast between Business Process Management (BPM) and Workflow Management. The study begins by establishing the premise that BPM and workflow are intrinsically linked, with workflow being a modeling component of BPM. The assignment then explores how BPM encompasses organizational process mapping, process modeling, process execution, and process improvement. It defines BPM as a structured approach to managing both automated and non-automated business processes to align with strategic goals. The paper highlights the benefits of both BPM and workflow, including improved agility, increased efficiency and visibility, and reduced costs. The conclusion emphasizes the relevance of BPM, particularly in large organizations, while acknowledging the potential for using workflows for micro-level business analysis. The assignment provides a concise overview of the concepts and benefits of BPM and workflow management within the context of an accounting information system.

Running head: ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM
Accounting Information System
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

2
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Comparing and contrasting BPM and workflow.............................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
Reference List..................................................................................................................................4

3
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM
Introduction
This study deals with comparing and contrasting between two concepts such as Business
Process Management and Workflow Management (Rosemann & vom Brocke, (2015). In this
particular assignment, emphasis has been given on understanding the fact that both BPM and
workflow are the same.
Comparing and contrasting BPM and workflow
Business Process Management and Workflow is the same thing and are not separated by
any means (Reijers, Vanderfeesten & van der Aalst, 2016). Workflow is the modeling part of
Business Process Management. From the perspective, it is noted that Business Process
Management includes organizational process mapping that discovers the process landscape.
BPM details process modeling that designs how the work works. BPM manages process
execution for team management. It requires automating process execution by using software as
well as managing process improvement in the most appropriate way.
Business Process Management is a disciplined approach for identifying, designing as well
as controlling both automated and non-automated business process for achieving consistent,
target results that aligns with the strategic goals of business enterprise (Ouyang et al., 2015).
Furthermore, Business Process Management takes into account deliberative as well as
collaborative and increasingly technology-aided that manages end-to-end business process that
drive business results, for meeting the business objectives with more agility. Workflow
management is usually a sequence of operations or tasks that organizes staff human resources
into a flow of work as well as responsibilities towards the completion of the objectives.

4
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM
Therefore, workflow management is one of the implementation systems that provide the
infrastructure for automating as well as monitoring and improving the workflow management in
the most appropriate way.
Benefits of BPM and Workflow management
Both BPM as well as workflow have certain advantages that include:
Improved agility- One of the benefits of both BPM and workflow is improved agility.
When BPM is operated within the business process, it is noted that there will be more
agility as well as able to cope up with respond to changes in the present competitive
business environment (Jeston & Nelis, 2014). Improved agility will make the business
more robust by nature and be able to solve problems and ready to pounce on
opportunities.
More efficiency and visibility- One of the benefits of both BPM and workflow is more
efficiency and visibility. After adopting BPM, it will be easy to design ways for
identifying and eliminating bottlenecks in the process and reducing lead time.
Furthermore, the transparency means management needs to keep a track on where issues
are occurring and potentially viable in real time (Harmon, 2015).
Reduced costs- One of the benefits of BPM and workflow is reduced costs. With more
efficient process, companies can easily save money that was initially being wasted on
manual inputting as well as inefficient practices (Chang, 2016).

5
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM
Conclusion
At the end of the study, it is concluded that in case of large organization, BPM will be
more relevant and has larger scope at the same time. It may happen that organization may end up
using workflows for analyzing the business at levels (micro-level).
Reference List
Chang, J. F. (2016). Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC
Press.
Harmon, P. (2015). The scope and evolution of business process management. In Handbook on
business process management 1(pp. 37-80). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Jeston, J., & Nelis, J. (2014). Business process management. Routledge.
Ouyang, C., Adams, M., Wynn, M. T., & ter Hofstede, A. H. (2015). Workflow management.
In Handbook on Business Process Management 1 (pp. 475-506). Springer Berlin
Heidelberg.
Reijers, H. A., Vanderfeesten, I., & van der Aalst, W. M. P. (2016). The effectiveness of
workflow management systems. International Journal of Information Management: The
Journal for Information Professionals, 36(1), 126-141.
Rosemann, M., & vom Brocke, J. (2015). The six core elements of business process
management. In Handbook on business process management 1 (pp. 105-122). Springer
Berlin Heidelberg.