Business process management is concerned with the identification/documentation, (optimizing) design, implementation, control and improvement of operational processes in all sorts in businesses. The optimization process focuses not so much on technical issues, but rather on organizational aspects such as strategic orientation, organizational culture and providing a sense of involvement and leadership for those involved in the process. Business process management is thus one of the core competences involved in the field of strategic company management. The individual volumes in the "Executive Education" series are designed in the form of tutorial notes and are intended to be used for independent learning of the modular subject-matter and for rapid revision of the relevant lectures.

Dr. Moreen Heine is Junior Professor of Business Information Systems, specializing in digital government, at the University of Potsdam. Stephan A. Rehder was formerly a research assistant for UP Transfer Ltd. at the University of Potsdam.