Unit rationale, description and aim
Enterprise business processes must be lean, customer-focused, and aligned with organisational strategy to meet the commercial, regulatory, and ethical demands of today’s global marketplace. Business Process Management (BPM) provides the concepts, methods, and techniques for designing, analysing, improving, managing, and configuring business processes that deliver value to customers and stakeholders.
In this unit, students develop an understanding of BPM foundations and learn how processes can be modelled, analysed, redesigned, and improved to enhance efficiency, quality, and customer experience. The unit emphasises practical capability: students will model processes using industry standards (e.g., BPMN), evaluate process performance and bottlenecks, and propose evidence-based improvements using BPM software tools in realistic organisational scenarios.
The unit aims to equip students with both conceptual knowledge and applied skills in business process modelling and improvement. It also develops students’ capacity to evaluate process change in terms of profitability and service quality, while considering worker participation, subsidiarity, and broader contributions to the common good.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Explain BPM concepts, process lifecycles, and mode...
Learning Outcome 01
Model and analyse business processes using BPM too...
Learning Outcome 02
Design and justify improved (“to-be”) processes us...
Learning Outcome 03
Critically evaluate BPM initiatives with respect t...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
- Process orientation and the BPM lifecycle
- Lean, customer-focused enterprise processes
- BPMN standards and modelling conventions
- Representing roles, events, gateways, and exceptions
- Discovering and documenting “as-is” processes
- Stakeholder-centred process elicitation methods
- Qualitative analysis of waste, bottlenecks, and risk
- Quantitative analysis using time, cost, and capacity metrics
- Process KPIs and performance measurement
- Redesign principles and improvement patterns
- BPM software tools for modelling and validation
- Ethical, organisational, and societal impacts of process change
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to address unit learning outcomes and develop graduate capabilities in accordance with university assessment requirements. Assessment 1 is an individual case-study task focused on modelling and diagnosing an “as-is” enterprise process using BPMN and BPM tools. It builds foundational competence and includes integrity safeguards through personalised case materials, required modelling-decision evidence, and brief oral verification. Assessment 2 is an individual process analysis portfolio in which students apply qualitative and quantitative BPM techniques to evaluate performance and develop evidence-based improvements. Assessment 3 is a group redesign project requiring students to produce and justify a “to-be” process solution that improves efficiency and customer value while considering worker participation, subsidiarity, and ethical and societal impacts. Together, the assessments progressively develop conceptual understanding, practical modelling and analysis skills, and evaluative judgment. To pass this unit, students must achieve an overall mark of at least 50%.
Overview of assessments
Assessment 1: Case Study Analysis – “As-Is” Proce...
Assessment 1: Case Study Analysis – “As-Is” Process Modelling
Students analyse a unit-provided organisational case and produce an “as-is” BPMN model supported by a short analytical report identifying key stakeholders, customer pain points, and performance issues. It requires process evidence (annotated modelling decisions linked to case exhibits).
Assessment Method: Case Study
Artefact: Written
25%
Assessment Task 2: Process Analysis Portfolio T...
Assessment Task 2: Process Analysis Portfolio
Teams redesign a complex enterprise process from a realistic scenario, delivering a justified “to-be” model, improvement rationale, and implementation considerations. The submission includes a report and presentation that evaluate expected efficiency and quality gains, impacts on workers and customers, and ethical/social trade-offs. 50% of the assessment mark will be allocated based on individual contribution and 50% based on group work.
Submission Type: Group
Assessment Method: Presentation
Artefact: Slides + Live / Recorded with face-overlay Presentation (10 minutes) + Online Viva
30%
Assessment Task 3: Business Process Modelling Pro...
Assessment Task 3: Business Process Modelling Project
Teams redesign a complex enterprise process from a realistic scenario, delivering a justified “to-be” model, improvement rationale, and implementation considerations. This assessment task consists of a report detailing BPM Diagrams for various real-world case study/ scenarios. This task requires students to apply their theoretical knowledge and make use of appropriate learning resources, tools and techniques for developing improved business process solutions that promotes participation and subsidiarity.
To ensure academic integrity student are required to present their work and answer questions about the work they have handed in person or via an online video conferencing tool.
50% of the assessment mark will be allocated based on individual contribution and 50% based on group work.
Submission Type: Group
Assessment Method: BPM Report & Presentation
Artefact: Report (1000 words) + Slides + Live / Recorded with face-overlay Presentation (10 minutes) + Online Viva
45%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit is delivered through Attendance and Online modes using a single, integrated learning and teaching strategy designed to ensure equivalent learning outcomes and a comparable learning experience for all students, while supporting diverse learning needs and maximising access.
Across both modes, learning activities are intentionally aligned to the unit learning outcomes and assessment tasks, and are underpinned by active learning, guided engagement with disciplinary knowledge, opportunities for peer interaction, and regular, timely feedback. While the mode of delivery shapes how students participate, the pedagogical intent, expectations and standards remain consistent.
In Attendance mode, students engage in weekly face-to-face classes at designated locations, supported by preparatory activities prior to workshops and opportunities for consolidation following classes. Online learning platforms are used to complement face-to-face teaching through additional resources and learning activities.
In Online mode, students engage with the same core content and learning outcomes through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous activities, including structured discussions and applied learning tasks that support learning in professional contexts.
Across both delivery modes, students should plan to commit approximately 150 hours to this unit over the semester, including participation in learning activities, independent study, readings and assessment preparation.