Technical guide · Business Processes
Business Process Management Maturity — PEMM
How well your organization actually manages its processes — measured by PEMM, Michael Hammer's model published in Harvard Business Review.
01 · The problemWhat this assessment solves
How many of your processes are documented? How many people follow what's been defined? Is there a process owner with real authority to improve them?
Most answer by guesswork: some processes mapped, others not; areas with indicators and areas without. Leadership declares support for BPM, but improvements depend on individual initiative.
02 · What it isWhat the model is
It measures business process management maturity using Michael Hammer's PEMM, across 2 groups (process enablers and enterprise capabilities) and 41 questions, with a score by group, by theme, and an overall level.
It's the adaptation of the framework published in Harvard Business Review — it separates what depends on each process from what depends on the organization as a whole.
03 · The scaleThe 5 maturity levels
Each dimension — and the organization as a whole — is placed at one of these levels, always with a color, number, and name.
No BPM practice is in place. Processes aren't mapped, process responsibilities don't formally exist, and there's no monitoring or governance structure — the organization operates entirely ad hoc.
There are isolated BPM initiatives, but without consistency or formalization. Some processes are documented and there are occasional training efforts, with no coordination or standardization across areas.
BPM practices are partially structured: most critical processes are mapped, there are defined owners and basic indicators, but with significant gaps in governance and organizational culture.
BPM is consolidated as an organizational practice: processes are monitored regularly, process owners have real authority, leadership actively supports it, and there is structured governance with periodic reviews.
BPM excellence: all processes are managed in an integrated way, with systematic continual improvement, high internal autonomy, a genuinely process-oriented culture, and benchmark governance in the market.
04 · The structureWhat the assessment evaluates
No critical area is left out. Each dimension brings together the themes evaluated by the assessment.
Process Enablers
The elements that enable the execution and improvement of each process.
Enterprise Capabilities
The capabilities that sustain and promote process management in the organization.
05 · HighlightsWhy apply this assessment
06 · AudienceWho it's for
07 · How to applyFrom questionnaire to plan
There are 41 questions organized into 2 groups and 9 themes, all mandatory — answer based on your current reality, in 20 to 30 minutes.
In minutes you receive an overall score, by group and by theme, the maturity level, and an analysis with prioritized gaps and an initial action plan.
08 · ReferencesBased on international standards
In practiceWhat the assessment reveals
An 800-person trucking company invested heavily in a BPM system, but months later the processes still had no formal owner and improvements weren’t happening.
We invested in the right place, but without the organizational conditions for BPM to work.