Process Maps in Complex Corporate Structures — It’s All About Perspective

Bigger company, more complex process map? Not necessarily.

Regardless of size, every organization has to manage similar process categories: HR, procurement, finance, and so on. While larger companies may need more detailed processes — due to specialization, variations, or the need to coordinate a wider workforce — the high-level structure of a process map often remains surprisingly similar. As an organization grows, it’s not the map that necessarily expands, but rather the layers of underlying sub-processes that deepen.

Why perspective matters — especially in complex corporate structures

Let’s use a simple example: imagine a company that operates 50 kiosks in major cities. Each kiosk has the same core function — serving pedestrians by selling drinks and snacks. So, selling and billing goods are the kiosk’s core processes.

Behind the scenes, the company’s headquarters handles things like:

• Central procurement
• IT system deployment
• Accounting
• Financing
• Hiring

These processes are invisible to kiosk customers. They don’t directly fulfill the need to “quench thirst” or “satisfy hunger.” All the pedestrian sees are the products on the shelves, the register, and the transaction. From this perspective, the headquarters processes are support processes. They don’t fulfill customer needs directly, but they’re essential for enabling the kiosk to do so.

Now flip the perspective. The headquarters exists specifically to provide centralized services: sourcing goods, maintaining IT infrastructure, keeping the books. The very processes seen as “supporting” from the kiosk’s point of view are actually the core processes of the headquarters — they deliver its primary value: keeping kiosks operational around the clock. These processes also contribute significantly to value creation, for instance through optimized supplier pricing.

So, who’s the customer?

This is the key question when designing a process map: Who is the customer of the headquarters? Is it the pedestrian? Or is it the kiosk? The classification of core and support processes can shift depending on your point of view. What’s considered a core process in one unit might serve only a supporting role in another.

For CEOs, quality managers, and those responsible for management systems, recognizing these nuances is critical — especially in corporate structures. Ultimately, the goal is to design process landscapes that reflect and support the needs of the (end) customer. It’s not about academic classification — it’s about understanding how value is created across the organization.

The bigger the company, the easier it is to lose sight of that value chain. Amid all the internal processes, it’s easy to forget who the end customer is — and which processes directly serve them. But those are your true core processes.

Or, as one managing director put it perfectly: “No pedestrians, no headquarters.”