Processes and Their Frameworks

A process is a time-dependent sequence of events governed by a process framework. A group process has five components: the entities performing the process, the steps or elements of a process, the relationship between any pair of elements, the links to other processes, and the resources and their characteristics-in-use involved with the elements. A process framework is denoted by Y = F(C) where Y is the set of outcomes or consequences of a process, C is the set of considerations or elements in the process, and F is the network linking the considerations to each other and to the outcomes. The properties of the set of considerations, the linkages between pairs of consequences, the set of outcomes or consequences, the network, F, and the use of process frameworks are discussed in detail with examples. Process models are compared to variable models.