5.5.1. What a Management Practice Is
💡 First Principle: A management practice bundles everything needed to accomplish an objective — resources across all four dimensions — and ITIL sorts practices into groups so you can navigate them by purpose.
A management practice is a set of organizational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective. Practices draw on all four dimensions: the right people and roles, the right information and technology, the right partners and suppliers, and the right value streams and processes. ITIL organizes practices into groups, including general management practices (adopted from broader business domains, e.g. relationship management, supplier management) and product and service management practices (specific to managing products and services, e.g. incident management, service desk).
The role of practices within the Value System: practices supply the capabilities that the value chain activities draw on. When a value chain activity needs work done, it uses the relevant practices.
⚠️ Exam Trap: A practice is broader than a process. Also note the practice groups — general management practices versus product and service management practices — as the exam may ask you to classify or recognize them.
Reflection Question: Why does defining a practice as spanning all four dimensions matter more than defining it as a process?
