A $40,000 expedite request sat in an inbox at 9 PM on a Friday. The approval threshold said a director could sign off. The director was offline until Monday. Nobody had defined what happens in between.
Definition
Someone with authority at that value threshold approves or overrides, and records why. Thresholds are defined in advance rather than negotiated per incident.
Approve is where most "we have a process" claims fall apart under pressure. A threshold that only works during business hours isn't a threshold. It's a hope. The stronger operations define who can approve at what dollar amount before the exception happens, including after-hours coverage, so the decision doesn't wait on someone's calendar.
Why does an approval threshold on paper not prevent a week-long wait?
A threshold defines the dollar amount, not who's reachable when the exception actually fires. A policy that says directors approve above $25,000 means nothing at 9 PM on a Friday if the only director with authority is offline until Monday. Approve is only real when the threshold comes with a named, reachable approver for every hour the business runs, not just the hours someone happened to be at their desk when the policy was written.