scholarly journals Resource Controllability of Business Processes Under Conditional Uncertainty

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Zavatteri ◽  
Carlo Combi ◽  
Luca Viganò
Keyword(s):  
Access Control ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Current Research Problem ◽  
Constraint Networks ◽  
Process Engine ◽  
A Current

AbstractA current research problem in the area of business process management deals with the specification and checking of constraints on resources (e.g., users, agents, autonomous systems, etc.) allowed to be committed for the execution of specific tasks. Indeed, in many real-world situations, role assignments are not enough to assign tasks to the suitable resources. It could be the case that further requirements need to be specified and satisfied. As an example, one would like to avoid that employees that are relatives are assigned to a set of critical tasks in the same process in order to prevent fraud. The formal specification of a business process and its related access control constraints is obtained through a decoration of a classic business process with roles, users, and constraints on their commitment. As a result, such a process specifies a set of tasks that need to be executed by authorized users with respect to some partial order in a way that all authorization constraints are satisfied. Controllability refers in this case to the capability of executing the process satisfying all these constraints, even when some process components, e.g., gateway conditions, can only be observed, but not decided, by the process engine responsible of the execution. In this paper, we propose conditional constraint networks with decisions (CCNDs) as a model to encode business processes that involve access control and conditional branches that may be both controllable and uncontrollable. We define weak, strong, and dynamic controllability of CCNDs as two-player games, classify their computational complexity, and discuss strategy synthesis algorithms. We provide an encoding from the business processes we consider here into CCNDs to exploit off-the-shelf their strategy synthesis algorithms. We introduce $$\textsc {Zeta}$$ Z E T A , a tool for checking controllability of CCNDs, synthesizing execution strategies, and executing controllable CCNDs, by also supporting user interactivity. We use $$\textsc {Zeta}$$ Z E T A to compare with the previous research, provide a new experimental evaluation for CCNDs, and discuss limitations.

Design and Realisation of Scalable Business Process Management Systems for Deployment in the Cloud

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Chun Ouyang ◽  
Michael Adams ◽  
Arthur H. M. Ter Hofstede ◽  
Yang Yu
Keyword(s):  
Load Balancing ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
User Demand ◽  
Process Engine ◽  
Automated Support ◽  
Dynamic Execution

Business Process Management Systems ( BPMSs ) provide automated support for the execution of business processes in modern organisations. With the emergence of cloud computing, BPMS deployment considerations are shifting from traditional on-premise models to the Software-as-a-Service ( SaaS ) paradigm, aiming at delivering Business Process Automation as a Service. However, scaling up a traditional BPMS to cope with simultaneous demand from multiple organisations in the cloud is challenging, since its underlying system architecture has been designed to serve a single organisation with a single process engine. Moreover, the complexity in addressing both the dynamic execution environment and the elasticity requirements of users impose further challenges to deploying a traditional BPMS in the cloud. A typical SaaS often deploys multiple instances of its core applications and distributes workload to these application instances via load balancing. But, for stateful and often long-running process instances, standard stateless load balancing strategies are inadequate. In this article, we propose a conceptual design of BPMS capable of addressing dynamically varying demands of end users in the cloud, and present a prototypical implementation using an open source traditional BPMS platform. Both the design and system realisation offer focused strategies on achieving scalability and demonstrates the system capabilities for supporting both upscaling, to address large volumes of user demand or workload, and downscaling, to release underutilised computing resources, in a cloud environment.

Benefits and Challenges for Business Process Management in the Cloud

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Riemann
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
Cloud Infrastructure ◽  
Business Application

Business processes are not only variable they are as well dynamic. A key benefit of Business Process Management (BPM) is the ability to adjust business processes accordingly in response to changing market requirements. In parallel to BPM, enterprise cloud computing technology has emerged to provide a more cost effective solution to businesses and services while making use of inexpensive computing solutions, which combines pervasive, internet, and virtualization technologies (). Despite the slow start, the business benefits of cloud computing are as such that the transition of BPM to the cloud is now underway. Cloud services refer to the operation of a virtualized, automated, and service-oriented IT landscape allowing the flexible provision and usage-based invoicing of resources, services, and applications via a network or the internet. The generic term “X-as-a-Service” summarize the business models delivering almost everything as a service. BPM in the cloud is often regarded as a SaaS application. More recently, BPM is being regarded as a PaaS as it facilitates the creation and deployment of applications, in this case business process solutions. The PaaS landscape is the least developed of the four cloud based software delivery models previously discussed. PaaS vendors, such as IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft delivered an application platform with managed cloud infrastructure services however, more recently the PaaS market has begun to evolve to include other middleware capabilities including process management. BPM PaaS is the delivery of BPM technology as a service via a cloud service provider. For the classification as a PaaS a BPM suite requires the following capabilities: the architecture should be multi-tenant, hosting should be off premise and it should offer elasticity and metering by use capabilities. When we refer to BPM in the cloud, what we are really referring to is a combination of BPM PaaS and BPaaS (Business Process as a Service). Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) is a set of pre-defined business processes that allows the execution of customized business processes in the cloud. BPaaS is a complete pre-integrated BPM platform hosted in the cloud and delivered as a service, for the development and execution of general-purpose business process application. Although such a service harbors an economic potential there are remaining questions: Can an individual and company-specific business process supported by a standardized cloud solution, or should we protect process creativity and competitive differentiation by allowing the company to design the processes individually and solely support basic data flows and structures? Does it make sense to take a software solution “out of the box” that handles both data and process in a cloud environment, or would this hinder the creativity of business (process) development leading to a lower quality of processes and consequently to a decrease in the competitive positioning of a company? How to manage the inherent compliance and security topic. Within a completely integrated business application system, all required security aspects can be implemented as a safeguarding with just enough money. Within the cloud, however, advanced standards and identity prove is required to monitor and measure information exchange across the federation. Thereby there seems to be no need for developing new protocols, but a standardized way to collect and evaluate the collected information.

scholarly journals BPM and ECM: Similarities, differences, conceptual, and technological limits

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-105
Author(s):  
Marco Aurélio de Souza MENDES ◽  
Marcello Peixoto BAX
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Content Management ◽  
Enterprise Information ◽  
Technological Support ◽  
Enterprise Content Management ◽  
Unstructured Information

Abstract Enterprise information architectures still do not deliver all the value that comes from integrating structured and unstructured information. Enterprise Content Management and Business Process Management were developed as autonomous disciplines. Thus, Enterprise Content Management still occurs without formally considering the business processes that generate and manipulate content, while Business Process Management initiatives arise without a documented treatment of materials produced by the processes. The non-integrated approach to these disciplines collaborates to reduce the potential benefits expected in Organizational Change Management programs. In such context, the article discusses the interrelation between Business Process Management and Enterprise Content Management, approaching from a historical view of these disciplines, their conceptual limits, technological support, and dialogues that would benefit both initiatives. The paper contributes to clarify a question still vague in the field of Information Management, which is how to integrate Business Process Management and Enterprise Content Management treating structured and unstructured information in a unified manner. It discusses how to approach this issue in a broad scope of IM by combining the concepts of Enterprise Content Management and Business Process Management. Based on a literature review, the paper analyzes and synthesizes experiences in Enterprise Content Management and Business Process Management acquired in the context of a project carried out in a Power Sector Company. The article reveals problems in separating approaches to Enterprise Content Management and Business Process Management. It shows the importance of an effort for integration and presents three instruments that promote the linkage of the two initiatives, approximating process offices and analysts’ information.

A theory of contingent business process management

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1291-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Zelt ◽  
Jan Recker ◽  
Theresa Schmiedel ◽  
Jan vom Brocke
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Process Performance ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Many researchers and practitioners suggest a contingent instead of a “one size fits all” approach in business process management (BPM). The purpose of this paper is to offer a contingency theory of BPM, which proposes contingency factors relevant to the successful management of business processes and that explains how and why these contingencies impact the relationships between process management and performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop the theory by drawing on organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and applying an information processing (IP) perspective to the process level. Findings The premise of the model is that the process management mechanisms such as documentation, standardization or monitoring must compensate for the uncertainty and equivocality of the nature of the process that has to be managed. In turn, managing through successful adaptation is a prerequisite for process performance. Research limitations/implications The theory provides a set of testable propositions that specify the relationship between process management mechanisms and process performance. The authors also discuss implications of the new theory for further theorizing and outline empirical research strategies that can be followed to enact, evaluate and extend the theory. Practical implications The theory developed in this paper allows an alternative way to describe organizational processes and supports the derivation of context-sensitive management approaches for process documentation, standardization, monitoring, execution and coordination. Originality/value The theoretical model is novel in that it provides a contextualized view on BPM that acknowledges different types of processes and suggests different mechanisms for managing these. The authors hope the paper serves as inspiration both for further theory development as well as to empirical studies that test, refute, support or otherwise augment the arguments.

Social business process management

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-211
Author(s):  
Patricia Bazan ◽  
Elsa Estevez
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Implicit Knowledge ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Social Business ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the state of the art of social business process management (Social BPM), explaining applied approaches, existing tools and challenges and to propose a research agenda for encouraging further development of the area. Design/methodology/approach The methodology comprises a qualitative analysis using secondary data. The approach relies on searches of scientific papers conducted in well-known databases, identifying research work related to Social BPM solutions and those contributing with social characteristics to BPM. Based on the identified papers, the authors selected the most relevant and the latest publications, and categorized their contributions and findings based on open and selective coding. In total, the analysis is based on 51 papers that were selected and analyzed in depth. Findings Main results show that there are several studies investigating modeling approaches for socializing process activities and for capturing implicit knowledge possessed and used by process actors, enabling to add some kind of flexibility to business processes. However, despite the proven interest in the area, there are not yet adequate tools providing effective solutions for Social BPM. Based on our findings, the authors propose a research agenda comprising three main lines: contributions of social software (SS) to Social BPM, Social BPM as a mechanism for adding flexibility to and for discovering new business processes and Social BPM for enhancing business processes with the use of new technologies. The authors also identify relevant problems for each line. Practical implications Some SS tools, like wikis, enable managing social aspects in executing business processes and can be used to coordinate simple business processes. Despite they are commonly used, they are not yet mature tools supporting Social BPM and more efficient tools are yet to appear. The lack of tools preclude organizations from benefitting from implicit knowledge owned by and shared among business process actors, which could contribute to better-informed decisions related to organizational processes. In addition, more research is needed for considering Social BPM as an approach for organizations to benefit from the adoption of new technologies in their business processes. Originality/value The paper assesses the state of the art in Social BPM, an incipient area in research and practice. The area can be defined as the intersection of two bigger areas highly relevant for organizations; on the one hand, the management and execution of business processes; and on the other hand, the use of social software, including social media tools, for leveraging on implicit knowledge shared by business process actors to improving efficiency of business processes.

scholarly journals CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS PROCESSES WITHIN THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF FASHION INDUSTRY

2020 ◽  
pp. 36-39
Author(s):  
Andrea Dobrosavljević ◽  
Snežana Urošević
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Relationship Management ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
The Impact

Business processes are present in all types of organizations, regardless of the size or industry within which the organization operates. Successful business process management (BPM) is an indicator of the level of process maturity of the organization. Within the supply chain, it is possible to observe the presence of business processes of a collaborative nature, as BPM relies on the principles of partnership, development, and exchange of information through links that exist within this chain between all actors [1]. Within this paper, BPM in the relations with suppliers and consumers within the supply chain of organizations operating in the fashion industry is considered. Lambert [2] lists eight macro processes that take place in the supply chain, between suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and end consumers, as follows: customer relationship management, supplier relationship management, demand management, order execution, fl ow management production, product development and commercialization and return management. Within this paper, a research is presented which analyzes the segments of managing collaborative business processes within the supply chain of the fashion industry, based on the responses of 508 managers and employees in the fashion industry in the Republic of Serbia. The needs for the development of certain segments in accordance with the needs of modern business process management have been explored.Scientifi c novelty. The research part of this paper relies on the application of Friedman's test which enables the analysis of the current state of BPM in relations with suppliers and consumers within the supply chain of the fashion industry, expressed through workers' responses with a ranking of their preferences. This paper contributes to the creation of a knowledge base within the research in the fi eld of the impact of BPM on improvements in the supply chain, on the basis of which it is possible to conduct further research and upgrade knowledge.Practical value. The fi ndings derived from the results of research of this type contribute to the development of the business from various aspects. The benefi ts can be refl ected not only through the strengthening of the competitive position but also through the sustainability of business on the basis of adequate application of BPM practices in all business segments. Accordingly, in addition to the scientifi c novelty, which is refl ected in the results of the rese arch work, there is a practical novelty, which is refl ected in the guidelines for the development of modern BPM within the supply chain of the fashion industry.

scholarly journals Determining the Level of Maturity of the Business Process Management System on the Example of an Agro-Industrial Enterprise

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (515) ◽  
pp. 446-454
Author(s):  
Dongcheng Wang ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Management System ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Current Level ◽  
Industrial Enterprise ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Four Levels

The article is aimed at determining the level of maturity of the business process management system of an agro-industrial enterprise. The existing common approaches to assessing the maturity of the business process management system are identified, their defining features are determined. A definition of maturity of the business process management system of the enterprise is made. The features of the process and enterprise maturity model (PEMM) developed by M. Hammer are described in detail. Four levels of business processes that form the system according to the Hammer model are characterized. The aspects and directions of research of maturity of the business process management system of enterprise according to the PEMM model by M. Hammer are specified. The scale of assessment of the level of maturity of the business process management system of enterprise according to certain criteria is provided. The procedure for assessing the maturity level of the business process management system of the enterprise under research is described and a scale is provided that helps to determine the current level of maturity of the system from the very low to the very high (five such levels are defined in general). Descriptions of the levels of business processes according to the PEMM model are specified in terms of the aspects of Projecting, Contractors, Process Owner, Infrastructure and Indicators. For each aspect, an assessment of the business process management system of the enterprise under research was carried out. The results are presented both by a separate direction and by each aspect of the assessment of the maturity of the business process management system of enterprise. For each aspect of the assessment of the system maturity, the characteristic features are determined, the main disadvantages and achievements are indicated. On the basis of the determined estimates of the business process management system of the enterprise under research, an assessment of the maturity of the business process management system of this enterprise in view of certain aspects is computed, as well as its current level is defined. To identify the most problematic areas in the business process management system, the existing level of maturity of the system is depicted using a petal chart. The main directions of further improvement of the existing system are defined.

scholarly journals Improvement of business processes in modern shipping companies in the field of international sea fright transportation

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Zoryana Dvulit ◽  
◽  
Olena Tymoshchuk ◽  
Olha Levchenko ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Water Transport ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Shipping Company ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Systemic Problems

In a market economy, there are a significant number of shipping companies that compete with each other and fight for maximum profits in a highly competitive environment. Competitive advantages lie in the plane of organization of the fleet, which relate mainly to the management of shipping companies. Operators of shipping companies establish tactical and strategic cooperation with freight forwarders and other participants in the logistics chain for the successful implementation of business processes and subprocesses. The study of the water transport of Ukraine from 2002 to 2020 revealed that in this period there were significant structural changes in freight turnover and traffic, which indicates the presence of serious systemic problems in management. If current trends continue, the national economy may lose such a strategically important sector. The shortcomings in the field of international maritime transport are caused, among other things, by inefficient management of business processes of Ukrainian shipping companies. The business process of a shipping company is a set of interdependent tasks and works aimed at creating a product or service to meet the needs of their customers. The business processes of shipping companies are due to the characteristics of staff and the processes of international trade. Thus, the personnel of shipping companies, concentrated in the operational units, provide a range of services that ensure the movement of goods and passengers with the required level of quality. The complex of such services is described by many business processes and represents the main processes of the shipping company. Improving the business processes of these companies must be viewed through the prism of the field of logistics, the main factors in the development of which are staff and international trade trends. Research and study of international experience in the field of business process management and its implementation in the activities of shipping companies of Ukraine to some extent will improve the declining trends in freight traffic and water transport, which have been observed in recent years.

scholarly journals Dynamic Adaptation Method of Business Process Based on Hierarchical Feature Model

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 362
Author(s):  
Le Zhang ◽  
Qi Gao ◽  
Tingyu Li
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Feature Model ◽  
Dynamic Adaptation ◽  
Business Policy ◽  
Business Application ◽  
Adaptation Method

With the continuous complexity and frequent changes in business application scenarios, companies urgently need to establish a flexible business process management mechanism that includes dynamic rules, in which dynamic adaptation methods of business processes play a vital role. Aiming at the problem that the current methods only use the preset process template and the decision-making database, it cannot respond quickly to business changes and reconfigure the business process. This research proposes a dynamic adaptation method of business process based on the hierarchical feature model, builds a hierarchical feature model of complex processes, then establishes a hierarchical business policy set to achieve an agile response to business emergencies. By constructing a mapping model, the feature model is associated with the BPMN model to realize the rapid execution of the reconfiguration process model. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified by process examples and the developed business process dynamic adaptation tool.

scholarly journals BUSINESS PROCESS THROUGHPUT METRICS

2018 ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Ivan Vasilevich Artamonov
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Queuing Theory ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Manufacturing Systems ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Simulation Modelling ◽  
Computer Hardware ◽  
Depth Analysis

In the course of development and implementation of information technologies it is necessary to measure performance of the designed and improved business processes. A developed system of performance metrics for such analysis is determined by the specific nature of a business process, while its quality depends on the analyst’s experience. Current technologies do not provide a method for objective measuring of future business processes throughput efficiency being either too primitive or too complex for real-world enterprise models. Some experience on performance measuring is collected in the theory of manufacturing systems, computer hardware and software, queuing theory and quality of service of business processes. Summing up the achievements it is possible to create a general-purpose and abstract set of performance parameters that can be applied to any business process and used for depth analysis of processes in the systems of simulation modelling and of business process management. The set consists of four groups evaluating efficiency by the time of operation, quantitative parameters, workload of employees and compliance to standards and conventions. For these parameters there have been developed a number of boundary values, reaching them leads to undesirable effects. Besides, the definition of dangerous events has been proposed to determine abnormal, out-of-bound process behavior or state causing business process failure.

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