Business Processes as Sociomaterial Networks: Exploring the Multiple Dimensions of Flexibility in Process Modeling

Author(s):  
Joao Porto de Albuquerque ◽  
Marcel Christ
Author(s):  
Evellin Cardoso ◽  
João Paulo A. Almeida ◽  
Renata S. S. Guizzardi ◽  
Giancarlo Guizzardi

While traditional approaches in business process modeling tend to focus on “how” the business processes are performed (adopting a behavioral description in which business processes are described in terms of procedural aspects), in goal-oriented business process modeling, the proposals strive to extend traditional business process methodologies by providing a dimension of intentionality to business processes. One of the key difficulties in enabling one to model goal-oriented processes concerns the identification or elicitation of goals. This paper reports on a case study conducted in a Brazilian hospital, which obtained several goal models represented in i*/Tropos, each of which correspond to a business process also modeled in the scope of the study. NFR catalogues were helpful in goal elicitation, uncovering goals that did not come up during previous interviews prior to these catalogues’ use.


2020 ◽  
pp. 464-478
Author(s):  
Loubna El Faquih ◽  
Mounia Fredj

In recent years, business process modeling has increasingly drawn the attention of enterprises. As a result of the wide use of business processes, redundancy problems have arisen and researchers introduced the variability management, in order to enhance the business process reuse. The most approach used in this context is the Configurable Process Model solution, which consists in representing the variable and the fixed parts together in a unique model. Due to the increasing number of variants, the configurable models become complex and incomprehensible, and their quality is therefore impacted. Most of research work is limited to the syntactic quality of process variants. The approach presented in this paper aims at providing a novel method towards syntactic verification and semantic validation of configurable process models based on ontology languages. We define validation rules for assessing the quality of configurable process models. An example in the e-healthcare domain illustrates the main steps of our approach.


2010 ◽  
pp. 1627-1638
Author(s):  
Dimitris Folinas ◽  
Tania Pavlou ◽  
Bill Karakostas ◽  
Vicky Manthou

Among different approaches in business processes modelling procedure are those in virtual and dynamic organizational environments. In this paper, a conceptual framework for modelling business processes in Virtual Organizations is suggested, by introducing Web Services technology. Web Services can be the business enabler for the new organizational form, which is particularly well suited to meet the demands arising from today’s turbulent changes in the firms’ environment. The proposed framework consists of several steps in a bottom-up approach, aiming to support the modelling and coordination of the complex and shared business processes in the examined environment.


Author(s):  
Thomas Hadrich ◽  
Ronald Maier

Modeling is a key task in order to analyze, understand, and improve business processes and organizational structures, and to support the design, implementation, and management of information and communication technologies in general and knowledge management systems (KMSs) in particular. Process-oriented knowledge management (Maier, 2004; Maier & Remus, 2003) is a promising approach to provide the missing link between knowledge management (KM) and business strategy, and to bridge the gap between the human-oriented and technology-oriented views (e.g., Hansen, Nohria, & Tierney, 1999; Zack, 1999). However, existing modeling approaches for business processes, including their extensions for KM, still lack concepts to support knowledge work, which is often unstructured, creative, and learning and communication intensive. Recently, the activity theory has been proposed to provide concepts to analyze knowledge work (e.g., Blackler, 1995), but it has not yet been integrated with business process modeling for designing KM initiatives and KMSs. The following sections analyze the characteristics of knowledge work, distinguish important perspectives for modeling in KM, and discuss extensions of process modeling approaches including activity modeling. Then, the process-oriented and the activity-oriented perspectives on knowledge work are compared and connected by means of the concept of knowledge stance.


Author(s):  
Paz Perez González ◽  
Jose M. Framinan

A business process can be defined as a set of related tasks that are carried out within a business or organization in order to obtain certain output that should add value for the business client or organization (Gunasekaran & Kobu, 2002). An enterprise can be then analyzed and integrated through its business processes. Thus, business process modeling (BPM) becomes a fundamental part of business process management, as it enables a common understanding and analysis of a company’s business processes. Particularly, BPM using computer-aided design tools and a standard visual form of notation to describe, validate, and simulate business processes has taken on a new importance (Jonah, 2002).


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-322
Author(s):  
Agnes Koschmider ◽  
Minseok Song ◽  
Hajo A Reijers

Formal models of business processes are used for a variety of purposes. But where the elicitation of the characteristics of a business process usually takes place in a collaborative fashion, the building of the final, formal process model is done mostly by a single person. This article presents the design and Implementation of a Recommendation-Based Process Modeling Support System with ‘social features.’ A process builder using this system will receive recommendations to complete or edit a formal business process model on the basis of previous usage of modeling fragments by her peers. Such features potentially Improve the modeling process and, as such, the modeling outcome, that is, the quality of the process model. This article also contains an evaluation of the system's usage and effectiveness, which builds on an experimental design. It is shown that process builders are inclined to follow up on the provided recommendations and that this will improve the semantical quality of the created model. However, Information on peer usage of modeling fragments does not play a big role in selecting the recommendations being followed up. This article fits within a stream of research that puts emphasis on the modeling process, rather than on the model artifact.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 794-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinwei Zhu ◽  
Jan Recker ◽  
Guobin Zhu ◽  
Flávia Maria Santoro

Purpose – Context-awareness has emerged as an important principle in the design of flexible business processes. The goal of the research is to develop an approach to extend context-aware business process modeling toward location-awareness. The purpose of this paper is to identify and conceptualize location-dependencies in process modeling. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a pattern-based approach to identify location-dependency in process models. The authors design specifications for these patterns. The authors present illustrative examples and evaluate the identified patterns through a literature review of published process cases. Findings – This paper introduces location-awareness as a new perspective to extend context-awareness in BPM research, by introducing relevant location concepts such as location-awareness and location-dependencies. The authors identify five basic location-dependent control-flow patterns that can be captured in process models. And the authors identify location-dependencies in several existing case studies of business processes. Research limitations/implications – The authors focus exclusively on the control-flow perspective of process models. Further work needs to extend the research to address location-dependencies in process data or resources. Further empirical work is needed to explore determinants and consequences of the modeling of location-dependencies. Originality/value – As existing literature mostly focusses on the broad context of business process, location in process modeling still is treated as “second class citizen” in theory and in practice. This paper discusses the vital role of location-dependencies within business processes. The proposed five basic location-dependent control-flow patterns are novel and useful to explain location-dependency in business process models. They provide a conceptual basis for further exploration of location-awareness in the management of business processes.


Author(s):  
Partha B. Sampathkumaran ◽  
Martin Wirsing

Designing and optimizing a Business Process based on its financial parameters is a challenging task which requires well defined approaches, actions and recommendations which when implemented lead to tangible and quantifiable results. In this paper the authors consider Business Processes represented through the Business Process Modeling Notation with their Costs evaluated through a pattern based methodology. Using this concept of Cost calculation the authors analyze the effect of different well known best practices on the financial parameters of the process. In this study the authors also evaluate the impact of each task in a process on the overall Cost through Sensitivity Analysis leading to a structured approach to parameter variation to achieve financial optimization. The study briefly introduces the Business Process Modeling Notation, Workflow Patterns, and available Performance Measures Evaluation Techniques and recommends an adaptation of Devils Quadrangle suitable for impact evaluation.


1995 ◽  
Vol 04 (02n03) ◽  
pp. 145-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
VOLKER GRUHN

Most of today’s approaches to business process engineering (also called business process management) start from an activity-centered perspective. They describe activities to be carried out within a business process and their relationships, but they usually pay little attention to the objects manipulated within processes. In this article, we discuss an approach to business process modeling, model analysis, and business process enaction (also called workflow management) which is based on data modeling, activity modeling, and organization modeling. In fact, the ℒeu approach to business process management considers data models (describing types of objects to be manipulated in a business process and their relationships), activity models (describing activities to be carried out in a business process), and organization models (describing organizational entities involved in a business process) as separate, but equally important, facets of business processes.


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