There is an abundance of business process modeling techniques that capture and address different aspects of a business process. A limited number of these process models allow further quantitative analysis, and only a few enable structured process improvement. This paper reviews and classifies the main techniques for business process modeling with regard to their analysis and optimization capabilities. Three primary groups are identified, and a selection of representative business process modeling techniques is classified based on these. Similar classification is also presented for the analysis and optimization approaches for business processes that were identified in relevant literature. The main contribution of the paper is that it identifies which types of business process models are suitable for analysis and optimization, and also highlights the lack of such approaches. This paper offers a state-of-the-art review in the areas of business process modeling, analysis, and optimization-underlining that the latter two have not received enough coverage and support in the literature.

Business Process Analysis and Optimization: Beyond Reengineering

The Process of Innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose how to minimize the risks of implementing business process reengineering (BPR) by measuring readiness. For this purpose, the paper proposes an assessment approach for readiness in BPR efforts based on the critical success and failure factors.Design/methodology/approach – A relevant literature review, which investigates success and failure indicators in BPR efforts is carried out and a new categorized list of indicators are proposed. This is a base for conducting a survey to measure the BPR readiness, which has been run in two companies and compared based on a diamond model.Findings – In this research, readiness indicators are determined based on critical success and failure factors. The readiness indicators include six categories. The first five categories, egalitarian leadership, collaborative working environment, top management commitment, supportive management, and use of information technology are positive indicators. The sixth category, resistance to ...

Assessing readiness for business process reengineering

Purpose – To highlight possible synergies between total quality management (TQM) and sustainable development (SD).Design/methodology/approach – These synergies are viewed based on a management system framework consisting of values, methodologies and tools. Based on common values the methodology of process management is identified as a good base for describing organisational synergies of TQM and SD. Also, process management for improved sustainability is reviewed. Here, organisational sustainability is viewed as performance based on the triple bottom line (TBL) of economy, environment and social responsibility.Findings – Findings were that process models can be used to structure the large number of indicators used to describe the TBL. This should improve the system understanding. To integrate TQM and SD, quality indicators should be added to the economic dimension. The system‐based process models can be used to describe synergies between TQM and SD. The proposed framework forms a basis for further research...

Total quality management for sustainable development: Process based system models

The use of subprocesses in large process models is an important step in modeling practice to handle complexity. While there are several advantages attributed to such a modular design, including ease of reuse, scalability, and enhanced understanding, the lack of precise guidelines turns out to be a major impediment for applying modularity in a systematic way. In this paper we approach this area of research from a critical perspective. Our first contribution is a review of existing approaches to process model modularity. This review shows that aside from some limited insights, a systematic and grounded approach to finding the optimal modularization of a process model is missing. Therefore, we turned to modular process models from practice to study their merits. In particular, we set up an experiment involving professional process modelers and tested the effect of modularization on understanding. Our second contribution, stemming from this experiment, is that modularity appears to pay off. We discuss some of the limitations of our research and implications for future design-oriented approaches.

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Modularity in Process Models: Review and Effects

Definitions of business process given in much of the literature on Business Process Management are limited in depth and their related models of business processes are correspondingly constrained. After giving a brief history of the progress of business process modeling techniques from production systems to the office environment, this paper proposes that most definitions are based on machine metaphor type explorations of a process. While these techniques are often rich and illuminating it is suggested that they are too limited to express the true nature of business processes that need to develop and adapt to today's challenging environment.

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Business processes—attempts to find a definition

This paper relates experiences of using a business-process approach to the determination of requirements for social care systems A method has been developed and used successfully with a number of major research projects, most specifically PLANEC A protocol and framework are presented that utilise the Unified Modelling Language and adopts best practice from IT and social science methods It utilises a loose-coupled hierarchical grouping of processes as a strategic view, and more tightly coupled models such as workflows The method, as it has evolved, has produced a clear linkage between stakeholder goals and expectations, and IT functionality expressed as UML use cases

Traceability in requirements through process modelling, applied to social care applications

Providing technology support for older people offers distinct
challenges for social and IT systems delivery. The definition and integration of
services, the diversity of supply, variance in structures, and the lack of
centralised control, introduce significant challenges. These challenges stretch
contemporary methods in the social and IT domains. In this paper, we introduce
a method that we have developed and used successfully over a number of years.
We briefly introduce a protocol and framework that utilises the Unified
Modelling Language and adapts best practice from methods such as the Unified
Software Development Method, the Dynamic System Development Method,
and user-centred approaches from the care sector such as Userfit.

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Ann Lindsay

Papers

Business processes—attempts to find a definition

Traceability in requirements through process modelling, applied to social care applications

Modelling Telecare Service Requirements for Older People Using the Unified Modelling Language.