Showing papers on "Business process modeling published in 2009"

Developing Maturity Models for IT Management

Abstract: Maturity models are valuable instruments for IT managers because they allow the assessment of the current situation of a company as well as the identification of reasonable improvement measures. Over the last few years, more than a hundred maturity models have been developed to support IT management. They address a broad range of different application areas, comprising holistic assessments of IT management as well as appraisals of specific subareas (e. g. Business Process Management, Business Intelligence).

Business Artifacts: A Data-centric Approach to Modeling Business Operations and Processes

Abstract: Traditional approaches to business process modeling and wo rkflow are based on activity flows (with data often an afterthought) or documents (with processing o ften an afterthought). In contrast, an emerging approach uses(business) artifacts, that combine data and process in an holistic manner as the ba sic building block. These correspond to key business entities w hich evolve as they pass through the business’s operation. This short paper motivates the approach,surveys research and its applications, and discusses how principles and techniques from database mana gement research can further develop the artifact-centric paradigm.

Business process modeling - a comparative analysis

Abstract: Many business process modeling techniques have been proposed over the last decades, creating a demand for theory to assist in the comparison and evaluation of these techniques. A widely established way of determining the effectiveness and efficiency of modeling techniques is by way of representational analysis. This paper comparatively assesses representational analyses of 12 popular process modeling techniques in order to provide insights into the extent to which they differ from each other. We discuss several implications of our findings. Our analysis uncovers and explores representational root causes for a number of shortcomings that remain in process modeling practice, such as lack of process decomposition and integration of business rule specification. Our findings also serve as motivation and input to future research in areas such as context-aware business process design and conventions management.

Modern Business Process Automation: YAWL and its Support Environment

Abstract: Topics covered include: The fundamentals of business process modeling, including workflow patterns, an in-depth treatment of process flexibility, including approaches to dealing with on-the-fly changes, unexpected exceptions, and constraint-based processes, Technological aspects of a modern BPM environment, including its architecture, process design environment, process engine, resource handler and other support services,a comparative insight into current approaches to business process modeling and execution such as BPMN, EPCs, BPEL, jBPM, OpenWFE, and Enhydra Shark, process mining, verification, integration and configuration; and case studies in health care and screen business. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the field of Business Process Management (BPM) with a focus on Business Process Automation. It achieves this by covering a wide range of topics, both introductory and advanced, illustrated through and grounded in the YAWL (Yet Another Workflow Language) language and corresponding open-source support environment. In doing so it provides the reader with a deep, timeless, and vendor-independent understanding of the essential ingredients of business process automation. The BPM field is in a continual state of flux and is subject to both the ongoing proposal of new standards and the introduction of new tools and technology. Its fundamentals however are relatively stable and this book aims to equip the reader with both a thorough understanding of them and the ability to apply them to better understand, assess and utilize new developments in the BPM field. As a consequence of its topic-based format and the inclusion of a broad range of exercises, the book is eminently suitable for use in tertiary education, both at the undergraduate and the postgraduate level, for students of computer science and information systems. BPM researchers and practitioners will also find it a valuable resource. The book serves as a unique reference to a varied and comprehensive collection of topics that are relevant to the business process life-cycle.

From business process models to process-oriented software systems

Abstract: Several methods for enterprise systems analysis rely on flow-oriented representations of business operations, otherwise known as business process models. The Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is a standard for capturing such models. BPMN models facilitate communication between domain experts and analysts and provide input to software development projects. Meanwhile, there is an emergence of methods for enterprise software development that rely on detailed process definitions that are executed by process engines. These process definitions refine their counterpart BPMN models by introducing data manipulation, application binding, and other implementation details. The de facto standard for defining executable processes is the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). Accordingly, a standards-based method for developing process-oriented systems is to start with BPMN models and to translate these models into BPEL definitions for subsequent refinement. However, instrumenting this method is challenging because BPMN models and BPEL definitions are structurally very different. Existing techniques for translating BPMN to BPEL only work for limited classes of BPMN models. This article proposes a translation technique that does not impose structural restrictions on the source BPMN model. At the same time, the technique emphasizes the generation of readable (block-structured) BPEL code. An empirical evaluation conducted over a large collection of process models shows that the resulting BPEL definitions are largely block-structured. Beyond its direct relevance in the context of BPMN and BPEL, the technique presented in this article addresses issues that arise when translating from graph-oriented to block-structure flow definition languages.

Business Model Innovation: Creating Value In Times Of Change

Abstract: We highlight business model innovation as a way for general managers and entrepreneurs to create and appropriate value, especially in times of economic change. Business model innovation, which involves designing a modified or new activity system, relies on recombining the existing resources of a firm and its partners, and it does not require significant investments in R&D. We offer managers and researchers a conceptual primer on business model innovation, emphasizing the importance of system-level thinking.

Enterprise, Business-Process and Information Systems Modeling

Abstract: This book contains the proceedings of two long-standing workshops: The 10th International Workshop on Business Process Modeling, Development and Support, BPMDS 2009, and the 14th International Conference on Exploring Modeling Methods for Systems Analysis and Design, EMMSAD 2009, held in connection with CAiSE 2009 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in June 2009. The 17 papers accepted for BPMDS 2009 were carefully reviewed and selected from 32 submissions. The topics addressed by the BPMDS workshop are business and goal-related drivers; model-driven process change; technological drivers and IT services; technological drivers and process mining; and compliance and awareness. Following an extensive review process, 16 papers out of 36 submissions were accepted for EMMSAD 2009. These papers cover the following topics: use of ontologies; UML and MDA; ORM and rule-oriented modeling; goal-oriented modeling; alignment and understandability; enterprise modeling; and patterns and anti-patterns in enterprise modeling.

A global investigation of key turning points in business process maturity

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of research into the precedence of the maturity factors, or key turning points in business process maturity (BPM) implementation efforts. A key turning point is a component of BPM that stabilizes within an organization and leads to the next maturity level.Design/methodology/approach – Several years of data from over 1,000 companies in the USA, Europe, China, and Brazil that have completed a BPM assessment are analyzed to identify which components of BPM stabilize, when and in what order. Different analysis methods are employed in order to identify global commonalities and differences.Findings – The paper identifies key turning points from several different perspectives using several different approaches and develops some conclusions common to all methods used in this research.Research limitations/implications – The relationship between the components (dependencies) is only suggested but not statistically analyzed. Several data sets are also o...

Business Process Modeling: Current Issues and Future Challenges

Abstract: Business process modeling has undoubtedly emerged as a popular and relevant practice in Information Systems. Despite being an actively researched field, anecdotal evidence and experiences suggest that the focus of the research community is not always well aligned with the needs of industry. The main aim of this paper is, accordingly, to explore the current issues and the future challenges in business process modeling, as perceived by three key stakeholder groups (academics, practitioners, and tool vendors). We present the results of a global Delphi study with these three groups of stakeholders, and discuss the findings and their implications for research and practice. Our findings suggest that the critical areas of concern are standardization of modeling approaches, identification of the value proposition of business process modeling, and model-driven process execution. These areas are also expected to persist as business process modeling roadblocks in the future.

Petri Net Transformations for Business Processes --- A Survey

Abstract: In Process-Aware Information Systems, business processes are often modeled in an explicit way. Roughly speaking, the available business process modeling languages can be divided into two groups.Languages from the first group are preferred by academic people but shunned by business people, and include Petri nets and process algebras. These academic languages have a proper formal semantics, which allows the corresponding academic models to be verified in a formal way. Languages from the second group are preferred by business people but disliked by academic people, and include BPEL, BPMN, and EPCs. These business languages often lack any proper semantics, which often leads to debates on how to interpret certain business models. Nevertheless, business models are used in practice, whereas academic models are hardly used. To be able to use, for example, the abundance of Petri net verification techniques on business models, we need to be able to transform these models to Petri nets. In this paper, we investigate a number of Petri net transformations that already exist.For every transformation, we investigate the transformation itself, the constructs in the business models that are problematic for the transformation and the main applications for the transformation.

A computer scientist's introductory guide to business process management (BPM)

Abstract: Computers play an integral part in designing, modelling, optimising and managing business processes within and across companies. While Business Process Management (BPM), Workflow Management (WfM) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) have been IT-related disciplines with a history of about three decades, there is still a lack of publications clarifying definitions and scope of basic BPM terminologies like business process, BPM versus WfM, workflow, BPR, etc. Such a myriad of similar-sounding terminologies can be overwhelming for computer scientists and computer science students who may wish to venture into this area of research. This guide aims to address this gap by providing a high level overview of the key concepts, rationale, features and the developments of BPM.

Modeling Languages for Business Processes and Business Rules: A Representational Analysis

Abstract: Process modeling and rule modeling languages are both used to document organizational policies and procedures. To date, their synergies and overlap are under-researched. Understanding the relationship between the two modeling types would allow organizations to maximize synergies, avoid content duplication, and thus reduce their overall modeling effort. In this paper we use the Bunge-Wand-Weber (BWW) representation theory to compare the representation capabilities of process and rule modeling languages. We perform a representational analysis of four rule modeling specifications: The Simple Rule Markup Language (SRML), the Semantic Web Rules Language (SWRL), the Production Rule Representation (PRR) and the Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Business Rules (SBVR) specification. We compare their BWW representation capabilities with those of four popular conceptual process modeling languages. In our analysis we focus on the aspects of maximum ontological completeness and minimum ontological overlap. The outcome of this study shows that no single language is internally complete with respect to the BWW representation model. We also show that a combination of two languages, in particular SRML and BPMN, appears to be better suited for combined process and rule modeling than any of these modeling languages used independently.

A Data-Centric Design Methodology for Business Processes

Abstract: This chapter describes a design methodology for business processes and workflows that focuses first on “business artifacts”, which represent key (real or conceptual) business entities, including both the business-relevant data about them and their macro-level lifecycles. Individual workflow services (a.k.a. tasks) are then incorporated, by specifying how they operate on the artifacts and fit into their lifecycles. The resulting workflow is specified in a particular artifact-centric workflow model, which is introduced using an extended example. At the logical level this workflow model is largely declarative, in contrast with most traditional workflow models which are procedural and/or graph-based. The chapter includes a discussion of how the declarative, artifact-centric workflow specification can be mapped into an optimized physical realization.

Instantaneous Soundness Checking of Industrial Business Process Models

Abstract: We report on a case study on control-flow analysis of business process models. We checked 735 industrial business process models from financial services, telecommunications and other domains. We investigated these models for soundness (absence of deadlock and lack of synchronization) using three different approaches: the business process verification tool Woflan, the Petri net model checker LoLA, and a recently developed technique based on SESE decomposition. We evaluate the various techniques used by these approaches in terms of their ability of accelerating the check. Our results show that industrial business process models can be checked in a few milliseconds, which enables tight integration of modeling with control-flow analysis. We also briefly compare the diagnostic information delivered by the different approaches.

Business process verification – finally a reality!

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that process verification has matured to a level where it can be used in practice. Earlier techniques assumed simplified process models without the more advanced constructs available in today’s modelling languages (e.g., cancellation and OR-joins). This paper reports on new verification techniques that can be used to assess the correctness of real-life models. The proposed approach relies on using formal methods (i.e., mapping a business model to a reset net which is an extension of Petri nets, and performing state space analysis) to determine the correctness of business processes with cancellation and OR-joins. The paper also demonstrates how reduction rules can be used to improve the efficiency. We present these techniques in the context of the workflow language YAWL that provides direct support for 20 most frequently used patterns found today (including cancellation and OR-joins). But the results also apply to other languages with these features (e.g., BPMN, EPCs, UML activity diagrams, etc.). We have developed an editor that provides diagnostic information based on the techniques presented in this paper.

Updating systems concepts in family businesses: A focus on values, resource flows, and adaptability

Abstract: This article extends and expands current systems views of family business and provides a framework for interpreting family business holistically. The framework extends the definition of family-first and business-first systems and adds three categories that typify the gradations of firms that represent balanced systems emphases. In addition, this article discusses the goals, resource transfers, strengths, and limitations of each type of system and describes how firm adaptability and resource flows influence and change these family business systems; it argues that to understand family business health, one must understand the values and goals that guide the family, business, and ownership systems, as well as the overall family business system; and it presents an inclusive definition of family and business based on systems membership.

Similarity search of business process models

Abstract: Similarity search is a general class of problems in which a given object, called a query object, is compared against a collection of objects in order to retrieve those that most closely resemble the query object. This paper reviews recent work on an instance of this class of problems, where the objects in question are business process models. The goal is to identify process models in a repository that most closely resemble a given process model or a fragment thereof.

Business process management with the user requirements notation

Abstract: A number of recent initiatives in both academia and industry have sought to achieve improvements in e-businesses through the utilization of Business Process Management (BPM) methodologies and tools. However there are still some inadequacies that need to be addressed when it comes to achieving alignment between business goals and business processes. The User Requirements Notation (URN), recently standardized by ITU-T, has some unique features and capabilities beyond what is available in other notations that can help address alignment issues. In this paper, a URN-based framework and its supporting toolset are introduced which provide business process monitoring and performance management capabilities integrated across the BPM lifecycle. The framework extends the URN notation with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and other concepts to measure and align processes and goals. An example process for controlling access to a healthcare data warehouse is used to illustrate and evaluate the framework. Early results indicate the feasibility of the approach.

On-Demand Resource Provisioning for BPEL Workflows Using Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud

Abstract: BPEL is the de facto standard for business process modeling in today's enterprises and is a promising candidate for the integration of business and Grid applications. Current BPEL implementations do not provide mechanisms to schedule service calls with respect to the load of the target hosts. In this paper, a solution that automatically schedules workflow steps to underutilized hosts and provides new hosts using Cloud computing infrastructures in peak-load situations is presented. The proposed approach does not require any changes to the BPEL standard. An implementation based on the ActiveBPEL engine and Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud is presented.

Toward a Theory of Business Model Innovation within Incumbent Firms

Abstract: This paper presents a theory of business model innovation (BMI) within incumbent firms. The process of business model change is examined, with particular attention to business units in a multibusiness enterprise. The paper expands upon past definitions of business models. It identifies four separate but interrelated components in a business model: * A set of elemental activities. * A set of organizational units that perform the activities (some of these units are internal to the firm, others external). * A set of linkages between the activities, made explicit by an isomorphic set of physical transactions (between the organizational units that perform the activities) and human relationships among the individuals who supervise and/or manage the linked organizational units. * A set of governance mechanisms for controlling the organizational units and the linkages between units. A business model thus juxtaposes two systems: a system of activities and a system of relationships. It is only by considering the social contexts in which the internal and external transactions occur that executives can fully appreciate the critical dynamics of organizational change that must accompany BMI. In focusing on business units within large multibusiness corporations, the paper suggests that those business units can be more likely to produce BMI than freestanding business units if the corporation is able to create a favorable context. The dimensions of that context - what is called the BMI-Conducive Corporation - are explored, as are the transformational organizational changes required to produce such conduciveness. Finally, the paper presents implications for both managers and researchers of the proposed theory of BMI within incumbent firms.

Amoeba: A methodology for modeling and evolving cross-organizational business processes

Abstract: Business service engagements involve processes that extend across two or more autonomous organizations. Because of regulatory and competitive reasons, requirements for cross-organizational business processes often evolve in subtle ways. The changes may concern the business transactions supported by a process, the organizational structure of the parties participating in the process, or the contextual policies that apply to the process. Current business process modeling approaches handle such changes in an ad hoc manner, and lack a principled means for determining what needs to be changed and where. Cross-organizational settings exacerbate the shortcomings of traditional approaches because changes in one organization can potentially affect the workings of another.This article describes Amoeba, a methodology for business processes that is based on business protocols. Protocols capture the business meaning of interactions among autonomous parties via commitments. Amoeba includes guidelines for (1) specifying cross-organizational processes using business protocols, and (2) handling the evolution of requirements via a novel application of protocol composition. This article evaluates Amoeba using enhancements of a real-life business scenario of auto-insurance claim processing, and an aerospace case study.

Business Process Modeling: Perceived Benefits

Abstract: The process-centered design of organizations and information systems is globally seen as an appropriate response to the increased economic pressure on organizations. At the methodological core of process-centered management is process modeling. However, business process modeling in large initiatives can be a time-consuming and costly exercise, making it potentially difficult to convince executive management of its benefits. To date, and despite substantial interest and research in the area of process modeling, the understanding of the actual benefits of process modeling in academia and practice is limited. To address this gap, this paper explores the perception of benefits derived from process modeling initiatives, as reported through a global Delphi study. The study incorporates the views of three groups of stakeholders --- academics, practitioners and vendors. Our findings lead to the first identification and ranking of 19 unique benefits associated with process modeling. The study in particular found that process modeling benefits vary significantly between practitioners and academics. We argue that the variations may point to a disconnect between research projects and practical demands.

The Journey to Business Process Compliance

Abstract: It is a typical scenario that many organisations have their business processes specified independently of their business obligations (which includes contractual obligations to business partners, as well as obligations a business has to fulfil against regulations and industry standards). This is because of the lack of guidelines and tools that facilitate derivation of processes from contracts but also because of the traditional mindset of treating contracts separately from business processes. This chapter will provide a solution to one specific problem that arises from this situation, namely the lack of mechanisms to check whether business processes are compliant with business contracts. The chapter begins by defining the space for business process compliance and the eco-system for ensuring that process are compliant. The key point is that compliance is a relationship between two sets of specifications: the specifications for executing a business process and the specifications regulating a business. The central part of the chapter focuses on a logic based formalism for describing both the semantics of normative specifications and the semantics of compliance checking procedures.

On managing business processes variants

Abstract: Variance in business process execution can be the result of several situations, such as disconnection between documented models and business operations, workarounds in spite of process execution engines, dynamic change and exception handling, flexible and ad-hoc requirements, and collaborative and/or knowledge intensive work. It is imperative that effective support for managing process variances be extended to organizations mature in their BPM (business process management) uptake so that they can ensure organization wide consistency, promote reuse and capitalize on their BPM investments. This paper presents an approach for managing business processes that is conducive to dynamic change and the need for flexibility in execution. The approach is based on the notion of process constraints. It further provides a technique for effective utilization of the adaptations manifested in process variants. In particular, we will present a facility for discovery of preferred variants through effective search and retrieval based on the notion of process similarity, where multiple aspects of the process variants are compared according to specific query requirements. The advantage of this approach is the ability to provide a quantitative measure for the similarity between process variants, which further facilitates various BPM activities such as process reuse, analysis and discovery.

Information flows and business process integration

Abstract: Purpose – Many business process improvement efforts emphasize better integration, yet process integration can mean many things. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of information flows to modern business processes, and draw upon recent organizational and information systems literature to characterize process integration and to derive four principles of process integration: accessibility, timeliness, transparency, and granularity of information flows.Design/methodology/approach – Using a field study, the four principles of process integration are applied to analyze ten different business processes across five organizations.Findings – In total, 18 generalized activities are identified that describe non‐integrated behavior, and “keying in known data” was found to be the most common. Among other findings, analysis highlights the importance of documentation to modern business processes, especially for coordination roles, and the paper describes three different purposes for documentation fo...

Scientific Workflows: Business as Usual?

Abstract: Business workflow management and business process modeling are mature research areas, whose roots go far back to the early days of office automation systems. Scientific workflow management, on the other hand, is a much more recent phenomenon, triggered by (i) a shift towards data-intensive and computational methods in the natural sciences, and (ii) the resulting need for tools that can simplify and automate recurring computational tasks. In this paper, we provide an introduction and overview of scientific workflows, highlighting features and important concepts commonly found in scientific workflow applications. We illustrate these using simple workflow examples from a bioinformatics domain. We then discuss similarities and, more importantly, differences between scientific workflows and business workflows. While some concepts and solutions developed in one domain may be readily applicable to the other, there remain sufficiently many differences that warrant a new research effort at the intersection of scientific and business workflows. We close by proposing a number of research opportunities for cross-fertilization between the scientific workflow and business workflow communities.

Process‐centric business intelligence

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to deliver an insight into the interaction effects of process‐oriented management and business intelligence (BI).Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes up publications from the fields of BI and business process management and analyzes the state‐of‐the‐art of process‐centric business intelligence (PCBI). To highlight the potentials and limitations of the concept, two exemplary use cases are presented and discussed in depth. Furthermore, a vision for the technical implementation is sketched.Findings – PCBI is found to play an important role in an organization's strive for competitiveness. The concept's potential benefits are significant. However, the overall levels of adoption and maturity of the concept within real‐world organizations appear to be rather low at the moment.Research limitations/implications – The paper discusses solely two exemplary use cases – the most that could be done within the scope of a journal publication. Therefore, the explanatory power...