Session 3 Flashcards
(26 cards)
Process modeling
What is a model?
What focuses the general model theory on?
Models are representations. A model represents something real. We use models to describe certain parts of the world. We also do this for companies.
The general model theory focuses on:
- Representativeness
- Reductiveness
- Purposefulness
Business processes are also models. They are a series of steps to achieve a certain goal.
What is Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN)?
BPMN is a graphical modeling language.
BPMN process models should be understood by?
- Business users
- Analysts
- Programmers
BPMN should enable process modeling in an end-to-end fashion:
- Starting with high level process models
- Refining process models and adding technical details
- Derive executable process models (program code) from detailed BPMN process descriptions
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN)
3 main elements
• Activities: verb in imperative form followed by a noun representing a business object (e.g.
approve credit, pay bill)
o Steps that need to be done in order to do the process
• Events: noun followed by verb in past particple form (e.g. ourder received, invoice settled) o Process starts, process ends
• Processes: nominalizing a verb describing the main goal of a business process (e.g. order fulfillment, product delivery) or a noun in hyphenated form indicating a sequence of actions (e.g. order-to-cash, procurement-to-pay)
o Processes and subprocesses
BPMN gateways
- Data-based XOR
- Inclusive OR (When splitting one or more branches are activated according to condition expression)
- Parallel forking - AND (When splitting, all outgoing branches are activated)
Parallel execution (AND) - split
Parralel split (AND):
A token that arrives at the AND gateway is cloned. There are as many tokens as there are outgoing gates.
Each token is put on a particular outgoing sequence flow and moves on.
Parallel execution (AND) - join
Parallel Joining (AND):
The AND gate must receive an input signal (a token) from all input Sequence Flows for the output flow to be taken (synchronization). The process flows waits for all signals to arrive at the AND gateway before it can continue.
In contrast, XOR and OR gates are used to model a parallel merging.
Exclusive decision (XOR)
Data-based Exclusive Choice (XOR):
A data token traverses the Process Flow and arrives at the XOR gateway. The path that it flows out on is chosen based on condition expressions for each gate of the gateway. The token can only pass one gate or none (if no condition evaluates to TRUE)
Inclusive decision (OR)
Inclusive OR Decision:
A data token traverses the Process Flow and arrives at the OR gateway. On or more of the outgoing Sequence Flows from the decision may be taken. There cannot be zero output flows. You must specify a default flow.
BPMN - Events
What are Events?
What are Events categorized by?
Events are occurrences that trigger the execution of a business process. Events are within the process to help us better understand the process.
They are categorized by:
• The stage at which they occur in a process (start, intermediate, end),
• Catching and throwing
• Type (basic, message, timer, rule, exception, cancellation, compensation, signal, link, multiple,
termination)
Semantics of a catch event
• Waiting for an event
• When placed within a sequence flow, the sequence only continues, once an event has been
caught
• When attached to an activity, the activity is aborted, once an event is caught
BPMN - Pools and Swimlanes
They are used to make processes even more structured (to group activities of a process). They represent responsibilities for activities in the process. A pool or a lane can be an organization, department, role, or system (i.e., resources). A pool is suitable to describe external views on business processes (e.g., B2B relations). A lane is suitable to describe internal views (e.g., intra-organizational responsibilities).
Activities within separate pools are considered self-contained processes
• Sequence flows may not cross the boundaries of a pool
• However, sequence flows may cross boundaries of a swimlane
Separated pools can be connected via message flows.
What are business processes?
Two important characteristics?
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
Business processes are a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. A set of processes form a business system. This is the way in which a business unit or a
collection of units, carries out its business.
Processes have two important characteristics:
- They have customers:
there are internal/external recipients of the outcome. Customers may be
either internal or external to the firm.
- They cross organizational boundaries:
processes are independent of formal organizational
structure.
Examples of processes meeting these criteria include developing a new project, ordering goods from a supplier, creating a marketing plan, processing and paying an insurance claim and writing a proposal
Redesigning Business Processes with IT: Five Steps
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
A five-step approach is recommended to redesign processes with IT:
- Develop the business vision and process objectives: prioritize objectives and stretch targets
- Identify the processes to be redesigned: identify critical or bottleneck processes
- Understand and measure the existing process: understand and measure existing processes
- Identify IT levers: brainstorm new process approaches
- Design and build a prototype of the new process: implement organizational and technical
aspects
4 specific objectives for process redesign:
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
Cost reduction:
cost is an important redesign objective in combination with others, but insufficient in itself. Excessive attention to cost reduction results in tradeoffs that are usually unacceptable to process stakeholders. While optimizing on other objectives seems to bring costs
into line, optimizing on cost does not bring about other objectives.
Time reduction:
this has been only a secondary objective of traditional industrial engineering. Increasing numbers of companies, however, are beginning to compete on the basis of time. Processes are the ideal unit on which to focus time reduction analysis. One common approach to cutting time from a product design process is to make the steps in the process begin simultaneously, rather than sequentially, using IT to coordinate design directions among the
various functional participants.
Output quality:
all processes have outputs, be they physical (such as in manufacturing a tangible product) or informational (such as in adding data to a customer file). Output quality has frequently been the focus of process improvement in manufacturing environments; it is just as important an objective in service industries, and in processes with only internal customers. Thespecific measure of output quality may be uniformity, variability, or freedom from defects; this
should be defined by the customer of the process.
Quality of Worklife (QWL)/learning/empowerment:
a frequently neglected objective of process redesign is the work life quality of the individuals carrying it out. IT can lead either to greater empowerment of individuals, or to greater control. IT-intensive processes are often simply automated, and that the “informating” or learning potential of IT in processes is often ignored. Organizations often do not provide a supportive context for individuals to introduce or
innovate with IT.
Two major approaches to identify processes
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
The means by which processes to be redesigned are identified and prioritized is a key issue. This is often difficult because managers do not think about their operations as processes.
There are two major
approaches:
- The exhaustive approach attempts to identify all processes within an organization and then
prioritize them in order of redesign urgency. - The high-impact approach attempts to identify only the most important processes or those most
in conflict with the business vision and process objectives.
Two reasons for understanding and measuring processes before redesigning them
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
- Problems must be understood so that they are not repeated.
- Accurate measurement can serve as a baseline for future improvements. However, it is easy to overemphasize this step. A process should not be measured for measurements sake. Only the specific objectives of the redesign should be measured, an 80-20 philosophy is usually
appropriate.
9 critical IT capabilities and their organizational impact.
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
- Transactional:
IT can transform unstructured processes into routinized transactions. - Geographical:
IT can transfer information with rapidity and ease across large distances, making processes independent of geography. - Automational:
IT can replace or reduce human labor in a process. - Analytical:
IT can bring complex analytical methods to bear on a process. - Informational:
IT can bring vast amounts of detailed information into a process. - Sequential:
IT can enable changes in the sequence of tasks in a process, often allowing multiple tasks to be worked on simultaneously. - Knowledge management:
IT allows the capture and dissemination of knowledge and expertise to improve the process. - Tracking:
IT allows the detailed tracking of tasks status, inputs and outputs. - Disintermediation:
IT can be used to connect two parties within a process that would otherwise communicate through an intermediary (internal or external).
Defining process entities
Processes take place between types of organizational entities. Each type has different implications for
IT benefits.
- Name 3 types.
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
- Interorganizational processes are those taking place between two or more business organisations. Increasingly, companies are concerned with coordinating activities that extend into the next company along the value-chain. Simple market relationships are the most common source. Most of the focus has been on a transaction level, instead of an interorganizational
business process level (e.g. broader procurement process/awareness that a product is needed). - Interfunctional processes exist within the organisation, but cross several functional or divisional boundaries. They achieve major operational objectives, and most manager processes are interfunctional. Improving these processes is important for quality improvement, but most firms don’t even know their interfunctional processes. A major problem is that most information
systems are built to automate specific functional areas. - Interpersonal processes involve tasks within and across small work groups, typically within a function or department (e.g. airline crew). This type of process is becoming more important as companies shift to self-managing teams as the lowest unit of organization. IT is increasingly capable of supporting interpersonal processes, e.g. through groupware. IT can make it possible
for employees around the world to work as a team.
Defining process objects
Processes can also be categorized by the types of objects manipulated. The two primary objects are:
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
- Physical: real, tangible things are either created or manipulated.
- Informational: create or manipulate information (e.g. making a decision, marketing plan, etc.)
Many processes are a combination of these two objects. The potential for using IT to improve physical processes is well known. It allows greater flexibility and outcomes, more precise control over the
process, reductions in throughput time, etc
Defining process activities
Our examples of business process involve two types of activities:
The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign (Davenport & Short, 1999)
- Operational: day-to-day carrying out of the organizations basic purpose.
- Managerial: help to control, plan, or provide resources for operational.
The past has been focused on operational activities, but we focus on managerial activities, which is not a new idea. Benefits have not been realized because of the absence of systematic process thinking. Few companies have rigorously analyzed managerial activities as process subject to redesign. The generic IT capabilities for improving management processes include improving analytic accuracy, enabling broader management participation, generating feedback, streamlining the time and resources a process
consumes.
What is Business Process Redesign (BPR)
A Methodology for Business Process Redesign: Experiences and Issue (Wastel, White & Kawalek; 1994)
Business process redesign (BPR) is the endeavor to augment organizational performance by improving the efficiency, effectiveness and adaptability of key business processes.
- What is Soft systems methodology?
- What are the 3 main phases?
A Methodology for Business Process Redesign: Experiences and Issue (Wastel, White & Kawalek; 1994)
Soft systems methodology (SSM) is a technique for solving complex unstructured problems. In
information systems it is used for defining user requirements.
There are three main phases:
Phase 1.
The investigator forms a detailed understanding of the problem situation, a rich-picture.
Phase 2.
Involves disengagement from the real world into the realm of pure systems thinking. Conceptual models are constructed based on a number of possible relevant perspectives.
Phase 3:
Involves a comparison of these models with the actual problem situation in order to
orchestrate discussion and suggest practical courses of action to improve the situation.
4 phases to PADM (process analysis and design methodology)
A Methodology for Business Process Redesign: Experiences and Issue (Wastel, White & Kawalek; 1994)
- Process definition:
this phase involves establishing the objectives of a given process, a definition of its boundaries and interfaces, its main puts and outputs, those departments that are involved in executing the process, those customers that benefit from it and those that provide input (suppliers). - Baseline process capture and representation:
the next phase is focused on modeling the process in detail. Modeling involves constructing a graphical representation of the process. Process modelling is a complex hermeneutic process which involves talking to users, trying to understand their POV, etc. Standard techniques, such as dataflow diagram (DFD) were found to be limited. DFDs focus exclusively on information flows and ignore, (e.g. the social organization
of processes). - Process evaluation:
this stage involves techniques and criteria for analysing and assessing processes. It is a quantitative activity with strong emphasis on identifying and measuring key process performance indicators. The aim of this stage is to look for weaknesses and problems in
the process. - Target process design:
involves the design of new processes for the organization. There are two types of process redesigns. These are technical redesign and social redesign. Process diagrams often reveal unnecessary organizational complexity.
a. Technical redesign involves streamlining and rationalizing the process. Identifying opportunities for process improvement by exploiting IT support is strongly emphasized
in PADM.
b. Process improvement from a social perspective involves changes to jobs and the social structure in order to increase motivation, to reduce stress and improve performance by
empowerment.
