The document discusses Reverse Interaction Modelling (RIM) as a structured approach to enhancing business processes by focusing on the interactions within and between these processes. It outlines the objectives and principles of RIM, providing a systematic framework for innovation in business interactions. The case study of Europrofiles illustrates the practical application of RIM in designing an effective pricing information delivery process to improve partner access to real-time information.

1. Reverse Interaction
Modelling™
designing a better business by
designing better interactions
Marc Buyens
marc.buyens@xpragma.com
www.xpragma
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2. contents
a bit of history
– e-business strategy development
– Business Interaction Management
Reverse Interaction Modelling (RIM)
– RIM objectives
– basic principles
– the Europrofiles case

3. a bit of history
e-business strategy development

4. the basic model
e-business
e-business process
process business
business
vision
vision change
change processes
processes
opportunities
opportunities
business
business business
business e-business
e-business
reality
reality objectives
objectives principles
principles
selected
selected
opportunities
opportunities

5. process change methods
Intensification: improving processes to serve current customers
better
Extension: using strong processes to enter new markets
Augmentation: expanding processes to provide additional
services to current customers
Conversion: taking a process that you perform well and
performing it as a service for other companies
Innovation: applying processes that you perform well to create
and deliver different goods or services
Diversification: creating new processes to deliver new goods or
services
Michael Hammer, Beyond Reengineering, How the Process-Centred Organization is
Changing Our Work and Our Lives

6. process change methods
no, not really
my piece of
cake...

7. a bit of history
Business Interaction Management

8. what is a business process?
“A business process is a set of coordinated tasks and
activities, conducted by both people and equipment,
that will lead to accomplishing a specific organizational
goal. Business process management (BPM) is a
systematic approach to improving those processes.”
www.SearchCIO.com

9. what is a business process?
“At its most generic, any set of activities performed by
a business that is initiated by an event, transforms
information, materials or business commitments, and
produces an output. Value chains and large-scale
business processes produce outputs that are valued
by customers. Other processes generate outputs that
are valued by other processes.”
www.BPTrends.com

10. what is a business process?
“A business process is how an organisation does its
work — the set of activities it pursues to accomplish a
particular objective for a particular customer, either
internal or external.”
Thomas H. Davenport

11. a business process...
what does it LOOK like?

12. what does it look like?
http://xpdl.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=TroubleTicketScenario

13. what does it look like?
IDS Scheer AG, ARIS

14. what does it look like?
Metastorm ProVision Business Process Analysis

15. a business process...
what’s WRONG with it?

16. what’s wrong with it?
nothing,
really…

17. nothing really, but…
it is
about
HOW
we do
things

18. nothing really, but…
“If there is one device that has destroyed more
innovation than any other, it is Six Sigma”
Mark Fishman, MD, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

19. nothing really, but…
it is essentially
about NOW
and about
STRUCTURE

20. nothing really, but…
it is
essentially
about US

21. nothing really, but…
business processes
reach endpoints…

22. nothing really, but…
“At the moment we cross the border of our
process workspace, we reach endpoints, not to say
wastebaskets. The business process ends. We
passed the Pillars of Hercules where the sea falls
into an endless chasm.”
BIM white paper

23. nothing really, but…
is there life
at the other side?
side

24. the case for
Business Interaction
Management (BIM)

25. what is BIM?
Business Interaction Management
is the field of expertise that
encompasses the planning, the
design and the control of how a
company's business processes
interact with the (business)
processes of other internal and
external parties

26. In the universe, any object that is not interacting with
another object is in a void. It might as well not exist
since no other object is aware of it.
For humans, any human that is not interacting with
another human does't exist. Whatever wild
movements they make in their little room, they are an
object in a void.
Interactions matter. They make things real.

27. Σ (interactions)
= your_business
so, design your business
by designing the interactions

28. the new economic order
market
market lead partner B
lead partner B
lead partner A
lead partner A
coordinator B
coordinator B
coordinator A
coordinator A
contributor A
contributor A contributor C
contributor B contributor C
contributor B

29. the war for against talent
24.600 layoffs
7,5% of workforce
HP-EDS merger

30. tacit interactions
“Tacit interactions are
becoming central to economic
activity. Making those who
undertake them more effective
isn’t like tweaking a production
line.
McKinsey Quarterly

31. the interaction as the real product
Own the Customer’s
Total Experience
Patricia B. Seybold

32. envisioning
Business Interaction
Management

33. not about reengineering processes,
but about designing a business
instead of designing process building blocks that stack
up into the sky (and hopefully towards our objectives),
we must design our business top-down by defining the
interactions we want with all parties involved
not events, not inputs and outputs become the
delimiters of business processes, but interactions
become the primary controls
interactions become the purpose of business
processes, instead of the unfortunate consequence

34. designing the business…
company
company
i1 { time, i3 { time,
content, i2 { time, content,
form, content, form,
quality, form, quality,
emotion, quality, emotion,
…} emotion, …}
…}
partners
partners customers
customers employees
employees

35. designing the business…
company
company
i2 { time,
content,
form,
quality,
emotion,
…}
i21 { time, content, form, i22 { time, content, form, i23 { time, content, form,
quality, emotion, …} quality, emotion, …} quality, emotion, …}
customer1
customer1 customer2
customer2 customer3
customer3

36. designing the business…
customer107
customer107
i2107 { time, content, business i325 { time, content,
form, quality, process form, quality,
emotion, …} stuff emotion, …}
employee25
employee25

37. Reverse
Interaction
Modelling

38. RIM: what is it?
Reverse Interaction Modelling (RIM) is a
structured approach that supports the
discovery and the definition of better
business processes by focusing on the
specifics of the interactions that occur
within/between these processes

39. RIM objectives
provide a structured approach that facilitates innovative thinking on
all layers of the enterprise
– low footprint: requires little formal training; no “methodology”;
limited need for facilitators
– formal: fixed sequence of steps; limited need for ‘creative’
thinking
– few boundaries: promoting ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking
– guaranteed: when done well, is likely to uncover the potential
opportunities/needs
– business focused: focusing on the ‘what’ that is being achieved
– interaction focused: focusing on the ‘other side’ of the
interaction equation

40. limitations
assumes a sufficient degree of ‘openness’ within the
organisation
assumes willingness to question the current status
quo
facilitator will be needed for the first exercise(s)
does only cover the interaction specifics, not the
complete solution
does not cover the feasibility analysis, nor the
prioritisation of identified opportunities

41. the basic model
e-business
e-business process
process business
business
vision
vision change
change processes
processes
opportunities
opportunities
business
business business
business e-business
e-business
reality
reality objectives
objectives principles
principles
selected
selected
opportunities
opportunities

42. RIM basic principles

43. the Europrofiles case
ProVision Workbench, Proforma Corporation

44. process change objectives
to design a new price
information delivery process allowing our
partners to have easy access to up-to-date
information regarding our offering and the
corresponding prices and promotions

45. RIM basic principles
five basic steps:
definition of scope
focus on the ‘deep process’
look for the ‘extended process’
analyse the existing interaction dynamics
let your creativity do the rest of the work

46. 1. definition of scope
reduce complexity by focusing on a specific process or
subset of processes
agree on the level of potential process change that
can be assumed
try avoiding too much organisational boundaries

47. 2. focus on the ‘deep process’
reduce complexity by looking at the “deep process”
– “…mapping the key goals and interrelationships of activities
at a deeper level – to define the essence of a process in a
way that allows a great deal of creativity and customisation
in how it is actually carried out…” *
the very essence of what is being achieved, not how it is being
performed today
focus on the main interactions between all parties involved
not restricted by a specific organisational structure
* Thomas W. Malone, The Future of Work, How the New Order of Business Will
Shape Your Organization, Your Management Style, and Your Life

48. 3. look for the ‘extended process’
abandon the traditional intra-company view
look for all interactions with stakeholders that might
be impacted
describe the process as a sequence of interactions
initially, do not take into account existing intra-
company interactions

49. 4. analyse the interaction dynamics
identify the key metric(s) that will measure success
starting from this point
– identify the system dynamics that determine
success
– identify the inhibitors for success
– identify which interactions are influencers
– (re-) formulate the requirements for deep process
change

50. 5. let your creativity do the rest of the work
oh my
oh my
God…
God…

51. the Europrofiles case

52. the Europrofiles case
ProVision Workbench, Proforma Corporation

53. process change objectives
“Design a new price information
delivery process allowing our partners
to have easy access to up-to-date
information regarding our offering and
the corresponding prices and
promotions”

54. focus on the ‘deep process’

55. look for the ‘extended process’…

56. five questions every mentor must ask
what is it that you really want to be and do?
what are you doing really well that is helping you get
there?
what are you not doing well that is preventing you
from getting there?
what will you do differently tomorrow to meet those
challenges?
how can I help / where do you need the most help?
Anthony Tjan, CEO, Managing Partner and Founder of Cue Ball
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/tjan/2009/03/five-questions-every-mentor-mu.html

57. identify the key metric(s) that will
measure success

58. identify the key metric(s) that will
measure success

59. identify the system dynamics that
determine success

60. identify the system dynamics that
determine success

61. identify the inhibitors for success

62. identify the inhibitors for success

63. identify which interactions are
influencers

64. identify which interactions are
influencers

65. identify which interactions are
influencers

66. reformulate the process change
objectives
“Design a new price information delivery process allowing
our partners
for the deliver-pricing-information interaction
– to have access to up-to-date information regarding our
offering and the corresponding prices and promotions in
such a way that it avoids re-entering of pricing data
for the make-proposal interaction
– to be able to generate quotes without the need to re-
enter pricing data and in such a way that it allows
removing the customer’s perception of only dealing with
a small company”

67. let your creativity do the rest of the
work
not again…
not again…

68. Epilogue
For our little business case, the company that gave the initial idea for
this case moved to a web-based solution that gave their partners
access to the latest offering and price information and that allowed
for entering the details of proposals. The company then would print
professionally looking proposal documents, customised for each
partner company, that then were mailed by the company to the end-
consumer.
By creating this service, the company also gained a greater lock-in of
their partner channel since most of these partners became more
dependent upon these services.

69. annex

70. Creative Commons
polandeze Jen SFO-BCN FaceMePLS ButterflySha
Jaap Steinvoorte AngelsWings nailbender
Araleya
littledan77 jenny downing surfstyle
Lessa0502

71. Creative Commons
AngelsWings @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/linhtinh/
Araleya @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/araleya/
ButterflySha @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/butterflysha/
FaceMePLS @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/faceme/
Jaap Steinvoorte @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneford/
Jen SFO-BCN @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferwoodardmaderazo/
jenny downing @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenny-pics/
Lessa0502 @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/wandererwoman/
littledan77 @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/pressthebuttononthetop/ /
nailbender @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/nailbender/
polandeze @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze/
surfstyle @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/surfstyle/

72. resources
original BIM white paper
– http://www.xpragma.com/english/content/pdf/XD-BIM-wp-
E.pdf
BIM twine
– http://www.twine.com/twine/112v41gh7-b4d/business-
interaction-management-bim
or via
http://www.xpragma.com/atom_feed_bim.php