This document provides an overview of business process modeling and the Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN) standard. It discusses what business processes are and why they are important to model. The key elements of a BPMN process model are presented, including activities, events, gateways, sequence flows, start and end events. Examples of process models in BPMN are shown for an order-to-cash process and handling down payments. The document also discusses conceptual vs executable process models and different purposes of process modeling.

1. Prof. Marcello La Rosa
BPMDiscipline
Queensland University ofTechnology
Business Process Modelling

2. © Marcello La Rosa
• What is a business process?
• What’s so special about business processes?
• What is BPM?
• What is the value of BPM?
Quick recap from Week 1

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“It’s like turning a lot of light bulbs on in the minds of managers”
Process owner
Defense Housing Authority
Canberra, Australia
Why process modeling?
Transparency

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ERP
Senior Finance Officer
Finance
Department
Process models – conveying transparency
Check
Invoice
Mismatches
Enter
Invoice
Details
mismatch
exists
no
mismatches
Block
Invoice
Invoice
received
Invoice
posted
Post Invoice
Invoice
blocked
Invoice Invoice
Report
Invoice
Invoice DB
1. What we need to do and when – Control flow
2. What we need to work on – Artifacts (physical & electronic)
3. Who does the work – Resources (human & systems)
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What we need to do and when
• Activities, events and their order relationships
• Manual or automated
What we need to work on
• input/output artifacts to activities
• Physical or electronic
Who does the work
• Resources that perform activities and generate events
• Human or software
Key ingredients of a process model
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Further potential elements in a process
Objectives, goals
• to link with corporate strategy
Risks
• to risk-profile the process
Policies, rules
• to check process compliance
Knowledge
• to depict expertise required
…
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Example: Student Enrollment
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What’s the right model?

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How novices model
Mark is going on a trip to Sydney. He decides to call a taxi from home to
the airport. The taxi arrives after 10 minutes, and takes half an hour for
the 20 kilometers to the airport.
At the airport, Mark uses the online check-in counter and receives his
boarding pass. Of course, he could have also used the ticket counter. He
does not have to check-in any luggage, and so he proceeds straight to
the security check, which is 100 meters down the hall on the right. The
queue here is short and after 5 minutes he walks up to the departure
gate.
Mark decides not to go to the Frequent Flyer lounge and instead walks
up and down the shops for 15 minutes and buys a newspaper before he
returns to the gate. After ten minutes waiting, he boards the plane.
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Recker et al., How novices model business processes, Proceedings of BPM, Springer, 2010

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Some other ways of modelling...
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Recker et al., How novices model business processes, Proceedings of BPM, Springer, 2010

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Some other ways of modelling...
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Recker et al., How novices model business processes, Proceedings of BPM, Springer, 2010

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Some other ways of modelling...
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Recker et al., How novices model business processes, Proceedings of BPM, Springer, 2010

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Some other ways of modelling...
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Recker et al., How novices model business processes, Proceedings of BPM, Springer, 2010

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Some other ways of modelling...
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Recker et al., How novices model business processes, Proceedings of BPM, Springer, 2010

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• Different representation of concepts
• Different level of granularity
• Different level of scope
• Different terminology
→What is the right process model?
Issues?
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Register
order
Prepare
shipment
Ship
goods
Receive
payment
(Re)send
bill
Contact
customer
Archive
order
Material
is released
TO item
confirmed
without
differences
Warehouse/
Stores
Transfer
order
item
is confirmed
Payment
must
be effected
Purchase
Requisition
Requirement
for material
has arisen
Requisition
released
for scheduling
agreement
schedule/SA release
Invoice
Verification
Purchase
requisition
released
for purchase
order
Inbound
delivery
entered
Goods
received
Goods
receipt
posted
Goods
Receipt
Purchase
order
created
Purchasing
Invoice
received
Check Invoice
Mismatches
Post Invoice
Enter Invoice
Details
mismatch
exists
no
mismatches
Block Invoice
Invoice
received
What is a model?
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Models are abstractions from real world phenomena,
developed for the purpose of reducing overall complexity.
Models aggregate information and document only relevant
aspects of the real world
Models are being developed:
1. in a specific modelling subject
2. for a specific target audience
3. with a specific modelling purpose in mind
What’s a model? A little bit on modelling theory
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no right/wrong, but…
relevant/irrelevant
model

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?
What’s the relevant model?
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Model Definition
A model is a representation of some phenomenon of the real
world made in order to facilitate an understanding of its
workings.
Oxford Dictionary
1. What phenomenon matters?
2. How to represent this?
3. How to facilitate understanding?
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Our phenomenon of interest: Business Process
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Purposes of process modeling
Process
identification
Conformance and
performance insights
Conformance and
performance insights
Process
monitoring and
controlling
Executable
process
model
Executable
process
model
Process
implementation To-be process
model
To-be process
model
Process
analysis
As-is process
model
As-is process
model
Process
discovery
Process architecture
Process architecture
Process
redesign
Insights on
weaknesses and
their impact
Insights on
weaknesses and
their impact
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• documentation
• communication
• activity-based costing
• simulation...
• benchmarking
• certification
• workflow management
• software development
• integration
• testing
• …

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Purposes of Process Modeling
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documentation
communication
activity-
based
costing
simulation
benchmarking
certification
software
development
workflow
management
integration
testing
Organization
design
Application system
design
Transparency
…
…

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Business stakeholders
• Process innovation, operational excellence
• KPIs, customer touch-points, issues, opportunities, risks
• Balanced Scorecard, Activity-based costing
• Animation, simulation, scenario analysis,
easy communication…
IT stakeholders
• Process-Aware Information Systems
• Process automation
• Expressive, executable, standardized models
• Data types, conditions, data mappings, faults handling…
Different stakeholders have different interests…
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Conceptual process models
• are made by domain experts
• provide a basis for communication
amongst relevant stakeholders
• must be understandable
• must be intuitive and may leave room for
interpretation
• contain purely a relevant set of process
information
Executable process models
• are made by IT experts
• provide input to a process
enactment system - BPMS
• must be machine readable
• must be unambiguous and should
not contain any uncertainties
• contain further details that are only
relevant to implementation
The result: two sides of the story
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26. How to model:
the BPMN language

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Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN)
• OMG standard (nowadays BPMN 2.0)
• Supported by numerous tools: bpmn.org lists over 70 tools (Jan 15)
• Both for conceptual and executable models

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Objective of the BPMN initiative
Organisational design
Application system
design
Modelling Purpose Target Audience
Managers/Strategy
Consultants
Process Owners
Business Analysts
Solution Architects
Software Developers
Scope
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BPMN from 10,000 miles…
Based on popular graphical flowcharts:
- Core set of notation elements
- Each core element has various subtypes
A BPMN process model is a graph consisting of four types of core
elements:
activity gateway
event sequence
flow
start end

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A typical order-to-cash process is triggered by the receipt of a
purchase order from a customer. The purchase order has to be
checked against the stock regarding the availability of the
item(s) requested. Depending on stock availability the purchase
order may be confirmed or rejected.
If the purchase order is confirmed, an invoice is emitted and the
goods requested are shipped. The process completes by
archiving the order or if the order is rejected.
Let’s start modeling
Order-to-cash

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Solution in BPMN
start
event
end
event
activity
split gateway
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Order-to-cash
Purchase
order
received
end
event
Ship goods
Order
rejected
Order
fulfilled
Archive
order
Check stock
Reject order
Confirm
order
Items in
stock
Items not in
stock
Check stock
availability
Emit
invoice
• Event: noun + past-participle verb (e.g. insurance claim lodged)
Naming conventions
• Activity: imperative verb + noun (e.g. assess credit risk)

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This process starts when a request for down payment has been
approved.
It involves the entry and posting of a down payment in the form
of a down payment request being entered into the system, the
automatic subsequent payment, acquittal of the down payment
through the processing of the direct invoice and the clearance
of the vendor line items.
The clearance of the vendor line items can result in a debit or
credit balance. In case of debit balance, the arrears are
processed, otherwise the remaining balance is paid.
Handle down payments
One more example
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Enter down
payment
request
Process
payment
Process
direct
invoice
Clear
vendor line
items
Debit
balance
Credit
balance
Pay
remaining
balance
Process
arrears
Down
payment
request
approved
Balance
paid
Arrears
processed
Solution in BPMN
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Handle down payments

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Activities capture work performed in a
process
• Different types of activities
Events represent the process’ triggers (start
event) and outcomes (end event).
• Different types of events
BPMN core elements
activity
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start
event
end
event

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Gateways capture forking and joining paths in
the control flow.
• Different types of gateways
Sequence flows represent the order in which
activities and events will be performed.
They can be assigned a condition to distinguish
between alternative branches.
• Different types of flows
BPMN core elements
sequence
flow
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gateway

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Check stock
availability
Reject order
Confirm
order
Emit
invoice
Ship goods
Purchase
order
received
Items in
stock
Items not in
stock
Order
rejected
Order
fulfilled
Archive
order
Process model vs process instances –
The tokens game
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Order #1
Order #2
Order #3

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A start event triggers a new process instance
by generating a token that traverses the
sequence flow (“tokens source”)
An end event signals that a process instance has
completed with a given outcome by consuming
a token (“tokens sink”)
A little bit more on events…
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start
event
end
event

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BPMN Poster available in the courseware
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Readings for Week 2
• Dumas M., La Rosa M., Mendling J., Reijers, H. (2013):
Fundamentals of BPM. Chapter 3 Section 3.1 (including box
“A bit on modeling theory”)
• Recker J., Safrudin N., Rosemann M., How novices model
business processes, Proceedings of BPM, Springer, 2010
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Required
Recommended

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Prof. Marcello La Rosa
IS School Academic Director
(Corporate Programs and Partnerships)
BPM Discipline, IS School
Science & Engineering Faculty
Queensland University of Technology
2 George Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
Australia
p +61 (0)7 3138-9482
e m.larosa@qut.edu.au
w www.marcellolarosa.com