bpm

1. Business Process Modelling
- 1.2/2013 -
Marcello La Rosa
Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, 25 July 2013

2. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
How novices model a business process
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.

3. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Many ways of modelling a process…

4. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Many ways of modelling a process…

5. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Many ways of modelling a process…

6. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Many ways of modelling a process…

7. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Many ways of modelling a process…

8. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Many ways of modelling a process…

9. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Issues?
• Different representation of concepts
• Different level of granularity
• Different level of scope
• Different terminology
→ What is the right process model?

10. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
What is a model?
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

11. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
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 in a specific modelling subject for a specific
target audience with a specific modelling purpose in mind.
no right/wrong, but relevant/irrelevant model
A little bit on modelling theory

12. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
What is the relevant model?
?

13. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Collection of related events, activities and
decisions, that involve a number of actors and
objects, and that collectively lead to an outcome
that is of value to an organization or its customers.
Examples:
• Order-to-Cash
• Quote-to-Order
• Procure-to-Pay
• Application-to-Approval
• Fault-to-Resolution (Issue-to-Resolution)
• Claim-to-Settlement
Our Phenomena of Interest: Business Processes
Dumas, La Rosa, Mendling, Reijers, 2013

14. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
fault-to-resolution process
VALUE
Customer
Insurance
Company
Parts
Store
Service
Dispatch
Centre
Technician
Customer
Call Centre
Customer
“My washing machine doesn’t work…”

15. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Processes and Outcomes
• Every process leads to one or several outcomes, positive or
negative
– Positive outcomes deliver value
– Negative outcomes reduce value
• Fault-to-resolution process’ outcomes:
1. Fault repaired without technician intervention
2. Fault repaired with minor technician intervention
3. Fault repaired and fully covered by warranty
4. Fault repaired and partly covered by warranty
5. Fault repaired but not covered by warranty
6. Fault not repaired (customer withdrew request)

16. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
What is a Business Process: Recap

17. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
The Core Elements of a Process
• Activities
– active elements (e.g. ‘enter sales order’)
– time-consuming, resource-demanding
– state-changing
• Events
– passive elements (e.g. ‘sales order has been entered’)
– represent conditions / circumstances
– atomic, instantaneous
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18. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
The Core Elements of a Process
• Business Objects (or Data)
– the organizational artifacts that undergo state changes
– physical or electronic information
– examples:
• sales order, digital object, consulting proposal
• Actors (or Resources)
– the entities performing process activities and generating events
– human and systems
– examples:
• financial officer, warehouse clerk
• ERP, CRM, SAP, application X…
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19. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
ERP
Senior Finance Officer
Finance
Department
How do we combine these?
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 needs be done and when? - Control flow
2. What do we need to work on? – Data
3. Who’s doing the work? - Resources (human & systems)

20. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Process Perspectives
• Control Flow Perspective
– “what needs to be done and when”
– predecessor/successor relationship among activities and events
– the central information depicted in a process model
• Data Perspective
– “what do we need to work on”
– input/output data to activities
– complements the control flow
• Resource Perspective
– “who’s doing the work”
– human participants and systems that perform
control flow activities and generate events
– complements the control flow
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Check
Invoice
Mismatches
Enter
Invoice
Details
mismatch
exists
no
mismatches
Block
Invoice
Invoice
received
Invoice
posted
Post Invoice
Invoice
blocked
Invoice Report Invoice DB
ERP
Senior Finance Officer
Finance
Department

21. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Example: Student Enrollment
21
Complete
pre-
enrolment
Set up
online
access
Accept
offer and
T&C
Plan
enrolment
Enrol
Register
for
classes

22. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Further Potential Elements in a Process
• Objectives, Goals
– link to strategy
• Risks
– for risk-profiling the process
• Policies, Rules
– for checking process compliance
• Knowledge
– to depict expertise required
• …
22

23. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
23
Adapted from Davis, 2000; Wreden, 1998
Process Modelling…
• is a common language for naming and framing an issue
• integrates processes with other artefacts
(e.g. systems, organisations, data, services, risks)
• enables walk-through, validation and testing (e.g. via simulation)
• can be used as a benchmark for measuring improvements –
“what-if” analysis
• provides a blueprint for process automation

24. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
24
Why Process Modelling?
• Business processes are increasingly valued as essential
assets of an organisation
• This significance demands dedicated management of
processes
• We need ways to extract processes out of the
organisational complexity in order to discuss,
analyse, improve and automate them

25. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Where does process modelling fit in BPM?
Body of principles, methods and tools to design, analyze, execute
and monitor business processes, with the ultimate goal of
improving them.
Organizational
Business Processes
IT systems
People
Data Trading
Partners
Suppliers
IT infrastructure
Customers
Dumas, La Rosa, Mendling, Reijers, 2013

26. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Where does process modelling fit in BPM?
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
…design, analyze, execute and monitor business processes…
Focus of this unit

27. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Time Investment in BPM Projects
BPTrends, 2006
41%
3%
5%
8%
7%
12%
11%
9% 4%
Process Discovery
Project Team Selection
Business Case
Deployment and Training
Testing and Debugging
Implementation
Tool Evaluation and Selection
Functional and Technical Specification
Project Documentation

28. © INB/INN320 1.2/2012 – 25 July 2013
Top 10 Technology Skills
• Business Process Modelling
• Database
• Messaging/Communications
• IT Architecture
• IT Security
• Project Management
• Data Mining
• Web Development
• IT Optimization
• Networking
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NetworkWorld, 30 March 2009