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Article
Publication date: 13 September 2011

Axel Winkelmann and Burkhard Weiß

Financial institutions have been engaged in numerous business process reengineering (BPR) projects to make their organizations more efficient. However, the success of BPR projects…

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Abstract

Purpose

Financial institutions have been engaged in numerous business process reengineering (BPR) projects to make their organizations more efficient. However, the success of BPR projects in banks varies significantly and it remains a challenge to systematically discover weaknesses in business process landscapes. Based on the flow chart notation language this paper seeks to argue for the definition of weakness patterns in order to automatically identify potential process weaknesses.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed weakness patterns in the flow chart notation language based on design science principles. To systematically derive process weaknesses that can be formalized, they analyzed each element of the flow chart notation as it was used in a real‐life case. They furthermore tested the identified patterns in reality in order to evaluate their validity.

Findings

The authors identified various potential weakness patterns that helped in automatically identifying weaknesses in process models. To some extent these findings are generalizable and transferable to other process modeling languages.

Research limitations/implications

The pattern‐based approach depends upon how well structural weakness patterns are defined and formalized. Identified problems remain “potential” weaknesses until a manual analysis reveals that the identified potential weaknesses are actually real weaknesses or not, e.g. due to law regulations.

Practical implications

Using weakness patterns allows for automatically identifying potential process weaknesses in existing flow chart models. This way, this research helps in improving the so far manual analysis of process model landscapes.

Originality/value

The approach is a new way of looking for process weaknesses through process weakness patterns.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 13 September 2011

Stefan Smolnik, Nils Urbach and Jerry L. Fjermestad

575

Abstract

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 17 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2015

Philipp Bergener, Patrick Delfmann, Burkhard Weiss and Axel Winkelmann

Automating the task of identifying process weaknesses using process models is promising, as many organizations have to manage a large amount of process models. The purpose of this…

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Abstract

Purpose

Automating the task of identifying process weaknesses using process models is promising, as many organizations have to manage a large amount of process models. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a pattern-based approach for automatically detecting potential process weaknesses in semantic process models, thus supporting the task of business process improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on design research, combined with a case study, the authors explore the design, application and evaluation of a pattern-based process weakness detection approach within the setting of a real-life case study in a German bank.

Findings

Business process weakness detection can be automated to a remarkable extent using pattern matching and a semantic business process modeling language. A case study provided evidence that such an approach highly supports business process analysts.

Research limitations/implications

The presented approach is limited by the fact that not every potential process weakness detected by pattern matching is really a weakness but just gives the impression to be one. Hence, after detecting a weakness, analysts still have to decide on its authenticity.

Practical implications

Applying weakness patterns to semantic process models via pattern matching allows organizations to automatically and efficiently identify process improvement potentials. Hence, this research helps to avoid time- and resource-consuming manual analysis of process model landscapes.

Originality/value

The approach is not restricted to a single modeling language. Furthermore, by applying the pattern matching approach to a semantic modeling language, the authors avoid ambiguous search results. A case study proves the usefulness of the approach.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

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