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1 – 10 of over 1000Severine LeLoarne and Adnane Maalaoui
The purpose of this paper is to focus on how entrepreneurs anticipate and change their company’s business process management after developing a radical innovation. The paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on how entrepreneurs anticipate and change their company’s business process management after developing a radical innovation. The paper is based on a critical approach to business process modelling (BPM) that posits that – in spite of all the claims, guides and tools that companies employ to help them modelise their processes – business processes are developed and improved (or at least changed) by individuals who negotiate, anticipate and compromise to make these changes occur. Thus, BPM is more a matter of “bricolage” (Levi-Strauss) than an established and defined plan. Based on this position, the paper analyses how a business process model emerges in the early phases of a high-tech new venture when the entrepreneur lacks a valid template to form a conceptual representation of the firm’s business processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a perspective based on the concept of bricolage. By analysing and comparing the discourse of 40 entrepreneurs – involved in an activity based on a radical innovation and 20 involved in an activity based on a more incremental concept – the authors are able to answer the two research questions.
Findings
Entrepreneurs who develop a new activity based on any radical or incremental innovation generally base the BPM of their company and the evolution of this process on existing models. However, BPM generally differs based on the nature of the innovation. Thus, entrepreneurs who develop a new activity based on a radical innovation do not design a single BPM for their company but a portfolio of BPMs. The process by which such entrepreneurs develop such a portfolio is mainly conducted in a step-by-step and iterative approach that utilises “whatever is at hand” (Levi-Strauss, 1966).
Originality/value
First, this study extends existing methods for and approaches to considering BPM. Second, this research partly answers the call for integration among different theoretical backgrounds and approaches that consider BPM.
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António Rito Silva and Michael Rosemann
The purpose of this paper is to clarify how end‐users' tacit knowledge can be captured and integrated in an overall business process management (BPM) approach. Current approaches…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify how end‐users' tacit knowledge can be captured and integrated in an overall business process management (BPM) approach. Current approaches to support stakeholders' collaboration in the modelling of business processes envision an egalitarian environment where stakeholders interact in the same context, using the same languages and sharing the same perspectives on the business process. Therefore, such stakeholders have to collaborate in the context of process modelling using a language that some of them do not master, and have to integrate their various perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies the SECI knowledge management process to analyse the problems of traditional top‐down BPM approaches and BPM collaborative modelling tools. Besides, the SECI model is also applied to Wikipedia, a successful Web 2.0‐based knowledge management environment, to identify how tacit knowledge is captured in a bottom‐up approach.
Findings
The paper identifies a set of requirements for a hybrid BPM approach, both top‐down and bottom‐up, and describes a new BPM method based on a stepwise discovery of knowledge.
Originality/value
This new approach, Processpedia, enhances collaborative modelling among stakeholders without enforcing egalitarianism. In Processpedia tacit knowledge is captured and standardised into the organisation's business processes by fostering an ecological participation of all the stakeholders and capitalising on stakeholders' distinctive characteristics.
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Fabiana Jack Nogueira Santos, Claudia Cappelli, Flávia Maria Santoro, Julio Cesar Sampaio do Prado Leite and Thaís Vasconcelos Batista
The aspect‐oriented paradigm provides mechanisms to modularize crosscutting concerns. Applying aspect‐oriented concepts in business process modeling raises the possibilities of…
Abstract
Purpose
The aspect‐oriented paradigm provides mechanisms to modularize crosscutting concerns. Applying aspect‐oriented concepts in business process modeling raises the possibilities of modularization, but brings out several concerns related both to process and to product. This paper aims to provide an overview of the aspect‐oriented business process modeling area, point out the open issues and analyze possible solutions to such issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a research project, where real business process models from a large oil and gas organization were analyzed, re‐modeled and re‐analyzed to put the AO‐BPM approach in practice.
Findings
The paper indicates the need for more research on aspect‐orientation applied to business process models, backed by open issues that are faced in this research. The authors categorized the open issues as: aspects identification, elements used in the models, levels used to modularize business process models, assignment of aspects to organizational actors, and ways that an aspectized model can be generated or visualized. The authors listed initial thoughts on possible solutions that they foresee based on previous work in software engineering.
Originality/value
This paper is the first one in analyzing research questions facing AO‐BPM. By now there have just been papers focusing on presenting its understanding on how to apply the aspect‐orientation approach to solve business process models modularity issues as can be seen in the related works section. The paper's main contribution is making explicit the roadblocks that are faced and opening up new avenues of research on BPM modularization, in particular with respect to AO‐BPM.
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Sandeep Kumar Singh and Mamata Jenamani
The purpose of this paper is to design a consortium-blockchain based framework for cross-organizational business process mining complying with privacy requirements.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to design a consortium-blockchain based framework for cross-organizational business process mining complying with privacy requirements.
Design/methodology/approach
Business process modeling in a cross-organizational setting is complicated due to privacy concerns. The process mining in this situation occurs through trusted third parties (TTPs). It uses a special class of Petri-nets called workflow nets (WF-nets) to represent the formal specifications of event logs in a blockchain-enabled cross-organization.
Findings
Using a smart contract algorithm, the proposed framework discovers the organization-specific business process models (BPM) without a TTP. The discovered BPMs are formally represented using WF-nets with a message factor to support the authors’ claim. Finally, the applicability and suitability of the proposed framework is demonstrated using a case study of multimodal transportation.
Originality/value
The proposed framework complies with privacy requirements. It shows how to represent the formal specifications of event logs in a blockchain using a special class of Petri-nets called WF-nets. It also presents a smart contract algorithm to discover organization-specific business process models (BPM) without a TTP.
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Julio Cesar Sampaio do Prado Leite, Flavia Maria Santoro, Claudia Cappelli, Thais Vasconcelos Batista and Fabiana Jack Nogueira Santos
The purpose of this paper is to propose a representation scheme based on the i* strategic actor model to represent the process owner information and show how to incorporate this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a representation scheme based on the i* strategic actor model to represent the process owner information and show how to incorporate this approach into the event driven process chain and Business Process Modeling Notation-BPMN meta-models and also into the aspect-oriented business process modeling (BPM) context.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a case study in a real setting to evaluate the proposal and a controlled experiment to get more evidence about its relevance.
Findings
The authors presented evidence both from a case study in a real-world library showing the importance of representing – previously unavailable – process owner information, and from an experiment which involved participants analyzing the same models of the case study, confirming the preliminary evidences. It is important to stress the recognition that the proposed representation provided more transparency, in terms of ownership, than the usual BPM models. These benefits are due to the combination of the aspect-oriented approach and the strategic actor model, providing ownership information in a more transparent way.
Originality/value
The authors not only argue the importance of clearly established process ownership, both of the core process and the aspectual process, but also the authors presented an approach to represent the actor involved in process and aspect ownership as an instantiation of the i* strategic actor. Using this approach, the process owner can be defined in terms of actors instead of the activities performed. It is also possible to define the aspect owner and to include the aspectual process concept in the business process model.
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Fu‐Ren Lin, Meng‐Chyn Yang and Yu‐Hua Pai
Among different BPR strategies and methodologies, one common feature is to capture existing processes and represent new processes adequately. Business process modeling plays a…
Abstract
Among different BPR strategies and methodologies, one common feature is to capture existing processes and represent new processes adequately. Business process modeling plays a crucial role on such effort. This paper proposes a generic structure for modeling business processes in order to capture essential concepts of business process and represent them structurally. The generic structure possesses two main features suitable for business process modeling: one is that it can represent a business process in various concerns and multiple layers of abstraction, and the other is that it lowers the barriers between process representation and model analysis by embedding verification and validation with the model. The generic modeling method is illustrated by an order fulfillment process in supply chain networks.
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The techniques for representing and analyzing business processes are referred to as business process modeling. Many business process modeling methods and their associated tools…
Abstract
The techniques for representing and analyzing business processes are referred to as business process modeling. Many business process modeling methods and their associated tools have been used to capture the characteristics of business processes. However, most methods view business processes from different perspectives and have different features and capabilities. Thus, an important research question is how process designers should select appropriate modeling methods for their BPR initiatives. In this paper, we propose a framework for selecting business process modeling methods based on modeling objectives. This framework can serve as the basis for evaluating modeling methods and generating selection procedures. A general selection procedure is also described. We use an expense claim process as an example to illustrate the application of the selection procedure.
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Xingdong Shi, Weili Han, Yinsheng Li and Ying Huang
An enterprise application can be quickly built up by service composition. Business process composition is the essence of service composition. To build up such service‐oriented…
Abstract
Purpose
An enterprise application can be quickly built up by service composition. Business process composition is the essence of service composition. To build up such service‐oriented enterprise application, the developer needs an integrated design tool. The purpose of this paper is to present and integrated business‐process driven design for service‐oriented enterprise applications.
Design/methodology/approach
In the approach, there are three phases: business environment modeling, business process modeling, and script compiling. Business environment modeling adopts a new modeling technique which combines both the advantages of use case diagram and sequence diagram in UML. Business process modeling builds a concrete model according to business environment modeling. The mapping algorithms from business environment model to business process model are also given. At script compiling phase, the business process model is compiled into several deployable files. And then the paper presents a demonstration which shows how to apply our approach to developing a supply chain management system for the retail industry.
Findings
The analysis shows that the approach can meet the requirement of service‐composition. The approach can help business expert freely express their business requirement at business environment modeling phase; and help IT expert quickly design service‐oriented enterprise application according to business environment model at business process modeling phase.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a novel integrated approach to model and implement business‐process driven service composition, and presents an integrated tool based Eclipse to implement this approach.
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Monica Lopez-Campos, Salvatore Cannella, Pablo A. Miranda and Raul Stegmaier
The purpose of this paper is to propose and model collaboration and information exchange enabler strategies, designed to accomplish significant improvements in supply chain (SC…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose and model collaboration and information exchange enabler strategies, designed to accomplish significant improvements in supply chain (SC) performance. Some of these improvements to the SC include the reduction of the bullwhip effect and increased customer and SC partner benefits. The authors propose a fully collaborative replenishment model. The study details the information flow required to implement new SC collaboration strategies, clarifying a specific strategy for information sharing involving inventory levels (on hand, in process, etc.), orders and demand forecast.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors suggest the adoption of business process modelling (BPM) methodology, aimed at identifying which information should be shared by SC partners, in order to create fully collaborative strategies.
Findings
The features of BPM allow for the effortless integration of the modelled information collaboration strategies into a general network information system, creating a flexible structure that can be quickly and even automatically adapted to new conditions.
Research limitations/implications
In this paper, a serial SC has been analysed, but enterprises also commonly manage more complex kind of chains. Chains composed of more than one member in the same echelon, divergent chains, convergent chains, network chains are all different configurations that require their own algorithm. The authors use the order up to policy, but there are other policies that can be considered to extend the scope of the model.
Practical implications
BPM, specifically through Unified Modelling Language (UML) and Business Process Modelling Notation standards, represents a suitable technique to develop and implement new SC collaboration practices, serving as a communication link between managers and software developers.
Social implications
The expected results of this work imply the proposal of a reference model for collaborative supply chain (CSC) organisations, contributing to the enhancement of value creation for the whole CSC.
Originality/value
The aim of this paper is to clarify the information-sharing algorithm required to implement a collaborative structure for an SC. This algorithm is expressed using the BPM technique, specifically UML and Business Process Model and Notation standards.
Propósito
Este documento propone y modela estrategias de colaboración y habilitación de intercambio de información, diseñadas para lograr mejoras significativas en el rendimiento de la cadena de suministro (SC). Algunas de estas mejoras incluyen la reducción del efecto látigo y mayores beneficios para los clientes y socios de la cadena de suministro. Proponemos un modelo de reabastecimiento totalmente colaborativo. El estudio detalla el flujo de información requerido para implementar nuevas estrategias de colaboración en la cadena de suministro, aclarando una estrategia específica para el intercambio de información que involucra niveles de inventario (en mano, en proceso, etc.), pedidos y previsión de la demanda.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Sugerimos la adopción de la metodología de Modelado de Procesos de Negocio, dirigida a identificar qué información debe ser compartida por los socios de la cadena de suministro, a fin de crear estrategias totalmente colaborativas.
Hallazgos
las características del Modelado de Procesos de Negocio permiten la integración, sin un excesivo esfuerzo, de las estrategias de colaboración modeladas en un sistema de información general, creando una estructura flexible que puede adaptarse rápida e incluso automáticamente a las nuevas condiciones.
Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigación
en este documento, se ha analizado una cadena de suministro en serie, sin embargo las empresas también suelen administrar cadenas más complejas. Cadenas compuestas de más de un miembro en el mismo escalón, cadenas divergentes, cadenas convergentes, cadenas de red, son todas configuraciones diferentes que requieren su propio algoritmo. Igualmente, en este artículo usamos la política de pedido “order up to” aunque también existen otras políticas que se pueden considerar para ampliar el alcance del modelo.
Implicaciones prácticas
el modelado de procesos BPM, específicamente a través del Lenguaje Unificado de Modelado (UML) y estándares para la notación de Modelado de Procesos de Negocio (BPMN), representa una técnica adecuada para desarrollar e implementar nuevas prácticas de colaboración de cadena de suministro, que sirve como un enlace de comunicación entre los gerentes y los desarrolladores de software.
Implicaciones sociales
los resultados esperados de este trabajo implican la propuesta de un modelo de referencia para la colaboración de las organizaciones de la cadena de suministro, contribuyendo a la mejora de la creación de valor para toda la cadena de suministro colaborativa.
Originalidad/valor
el objetivo de este documento es aclarar el algoritmo de intercambio de información requerido para implementar una estructura colaborativa para una cadena de suministro. Este algoritmo se expresa utilizando la técnica BPM, específicamente a través de los estándares UML y BPMN.
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As economies move into the information age and post‐industrial era, information and knowledge become important resources to organizations. The article sets out to discuss the role…
Abstract
Purpose
As economies move into the information age and post‐industrial era, information and knowledge become important resources to organizations. The article sets out to discuss the role and contribution of business process modeling (BPM) in the knowledge management initiative and in the management of company‐specific knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors consider BPM as a tool for knowledge management that allows the transformation of informal knowledge into formal knowledge and facilitates its externalization and sharing. The article starts with the brief introduction of the theoretical background of business process modeling and its basic concepts, and also presents definitions and concepts of major knowledge categories, knowledge processes and knowledge resources, as have been given by different authors in the knowledge management (KM) domain. These definitions are used as a basis for the knowledge category model and knowledge process model proposed by the authors.
Findings
The article presents findings of the mapping process of the BPM concepts into the knowledge life‐cycle model, proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi and knowledge categories defined by different authors. During mapping, the authors experienced a lack of explicit and widely accepted definitions of knowledge categories and knowledge processes in respect of all knowledge features.
Originality/value
The article emphasizes an important differentiation between various categories of knowledge, identified in the BPM process, as a basis for the business process‐related knowledge categorization and identification of key knowledge processes. The article also presents the theoretical framework, which gives an account of how and when business process models capture and allow the sharing of knowledge. The framework identifies key knowledge categories, stages in knowledge transformation, and activities in this process.
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