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In the last two decades, a proliferation of business process management (BPM) modeling languages, standards and software systems has given rise to much confusion and obstacles to adoption. Since new BPM languages and notation terminologies were not well defined, duplicate features are common. This paper seeks to make sense of the myriad BPM standards, organising them in a classification framework, and to identify key industry trends.

An extensive literature review is conducted and relevant BPM notations, languages and standards are referenced against the proposed BPM Standards Classification Framework, which lists each standard's distinct features, strengths and weaknesses.

The paper is unaware of any classification of BPM languages. An attempt is made to classify BPM languages, standards and notations into four main groups: execution, interchange, graphical, and diagnosis standards. At the present time, there is a lack of established diagnosis standards. It is hoped that such a classification facilitates the meaningful adoption of BPM languages, standards and notations.

The paper differentiates BPM standards, thereby resolving common misconceptions; establishes the need for diagnosis standards; identifies the strengths and limitations of current standards; and highlights current knowledge gaps and future trends. Researchers and practitioners may wish to position their work around this review.

Currently, to the best of one's knowledge, such an overview and such an analysis of BPM standards have not so far been undertaken.

One way to improve the quality of business and software processes is to make them compliant with standard. This paper seeks to explore the suitability of the BPMN and the teaching method for process modeling, which uses SEI CMMI‐SW standard as input and produces software process models as output.

The research approach consists of two parts. First, the students' responses during practical lectures of process modeling were gathered and studied. Then, the teaching process was modified and students' responses were studied again. The second part involves the survey about students' attitude towards BPMN usability and ease of use.

There are two key findings of the study. First, using the SEI CMMI‐SW standard in early phases of software process modeling is not very effective, because it overloads the students with abstract requirements, which are included in the standard. The more effective way is to use the standard in later phases of process modeling, in the phase of assessment and improvement of the process model. The second key finding is that there is a positive attitude among students towards BPMN usage for process modeling.

There is no evidence that this teaching approach can be generalized beyond the population of information science students and academic environment.

The improved teaching method for business and software process modeling can be used in similar environments (practical lectures of process modeling). Although there is no evidence, quality managers from organizations can also benefit from the lesson learned and avoid a less suitable process‐modeling approach.

The paper is useful to all roles in education and businesses, who deal with process models and standards (teachers, business and software analysts, quality managers, process designers).

Achieving swift and even flow of cargo through the border, the ultimate objective of cross-border logistics (CBL) requires the close coordination and collaboration of a multitude of stakeholders, as well as optimally configured systems. To achieve and sustain competitiveness in a dynamic international trade environment, CBL processes must undergo periodic analysis, improvement and optimization. This study aims to develop a modelling framework to capture CBL processes for analysis and improvement.

Relying on the extant literature, a meta-model is developed incorporating significant perspectives required to model CBL processes. Popular process modelling notations are evaluated against the meta-model and their ease of comprehension is also evaluated. The selected notation through evalution is augmented with addendums for a comprehensive depiction of CBL processes.

The capacity of role activity diagrams (RADs) to depict all perspectives, including interactions in a single diagram, makes them particularly suitable for modelling CBL processes. RADs have been complemented with physical flow diagrams and methods to capture temporal dimension, enabling a comprehensive view of CBL processes laying the foundation for insightful analysis.

The meta-model developed in this paper paves the way to develop an analysis framework which requires further research.

The lack of well-accepted modelling notations for studying CBL processes prompts researchers to search and adapt different formalisms. This study has filled this gap by proposing a comprehensive modelling framework able to capture CBL processes at different granularities in rich detail. Not only does the developed meta-model aid in selecting the notation, it is also useful in analysing the constituent elements of CBL processes.

This research work aims to expose the detailed construction of a framework for translation between Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN) and a citizen process language, named GERAL, so that BPMN and modeling non-experts can publicize their procedural information in an understandable and quality manner. The artifact is built in detail through epistemological rigor derived from empirical evidence and best practices related to the topic of understanding business processes, both based on well-established literature on the subject.

In the case of research involving the construction of an artifact, the design science research (DSR) methodology was used to conduct engineering with an emphasis on the scientific method; for evaluation, the authors used the case study methodology. Data collection is based on documentation analysis, questionnaire, interview and observation. The authors also use references associating DSR with case studies, for greater contextual rigor of the research.

This work presents findings and contributions, both new and also reinforcing others already present (1) use of the principles of Citizen/Plain Language improve instructional communication related to process modeling; (2) the citizen process language GERAL itself; (3) the BPMN pra GERAL guide for process translation; (4) qualitative findings from the observation of the use of the artifact in a real case, with non-experts and (5) a well-founded instance of building a notation with an emphasis on understanding, which can be replicated in other cases.

Future perspectives for conducting the research are presented. As a qualitative research instantiated involving a subjective construct, such as understanding, generalization is partially limited and should be interpreted as a transferability criterion. The evaluation involved participants with complete higher education and graduates, even though from areas not dedicated to process modeling or BPMN, being non-experts. The main indicator was understood with limitations in other aspects, such as formal semantics and precise executability.

The formative research showed improvements to the base artifact, the framework first version, which will consequently be reflected in the guide. The GERAL and the guide were very well received, and all participants were able to translate the proposed model effectively, despite small slips in second notation. The guide improved the participants' perception of transparency and understanding of business processes, making them aware of the benefits of this topic.

The output of the built and researched artifact are understandable models by non-experts in technical languages of business processes. It is an alternative for BPMN models and dubious/long texts. Almost unexpectedly, the guide and its principles awaken an appreciation of understandable procedural communication, that is, it builds an intrinsic motivation in the user of the importance of publicizing his processes and assists in compliance with current data disclosure laws. It also builds informational democratic values of better participation and data absorption, from translators to the target audience.

It presents a qualitative approach to deal with business process modeling and understanding; substantiates in detail, using well-established bases in the literature, the construction of a solution aimed at understanding business processes; offers a translation guide for non-experts and experts interested in disclosing and instructing their procedural information modeled in BPMN.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The aim of the article is to propose BPMN extensions that facilitate the modeling of Clinical Pathways in a way that enables for various groups of users, the transfer of a much wider range of information in the form of process models without compromising their readability and usefulness.

The paper uses the design science research methodology (DSRM) and covers phases of a design-oriented research project extending BPMN notation for clinical pathway modeling.

The article proposes extensions of BPMN in 5 areas, enabling standardization of the description of business processes of different natures and complexity and in turn meeting the needs and requirements of modeling clinical pathways and, more broadly speaking, knowledge-intensive business processes (kiBPs) in general. As shown by the evaluation carried out among medical personnel, the proposed extensions allow for the readable transfer of a considerably larger body of information relevant to the planned, conducted and assessed therapy (kiBPs) than the current BPMN 2.0 standard.

The BPMN extensions proposed in the article fill the gaps in this notation and do not require users to know many notations, which in practice is unrealistic. Defined extensions to the BPMN specification makes it possible to standardise the description of processes of different natures and levels of complexity. In this way, both simplified models (and views of models) dedicated to users unfamiliar with BPMN and models (or views) using advanced possibilities provided by BPMN can be based on one standard, even if they use only a small part of its possibilities.

To construct, test and illustrate a sophisticated and theory‐based architecture for analyzing business process management systems (BPMS) used for business process change.

Exploration of business process modeling‐based BPMS via a meta‐survey of academic and business literatures. Two main dimensions are used based upon semiotics and a block‐based BPMS pyramid architecture. Each block is a core technology required for the functioning of the BPMS and include: the subject being modeled; the software formalism; the IT infrastructure; the modeling language and notation; and the underlying technical infrastructure.

Theoretically explains and empirically illustrates each core technology in the proposed architecture then does the same for the architecture, its arrangement as a whole and its interrelationships. Recognizes the lack of a theoretical basis for business process modeling constructs and the dangers that this generates. Explains why automatic BPMS require formal construct transmission from subject modeled to modeling hardware and software.

The architecture's core technologies span numerous disciplines so each set of literatures introduces the component concepts and their bases but is not exhaustive.

This paper proposes a considerably more sophisticated framework for BPMS analysis than is currently available; it is theoretically and not just empirically based; it uses a novel method of theoretical justification concerned with the transmission of modeled properties and characteristics between several technological media; and it illustrates the innovative analytical use of this architecture and the practical use of BPMS with three different case vignettes.

Business process modelling integrates and visualizes relevant information essential for managing day-to-day business operations. It plays a critical role in the design and execution of business transformations. Recognizing the role of process modelling, a large number of modelling languages, methods and techniques have been developed, each offering diverse advantages and having inherent limitations. Traditional and popular process modelling approaches focus on the exact specification of the control flow of business processes, whereas more recent approaches like Subject-oriented Business Process Management (S-BPM) are focused on the communication between process participants. This study aims to provide comparative insights about these two approaches through their experimental application. This study does so by comparing Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN); a control flow approach, with S-BPM; a communication approach, with a specific focus on their suitability for novice modellers.

This paper reports on an exploratory experiment that compares BPMN to S-BPM. Applying cognitive load theory, this study compares the experiences and outcomes of novice process modellers, assessing perceived ease of use, model quality (syntactic and semantic) and modelling efficiency (time to model) across the two approaches.

Study results show that S-BPM (a communication approach) led to significantly better user performances for process modelling than BPMN (a control flow approach). This study points to how a different modelling approach such as S-BPM could be either considered as an alternative or to complement the more popular control flow approach BPMN. This observation was especially relevant for modelling contexts where domain experts are novice process modellers.

This study provides the first empirical evidence that communication approaches like S-BPM could outperform modelling approaches which are control-flow based (i.e. BPMN), especially when being used by novice process modellers who hold the domain and process knowledge. This study uses this as a springboard to present important considerations for practice and guide future process modelling research.

The authors use the extension mechanism provided by the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) to define roles, which allows roles to be fully aligned with the BPMN standard. The authors describe how a pattern can be defined in terms of roles and present the formal semantics of pattern realization and refinement to support systematic reuse of patterns in business process development.

It is widely agreed that the use of business process patterns improves the efficiency and quality of business process development. However, few techniques are available to describe business process patterns at an appropriate level of abstraction to facilitate the reuse of patterns. To address this, this paper presents the role-based Business Process Model and Notation (R-BPMN), an extension of BPMN for abstract modeling of business process patterns based on a novel notion of role.

The authors apply R-BPMN in case studies for pattern realization and refinement and discuss tool support via an existing tool. The case studies demonstrate the practical benefits of R-BPMN in capturing pattern variability and facilitating pattern reuse.

The findings imply a potential impact of R-BPMN on practical benefits when it is supported at the metamodel level in tool development.

This study addresses the need for abstract modeling of process patterns at the metamodel level, which facilitates the formalization of pattern variability and tool development to support various realizations of process patterns at the model level.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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