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2018 | Buch

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Fundamentals of Business Process Management

verfasst von: Marlon Dumas, Prof. Dr. Marcello La Rosa, Prof. Dr. Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This textbook covers the entire Business Process Management (BPM) lifecycle, from process identification to process monitoring, covering along the way process modelling, analysis, redesign and automation. Concepts, methods and tools from business management, computer science and industrial engineering are blended into one comprehensive and inter-disciplinary approach. The presentation is illustrated using the BPMN industry standard defined by the Object Management Group and widely endorsed by practitioners and vendors worldwide.
In addition to explaining the relevant conceptual background, the book provides dozens of examples, more than 230 exercises – many with solutions – and numerous suggestions for further reading. This second edition includes extended and completely revised chapters on process identification, process discovery, qualitative process analysis, process redesign, process automation and process monitoring. A new chapter on BPM as an enterprise capability has been added, which expands the scope of the book to encompass topics such as the strategic alignment and governance of BPM initiatives.
The textbook is the result of many years of combined teaching experience of the authors, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as in the context of professional training. Students and professionals from both business management and computer science will benefit from the step-by-step style of the textbook and its focus on fundamental concepts and proven methods. Lecturers will appreciate the class-tested format and the additional teaching material available on the accompanying website.

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Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction to Business Process Management

Abstract

Business Process Management (BPM) is not about improving the way individual activities are performed. Rather, it is about managing entire chains of events, activities, and decisions that ultimately add value to the organization and its customers. These chains of events, activities, and decisions are called business processes. In this chapter, we introduce the essential concepts behind BPM. We start with a description of typical business processes found in contemporary organizations. Next, we discuss the basic ingredients of a process and provide a definition of business process and of BPM. To place BPM in a broader perspective, we then offer a historical overview of the BPM discipline. Finally, we discuss how a BPM initiative in an organization typically unfolds. This discussion leads us to the definition of a BPM lifecycle, around which the book is structured.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 2. Process Identification

Abstract

Process identification refers to those management activities that aim to systematically define the set of business processes of an organization and establish clear criteria for selecting specific processes for improvement. The output is a process architecture, which represents the processes and their interrelations. This artifact serves as a framework for defining the priorities and the scope of process modeling and redesign projects. In this chapter, we start by discussing the context of process identification. Then, we present a method for process identification that is based on two steps: process architecture definition and process selection.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 3. Essential Process Modeling

Abstract

Process models help us to better understand a business process and to identify and prevent issues. This step towards a thorough understanding of business processes is the prerequisite to conduct process analysis, redesign, or automation. In this chapter we become familiar with the basic ingredients of process modeling using the BPMN language. First, we describe the essential concepts of process models, namely how process models relate to process instances. Next, we explain the four main structural blocks of branching and merging in process models. These define exclusive decisions, parallel execution, inclusive decisions, and repetition. We then show how to model business objects and resources involved in a process. Finally, we learn how to use sub-processes to reduce the model’s complexity, and how to reuse these sub-process models from within different process models.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 4. Advanced Process Modeling

Abstract

In this chapter we delve into how to model complex business processes with BPMN. The constructs presented here build on top of the knowledge acquired in Chapter 3. In particular, we expand on activities, events, and gateways. We extend activities to model more sophisticated forms of rework and repetition. We also discuss more specific types of events, including message events, temporal events, and cancelation. These can be used to model race conditions between events. Finally, we also learn how to use events to handle business process exceptions.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 5. Process Discovery

Abstract

Various methods can be used to create a process model from information inferred within the organization, e.g., by interviewing process participants or by observing how these operate in practice. Meanwhile, it is important to ensure that a model is not only syntactically correct, but that it also accurately reflects the actual business process being modeled. In this chapter, we first present the challenges faced by the stakeholders involved in the lead-up to a process model. Then, we discuss methods to facilitate effective communication and information gathering about business processes. We then show step-by-step how to construct a process model based on the gathered information, and what quality criteria should be checked before the model can be accepted as an authoritative representation of a business process.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 6. Qualitative Process Analysis

Abstract

Analyzing business processes is both an art and a science. In this respect, qualitative analysis is the artistic side of process analysis. Qualitative process analysis techniques allow us to identify, classify, and understand weaknesses and improvement opportunities in a process. In this chapter, we introduce a selected set of principles and techniques for qualitative process analysis. First, we present two techniques to identify unnecessary steps of the process (value-added analysis) and sources of waste (waste analysis). Next, we present techniques to identify and document issues in a process from multiple perspectives and to analyze the root causes of these issues.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 7. Quantitative Process Analysis

Abstract

Qualitative analysis is a valuable tool to gain systematic insights into a process. However, the results obtained from qualitative analysis are sometimes not detailed enough to provide a solid basis for decision making. To understand the impact of issues, we need to go beyond qualitative analysis. This chapter introduces techniques for analyzing business processes quantitatively in terms of process performance measures such as cycle time, waiting time, cost, and resource utilization. The chapter focuses on three techniques: flow analysis, queueing analysis, and simulation. The chapter shows how these techniques can be used to measure the cycle time and capacity of a process, to detect critical paths and bottlenecks, and to estimate the performance impact of a given process change.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 8. Process Redesign

Abstract

The thorough analysis of a business process may lead to the identification of a range of issues. For example, bottlenecks slow down the process or the cost of process execution is too high. These issues spark various directions for redesign. The problem is, however, that redesign is often approached as an ad hoc activity. The downside to this is that interesting redesign opportunities may be overlooked. For this reason, it is important to become aware of redesign methods, which can be used to systematically generate redesign options. This chapter deals with the methods that help to rethink and re-organize business processes to make them perform better. We first clarify the motivation for redesign and delve deeper into what improving process performance actually means. Then, we present the spectrum of redesign methods and discuss representative sample methods in some detail. More specifically, we distinguish between transactional and transformational methods.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 9. Process-Aware Information Systems

Abstract

In the previous chapters, we learned how to use qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques in order to identify issues of existing business processes. We also saw that many processes in practice have problems with flow-time efficiency. Various redesign heuristics emphasize the potential of using information systems to improve process performance. This chapter deals with information systems that support process automation. First, we briefly explain what an automated business process is, after which we focus on two types of systems that are particularly suitable to achieve process automation, i.e., Process-Aware Information Systems (PAISs) and Business Process Management Systems (BPMSs). We will present the different variants of these systems and explain their features. Finally, we will discuss some of the advantages and challenges that are involved with introducing a BPMS in an organization.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 10. Process Implementation with Executable Models

Abstract

In the previous chapters, we learned how to create conceptual process models and use them for documentation and analysis purposes. Because of their purpose, these models are intentionally abstract in nature, i.e., they do not provide technical implementation details. This means that conceptual process models must be systematically reworked into executable process models to be interpreted and automatically executed by a software system, such as a BPMS. In this chapter, we propose a five-step method to incrementally transform a conceptual process model into an executable one, using the BPMN language. As part of this method, we also show how to make use of two other standards complementary to BPMN: CMMN and DMN.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 11. Process Monitoring

Abstract

After implementing and deploying a redesigned business process, it may happen that the new process does not meet our expectations. For example, certain types of unforeseen exceptions may arise, the processing time of some tasks may be much higher than expected due to these exceptions, and queues may build up to the extent that process participants start taking shortcuts due to high pressure, while customers become unsatisfied due to long waiting times. A first step to address these issues is to understand what is actually happening during the execution of the process. This is the goal of the process monitoring phase of the BPM lifecycle. This chapter gives an overview of process monitoring techniques and tools. The chapter first focuses on performance dashboards, both for offline and online monitoring. Next, it dives into process mining techniques, including methods for automated process discovery, conformance checking, performance mining, and variants analysis.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Chapter 12. BPM as an Enterprise Capability

Abstract

Due to the need to improve different business processes, chances are that multiple BPM projects are being conducted at the same time within the same organization. Collectively, we call the set of BPM projects within a company, including its specific management structure, a BPM program. This chapter deals with the following question: “What does it take to successfully manage a BPM program?” To answer this question, we consider BPM as an enterprise capability, at the same level as other organizational management disciplines such as risk management and human performance management. After introducing the typical reasons for BPM programs to fail, we introduce transversal aspects of BPM, such as governance and strategic alignment, and discuss how these are critical to avoid the fail reasons. Next, we organize these aspects in a BPM maturity model and show how to use this model to assess the BPM maturity of an organization.

Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, Hajo A. Reijers

Backmatter

Titel: Fundamentals of Business Process Management
verfasst von: Marlon Dumas
Prof. Dr. Marcello La Rosa
Prof. Dr. Jan Mendling
Hajo A. Reijers
Copyright-Jahr: 2018
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-662-56509-4
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-56508-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-56509-4

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