Perceptions of MBA Students on Business Process Modeling as a Learning Tool: An Empirical Investigation

Based upon a survey of 95 MBA students in a Business Process Management (BPM) course at a university in New England, this study reports the perceptions of students concerning the efficacy of process modeling as a learning tool. Depending on their majors, students were classified as (a) Information Technology (IT) majors and (b) Business majors. The fifteen variables explored in the survey were classified into three categories: (a) Process Analysis issues, (b) Course related issues, and (c) Organizational issues. Statistically significant differences are found on the value of simulation exercises as perceived by MBA students on five dimensions: (1) Analyzing Business Process Performance, (2) Modeling Business Processes, (3) High-level Process Mapping, (4) Understanding BPM Concepts, and (5) Grasping Process Control Issues. Implications of these differences for designing graduate level BPM courses in colleges of business administration are discussed in the paper. Keyword

VALUE-BASED PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

For years, “improving business processes” has been and is the primary business priority of IT. In business process management (BPM), common criteria to evaluate the improvement of a process are time, costs, customer satisfaction and output quality. In contrast, the management of companies focuses on increasing the company’s value, using a value-based management approach, which is hard to be linked to these criteria. A value-based process improvement can alleviate this drawback by incorporating value-based management into the area of BPM. In this paper we introduce, based on the design science paradigm, an approach that is suitable for the value-based improvement of processes. Demonstrating the feasibility and the advantage of our approach, we show its applicability within a real world scenario and evaluate it by comparing it to a competing work in the field of value-based process management

Business Process Management, Social Network Analysis and Knowledge Management: A Triangulation of Sorts?

As its name suggests, Business Process Management seeks to manage the processes companies typically undertake on a day to day basis. In line with many management techniques, improvements can made through analysing at varying granularity how processes are actually undertaken compared to how management may consider they are being accomplished and vice versa. One innovative way Business Process Management may be improved is through the use of Social Network Analysis to observe actual working relationships among employees. This latter technique permits the workflow manager specifically to consider how well matched employees are to their workflow and as a result of this, we have a means of either reconstructing workflows or alternatively employee practices. A small research-in-progress case study is presented illustrating how these principles may be applied in practice. Overall one may consider such improvements as aiding in the knowledge management of the organization as a whole

An Evaluation of Understandability of Patient Journey Models in Mental Health.

BACKGROUND: There is a significant trend toward implementing health information technology to reduce administrative costs and improve patient care. Unfortunately, little awareness exists of the challenges of integrating information systems with existing clinical practice. The systematic integration of clinical processes with information system and health information technology can benefit the patients, staff, and the delivery of care. OBJECTIVES: This paper presents a comparison of the degree of understandability of patient journey models. In particular, the authors demonstrate the value of a relatively new patient journey modeling technique called the Patient Journey Modeling Architecture (PaJMa) when compared with traditional manufacturing based process modeling tools. The paper also presents results from a small pilot case study that compared the usability of 5 modeling approaches in a mental health care environment. METHOD: Five business process modeling techniques were used to represent a selected patient journey. A mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods was used to evaluate these models. Techniques included a focus group and survey to measure usability of the various models. RESULTS: The preliminary evaluation of the usability of the 5 modeling techniques has shown increased staff understanding of the representation of their processes and activities when presented with the models. Improved individual role identification throughout the models was also observed. The extended version of the PaJMa methodology provided the most clarity of information flows for clinicians. CONCLUSIONS: The extended version of PaJMa provided a significant improvement in the ease of interpretation for clinicians and increased the engagement with the modeling process. The use of color and its effectiveness in distinguishing the representation of roles was a key feature of the framework not present in other modeling approaches. Future research should focus on extending the pilot case study to a more diversified group of clinicians and health care support workers

Teaching Business Process Management with Simulation in Graduate Business Programs: An Integrative Approach

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a graduate level Business Process Management (BPM) course with process modeling and simulation as its integral component, being offered at an accredited business university in the Northeastern U.S. Our approach is similar to that found in other Information Systems (IS) education papers, and can best be described as Design Science Research applied to pedagogical innovation. We use a survey of 95 graduate business students, classified as Information Technology (IT)-oriented and Business (non-IT)-oriented, to evaluate how the proposed artifact – the BPM course and its modeling and simulation components – supports student learning. The survey explores process analysis, course design, and process integration issues. Statistically significant differences between the two student groups on the value of modeling and simulation are found on five out of 15 survey items: analyzing process performance, creating process models, mapping process structure, understanding process concepts, and implementing process controls. The paper discusses implications of these differences for designing and delivering graduate BPM courses in colleges of business administration

A Systematic Analysis of Innovation Studies: a Proposed Framework on Relatioship Between Innovation Process and Firm\u27s Performance

Innovation has been discussed in a broad field. Scholars have defined and discussed innovation in various forms and perspectives. Whether empirical or conceptual, the discussions have delineated innovation in various perspectives such as organizational innovation, newness, innovation management, innovation as interactive model and types of innovation. In fact, due to the competitive environment, innovation is crucial and has become a niche for firm\u27s performance. This paper aims to provide a systematic analysis and propose framework that emphasizes on investigating the relationship between innovation and firm performance. Based on literature review, this paper proposes six constructs which can be used to examine the innovation implementation at firm level. The constructs are leadership, managerial levers, business processes, innovation process, innovation outcome and firm performance

Innovation process, innovation outcome and firm's performance in the Malaysian electrical and electronics industry

Innovation is vital in enhancing a firm’s performance and competitiveness. This study investigates the relationship between the antecedent variables (leadership, managerial levers and business processes), the innovation process and the firm’s performance. In addition, the study also examines the mediating effect of an innovation outcome on the relationship between the innovation process and firm’s performance. A total of 234 Malaysian electrical and electronics companies which are listed in the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers 2012 were selected for this study. The data collection was obtained from the questionnaire surveys. The association between the variables was measured by depending on the extent of each company’s perception on innovation through the use of interval rating scale instruments. The Rasch Measurement Model was used for analysis and the data was then processed through the use of the Winstep Software. The results revealed that there were positive relationships between the antecedent variables and the innovation process, the innovation outcome and the firm’s performance. Further analysis through Rasch Measurement Model indicated a positive level of relationships between all three types of antecedents, innovation process, innovation outcome and the firm’s performance. The role of the innovation outcome as a mediating variable was then established. A higher probability of success in implementing the innovation process will result a higher ability level of innovation outcome. In addition, a higher ability level of innovation outcome will yield a higher firm performance. The results also revealed that the three groups of companies have performed according to their ability level (excellent, moderate and poor) when implementing innovation. Thus, companies with high ability will deliver high probability of successes in implementing innovation. The findings of this study will assist the companies in measuring their ability level when implementing a systematic innovation process in their respective organisations

A systematic analysis of innovation studies: A proposed framework on relationship between innovation process and firm's performance

Innovation has been discussed in a broad field. Scholars have defined and discussed innovation in various forms and perspectives.Whether empirical or conceptual, the discussions have delineated innovation in various perspectives such as organizational innovation, newness, innovation management, innovation as interactive model and types of innovation.In fact, due to the competitive environment, innovation is crucial and has become a niche for firm’s performance.This paper aims to provide a systematic analysis and propose framework that emphasizes on investigating the relationship between innovation and firm performance.Based on literature review, this paper proposes six constructs which can be used to examine the innovation implementation at firm level.The constructs are leadership, managerial levers, business processes, innovation process, innovation outcome and firm performance