Defining and Analysing Resource-Aware Process Performance Indicators

A key aspect to identify improvement points of the business processes (BP) of an organisation is to conduct performance management, which involves defining appropriate PPIs (Process Performance Indicators). Up to date, existing approaches to define and analyse PPIs usually focus on time and control flow aspects, leaving disregarded the organisational perspective. in this paper we extend PPINOT, a PPI metamodel, to support the definition of resource-aware PPIs in BPs enriched with resource information. Furthermore, leveraging the formal foundation of PPINOT, we introduce automated operations that relate PPIs to the people that may have an influence on them

Predicting deadline transgressions using event logs

Effective risk management is crucial for any organisation. One of its key steps is risk identification, but few tools exist to support this process. Here we present a method for the automatic discovery of a particular type of process-related risk, the danger of deadline transgressions or overruns, based on the analysis of event logs. We define a set of time-related process risk indicators, i.e., patterns observable in event logs that highlight the likelihood of an overrun, and then show how instances of these patterns can be identified automatically using statistical principles. To demonstrate its feasibility, the approach has been implemented as a plug-in module to the process mining framework ProM and tested using an event log from a Dutch financial institution

ACTION RESEARCH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEGOTIATION SUPPORT TOOL TOWARDS DECENTRALISED WATER MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

In 1998 the South African government adopted water legislation that provides a new constitutional framework for water management. Economic efficiency, social equity, and environmental sustainability are the guiding criteria of the new South African water policy. Water management will be implemented through decentralized institutions (Catchment Management Agencies and Committees, Water Users Associations). These institutions will be in charge of local negotiations and the decision-making processes regarding resource allocation among stakeholders. The new water management institutions have the complex context characterized by inequalities, lack or asymmetry of information, and conflicting interests. Hence, a clear need for negotiation and decision support tools for these institutions is perceived. An action research project was initiated at the University of Pretoria in 2001. It has the main objective of supporting the sustainable establishment of decentralized water management institutions as negotiation and decision-making entities on water resource management at basin level. This paper describes and discusses the participatory approach, aimed at developing a negotiation support tool called Action-research and Watershed Analyses for Resource and Economic sustainability (AWARE). More precisely, the phases of development of the model in close collaboration with DWAF officers are analysed. The choice of involving different stakeholders at different stages of the process, and its possible consequences on the nature of the tool is discussed.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

VR-PMS: a new approach for performance measurement and management of industrial systems

A new performance measurement and management framework based on value and risk is proposed. The proposed framework is applied to the modelling and evaluation of the a priori performance evaluation of manufacturing processes and to deciding on their alternatives. For this reason, it consistently integrates concepts relevant to objectives, activity, and risk in a single framework comprising a conceptual value/risk model, and it conceptualises the idea of value- and risk based performance management in a process context. In addition, a methodological framework is developed to provide guidelines for the decision-makers or performance evaluators of the processes. To facilitate the performance measurement and management process, this latter framework is organized in four phases: context establishment, performance modelling, performance assessment, and decision-making. Each phase of the framework is then instrumented with state of-the-art quantitative analysis tools and methods. For process design and evaluation, the deliverable of the value- and risk-based performance measurement and management system (VR-PMS) is a set of ranked solutions (i.e. alternative business processes) evaluated against the developed value and risk indicators. The proposed VR-PMS is illustrated with a case study from discrete parts manufacturing but is indeed applicable to a wide range of processes or systems

Talent management in academia: the effect of discipline and context on recruitment

Although talent management is widely discussed in large for –profit organisations and multinationals, it has been little discussed in relation to higher education. This paper examines one aspect of talent management, recruitment, in academia in accounting, in two different countries, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. It frames the study around three dilemmas - transparency versus autonomy, the power of human resources versus the power of academics, and equality versus homogeneity. It considers the recruitment context and drivers, what this tells us about how talent is defined, and the insights that can be gained from comparing recruitment across different disciplines and geographical contexts. By examining recruitment in one discipline across different contexts we show that recruitment is influenced by a complex interplay between subfield and context which can be linked to the strategic priorities of universities in the three contexts, resulting in different definitions of talent

Evaluating distributed cognitive resources for wayfinding in a desktop virtual environment.

As 3D interfaces, and in particular virtual environments, become increasingly realistic there is a need to investigate the location and configuration of information resources, as distributed in the humancomputer system, to support any required activities. It is important for the designer of 3D interfaces to be aware of information resource availability and distribution when considering issues such as cognitive load on the user. This paper explores how a model of distributed resources can support the design of alternative aids to virtual environment wayfinding with varying levels of cognitive load. The wayfinding aids have been implemented and evaluated in a desktop virtual environment

Food chains and value system: the case of potato, fruit, and cheese

The aim of the paper is to analyse patterns of value system sharing along food chains, so to explore the agro-food enterprises capacity to be competitive and sustainable. The research focused on three food chains: potato, fruit, and Grana cheese of Emilia Romagna region. The paper adopts the value system approach. The methodology is aimed at creating a consolidated financial statement for each food chain so to re-create the chain operating profit and identify how this is shared among the different food chain stages. The analysis is carried out on 189 enterprises for the potato chain, 187 for the fruit chain and 203 for the cheese chain. The number of enterprises was invariable over the 5 year 2003-2007, leading to some 2,900 financial statement analysis. The chains analysed show differences. In the potato and fruit chains 35% of value is created by distribution, whereas in cheese chain only 13.6%. Over the five years value decreases 5% in fruit and potato and 9% in cheese. The lack of adequate strategic food chain partnership allows an increasing retail market power over the whole chain at the expenses of the primary sector entailing a declining sustainability for all chain actors.food chain, value system, profitability, potato, fruit, cheese, Agricultural and Food Policy,