Business Process Modelling with Continuous Validation

In this paper, we demonstrate the prototype of a modelling tool that applies graph-based rules for identifying problems in business process models. The advantages of our approach are twofold. Firstly, it is not necessary to compute the complete state space of the model in order to find errors. Secondly, our technique can even be applied to incomplete business process models. Thus, the modeller can be supported by direct feedback during the model construction. This feedback does not only report problems, but it also identifies their reasons and makes suggestions for improvements

BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL ANTI-PATTERNS: A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND TAXONOMY OF PUBLISHED WORK

Patterns have been proven to be useful for documenting reusable solutions to common problems. A recently published bibliography of business process model patterns shed light into the various types of patterns by providing a systematic categorization of these patterns. In this way, such classification improves the understanding of business process model patterns. Anti-patterns document a counterproductive solution to a commonly occurring problem. While a classification for the large body of literature on business process model patterns is available, a structured bibliography of anti-patterns is missing. Related work on anti-patterns discusses patterns for common modeling errors, problems in business process models as well as in the business processes. Modeling experts should be aware of all these types of anti-patterns. To fill this gap, this paper presents a bibliography of business process model anti-patterns and a taxonomy of anti-patterns that has been developed using an established approach for taxonomy development. Both are based on an literature review and are valuable for people during the design and analysis phases of business processes since knowledge about anti-patterns in business process models helps for increasing their quality. Our overview should also be useful for developers of modeling tools who wish to make the modeler aware of potential modeling problems

EPK-Validierung zur Modellierungszeit in der bflow* Toolbox

Dieser Beitrag stellt den Prototyp eines EPK-Modellierungswerkzeugs vor, der Verfahren zur Suche in Graphen nutzt, um Fehler in EPK-Modellen zu identifizieren. Dieses Werkzeug hat gegenüber bekannten Ansätzen zwei Vorzüge: Zum einen ist es nicht notwendig, den (oft sehr großen) Zustandsraum aller möglichen Abläufe in einem Modell zu berechnen. Zum Zweiten kann unser Ansatz auch auf noch nicht vollständig fertiggestellte Modelle angewendet werden. Der Modellierer wird sofort zur Modellierungszeit über mögliche Probleme sowie deren Ursachen informiert und erhält unmittelbare Vorschläge zur Beseitigung der Probleme

Complexity and Understandability Comparison between Unstructured and Structured Business Process Models

Käesoleva magistritöö peamine eesmärk on välja selgitada, kas struktureerimata kujul olevate äriprotsessimudelite transformeerimine struktureeritud kujule muudab nad vähem keerukamaks ning lihtsamini arusaadavamaks. Püstitatud hüpoteeside järgi on struktureeritud kujul mudelid keerukuselt lihtsamad ning kergemini arusaadavad. Töös kasutatakse varasemas uurimistöös valminud avatud lähtekoodiga programmi BPStruct, mille abil transformeeritakse hulk äriprotsessimudeleid struktureeritud kujule. Kasutatakse reaalsest elust pärit mudelitest koosnevat IBM andmestikku. Nimetatud mudelid mõõdetakse akadeemilises kirjandusest kirjeldatud meetrikate põhjal ning viiakse läbi võrdlev uurimus. Võrdleva uurimuse käigus saadud tulemusi kontrollitakse eksperimendi abil, mille käigus Tartu Ülikooli tudengid, kes õpivad ainet nimega Äriprotsesside juhtimine, jaotatakse kahte gruppi – kontrollgrupp ja eksperimentaalne grupp. Kontrollgrupi tudengid vastavad struktureerimata kujul olevate mudelite kohta spetsiifilisi küsimusi. Eksperimentaalse grupi tudengid vastavad samade mudelite struktureeritud kujul olevate variantide kohta samadele küsimustele. Nimetatud kahe uurimuse tulemuste vahel viiakse läbi võrdlev analüüs ning selle põhjal tehakse järeldused selle kohta, kas struktureeritud kujul olevad mudelid on tõesti lihtsamad ning kas neist on kergem aru saada.The main goal of my work will be to determine if an unstructured business process model (BP model) is more understandable after being converted into an equivalent structured variant. In order to reach that conclusion I will study a dataset of models from real-life composed by IBM. I will use an open-source program called Bpstruct to generate structured equivalents for all models in the two datasets that qualify as structurable. Then I will analyze the models (unstructured models and their equivalent structured versions) using complexity metrics introduced in the academic literature on BP models. Using these measurements I will perform statistical analysis in order to compare the properties of unstructured models and of their equivalent structured versions. From this analysis, I will also select some sample models that will illustrate the complexity tradeoffs between unstructured and structured models. The extracted sample models will be used to conduct a survey among students in the University of Tartu who attend the Business Process Management course to empirically evaluate if the structured variants of models are simpler to understand. The results of the survey will be combined with the measurements of the models to reach conclusions about whether structuring an unstructured BP model makes it simpler and easier to understand

ON THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH INTO THE UNDERSTANDABILITY OF BUSINESS PROCESS MODELS

Against the background of the growing significance of Business Process Management (BPM) for Information Systems (IS) research and practice, especially the field of Business Process Modeling gains more and more importance. Business process models support communication about as well as the coordination of processes and have become a widely adopted tool in practice. As the understandability of business process models plays a crucial role in communication processes, more and more studies on process model understandability have been conducted in IS research. This article aims at investigating underlying theories of research into business process model understandability by means of an in-depth analysis of 126 systematically retrieved research articles on the topic. It shows in how far process model understandability research is multi-theoretically founded. Identified theories differ regarding addressed subject matters, their coverage, their focus as well as the underlying notion of model understanding, which is exemplarily demonstrated and discussed in this article. Moreover, implications of the findings are discussed and an outlook on future business process model understandability research and on the integration potential of theories in this field is given

Metamodellbasierte und hierarchieorientierte Workflowmodellierung

In dieser Arbeit werden Metamodelle eingesetzt, um Workflow- bzw. Geschäftsprozessmodellierungssprachen und ihre operationale Semantik zu definieren. Mit einer deklarativen und einer hierarchischen Sprache werden zwei Modellierungsweisen verfolgt, die im Bereich der Geschäftsprozessmodellierung nicht weit verbreitet sind. Der Hauptvorteil beim deklarativen Ansatz liegt in einer höheren Flexiblität und bei der hierarchischen Sprache in einer besseren Verständlichkeit der Modelle