Design of Data-Driven Decision Support Systems for Business Process Standardization

Increasingly dynamic environments require organizations to engage in business process standardization (BPS) in response to environmental change. However, BPS depends on numerous contingency factors from different layers of the organization, such as strategy, business models (BMs), business processes (BPs) and application systems that need to be well-understood (“comprehended”) and taken into account by decision-makers for selecting appropriate standard BP designs that fit the organization. Besides, common approaches to BPS are non-data-driven and frequently do not exploit increasingly avail-able data in organizations. Therefore, this thesis addresses the following research ques-tion: “How to design data-driven decision support systems to increase the comprehen-sion of contingency factors on business process standardization?”. Theoretically grounded in organizational contingency theory (OCT), this thesis address-es the research question by conducting three design science research (DSR) projects to design data-driven decision support systems (DSSs) for SAP R/3 and S/4 HANA ERP systems that increase comprehension of BPS contingency factors. The thesis conducts the DSR projects at an industry partner within the context of a BPS and SAP S/4 HANA transformation program at a global manufacturing corporation. DSR project 1 designs a data-driven “Business Model Mining” system that automatical-ly “mines” BMs from data in application systems and represents results in an interactive “Business Model Canvas” (BMC) BI dashboard to comprehend BM-related BPS con-tingency factors. The project derives generic design requirements and a blueprint con-ceptualization for BMM systems and suggests an open, standardized reference data model for BMM. The project implements the software artifact “Business Model Miner” in Microsoft Azure / PowerBI and demonstrates technical feasibility by using data from an educational SAP S/4 HANA system, an open reference dataset, and three real-life SAP R/3 ERP systems. A field evaluation with 21 managers at the industry partner finds differences between tool results and BMCs created by managers and thus the po-tential for a complementary role of BMM tools to enrich the comprehension of BMs. A further controlled laboratory experiment with 142 students finds significant beneficial impacts on subjective and objective comprehension in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and relative efficiency. Second, DSR project 2 designs a data-driven process mining DSS “KeyPro” to semi-automatically discover and prioritize the set of BPs occurring in an organization from log data to concentrate BPS initiatives on important BPs given limited organizational resources. The project derives objective and quantifiable BP importance metrics from BM and BPM literature and implements KeyPro for SAP R/3 ERP and S/4 HANA sys-tems in Microsoft SQL Server / Azure and interactive PowerBI dashboards. A field evaluation with 52 managers compares BPs detected manually by decision-makers against BPs discovered by KeyPro and reveals significant differences and a complemen-tary role of the artifact to deliver additional insights into the set of BPs in the organiza-tion. Finally, a controlled laboratory experiment with 30 students identifies the dash-boards with the lowest comprehension for further development. Third, OCT requires organizations to select a standard BP design that matches contin-gencies. Thus, DSR project 3 designs a process mining DSS to select a standard BP from a repository of different alternative designs based on the similarity of BPS contin-gency factors between the as-is process and the to-be standard processes. DSR project 3 thus derives four different process model variants for representing BPS contingency factors that vary according to determinant factors of process model comprehension (PMC) identified in PMC literature. A controlled laboratory evaluation with 150 stu-dents identifies significant differences in PMC. Based on laboratory findings, the DSS is implemented in the BPM platform “Apromore” to select standard BP reference mod-els from the SAP Best Practices Explorer for SAP S/4 HANA and applied for the pur-chase-to-pay and order-to-cash process of a manufacturing company

Process Mining for Business Process Standardization in ERP Implementation Projects – An SAP S/4 HANA Case Study from Manufacturing

Organizations increasingly build operations on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. However, ERP implementation projects require significant process transformation and standardization to successfully use ERP systems. This article presents a case study in a manufacturing corporation to demonstrate how process mining can be used for process decisionmaking in an SAP S/4 HANA implementation project. In particular, the corporation implements process mining for the analysis of the SAP purchase-to-pay (“Purchas-ing”) and the order-to-cash (“Sales”) processes to determine whether the future to-be process should be standardized according to ERP standards, or to be individualized in a corporate-specific template. Further, process mining can be used to select suitable standard process specifications from the SAP Best Practices Explorer, as well as to analyze the required process changes before the launch of the new ERP system and process implementations

Design Principles for Business Model Analytics Tools

In this doctoral thesis, a current and widespread approach to business modelling is developed further using findings from data analytics and theories to improve user understanding. The focus is on the goals of an objective business modeling that is comprehensible to all users. Business modelling is an important part of companies to determine their strategy and as a linking element between the strategic and operational level. Different research areas investigate how such business modelling can be supported or applied in different situations (e.g. after disruptive shocks). However, the starting point for these approaches is always a subjective top-down approach, based on the knowledge of the modeler. This involves the challenge that the created business models are incorrect and depend on the knowledge and perspective of the modeler. In addition, they are strongly linked to the strategic level and the abstract management view associated with it. In a design science research approach in this thesis, requirements and design principles for objective and easily understandable business modeling were developed. In addition, these principles were instantiated in a tool that can (semi-)automatically create a business model by using enterprise data. At the same time, the understanding of all users is increased by integrating the relationships between the elements, the value flow and an extension of value capturing. This provides the foundation for a common communication platform, similar to a blueprint in the construction industry. The result of this work is not only the tool but also an extension of the current state of the art of research in the field of business modeling, as well as corresponding principles and findings, which can be used to master individual challenges in practice and science

Nursing Department Newsletters 2001-2009

Regularly updated newsletters from the Department of Nursing at Messiah College. It especially highlights the Integrative classroom and Clinical-based learning. Some issues are missing from 2001 to 2009

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects is unique in a sense because it focuses on the most recent advances in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genetics that are the basic components of Personalized Nutrition. The book also emphasizes the importance of evolutionary aspects of diet and exercise and the need to select foods that are consistent with the evolutionary aspects of diet because these are the foods that contain the nutrients that our genes are programmed to respond. This book is the antidote to ultra-processed foods and imitation foods that are proinflammatory and contribute to increases in chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. It is a book for Health! The aim of the book is to provide readers with the basic factual information necessary to comprehend the enormity and potential effects of nutrients and foods on overall health and well-being. This book should be of interest to the educated public, teachers, health professionals, physicians, medical students, nutritionists, dietitians, historians and policy makers

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects is unique in a sense because it focuses on the most recent advances in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genetics that are the basic components of Personalized Nutrition. The book also emphasizes the importance of evolutionary aspects of diet and exercise and the need to select foods that are consistent with the evolutionary aspects of diet because these are the foods that contain the nutrients that our genes are programmed to respond. This book is the antidote to ultra-processed foods and imitation foods that are proinflammatory and contribute to increases in chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. It is a book for Health! The aim of the book is to provide readers with the basic factual information necessary to comprehend the enormity and potential effects of nutrients and foods on overall health and well-being. This book should be of interest to the educated public, teachers, health professionals, physicians, medical students, nutritionists, dietitians, historians and policy makers

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects is unique in a sense because it focuses on the most recent advances in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genetics that are the basic components of Personalized Nutrition. The book also emphasizes the importance of evolutionary aspects of diet and exercise and the need to select foods that are consistent with the evolutionary aspects of diet because these are the foods that contain the nutrients that our genes are programmed to respond. This book is the antidote to ultra-processed foods and imitation foods that are proinflammatory and contribute to increases in chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. It is a book for Health! The aim of the book is to provide readers with the basic factual information necessary to comprehend the enormity and potential effects of nutrients and foods on overall health and well-being. This book should be of interest to the educated public, teachers, health professionals, physicians, medical students, nutritionists, dietitians, historians and policy makers

Barometer Maatschappelijk Vastgoed:Public Real Estate International

Na de diverse thematieken van de afgelopen jaren Trends en ontwikkelingen in maatschappelijk vastgoed (2011), Onderzoeken en visie (2012), Onderzoeken en perspectieven op maatschappelijk en financieel rendement (2013) en Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen (2014) kunnen we de scope van de 8e Barometer Maatschappelijk vastgoed verbreden. Dit hebben we gedaan door (inter)nationaal te kijken naar onderzoek over en ontwikkelingen van maatschappelijk vastgoed en in het bijzonder gemeentelijk vastgoed en zorgvastgoed. Deze internationale ontwikkeling van de Barometer Maatschappelijk Vastgoed wordt door actoren in en rondom maatschappelijk vastgoed gezien als interessant, actueel en belangrijk. Met deze stap van de Barometer beoog ik om vanuit andere contexten en culturen - door bijdragen over andere landen en met buitenlandse auteurs - te kijken naar ons eigen maatschappelijk vastgoed in Nederland en inzicht te geven in de problematiek en oplossingsrichtingen van gemeentelijk vastgoed en zorgvastgoed. Daarbij is een herverkaveling van vastgoedbelangen een gedachtegang voor de toekomst. De internationalisering wordt ook onderschreven door de RICS die wereldwijd actief is vanuit New York, Sao Paulo, London, Brussel, Dubai, New Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing en Sydney. Afgelopen jaar zijn er nog een aantal andere (internationale) ontwikkelingen geweest. Zo verscheen eind 2014 mijn proefschrift Materieel Immaterieel: besturing van woningcorporaties in samenhang met maatschappelijk vastgoed vanuit de RSM Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (RSM/EUR), één van Europa’s top business scholen voor het onderwijs en in de top 3 voor toponderzoek. Vanuit het lectoraat zijn we ook een structurele samenwerking met Odisee Hogeschool en Universiteit Brussel aangegaan. Het internationale karakter van het lectoraat in 2015 wordt naast het verschijnen van dit boek ook onderstreept door een drietal presentaties, twee abstracts en een geaccepteerde paper over maatschappelijk vastgoed voor het internationale congres van de European Real Estate Society (ERES) 2015 in Istanbul. De Barometer Maatschappelijk Vastgoed bestaat dit jaar uit vijf delen (I) gemeentelijk maatschappelijk vastgoed, (II) koplopers gemeentelijke vastgoedbedrijven, (III) het Rijksvastgoedbedrijf als referentiekader, (IV) ontwikkelingen in maatschappelijk vastgoed en (V) internationaal onderzoek maatschappelijk vastgoed