Understanding Process Performance Measurement Systems

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state of Process Performance Measurement Systems (PPMS) by means of a systematic review of literature. The PPMS literature is reviewed using a systematic approach. Based on an extensive literature review only twelve articles that contain the term PPMS in the title were found. The literature analysis showed that PPMS is a relatively new topic in the area of performance measurement. In order to understand PPMS, it was crucial to explain the concepts of business process management, business performance measurement and Performance Measurement System (PMS) which are well known and used in the literature and practice. PPMS is a special type of PMS that should be used in process-oriented organizations. Limitations of this research lie in the fact that all the conclusions were derived only from the literature, not empirical research. The results presented in the paper continue towards providing an updated overview of the current state of performance measurement, especially PPMS in order to identify the existing research gaps on which ongoing and future research efforts regarding this topic can be focused.business process management; process orientation; performance indicators; business performance measurement; Performance Measurement System; Process Performance Measurement System

Understanding Process Performance Measurement Systems

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state of Process Performance Measurement Systems (PPMS) by means of a systematic review of literature. The PPMS literature is reviewed using a systematic approach. Based on an extensive literature review only twelve articles that contain the term PPMS in the title were found. The literature analysis showed that PPMS is a relatively new topic in the area of performance measurement. In order to understand PPMS, it was crucial to explain the concepts of business process management, business performance measurement and Performance Measurement System (PMS) which are well known and used in the literature and practice. PPMS is a special type of PMS that should be used in process-oriented organizations. Limitations of this research lie in the fact that all the conclusions were derived only from the literature, not empirical research. The results presented in the paper continue towards providing an updated overview of the current state of performance measurement, especially PPMS in order to identify the existing research gaps on which ongoing and future research efforts regarding this topic can be focused

Understanding Process Performance Measurement Systems

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state of Process Performance Measurement Systems (PPMS) by means of a systematic review of literature. The PPMS literature is reviewed using a systematic approach. Based on an extensive literature review only twelve articles that contain the term PPMS in the title were found. The literature analysis showed that PPMS is a relatively new topic in the area of performance measurement. In order to understand PPMS, it was crucial to explain the concepts of business process management, business performance measurement and Performance Measurement System (PMS) which are well known and used in the literature and practice. PPMS is a special type of PMS that should be used in process-oriented organizations. Limitations of this research lie in the fact that all the conclusions were derived only from the literature, not empirical research. The results presented in the paper continue towards providing an updated overview of the current state of performance measurement, especially PPMS in order to identify the existing research gaps on which ongoing and future research efforts regarding this topic can be focused

Strategiatavoitteiden ja prosessimittareiden ja välisen yhdenmukaisuuden arviointi palveluliiketoiminnassa.

The measurement of the service processes has been facilitated by the development of the information technology. Through new systems and applications, it is possible to obtain accurate information on the activities of the service process. Process measures provide information to develop and improve the underlying service process. The service industry has commonly used similar measuring methods as the manufacturing industry. However, the manufacturing processes differs from the service processes due to variation, value creation, and automation level. Hence, the same manufacturing measurement methods cannot be applied directly to the service processes. Measuring is vital for companies to develop and update processes to compete in a highly competitive service sector. Generally, measurement starts from defining the strategy targets, after which the strategic objectives are translated and aligned through the organization levels down to the customer interface. There is a consensus in the literature that the strategy must define the process measurements. Several different measurement systems (Balanced Scorecard, Performance Matrix) are designed to support the strategy implementation. Translating strategy metrics into the execution level is, however, a demanding and tedious process involving many challenges. As a result, companies do not often follow this process. Although the literature is unanimous about its importance and usefulness. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the relationship between strategic objectives and process metrics. To study this topic, 9 interviews were conducted and part of the interviews were organized using participant observation method. The interview structure was formed using the Congruence model and the results were analyzed through the Strategic Alignment model. The research revealed that the strategy process and the organizational structure can strongly influence how well the strategy measurement and implementation succeed. When the strategy measures play a key part in the strategy process, their value driver maps are better known and the impacts are better monitored. To achieve the strategy targets, the strategy must have an impact on the daily life (rewards, objectives, and metrics) of the employees. Through daily routine changes, the strategy goals can be implemented into the practice.Palveluprosessien mittaaminen on helpottunut teknologia kehittymisen myötä. Uusien järjestelmien ja sovellusten kautta on mahdollista saada tarkkaa tietoa palveluprosessin toiminnasta. Prosessimittaamisen avulla on mahdollista parantaa prosesseja ja tehdä niistä tehokkaampia. Palveluprosessimittaamisessa on yleisesti käytetty vastaavia menetelmiä kuin valmistusteollisuudessa. Valmistavan teollisuuden prosessit eroavat kuitenkin palveluprosesseista variaation, arvon luonnin ja automaatioasteen seurauksena. Näin ollen suoraan samoja mittaamismenetelmiä ei voida soveltaa. Mittaaminen on ylipäätään tärkeää, jotta yritys voi kehittää ja päivittää prosesseja pärjätäkseen erittäin kilpailulla palvelualalla. Yleisesti mittaaminen lähtee strategiatavoitteen määrittämisestä, jonka jälkeen strategiatavoitteet jalkautetaan läpiorganisaatiotasojen aina asiakasrajapintaan asti. Kirjallisuudessa vallitsee konsensus, että strategian kautta tulee määritellä prosessimittaaminen. Useita erilaisia mittaamisjärjestelmiä, (Balanced Scorecard, Performance Matrix) on suunniteltu strategiamittareiden jalkauttamisen tueksi. Strategiamittareiden jalkauttaminen on kuitenkin vaativa ja työläsprosessi sisältäen monia haasteita, jonka seurauksena yritykset eivät usein tätä prosessia noudata. Vaikkakin kirjallisuus on yksimielinen sen tärkeydestä ja hyödyllisyydestä. Tässä diplomityössä tutkitaan, miten strategiamittareiden määrittäminen ja jalkautus todella onnistuu organisaatiossa. Tutkimuksessa suoritettiin yhteensä 9 haastattelua kahdessa kohdeyrityksessä ja osassa haastatteluja sovellettiin ’participant observation’ -metodia. Haastattelurakenne muodostettiin ’Congruence’ -mallin avulla ja tulokset analysointiin mukautetun ’Strategic Alignment’ -malia hyväksikäyttäen. Tutkimuksessa kävi ilmi, että strategiaprosessi ja organisaatiorakenne vaikuttavat vahvasti siihen kuinka hyvin mittaaminen ja jalkauttaminen onnistuu. Strategiamittareiden ollessa keskeisessä osassa strategiaprosessia niiden arvoketju tunnetaan paremmin ja niiden vaikutusta seurataan. Strategiatavoitteisen aikaan saamiseksi, strategialla täytyy olla vaikutuksia henkilöstön arkeen: palkitsemiseen, tavoitteisiin ja mittareihin. Arjen muutosten kautta strategiatavoitteet saadaan käytäntöön

MINERVA : Model drIveN and sErvice oRiented framework for the continuous improVement of business process & relAted tools

Organizations are facing several challenges nowadays, one of the most important ones being their ability to react quickly to changes either to their business process (BP) models or to the software implementing them. These changes can come from different sources: external requirements from partners or the market, or new internal requirements for the way that things are carried out by the defined BPs; they may also arise from improvement opportunities detected for the BPs defined, based on BPs execution monitoring and execution evaluation that is done by the organization, and/or its partners and customers. The increasing complexity of both BPs models and the software implementing them, requires the changes needed or the improvements to be carefully weighed against the impact their introduction will have; they ought also to be carried out in a systematic way to assure a successful development. Two key elements are to provide these requirements: the separation of BPs definition from their implementation to minimize the impact of changes in one to the other, and a process to introduce the changes or improvements in the existing BPs and/or software implementing them. Business Process Management (BPM) provides the means for guiding and supporting the modeling, implementation, deployment, execution and evaluation of BPs in an organization, based on the BP lifecycle. The realization of BPs by means of services provides the basis for separating their definition from the technologies implementing them and helps provide a better response to changes in either of the layers defined -definition and implementation of business processes- with minimum impact on the other. Modeling of both BP and services is a key aspect to support this vision, helping provide traceability between elements from one area to the other, so easing the analysis of the impact of changes, among other things. Models have proven to play an important role in the software development process, one of its key uses in the context of BP realization by means of services is that of designing services at a more abstract level than with specific technologies, also promoting reuse by separating services logic from its implementation. MINERVA: Model drIveN & sErvice oRiented framework for the continuous business process improVement & relAted tools is the framework that has been defined in this thesis work; it takes into account all the aspects mentioned, in which the SOC and MDD paradigms are applied to BPs focusing on their continuous improvement, extending an existing BP lifecycle with explicit execution measurement and improvement activities and elements. It is made up of three dimensions: i) conceptual, which defines the concepts that are managed throughout the framework. ii) methodological, which defines a methodology for service oriented development from BPs with automatic generation of SoaML service models from BPMN2 models, along with a continuous improvement process based on execution measurement of the occurrences of BPs in the organization to carry out the improvement effort. iii) tools support for the whole proposal based on several existing tools we have integrated, along with new ones we have developed. The proposals in MINERVA have been validated by means of an experiment and two case studies carried out in the context of real projects in two organizations, from which, as the main result of the applications performed, it can be concluded that MINERVA can be a useful and key guide for the continuous improvement of BPs realized by services and for the development of service oriented systems from BPs, with automatic generation of service models from BP models.Las organizaciones se enfrentan en la actualidad a varios retos, siendo uno de los más importantes su capacidad para reaccionar rápidamente a los cambios ya sea en sus modelos de procesos de negocio (PN) o en el software que los implementa. Estos cambios pueden provenir de distintas fuentes: requisitos externos de socios o del mercado, o nuevos requisitos internos para la forma en que las cosas se llevan a cabo por los PNs definidos; también pueden surgir de las oportunidades de mejora detectadas para los PNs definidos, en base al monitoreo y evaluación de la ejecución de los PNs llevada a cabo por la organización, y/o sus socios y clientes. La creciente complejidad de los modelos de PNs y del software que los implementa, requiere que los cambios o las mejoras sean sopesados cuidadosamente contra el impacto que su introducción tendrá; también deben llevarse a cabo de manera sistemática para asegurar un desarrollo exitoso. Dos elementos son clave para proveer estos requisitos: la separación de la definición de los PNs de su implementación, para minimizar el impacto de los cambios de uno en otro, y un proceso para introducir los cambios o mejoras en los PNs y/o en el software que los implementa. La Gestión de Procesos de Negocio (Business Process Management, BPM) proporciona los medios para guiar y apoyar el modelado, implementación, despliegue, ejecución y evaluación de PNs en una organización, basado en el ciclo de vida de PNs. La realización de PNs con servicios proporciona la base para la separación de su definición de las tecnologías para implementarlos, y ayuda a proporcionar una mejor respuesta a los cambios en cualquiera de las capas definidas -definición e implementación de procesos de negocio- con un impacto mínimo sobre la otra. El modelado de PNs y servicios es un aspecto clave para apoyar esta visión, ayudando a proveer trazabilidad entre los elementos de un área a la otra, por lo tanto facilitando el análisis del impacto de los cambios, entre otras cosas. Los modelos han demostrado jugar un papel importante en el proceso de desarrollo de software, uno de sus usos principales en el contexto de la realización de PNs con servicios es el de diseñar servicios a un nivel más abstracto que con tecnologías específicas, promoviendo la reutilización separando la lógica de los servicios de su implementacion. MINERVA: Model drIveN & sErvice oRiented framework for the continuous business process improVement & relAted tools es el marco que se ha definido en este trabajo de tesis, que toma en cuenta todos los aspectos mencionados, en el cual los paradigmas de Computación Orientada a Servicios (Service Oriented Computing, SOC) y Desarrollo Dirigido por Modelos (Model Driven Development, MDD) se aplican a los PNs con foco en su mejora continua, extendiendo un ciclo de vida PN existente con actividades y elementos explícitos para la medición de la ejecución y mejora de PNs. El marco se compone de tres dimensiones: i) conceptual, que define los conceptos que se manejan en todo el marco. ii) metodológica, que define una metodología para el desarrollo orientado a servicios desde PNs, con generación automática de modelos de servicio en SoaML desde modelos en BPMN2, junto con un proceso de mejora continua basado en la medición de la ejecución de las ocurrencias de los PNs en la organización para llevar a cabo el esfuerzo de mejora. iii) soporte de herramientas para la propuesta completa basado en la integracion de varias herramientas existentes, junto con otras nuevas que hemos desarrollado. Las propuestas de MINERVA han sido validadas por medio de un experimento y dos casos de estudio realizados en el marco de proyectos reales en dos organizaciones, de los cuales, como resultado principal de las aplicaciones realizadas, se puede concluir que MINERVA puede ser una guía útil y clave para la mejora continua de PNs realizados por servicios y para el desarrollo de sistemas orientados a servicios desde PNs, con generación automática de modelos de servicio a partir de modelos de PN

Process Measurement in Business Process Management : Theoretical Framework and Analysis of Several Aspects

Process measurement deals with the quantification of business process models using process model metrics. This book presents a theoretical framework for the prediction of external process model attributes (as, for example, error-proneness and understandabiltiy) based on internal (structural) attributes. The properties of proposed metrics are analyzed. A visualization technique for metric values is introduced and metrics for process model understandability and granularity are evaluated