MODELADO DE PROCESOS DINÁMICOS DE NEGOCIOS – ARTÍCULO DE REVISIÓN

For systems engineers and professions related to software engineering, it is necessary to have a global knowledge about theadministration of processes in enterprises, since the management of information and not limited to the development of software but based on the processes as a starting point. With this revision we intend to give an initial reference in the most popular topics that the systems engineer should know, in order to motivate and deepen this area.Para los ingenieros de sistemas y profesiones afines a la ingeniería del software es necesario tener un conocimiento global sobre la administración de procesos en las organizaciones, puesto que el manejo de la información ya no se limita al desarrollo de software, sino que se basa en l os procesos como punto de partida. Con esta revisión se pretende dar un referente inicial sobre algunos de los temas más populares de los que debe tener conocimiento el ingeniero de sistemas, para motivarse a profundizar en el área

Enterprise modelling framework for dynamic and complex business environment: socio-technical systems perspective

The modern business environment is characterised by dynamism and ambiguity. The causes include global economic change, rapid change requirements, shortened development life cycles and the increasing complexity of information technology and information systems (IT/IS). However, enterprises have been seen as socio-technical systems. The dynamic complex business environment cannot be understood without intensive modelling and simulation. Nevertheless, there is no single description of reality, which has been seen as relative to its context and point of view. Human perception is considered an important determinant for the subjectivist view of reality. Many scholars working in the socio-technical systems and enterprise modelling domains have conceived the holistic sociotechnical systems analysis and design possible using a limited number of procedural and modelling approaches. For instance, the ETHICS and Human-centred design approaches of socio-technical analysis and design, goal-oriented and process-oriented modelling of enterprise modelling perspectives, and the Zachman and DoDAF enterprise architecture frameworks all have limitations that can be improved upon, which have been significantly explained in this thesis. [Continues.

Systemic approach and decision process for sustainability in chemical engineering: Application to computer aided product design

Dans un contexte de prise en compte croissante des enjeux environnementaux, l'industrie de la chimie et des procédés se retrouve confrontée à des problématiques de substitution de molécules. Les méthodes de formulation inverse, qui consistent en la recherche assistée par ordinateur de molécules satisfaisant un ensemble de contraintes, répondent de manière efficace à ces problématiques. A partir de l'analyse systémique des usages et fonctionnalités nécessaires dans ce contexte, nous développons un outil logiciel de formulation inverse mettant en oeuvre un algorithme génétique. Celui-ci est capable d'explorer un espace de solutions plus vaste en considérant les mélanges et non les molécules seules. Par ailleurs, il propose une définition des problèmes très flexible qui permet la recherche efficiente de molécules issues de filières renouvelables. En s'appuyant sur l'ingénierie système et l'ingénierie d'entreprise, nous proposons un processus formel de prise de décision pour la substitution de produit dans un contexte industriel. Ce processus de décision multi-critères englobe les phases de définition des exigences, de génération de solutions alternatives, de sélection de la meilleure alternative et de mise en oeuvre du produit. Il utilise une approche dirigée par les modèles et des techniques de prises de décision qui garantissent un alignement opérationnel en complément de l'alignement stratégique. A travers un cas d'étude, nous montrons comment l'utilisation conjointe de notre outil de recherche par formulation inverse et de notre processus de décision permet une démarche environnementale de substitution de produit à la fois efficiente et conforme à la réalité de l'entreprise. ABSTRACT : In a context where environmental issues are increasingly taken into account, the chemical related industry faces situations imposing a chemical product substitution. Computer aided molecular design methods, which consist in finding molecules satisfying a set of constraints, are well adapted to these situations. Using a systemic analysis of the needs and uses linked to this context, we develop a computer aided product design tool implementing a genetic algorithm. It is able to explore a wider solution space thanks to a flexible molecular framework. Besides, by allowing a very flexible setting of the problem to be solved, it enables the search of molecules sourced from renewable resources. Based on concepts from system and enterprise engineering, we formalize a decision making process dedicated to the product substitution in an industrial context. This multi-criteria decision process includes the phases of the requirements definition, of the generation of alternative solutions, of the selection of the best alternative and of the product application. It uses a model driven approach and decision making techniques that guaranty an operational alignment in addition to the strategic alignment across the chemical enterprise. Through a case study, we expose how the combination of our computer aided product design tool and our decision making process enables an environmentally compliant approach of product substitution which is both efficient and in adequacy with enterprise context

Eine Literaturanalyse zur Integration von Business Rules und Business Process Management

Business Rules (BR) und Business Process Management (BPM) sind eng miteinander verzahnt. Dennoch gibt es nur vergleichsweise wenige Forschungsbeiträge, die sich mit dem Grad der Integration beider Domänen befassen. Auf der Basis des Six-Core-Elements-BPM-Framework wird die Integration von Business Rules mit dem BPM anhand einer State-of-the-Art-Analyse der Literatur untersucht und evaluiert. Die Analyse deckt aktuelle und zukünftig mögliche Entwicklungen auf und stellt im Besonderen einen starken Fokus auf die Erforschung methodischer Ansätze fest. Während das Design und die Implementierung von BR und Geschäftsprozessen im Mittelpunkt stehen, werden organisationale Faktoren wie People und Culture kaum betrachtet. Auch kann ein strategischer Bezug der Integration beider Domänen kaum festgestellt werden

Quality of process modeling using BPMN: a model-driven approach

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia InformáticaContext: The BPMN 2.0 specification contains the rules regarding the correct usage of the language’s constructs. Practitioners have also proposed best-practices for producing better BPMN models. However, those rules are expressed in natural language, yielding sometimes ambiguous interpretation, and therefore, flaws in produced BPMN models. Objective: Ensuring the correctness of BPMN models is critical for the automation of processes. Hence, errors in the BPMN models specification should be detected and corrected at design time, since faults detected at latter stages of processes’ development can be more costly and hard to correct. So, we need to assess the quality of BPMN models in a rigorous and systematic way. Method: We follow a model-driven approach for formalization and empirical validation of BPMN well-formedness rules and BPMN measures for enhancing the quality of BPMN models. Results: The rule mining of BPMN specification, as well as recently published BPMN works, allowed the gathering of more than a hundred of BPMN well-formedness and best-practices rules. Furthermore, we derived a set of BPMN measures aiming to provide information to process modelers regarding the correctness of BPMN models. Both BPMN rules, as well as BPMN measures were empirically validated through samples of BPMN models. Limitations: This work does not cover control-flow formal properties in BPMN models, since they were extensively discussed in other process modeling research works. Conclusion: We intend to contribute for improving BPMN modeling tools, through the formalization of well-formedness rules and BPMN measures to be incorporated in those tools, in order to enhance the quality of process modeling outcomes

Käsitteellinen lähestymistapa organisatoristen verkostojen tutkimukseen

Tutkimusympäristöt joissa eri tieteenalojen tutkijat toimivat yhdessä ratkaistakseen verkostoissa toimivien kumppaniyritysten ongelmia ovat haasteellisia tiedonvaihdon ja tutkimustiedon keräämisen kannalta. Vaikka tutkimuskohde on yhteinen, tutkijat lähestyvät sitä omien tieteidensä näkökulmasta käyttäen siihen teorioita ja menetelmiä jotka eivät ole yhteensopiva muiden kanssa. Lapin yliopistossa tehdyn tutkimustyön aikana nämä ongelmat tulivat esiin, kun useissa monialaisissa projekteissa tarkasteltiin liiketoimintaverkostoja sekä teollisuusliiketoiminnan että matkailun alalta. Projektien kohteina olevissa verkostoissa yritykset pyrkivät tyypillisesti hakemaan verkostotoiminnasta hyötyjä informaatioteknologian avulla tehostaakseen liiketoimintasuhteitaan ja siten edesauttamaan johtamiseen ja operatiiviseen toimintaan liittyvää tiedonkulkua. Pääasiallinen ongelma näissä ympäristöissä tapahtuvassa tutkimuksessa on, että uudet projektit eivät helposti pysty hyödyntämään edellisten projektien tuotoksia, koska aikaisemmin kerättyä tutkimustietoa, analyysejä tai luotuja ratkaisumalleja ei ole saatavilla siinä muodossa että ne voitaisiin ottaa uuden tutkimuksen pohjaksi. Tässä työssä on tarkasteltu ja kehitetty käsitteellisiä malleja ja niihin liittyviä menetelmiä, jotka tukevat monitieteistä liiketoimintaverkostojen tutkimusta, ja samalla tekevät mahdolliseksi hyödyntää jo olemassa olevaa tutkimustietoa. Tässä diplomityössä kehitetty ratkaisu perustuu liiketoimintaverkostojen analysointiin käsitemallintamisen avulla. Tämän tuloksena on luotu organisatoristen ympäristöjen käsitemalli, joka keskittyy integraatiota edistäviin yhteistoimintasuhteisiin, ja kuvattu siihen liittyvä tutkimuksellinen prosessi joka mahdollistaa projektin aikana syntyvän tutkimusaineiston käsitteellistämisen ja lisätiedon liitämisen niihin. Tämä helpottaa tutkimustiedon jäsentämistä ja sen jakamista tutkijoiden ja kohdealueen toimijoiden välillä. Lisäksi työssä määritellään metatietokuvauksia ja rajattuja sanastoja jotka perustuvat semanttisen webin tekniikoihin, joilla voidaan luokitella eri projektien aikana syntyviä tutkimusartefakteja ja hallinnoida tutkimustietoa.The research settings, where project teams consisting of researchers from different scientific fields, and working together to provide solutions to the issues of networked partner organizations, are challenging in terms of communicating and accumulating research knowledge. Although the focus of the research is shared, difficulties emerge because it is explored from different scientific perspectives, relying on theories and methods that do not match with others. This observation was made during research work conducted at the University of Lapland in projects that concentrated on business networks in the manufacturing and tourism industries. The organizations in these commercial environments typically seek benefits from information technology to intensify the network-wide business relationships and to improve knowledge-intensive operations and management. The main problem is that new projects cannot easily benefit from the results of past projects because the collected research materials, analyses and models are not easily found and they are difficult to align with the objectives of new projects. In this work, to resolve theses issues, conceptual models and related approaches have been analyzed and elaborated to support cross disciplinary research on business networks, and at the same time enable the re-use and sharing of research knowledge. The solution presented in this Master's thesis has been developed by relying on conceptual modelling approaches to analyze business networks. As a result, general concept model of inter-organizational environments has been built that focuses on the integrative relationships in them. Further, accompanying research process that enabies the conceptualization and annotating of the project research outcomes has been constructed. This helps in organizing and sharing research information between researchers and stakeholders. Additionally, metadata descriptions and controlled vocabularies based on semantic web technologies are defined to align research constructs originating from different projects and to support research knowledge management

A method for developing Reference Enterprise Architectures

Industrial change forces enterprises to constantly adjust their organizational structures in order to stay competitive. In this regard, research acknowledges the potential of Reference Enterprise Architectures (REA). This thesis proposes REAM - a method for developing REAs. After contrasting organizations' needs with approaches available in the current knowledge base, this work identifies the absence of method support for REA development. Proposing REAM, the author aims to close this research gap and evaluates the method's utility by applying REAM in different naturalistic settings