Process Modularization : A new approach for designing processes

Modular product design has proven helpful in dealing withvariance, while maintaining efficiency and quality. It allowscompanies to combine strategies that are otherwise difficult tocombine, by decoupling product systems to allow paralleldevelopment and manufacturing. Applying modular design to businessprocesses could help organizations in dealing with an increasingdemand of flexibility, while maintaining or increasing efficiency.Since research on process modularity is scarce and that there areno methods for modularizing processes, this study has adapted amethod for product modularization (Modular Function Deployment®)to be used for business processes.A major issue in doing so has been to find the right framework fordescribing business processes. Their abstract nature makes itharder (then with a physical product) to envision possibledivisions into modules. Structures and properties of businessprocesses, which traditional process models cannot reveal, havebeen exposed by the unconventional use of the ARA-model (Håkansson& Snehota, 1989) as a tool for depicting business processes. Thathas brought the conclusion that activities and resources,belonging to a business process, are codependent and part of abigger network of activities, resources and actors. Building onthese ideas, the Modular Function Deployment® method has beenadapted for business processes. A case process is used throughoutthe paper to show as an example and evidence of the findings. Evenif not yet implemented within the organization, the proposedmodularization of the process show great promise in improving theperformance of the process, as well as further embodying thecompany strategy within its architecture

Process Modularization : A new approach for designing processes

Modular product design has proven helpful in dealing withvariance, while maintaining efficiency and quality. It allowscompanies to combine strategies that are otherwise difficult tocombine, by decoupling product systems to allow paralleldevelopment and manufacturing. Applying modular design to businessprocesses could help organizations in dealing with an increasingdemand of flexibility, while maintaining or increasing efficiency.Since research on process modularity is scarce and that there areno methods for modularizing processes, this study has adapted amethod for product modularization (Modular Function Deployment®)to be used for business processes.A major issue in doing so has been to find the right framework fordescribing business processes. Their abstract nature makes itharder (then with a physical product) to envision possibledivisions into modules. Structures and properties of businessprocesses, which traditional process models cannot reveal, havebeen exposed by the unconventional use of the ARA-model (Håkansson& Snehota, 1989) as a tool for depicting business processes. Thathas brought the conclusion that activities and resources,belonging to a business process, are codependent and part of abigger network of activities, resources and actors. Building onthese ideas, the Modular Function Deployment® method has beenadapted for business processes. A case process is used throughoutthe paper to show as an example and evidence of the findings. Evenif not yet implemented within the organization, the proposedmodularization of the process show great promise in improving theperformance of the process, as well as further embodying thecompany strategy within its architecture

Process Modularization : A new approach for designing processes

Modular product design has proven helpful in dealing withvariance, while maintaining efficiency and quality. It allowscompanies to combine strategies that are otherwise difficult tocombine, by decoupling product systems to allow paralleldevelopment and manufacturing. Applying modular design to businessprocesses could help organizations in dealing with an increasingdemand of flexibility, while maintaining or increasing efficiency.Since research on process modularity is scarce and that there areno methods for modularizing processes, this study has adapted amethod for product modularization (Modular Function Deployment®)to be used for business processes.A major issue in doing so has been to find the right framework fordescribing business processes. Their abstract nature makes itharder (then with a physical product) to envision possibledivisions into modules. Structures and properties of businessprocesses, which traditional process models cannot reveal, havebeen exposed by the unconventional use of the ARA-model (Håkansson& Snehota, 1989) as a tool for depicting business processes. Thathas brought the conclusion that activities and resources,belonging to a business process, are codependent and part of abigger network of activities, resources and actors. Building onthese ideas, the Modular Function Deployment® method has beenadapted for business processes. A case process is used throughoutthe paper to show as an example and evidence of the findings. Evenif not yet implemented within the organization, the proposedmodularization of the process show great promise in improving theperformance of the process, as well as further embodying thecompany strategy within its architecture

Detailed analysis of skin conductance responses during a gambling task : Decision, anticipation, and outcomes

Physiological arousal is considered a key factor of gambling behavior. Hence, to understand gambling behavior it is important to study the arousal responses during gambling. Moreover, crucial mechanisms of action could be uncovered by detailing the situations that produce an arousal response. A gamble, or bet, can be partitioned into three distinct phases: (a) decision phase, during which the information concerning the gamble is presented, outcomes are appraised, and a decision is made on how to gamble; (b) anticipation phase, during which the result of the gamble is awaited; (c) outcome phase, during which the outcome of the gamble is presented. Previous research on arousal responses to gambling have mostly measured tonic changes in arousal, and when phasic responses have been measured, analyses have generally concentrated on one of the gamble phases. The aim of the present study was to map the arousal responses during gambling in more detail by measuring skin conductance responses (SCRs) during all three gamble phases of a simple card game. The anticipation phase was found to produce the largest arousal response, suggesting anticipation to be a major contributor to arousal during gambling behavior. Risk behavior during the gambling task was mirrored in self-reported risk taking in everyday life, and risk-takers displayed smaller SCRs compared to nonrisk-takers during decision making, suggesting this as a possible biomarker for risk-taking individuals