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

On the Relevance of Design Knowledge for Design-Oriented Business and Information Systems Engineering - Conceptual Foundations, Application Example, and Implications

In general, research in business and information systems engineering (BISE) focuses on the design of business information systems. So far, the prevailing design-oriented research has taken a technique-oriented perspective, which focuses on the creation and application of innovative techniques such as methods, models, software prototypes, and similar artifacts for system design. In this paper we argue that design knowledge is of considerable importance for system design. Relevant design knowledge includes, for example, knowledge about design objectives, design techniques, and effects resulting from the use of techniques. This design knowledge can be produced, evaluated, and used in a scientific way. In this paper we present necessary basics for conceptualizing design knowledge. We illustrate the applicability of the conceptual foundations and the relevance of design knowledge using the example of “event-driven process chains (EPC)”. A discussion of implications of the presented results and future challenges for design-oriented BISE concludes the contribution

Stylized Facts as an Instrument for Literature Review and Cumulative Information Systems Research

The accumulation of scientific knowledge is an important objective of information systems (IS) research. Although different review approaches exist in the continuum between narrative reviews and meta-analyses, most reviews in IS are narrative or descriptive—with all related drawbacks concerning objectivity and reliability—because available under¬lying sources in IS do typically not fulfil the requirements of formal approaches such as meta-analyses. To discuss how cumulative IS research can be effectively advanced using a more formalized approach fitting the current situation in IS research, in this paper, we point out the potential of stylized facts (SFs). SFs are interesting, sometimes counterintuitive patterns in empirical data that focus on the most relevant aspects of observable phenomena by abstracting from details (stylization). SFs originate from the field of economics and have been successfully used in different fields of research for years. In this paper, we discuss their potential and challenges for literature reviews in IS. We supplement our argumentation with an application example reporting our experience with SFs. Because SFs show considerable potential for cumulative research, they seem to be a promising instrument for literature reviews and especially for theory development in IS

Model-Based Compliance in Information Systems – Foundations, Case Description and Data Set of the MobIS-Challenge for Students and Doctoral Candidates

Information systems (IS) can significantly support the organization of business processes. However, the proceeding digitalization of processes can also lead to an increasing organizational complexity and the need to more intensely investigate the adherence to external or internal compliance rules. Process-related data from IS and underlying process models can, however, also contribute to an effective compliance checking. This paper first presents conceptual foundations of model-based compliance checking that motivated the MobIS-Challenge workshop for students and doctoral candidates at WI 2019.Second, we introduce the challenge itself and its corresponding data set. The data describes an exemplary travel management process in a medium-sized consulting company and served for the development and validation of adequate solutions addressing the compliance checking requirements. Solutions accepted for presentation at the workshop are briefly outlined in this paper

Understanding understandability of conceptual models - what are we actually talking about? - Supplement

Investigating and improving the quality of conceptual models has gained tremendous importance in recent years. In general, model understandability is regarded one of the most important model quality goals and criteria. A considerable amount of empirical studies, especially experiments, have been conducted in order to investigate factors in-fluencing the understandability of conceptual models. However, a thorough review and reconstruction of 42 experiments on conceptual model understandability shows that there is a variety of different understandings and conceptualizations of the term model understandability. As a consequence, this term remains ambiguous, research results on model understandability are hardly comparable and partly imprecise, which shows the necessity of clarification what the conceptual modeling community is actually talking about when the term model understandability is used. This contribution represents a supplement to the article „ Understanding understandability of conceptual models – What are we actually talking about?” published in the Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Conceptual Modeling (ER 2012) which aimed at overcoming the above mentioned shortcoming by investigating and further clarifying the concept of model understandability. This supplement contains a complete overview of Table 1 (p. 69 in the original contribution) which could only be partly presented in the conference proceedings due to space limitations. Furthermore, an erratum concerning the overview in Table 2 (p. 71 in the original contribution) is presented

Towards the development of stylized facts on the understandability of graphical business process models

The development of theory is one of the major tasks of every scientific discipline, and thus of Information Systems Research (ISR) as well as Business Informatics (BI). While different approaches can be used to develop theory in ISR and BI, there is one “dominant” way of IS theory development which has been described by GROVER and LYYTINEN in a recent article published in MISQ as the common “epistemic script”. The authors criticize this epistemic script for promoting a quite restricted production of IS-related knowledge. Furthermore, GROVER and LYYTINEN, identify new potential ways of overcoming the common epistemic script and propose – among others – the concept of Stylized Facts (SF) as one potential way for innovative knowledge production in ISR and BI. Against the background that we – the authors of this report – have been using Stylized Facts as a research approach for some years and can confirm the potential of this approach, the following report presents the idea and the current state of a promising comprehensive dissertation project (first author of this report) using Stylized Facts in ISR and BI which started in 2014. In the following, the idea of developing Stylized Facts regarding the understandability of graphical business process models is elaborated. Besides the presentation of an approach for a transparent development of SF, a comprehensive application example will illustrate the derivation of a SF regarding the relationships of the structuredness of business process models and the resulting model understandability

On the relevance of design knowledge for design-oriented business and information systems engineering : supplemental considerations and further application examples

This contribution represents a supplement to the article "On the Relevance of Design Knowledge for Design-Oriented Business and Information Systems Engineering — Conceptual Foundations, Application Example, and Implications" in the special issue on Science of Business and Information Systems Engineering of the journal Business and Information Systems Engineering (BISE) in 2010. It contains further application examples concerning the introduced reference framework for systemizing design knowledge. Besides the comprehensive documentation of design knowledge concerning eventdriven process chains (EPC) with the dedicated literary sources and an evaluation of the evidence of the provided statements, in this report the framework is furthermore applied for the documentation of design knowledge about the Process Grammar Approach, another technique for process design presented by Lee et al. in MIS Quarterly in 2008. Subsequently the results are discussed.Der vorliegende Beitrag dient als Anhang zum Artikel "On the Relevance of Design Knowledge for Design-Oriented Business and Information Systems Engineering — Conceptual Foundations, Application Example, and Implications", der in der Zeitschrift Business and Information Systems Engineering (BISE) zum Schwerpunktheft "Science of Business and Information Systems Engineering" im Jahr 2010 erschienen ist. Er ergänzt das dort aufgeführte Beispiel zur Anwendung des Bezugsrahmens zur Dokumentation von Gestaltungswissen. Der Bezugsrahmen wurde verwendet, um Gestaltungswissen zur Modellierungstechnik "Ereignisgesteuerte Prozesskette" (EPK) zu systematisieren, zu explizieren und hinsichtlich seiner Evidenz zu bewerten. Die dort gegebene Übersicht wird im vorliegenden Beitrag ergänzt. Darüber hinaus findet sich in diesem IWi-Heft ein weiteres Anwendungsbeispiel, das aufgrund von Platzrestriktionen im Journalartikel nicht präsentiert werden konnte. Der Bezugsrahmen dient hier der Systematisierung und Dokumentation von Gestaltungswissen zur Technik des Process Grammar Approach, der von Lee et al. 2008 im Journal MIS Quarterly präsentiert wurde. Weiterhin werden die erhobenen Ergebnisse im vorliegenden Beitrag diskutiert

Stilisierte Fakten in der gestaltungsorientierten Wirtschaftsinformatik – Allgemeine Potentiale und erste Erfahrungen

Ein gestaltungsorientiert ausgerichteter Forschungsansatz gilt imAllgemeinen als zentrales Charakteristikum der deutschsprachigenWirtschaftsinformatik (WI). Gemäß dieser Überzeugungsollen in der wirtschaftsinformatischen Forschung insbesondereinnovative und nützliche Techniken wie Methoden, Software-Prototypenund ähnliche Artefakte zur Lösung betrieblicher Problemegestaltet und erforscht werden, um Handlungs- und Erklärungswissenfür die zukünftige Gestaltung von Informationssystemenzu generieren. Dieses Gestaltungswissen lässt sich beispielsweisein Form von Theorien oder technologischen Regeln darstellen.Obwohl die Fundierung der Wirtschaftsinformatik mit eigenenTheorien zunehmend an Bedeutung gewinnt, existieren bisher nurwenige Ansätze für die Theoriebildung und das Herausarbeitentechnologischer Regeln. Vorliegender Beitrag möchte den wissenschaftstheoretischenDiskurs in diesem Bereich beleben, indem erPotentiale und Erfahrungen mit dem Konzept stilisierter Faktenaus der VWL im Kontext der Wirtschaftsinformatik sowie Vorschlägefür Richtlinien und Handlungsempfehlungen für dieDurchführung zukünftiger Studien präsentiert. Stilisierte Faktenermöglichen die Entwicklung von Gestaltungswissen und stelleneinen vielversprechenden wissenschaftstheoretischen Ansatz fürdie gestaltungsorientierte Wirtschaftsinformatik dar

Towards the development of stylized facts on the understandability of graphical business process models

The development of theory is one of the major tasks of every scientific discipline, and thus of Information Systems Research (ISR) as well as Business Informatics (BI). While different approaches can be used to develop theory in ISR and BI, there is one “dominant” way of IS theory development which has been described by GROVER and LYYTINEN in a recent article published in MISQ as the common “epistemic script”. The authors criticize this epistemic script for promoting a quite restricted production of IS-related knowledge. Furthermore, GROVER and LYYTINEN, identify new potential ways of overcoming the common epistemic script and propose – among others – the concept of Stylized Facts (SF) as one potential way for innovative knowledge production in ISR and BI. Against the background that we – the authors of this report – have been using Stylized Facts as a research approach for some years and can confirm the potential of this approach, the following report presents the idea and the current state of a promising comprehensive dissertation project (first author of this report) using Stylized Facts in ISR and BI which started in 2014. In the following, the idea of developing Stylized Facts regarding the understandability of graphical business process models is elaborated. Besides the presentation of an approach for a transparent development of SF, a comprehensive application example will illustrate the derivation of a SF regarding the relationships of the structuredness of business process models and the resulting model understandability