Business Process Modeling:Business Process Modeling: Perceived Benefits

Indulska, M., Green, P., Recker, J., and Rosemann, M. Business Process Modeling: Perceived Benefits. In Laender, A.H.F. et al. Conceptual Modeling - ER 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 5829, Springer 2009, pp. 458-471.

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Overview

Problem & MotivationProblem & Motivation

Research Questions

Methodology

Contrast of modeling Co as o ode gbenefits

Implications for researchImplications for research and practice

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BPM (Still) The #1 Priority

3Gartner, 2009

Motivation• PM company-wide requires substantial investment in tools,

methodologies, training, and the conduct of the modeling g , g, gexercises

• This scale of modeling demands sound business cases.

• Studies (e.g., Indulska et al, 2006) and anecdotal evidence re difficulty in clearly articulating and communicating the overall or net benefits of PM to executive management.

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Bridging the GapIncreasing the relevance of research

What are the benefits related to process modeling?What are the benefits related to process modeling?Do they differ depending on the stakeholder?

researchers; practitioners; vendorsresearchers; practitioners; vendors

Increasing communication between industry and academia

HOW?

Case studies surveys focus groups interviews delphiCase studies, surveys, focus groups, interviews, delphi studies, experiments

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Research QuestionsWhat are the main perceived benefits of process modeling?process modeling?

Critical sub-questions:Critical sub questions:

How do these benefits differ across different important stakeholder groups?

Are there any important categories of benefitsAre there any important categories of benefits that are not being fully recognized in the process?p

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Delphi approach (Dalkey et al, 1963)

multi-round approach to data collectionki (M h t l 1998)consensus-seeking (Murphy et al, 1998)

useful in explorative situationsanonymous (van de Ven et al, 1974)

requires specific and careful selection of ti i t ( d l ) (P ll 2003)participants (v.s. random sample) (Powell, 2003)

requires consideration of levels of participant consensusconsensusgenerally done in a tight time-frame (Okoli et al, 2004)

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Our Delphi approach – 3 rounds

Questions posedQuestions posed 70*5 350Questions posedQuestions posed 70*5 = 350 responsescodify & consolidate

Consensus on Consensus on Analysis &Analysis & enough agreement?Analysis & Analysis & DefinitionsDefinitions

enough agreement?if not, revise, repeat

Weighting of the Weighting of the d td tdatadata

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Response ratesMinimize study time-span to reduce drop out rate~ 3 month duration in late 2008~ 3 month duration in late 2008upfront buy-in from participants -134 invitations 85% ongoing participation rate85% ongoing participation rate

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Consensus & satisfactionConsensus seeking by natureHow do we determine consensus? (Richards et alHow do we determine consensus? (Richards et al, 2002)

Previous studies: 7.5 (scale 1-10) (de Bruin et al, 2007)Previous studies: 7.5 (scale 1 10) (de Bruin et al, 2007)

Our study: 8 (scale of 1-10)

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Top Benefits by Stakeholder

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Overall – Top Five BenefitsProcess improvement – greater ability to improve business processesbusiness processesUnderstanding – improved and consistent understanding of business processesg pCommunication – improved communication of business processes across different stakeholder groupsModel-driven process execution – ability to facilitate or support process automation, execution, or enactment

th b i f th d lon the basis of the modelProcess performance measurement – improved means of being able to measure evaluate ormeans of being able to measure, evaluate, or benchmark the performance of processes.

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Classification – Common CategoriesTo understand the nature and potential impacts of the benefits (Shang and Seddon, 2002)( g )

Organizational – benefits from process modeling to g p gthe organization in terms of strategy execution, learning, cohesion, and increased focus.Managerial - benefits from process modeling toManagerial - benefits from process modeling to management in terms of improved decision-making and planning.O ti l b fit f d liOperational - benefits from process modeling related to the reduction of process costs, increase of process productivity, increase of process quality, i d t i d/ d dimproved customer service, and/or reduced process execution time.

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Contributions – Weak CategoriesStrategic – benefits from process modeling for strategic activities such as long range planningstrategic activities such as long-range planning, mergers & acquisitions, product planning, customer retentioncustomer retentionIT Infrastructure - benefits from process modeling to IT support of business agilitymodeling to IT support of business agility, reduction of IT costs, reduced implementation timetime.

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Overall results

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Discussionstudy the value of process modeling

realized (practitioners) V unrealized (academics) benefitsbenefits

b d i l f d b t hboundary spanning role of vendors between research and practice

Vendors (and consultants) able to influence current PM practice but also identify novel features fromPM practice but also identify novel features from leading research to incorporate in future products.

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Implications for practicePractitioners:

need for case studies that help to express intangible p p gbenefits (e.g., understanding and communication) in business cases

Vendors:transparency, visualization, governance – increasing expectation of importance of complianceexpectation of importance of compliance management to organizations

Academics:Better understanding of potential importance of current research topics to industry e g processcurrent research topics to industry e.g., process verification, view integration

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Thank You –Questions?Questions?

Peter GreenUQ Business SchoolTh U i it f Q l dThe University of QueenslandBrisbane, QLD, Australiap.green@business.uq.edu.au

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