case study description of e-business processes part i – business and process view

Case Study

DESCRIPTION OF E-BUSINESS PROCESSES

PART I – Business and Process view

© 2007 Competence Center E-Business Basel | 2

Finance, HR,Procurement, Sales

and Distribution

E-Business

E-CommerceE-Procurement

B2BB2C

B2B

Research and Development,

Operations

E-Shop/CRM Kundenportal

Buy-Side/SRM/Supplier Portal

Groupware/CMS/DMS/

Enterprise Portal

B2E/E2E

PPS-System

ManagementE-Business View Application

Customer

Legende

Business Software

E-Organization

Business Partner

Sell-Side(E-Shop)

Role/Function

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

ERP-System

CMS – Content Management SystemCRM – Customer Relationship ManagementDMS – Document Management System

B2B – Business-to-BusinessB2C – Business-to-ConsumerB2E – Business-to-EmployeeE2E – Employee-to-Employee

ERP – Enterprise Resource PlanningPPS – Production Planning and SteeringSCM – Supply Chain ManagementSRM – Supplier Relationship Management

E-Business-Systematic

My Company


TERMS

E-Business supports the connections and processes within a business with its partners, clients, employees and staff by use of electronic media (through Schubert/Wölfle 2000). The term E-Business is most often related to interactive media or respective internet technologies, but includes applications based on other technologies.

E-Commerce is the part of E-Business which is oriented to sales of products and services. The E-Commerce applications provide electronic support of the sale-purchase process, which is classically divided into information and negotiation phases [Schubert 2001].

E-Procurement consists of electronic support for the procurement process (supplies) in a business (Schubert 2002). While stock modules of the ERP systems are used mainly for direct supplies, the E-Procurement solutions support indirect procurement of supplies.


TERMS

E-Organization is focused mainly on electronic support of communication between personnel and employees or between personnel/employees and business counterparts.

Here software packages are used for collaboration with partners (through support by Collaboration Tools or Groupware), project management or recording and accounting of performed activities. In addition, the growing use of company domains, websites and electronic shops (E-Shops), the related growing number of web pages and contributions requires the use of Content Management – core information support systems.

Mobile applications assist travelling partners in their work with clients. They allow remote access to product catalogues and mobile archiving of orders.


TERMS

Customer Relationship Management is sales oriented and aimed at covering client demand and satisfaction. The goals standing behind the CRM measures include better engagement with customers and optimization of the client’s Lifetime Values (the total amount of all purchases done by this client).

Supplier Relationship Management is supplies oriented and consists of a concept for support of relations and processes with suppliers.

Supply Chain Management (management of the value producing chain) comprises coordination and long-term strategic cooperation with co-producers over the entire networks of logistics for product development and manufacture. This includes both production and supplies, as well as product and processes innovation. [Schönsleben 2004]


Case Studies structure

Quelle: Schubert, Petra; Wölfle, Ralf (2005): eXperience-Methodik zur Dokumentation von Fallstudien, München, Wien: Carl Hanser Verlag, 2005.

1 Company

1.2 Branch, Products Target groups

2 Project description

2.1 E-Business in the company strategy

2.2 ERP-System and E-Business-Software integration

4 Implementation

4.1 Project management and Processes redesign

4.2 Software solutions and programs

5 Experience gained

5.1 Utilization and Support

5.2 Goals fulfillment

6 Success factors

6.1 Specifics of the Solution

6.2 Modifications

1.1 Background

1.3 Vision and Strategy

3 IT Solution description

3.1 Business view

3.2 Process view

6.3 Lessons Learned

3.3 Application view

3.4 Technical view


1. Background of the Company, Industrial Sector, Product and Target Group

Background of the company: history, eventual structure of the enterprise, number of employees, turnover, company culture, etc. It should be clarified, who is concerned and what are the internal frame conditions.

Industrial Sector: special facts of the sector, situation related to the competition, development of market potential etc.

Type of product, volume of assortment, specific features, history etc.

Target group, clients with who contact has been made, В2В or В2С, how they have been characterized, specific features etc.


All case studies are looked atfrom the four views

1

2

3

4

Business ViewInvolved business partners and their roles,

business concept, contracts, strategic and operative targets

Process ViewDetailed business processes, process links among the involved parties, assessment of process quality

Application ViewOverview of business information systems,

distribution of functions, place of data storage, integration layers

Technical ViewInvolved system components, networks, data transfer


The Business View

1

2

The business scenario shows the added value constellation of the introduced project in an overview. It shows in context of the project e.g. the relevant part of a market, of a supply chain, the cooperation in a affiliated group or only the cooperation of departments in an enterprise. The business scenario shows the involved parties with their roles and the most important processes as well as the links among between these processes.

Business ViewInvolved business partners and their roles,

business concept, contracts, strategic and operative targets

Process ViewDetailed business processes, process links among the involved parties, assessment of process quality


Business View and Objective

The business view provides an introduction in the proposed business scenario. It shows to the participants their roles and clarifies cost formation (products and services). It clarifies the concept for the business activity, which is the basis of the scenario. If the described solution has lead to a change in the concept for business activity, this could be pointed out by means of comparison of the situation before and after.


Business View and Objectives

In the discussed context, it shows considerable parts of the market scheme, of supply chain, of co-operation in joint venture or only the specific co-operation in a certain field or enterprise. Business scenario shows the participants in their roles, the most important processes in the context, as well as the relations of exchange between these processes.

The business view considers also, what operative and strategic objectives has the contractor been after with this solution and what comparison expenses-benefit has been provided in the project solution.


Manufactory(customer)

Engine Builder(supplier)

requisition sales promotion

sourcing sales

procurement

initiation

operations customer service

order processing

procurement

offering

delivery

production

request / consultation

offer / order

role main process

sub processprocess link

Example a Business View:Purchase of a Machine


Exercise 1 on Business View

Extend the given business view by a forwarding agency which fulfills the transportation execution in order of the engine builder.

Please mention the processes sales, route planning and transportation execution for the forwarding agency.


Forwarding Agency

sales

route planning

transport execution

Manufactory(customer)

Engine Builder(supplier)

requisition sales promotion

sourcing sales

procurement

initiation

operations customer service

Order Processing

procurement

offering

delivery

production

role main process

sub processprocess link

Exercise 1 on Business View:Purchase of a Machine

request / consultation

offer / order


Process View

After the business scenario has structured the individual business processes in their context, selected processes in the process view are dealt with in more depth.

The process view lights up more precisely selected production processes. According to the possibilities, one should reflect one or two processes by the method of extended process chain, guided by the events. It shows very well the co-ordination of processes and decisions, provided by informatics. The names of reviewed processes should have been already used in the business scenario.


Process View: The extended Event-driven Process Chain (eEPC) The event-driven process chain (EPC) is a method for the representation of

business processes in the interaction with information systems. It was developed at the institute for business informatics of the university of Saarland, Germany. [Keller et al. 1992]

The representation of the sequence of the steps (functions) represents the control view of a information system.

The beginning and final states as well as intermediate states of a process are represented in the EPC as events, they are reflected by the data occurrences of the process at run time.

By various explanations a process illustration can be extended by additional views. The extended event-driven process chain (eEPC) can pick up broader aspects of the data view, the organization view and the system view.

The description of an information system in the views control, functions, data and organization represents the ARIS-method (architecture of integrated information systems) developed at university of the Saarland.

Keller, G.; Nüttgens, M.; Scheer, August-Wilhelm (1992): Semantische Prozessmodellierung auf der Grundlage „Ereignisge-steuerter Prozessketten (EPK)“, in Scheer, August-Wilhelm (Hrsg.): Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Wirtschaftsinformatik, Heft 89, Saarbrücken, 1992. http://www.iwi.uni-sb.de/Download/iwihefte/heft89.pdf, Zugriff am 17.12.2003


Process View: ARIS – Architecture of Integrated Information Systems

View on DataView on Controls

View on Organisation

Quelle: Scheer, August-Wilhelm (1995): Wirtschaftsinformatik, Referenzmodelle für industrielle Geschäftsprozesse, 6. Auflage, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer, 1995.

View on Functions


Notation of the event-drive process chain EPC

The event-driven process chain includes the conditions of a given process as an illustration of the task chain.

The conditions are presented as events, i.e. a certain fact, that has occurred. This fact could be reflected as information in the system of data processing.

The event or events, which start up a given process, may, in accordance with it, represent certain data characteristics (values). For example, decrease of warehouse availability of a given article, at a certain value, may provoke the event “minimum warehouse availability below the established limit” and may cause a process of starting the orders.

And within a give process, every task is started by one or several events. One task contains one or several activities, which are executed with regard to a certain process subject, and pilot it from an inlet to the outlet condition.


Notation of the event-drive process chain EPC

Outlet condition is considered as a new event and with the remodeled process subject, every data variable may assume a new value. A task of the type “execution of an order” could lead for example to the creation of a process subject “order” and after the final execution of the task, to assume the condition “the order is executed”. This means that the events may provoke separate tasks, as well as whole processes. Which, in its turn, results in a new event.

Identification of conditions as inlet, outlet or intermediate events, facilitates the division of big main processes into purposeful partial processes. The conditions are suitable for description of process transitions (interface) like these, which are manifested in the course of change of responsibility from one field to another, or in the course of integration of two information systems.


Process View: Elements of theEvent-driven Process Chain (EPC)

connector

control flow

fulfil task 1

start Event A

OR

event B event C

arouses

produces

Process:A process is a specification of a sequence of tasks which is defined for the production of a performance. Every process has a start event and a end event.

Event:An event is an entered condition which is relevant in the respective context. An event can arouse tasks, is, however, passive itself and uses up neither the time nor costs.

Task:A task is a tiedly coherent bundle of activities which contributes to a primary added value with a defined (partial-)performance. A complex task can be shown sophisticatedly in a separate representation.

Control flow:The control flow describes the temporal and logical dependences of events and tasks.Connectors:Connectors indicate logical operations at process branchings and unitings:

AND: and connector / conjunction OR: and/or connector / adjunction XOR: either-/or connector / disjunction DT: decision table [Rosemann 1996]

Process link:A process link shows that another process is initiated in this task

end event D

fulfil task 2(with refinement)process link


Process View: Elements of the extended Event-driven Process Chain (eEPC)

Event-drivenProcess Chain

is responsiblefor

Explanations fororganization and

information systems

is representedby

produces

dependson

Information-/Material-Flow

generatesfulfil task 1

start Event A

OR

event B event C

end event D

organisationalunit

informationSystem

supports

goods/service

document

information object

explanation

process link

Explanations toinformation objects

and input/output

fulfil task 2(with refinement)

attribute

information object


Process View Exercice

A commercial enterprise wants to advertise a physical product by advertisements in magazines. The product shall be ordered by phone.

You need a description for the process “call center-ordering acceptance” since you IT supplier must configure his ERP system for it. Please draw a process with the following steps:

Incoming telephone calls are assigned to the processes "ordering acceptance", "customer service", and "telephone switchboard"

Well-known customers with a good credit standing or new customers whose address check is positive can choose between the paying proceedings “payment after invoice” and “credit card payment”

Other customers can choose between “payment in advance” and “credit card payment”

“Ordering acceptance” ends when the process “delivery on invoice” or "delivery after payment in advance" is initiated the process.


call-centrereceives a call

Assigning call

caller is nota customer

caller is a customer,but he do not want

to give an orderXOR

customer serviceby phone

caller wants to givean order

Telephoneswitchboard

taking shoppingbasket, customer

and delivery address

shopping basketand delivery address

is recordedcustomer is knowncustomer is

unknown

XOR ANDAND

call-centre

telephone system

ERP system module,distribution

` customer

status = pre-recordedordering positionsdelivery address

Orderstore

if necessary

Process View: Example Call Center Ordering Acceptance in a Trading Company (1/2)


Process View: Example Call Center Ordering Acceptance in a Trading Company (2/2)

credit line issufficient

AND

AND

address was notconfirmed

XOR

automaticcredit line check

XOR

XOR

address wasconfirmed

credit line isto low

XOR

delivery on invoiceis confirmed and

released

inform aboutpaying proceedings (1)

process paymentin advance

XOR

inform aboutpaying proceedings (2)

XOR

XOR

delivery afterpayment in advance delivery on invoice

ANDAND XOR

order is accepted

process creditcard payment

XOR

ERP system modulesdistribution,

accounts receivable

web-service of anexternal company

inform customer ongeneral termsand conditions

automaticaddress check

statusaddress

shows

shows

available credit linecustomer

credit card dataorder

recordcredit card data recorded

status = releasesorder

changed

paying proceeding (1) contains the choice between

payment in advance and credit card

payment

paying proceedings (2) contain the choice between delivery on invoice and credit

card payment


Process View:Notation

task3 lines3 lines

event3 lines3 lines

event2 lines

event

task with refinement task with refinementtask with refinement

tasktask

2 lines

OR XOR AND

process link3 lines3 linesprocess link

process link2 lines

status

organisational unit

job

` information object

`

information objectinformation object

attribute


attributeinformation object

attributeattribute


attributeattribute

information object

DTcontrol flow information flow/

flow of goodsinformation system

remark

page 2

customer orderconfirmation

good/service


Exercise on Process View:Recruiting and Applicant Selection

In the given process “recruiting and applicant selection” you assume that always suitable applications come in.

You change the process in such way, that in case no suitable applications come in, the staffing request is checked again and a renewed release of the staffing request must be carried out.



collecting requirements

job has to be filled

job description

job specification

Get approval for thethe job posting

XOR

job posting withadvertisement

is approved

job posting withoutadvertisement

is approved

Inviting suitablecandidates

to the application.Candidate preselection

is done

XOR

Suitable applicationscome in.

job advertisementposting job

HR department



collecting requirements

job has to be filled

job description

job specification

Get approval for thethe job posting

XOR

job posting withadvertisement

is approved

job posting withoutadvertisement

is approved

Checking job posting

Inviting suitablecandidates

to the application.Candidate preselection

is done

XOR

Suitable applicationscome in.

Suitable applicationsdo not come in.XOR

job advertisementposting job

HR department


Questions?

case study description of e-business processes part i – business and process view

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