Business Process Management Cases Vol. 2

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Introduction

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Planning and Scoping Business Process Management with the BPM Billboard

      Jan vom Brocke, Jan Mendling, Michael Rosemann

      Abstract

      This chapter introduces the BPM Billboard as a tool for planning and scoping Business Process Management (BPM) projects and programs. The BPM Billboard is grounded in the belief that BPM is a means to an end, not the end itself. It links BPM initiatives to strategic objectives and ensures that BPM creates tangible results toward achieving those objectives by systematically developing the required, context-specific organizational capabilities. The BPM Billboard structures everything that needs to be considered for BPM initiatives to be successful and provides a cockpit view allowing process managers to comprehensively plan, manage, assess, and communicate BPM initiatives. As such, the BPM Billboard also serves as a framework for the many BPM cases presented in this book. In this chapter, we introduce the BPM Billboard and provide a practical example to demonstrate its applicability. Furthermore, we outline how to use the BPM Billboard in process work. Finally, we explain how the cases in this book relate to the BPM Billboard and provide a brief overview of the cases discussed in the individual chapters that follow.

3. Cases on Process Technology and Automation

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Process Automation at Generali CEE Holding: A Journey to Digitalization

      Jan Marek, Kurt Blümlein, Charlotte Wehking

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The Czech subsidiary of the international acting insurance organization Generali faced several challenges. From an external perspective, the organization had challenges concerning digital transformation, regulatory compliance, and new legislation. From an internal perspective, it faced a legacy of paper-based, labor-intensive process documentation and inconsistencies in processes and workflows.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: Based on an agile project management approach and considering the six core elements of business process management (Rosemann & vom Brocke, 2015), Generali CEE Holding ditched its labor-intensive, paper-based processes for corporate risk underwriting during an organization-wide transformation project. From the technical side, the company integrated its processes and data into one robust platform and implemented robotic process automation software to boost productivity and efficiency. From the social side, the company’s IT and business departments collaborated closely, and the employees concerned were involved in the process of transformation.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The new BPM platform and the software for robotic process automation helped Generali CEE Holding to make its processes consistent, automate its inter-organizational workflows, and enhance its employees’ and customers’ satisfaction. Implementing the digital technologies ensured compliance with ever-changing laws and regulations in the company’s corporate risk underwriting. The system is now flexible and robust enough to implement new legislation or regulations within a few days.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Simply ditching paper-based processes by digitizing them or deploying a software solution to automate processes does not guarantee that a goal will be achieved. It requires effort in terms of time and resources and an overall strategy that keeps the transformation going. This project demonstrated that a radical change from paper-based processes to robotic process automation in a short period of time was possible by focusing first on a small subset of processes using an agile project management approach, connecting the business and the IT departments, and involving the employees in the endeavor.

       

   3. Sensor-Enabled Wearable Process Support in the Production Industry

      Stefan Schönig, Andreas Ermer, Stefan Jablonski

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Because of increasing automation and staff reduction, fewer operators are available to control a corrugated paper production line. Hence, users must go to several locations to access the available control panels, resulting in delayed information flows. These delayed reaction times are frequently the reason for increased numbers of deficient products.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The BPM case was implemented in two phases. First, we introduced a wearable production information system that visualizes current process data and allows operators to control production. Second, since issues still remained, we enhanced the solution by realizing process-model-based task coordination for all operators.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The implementation significantly reduced reaction time, the number of deficient products decreased, and the overall quality of the produced corrugated paper improved. In addition, equipment downtime was significantly decreased since problems were recognized in advance and were solved proactively.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: We recognized the advantages that BPM technology has over traditional information systems for production shop floors. The user-specific task coordination based on sensor data that a process-oriented solution can provide seems to be the missing link between production information and operator guidance.

       

   4. Enabling Financing in Agricultural Supply Chains Through Blockchain

      Interorganizational Process Innovation Through Blockchain Luise Pufahl, Bridie Ohlsson, Ingo Weber, Garrett Harper, Emma Weston

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: One large set of problems in Australian agricultural supply chains comprises liquidity and payment certainty: Farmers are typically paid for their goods after long delays, and sometimes payment fails altogether. At the same time, first buyers of crops (exporters, traders, processors, feedlots) have limited funds as they, like the farmers, have little access to financing, such as obtaining a loan against a quantity of the harvested crops. Financiers are often unwilling or unable to offer financing against such assets because of insufficient visibility—that is, the ability to see and verify the assets’ information, or the high cost of obtaining it. These liquidity and financing shortages are harmful to the Australian agricultural industry.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The AgriDigital founding team knew these issues first hand, and, seeing early on the opportunities created by blockchain technology for their industry, founded the company to address these key challenges using emerging technologies. Their core idea was that digital trust could be generated across agri-supply chains using blockchain technology to create secure digital assets representing harvested crops, which would then become the foundation data layer to facilitate trade and finance solutions. Effectively conducting process innovation across the whole industry, AgriDigital first ran three pilots to gain an understanding of the needs and requirements of the various stakeholders.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Based on these pilots, two outcomes were implemented: (1) the blockchain part of the technology was spun out into a foundation, Geora, and generalized for other industries, and (2) AgriDigital developed a final product using Geora’s blockchain technology to expose a registry of assets using which financiers could deliver financing in a secure and streamlined way. In the second half of 2019, 75 growers and 6 buyers were already using the combined solution, from which 122,000 bales of cotton and 34,000 tons of grain, with a total value of US$18.5 million, were financed.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The key lesson learned from running the pilots was that the emerging blockchain technology can help to improve trust, asset management, and payments in agri-supply chains but that using blockchain technology requires specific, detailed expertise. Therefore, a digital toolkit that makes the benefits of blockchain to a wide range of users is of real value. Confidentiality and flexibility requirements among the stakeholders must also be ensured. Next to these technological lessons learned are that good behavior should be incented; supply chain stakeholders have low technical capabilities, and on-chain payments are still a challenge.

       

   5. Digital Transformation of Global Accounting at Deutsche Bahn Group: The Case of the TIM BPM Suite

      Fabian Ludacka, Jean Duell, Philipp Waibel

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The accounting function of the Deutsche Bahn Group, a public German railway company with 320,000 employees, went through a centralization process to transfer the entire company’s accounting activities from 350 locations to three Shared Service Centers. The decentralized accounting function prior to this transformation was qualitatively and economically unsustainable.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: In the course of the transformation, processes had to be changed on a global level, and a workflow management system had to be introduced to automate these processes. The TIM BPM Suite, a workflow management system, was selected among several digital tools as the main pillar to make this transition possible. The organizational desire for further automation led to efforts to combine the workflow with existing third-party systems to meet regulatory requirements, to achieve faster turnaround times, and to introduce performance monitoring on a global scale. These goals were realized by using robotic process automation in combination with human workflows.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The newly centralized accounting function guarantees globally standardized digital processes. Thanks to its flexible rollout options, positive economies of scale were achieved that facilitate the integration of existing companies and new acquisitions. Moreover, the new approach meets all legal and compliance requirements. The project won the GFO organization’s “Process Solution Award 2019” in the category of workflow management.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Acceptance of the new way to work is one of the most important key aspects of such a transformation, especially when the transformation changes the way the employees work. The early integration of all employees is essential to ensure quick acceptance.

       

   6. Tracking Energy Efficiency Performance at Clean Energy Solutions

      Applying Adaptive Case Management to the Building Construction Industry Antonio Manuel Gutiérrez Fernández, Freddie Van Rijswijk, Christoph Ruhsam, Klaus Kogler, Anna Shadrina, Gerhard Zucker

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Buildings and housing account for a significant percentage of global energy demands. However, building projects often suffer from deviations between planning and reality. Building Information Modeling (BIM) has lately been extended to cover the whole building project life cycle, but the heterogeneity of supporting software, the differing procedures of the companies involved, and buildings’ individuality hinder seamless collaboration among the parties, making it difficult to trace the impact of decisions on energy efficiency.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: Adaptive Case Management (ACM) is a methodology used to handle flexible business processes based on the achievement of business goals during a project, without defining strict process models. This chapter presents the first results of applying business architecture principles to ACM that uses domain-specific BIM tools for the content analysis that supports energy efficiency tracking throughout the project’s lifecycle.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Defining business actions and rules by using natural language patterns, along with the ontology entities (i.e., business concepts and their relationships), enable stakeholders to formalize a unique description of terms used and how they are related. This formalization is enacted with minimum IT involvement, which is covered by the initial system setup, leading to fully transparent project management.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: One of the first steps in the approach presented here is the formalization of the business information model by means of a business ontology that describes all business entities. We realized that business users with many years of experience require several iterations of reviewing the value streams to identify the entities involved in an unambiguous way. However, these multiple iterations were an essential benefit in achieving a common terminology.

       

   7. Industry 4.0 Integration Assessment and Evolution at EVVA GmbH: Process-Driven Automation Through centurio.work

      Florian Pauker, Juergen Mangler, Stefanie Rinderle-Ma, Matthias Ehrendorfer

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The introduction of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in the manufacturing domain has led to new concepts of how things like machines can interact. In contrast to explicit connections among machines, computing resources, and UIs (humans)—that is, semi-hard-coded connections of components through a service bus—providing a context for how things are connected can foster maintainability and comprehension and advance the notion of a loosely coupled system.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: This chapter presents a four-step integration approach that equips small and medium-sized companies with a defined evolution toward flexible and reliable digitalization and automation using the BPM technology centurio.work. A process-based framework, centurio.work uses BPMN notation to orchestrate and control manufacturing use cases. The four-step integration approach presented here is demonstrated on a real-world scenario at EVVA that realizes the interactions among a lathe, a robot, and a loading station, which is a common scenario for the manufacturing industry.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: We deployed process models from a testbed, the pilot factory of the Technical University of Vienna (TU), to the production cell of EVVA. Because of the similarity of the equipment—the pilot factory and EVVA have a lathe and a robot—nearly all of the pilot factory’s existing templates could be reused, but this approach increased the start-up time for orchestrating the production cell. However, interfaces for each component of the cell were defined and implemented in such a way that the components can be orchestrated, and the stepwise integration approach facilitated parallel development of the functionality with no interruption in production.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The most complex step was defining the interface for orchestrating the equipment, especially realizing stateless interfaces with atomic methods that allow safe use in modeling environments. The manufacturing domain has several standards that address the same topic, so no general design rules are available. On the modeling side, we had to improve only the processes that are responsible for tasks on the machine level, that is, changing a variable that represents the current state. The top-level processes were kept the same.

       

   8. Managing Agile Business Processes at N-DECT

      Development of a Process-Aware Information System for Agile Business Processes Jens Geiger, Stefan Jablonski, Sebastian Petter, Louis Püschel, Maximilian Röglinger

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Many companies must handle unplanned events like delayed shipments, changing customer requests, and machine breakdowns. N-DECT, a medium-sized company that offers customer-specific solutions for material testing and processes many customer orders simultaneously, is no exception. The challenge of such agile business processes is that their dynamic re-planning and reprioritization is cumbersome and prone to error. Hence, an automated solution based on a process-aware information system (PAIS) is sorely needed.

       

      (b)

      Actions taken: Against this backdrop, the University of Bayreuth and four medium-sized companies, including N-DECT, engaged in a joint research project with the objective of developing and evaluating a PAIS architecture that enables the prioritization, execution, and monitoring of agile processes based on company-specific key figures (e.g., order-specific, profit-specific, or product-specific delivery dates). To that end, we collected requirements, designed the PAIS architecture—both a generic version and company-specific versions—built prototypes, and evaluated these prototypes at all four companies.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The key outcome of the research project was the development of a generic three-layer PAIS architecture with an innovative component for the prioritization of agile processes. This component builds on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which supports the prioritization of process instances (i.e., tasks). The real-world evaluation at N-DECT showed that the agile PAIS reduces cumbersome manual resource assignments and prioritization tasks, which can be non-systematic and prone to error because of subjective influences.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: We learned that agile business processes can be effectively enacted and monitored through PAIS based on process models, combined with the AHP and key figures. We also learned that there are two kinds of agility—one at the task level and one at the instance level—which require different kinds of handling through PAIS.

       

4. Cases on Process Analysis and Monitoring

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Analysis of the Customer Journey at the Pension Provider APG Using Self-Service and Data Hub Concepts

      J. C. A. M. Buijs, R. F. M. Bergmans, R. El Hasnaoui

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The Dutch pension system is changing rapidly such that future customers will be able to choose their own pension fund. To prepare for this change, Algemene Pensioen Groep (APG) must understand its customers better and increase customer satisfaction.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A customer journey analysis of the retirement processes using process mining analysis techniques was performed. The data contains details on 75,000 customers, including data on calls to the call center, internal processes, and website visits. The analysis was done with business experts from several departments and included training the business’ users.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Our analysis showed that 18% of customers call after they complete the retirement process. By sending a welcome e-mail after all administrative details were complete, we significantly increased customer satisfaction and reduced the number of post-retirement calls to the call center. We found that customers look up information on retirement earlier than previously expected, so we also sent the preretirement information package earlier, further reducing the number of calls to the call center.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: We learned that self-service is not a one-size-fits-all solution, as it requires different types of coaching for different user groups. Our centralized, unified data storage—our data core—is valuable and saves time, but an opportunity for improvement lies in the varying levels of detail of the data acquired from the source systems.

       

   3. Enabling Process Mining in Airbus Manufacturing

      Extracting Event Logs and Discovering Processes from Complex Data Álvaro Valencia-Parra, Belén Ramos-Gutiérrez, Ángel Jesús Varela-Vaca, María Teresa Gómez-López, Antonio García Bernal

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Organizations use process mining to understand and improve their processes and to detect deviations. Process discovery uses event logs, which describe when the traces occur, as input data. Currently, Internet-of-Things environments generate and distribute massive amounts of data that are not always structured, which brings about new, complex scenarios since data must first be transformed before it can be handled by process-mining tools. This chapter describes a case of successful application of a solution that permits the transformation of complex data of an assembly-aircraft process to create event logs that can be managed by the process-mining paradigm.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A domain-specific language and a prototype were implemented to facilitate the extraction of complex, semi-structured data into the unified traces of an event log, following the XES standard.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The implementation was applied in the course of a project in the aeronautics industry. Promising results were obtained related to log extraction for the discovery of processes and the resulting improvement of the assembly-aircraft process.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The complexity of data in IoT scenarios makes the extraction of event logs difficult. In addition, if data is massively produced, Big Data architectures acquire a prominent role. Regarding the results of process discovery, the selection of the cases and the activities to create an event log are nontrivial tasks since they have a significant effect on the results of the analysis.

       

   4. Improving the Arthrosis Care Process at Maastricht UMC+: Unraveling Complex and Noncomplex Cases by Data and Process Mining

      K. F. Canjels, M. S. V. Imkamp, T. A. E. J. Boymans, R. J. B. Vanwersch

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Given the forecasted growth of osteoarthritis patients and the scarcity of resources, the Maastricht UMC+ is looking for opportunities to improve the efficiency of the inter-organizational care process for knee osteoarthritis patients. Currently, noncomplex and complex knee osteoarthritis patients use the same costly facilities and highly specialized staff. Substantial gains in efficiency can be expected from unraveling these trajectories and using resource substitution (especially for noncomplex trajectories).

       

      (b)

      Action taken: We show how an innovative, data-driven, three-step methodology can be used to unravel and improve the inter-organizational knee osteoarthritis care process. The three-step methodology provides guidelines on how to preprocess and integrate data sets and outlines data-clustering and data-reduction techniques that can be applied prior to process mining.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: We show how this advanced approach supported the unraveling of a spaghetti-like model of the complete process into easy-to-interpret subprocess models of the knee osteoarthritis care process. We also show how the subsequent analysis of these visualizations led us to pinpoint and quantify concrete options for improving the efficiency of the knee osteoarthritis care process.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: To foster uptake of the data-driven, three-step methodology, future research should focus on developing further assistance with the selection of the best-performing clustering algorithm.

       

   5. Ensemble Deep Learning for Proactive Terminal Process Management at the Port of Duisburg “duisport”

      Andreas Metzger, Johannes Franke, Thomas Jansen

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The case presented here is located at duisport, the world’s largest inland container port. Duisport is situated at the center of Germany’s largest metropolitan region, with close to 10 million inhabitants. A multitude of roads, tracks, and waterways serve as entry and exit points for containers to and from duisport, and this transport infrastructure is shared with the metropolitan region. Thus, any increase in container volumes due to the overall growth in freight transport cannot be captured by growing in terms of space but requires improvement in the terminal’s productivity.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: We employed advanced data analytics to provide decision support for terminal operators and facilitate proactive management of the terminal’s processes. Using ensembles of deep learning models, we prototypically developed the Terminal Productivity Cockpit (TPC). The TPC predicts delays in the execution of a running process and provides operators with decision support regarding whether to intervene by adapting the process. The case employed more than 30 million data entries from eight data sources, such as cranes and towing vehicles.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: We estimated that, by using the TPC, terminal operators may increase the rate of successful process outcomes by 4.7%, leading to estimated cost savings of up to 22.5%.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Big data and deep learning offer opportunities for management and innovation of transport processes. We observed that ensemble deep learning contributes to the efficient engineering of data-driven applications because it works well without extensive feature engineering and hyper-parameter tuning. Still, the effectiveness of data analytics solutions depends to a large degree on the quality of data. In this case, understanding, integrating, and cleansing of data consumed around 80% of the overall development time and resources.

       

   6. Accurate Predictions, Invalid Recommendations: Lessons Learned at the Dutch Social Security Institute UWV

      Marcus Dees, Massimiliano de Leoni, Wil M. P. van der Aalst, Hajo A. Reijers

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The Dutch social security institute, UWV, is responsible for providing benefits to people who have lost their jobs. When such a person provides UWV with incorrect information about their income situation, whether intentionally or not, he or she sometimes receives too much in benefits, in which case the person must repay the excess amount. Handling these situations takes up UWV resources and can be problematic for the benefit recipient. UWV wants to prevent customers from having to repay part of their benefits when the error in reporting income was unintentional.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: An intervention was selected, based on human judgment and subjective opinions, to inform benefit recipients (“customers” hereafter) via e-mail how to provide information about their income situation. The effectiveness of the intervention was determined using an A/B test. A process-aware recommender system (PAR system) was built that predicts which customers are most likely to receive too much in benefits. Only customers with the highest likelihood were targeted in the experiment.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Even though the prediction of the most likely customers to report incorrectly was reasonably accurate, the intervention did not have a preventive effect. No root cause was identified to explain why the intervention did not have the desired effect.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Having a prediction model that works well is not sufficient to prevent customers from having to repay part of their benefits, as an effective intervention is just as necessary. Proposed interventions should be pre-assessed before experimental testing using a method that is in place before the test to acquire the information needed to determine the reasons if an intervention is ineffective. Performing only one test is also not sufficient, as multiple cycles of multiple experiments should be conducted at high speed to find the most effective intervention. Finally, the process of improving the predictive model can be supported by information acquired from performing tests.

       

   7. Realizing the Benefits of Process Improvement: The Case of Queensland University of Technology

      Imesha Denagama Vitharanage, Denise Toman, Wasana Bandara, Rehan Syed

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Queensland University of Technology (QUT) underwent an initiative to improve enterprise processes. However, like many organizations, QUT also struggled to position and communicate the initiative’s benefits and their impact on the university.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A Benefits Realization Management (BRM) approach with a four-phased BRM framework was introduced as a mechanism with which to identify specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely benefits that the university can harvest to contribute to the university’s objectives.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: As a result, the identification, awareness, measurement, reporting, and monitoring of benefits have improved. This improvement has increased process performance and assisted in identifying unanticipated issues and new directions for incremental process improvements, and the project’s benefits have contributed to the overall university objectives.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Findings provide rich insights into several challenges faced by the university, such as a lack of BRM approaches and frameworks for continuous process improvement and higher education, collecting current-state measures, and quantifying qualitative benefits. The importance and means of institutionalizing BRM and accumulating the project’s benefits to overall university objectives are also emphasized.

       

5. Cases on Governance and Strategic Alignment

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Successful BPM Governance: Insights from Commonwealth Bank of Australia

      Wasana Bandara, John C. Merideth, Angsana A. Techatassanasoontorn, Paul Mathiesen, Dan O’Neill

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: An effective and well-penetrated whole-of-organization BPM governance approach was essential to progress with the enterprise-wide business process management (BPM) efforts at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). This rich case study documents the journey that CBA took in this direction.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A range of governance mechanisms were used, which can be broadly categorized into two pillars: (1) BPM governance within a specialist BPM team was established to govern the process-centric taxonomy and to provide training to process and subprocess owners, and (2) BPM governance at the organizational level was established to outline fully the end-to-end process and experience and to govern the processes and process-centric change.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: These governance practices enabled CBA to create an ecosystem of rules, roles, responsibilities, and process measurements to facilitate the transparent decision-making that powered their enterprise-wide BPM efforts toward generating optimized business performance and maintaining regulatory conformance.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: CBA’s journey suggests that both vertical governance and horizontal coordination mechanisms, along with a dedicated unit that focuses on process excellence, are necessary for a firm to transform into a process-centric organization.

       

   3. On the Role of BPM Governance at “System Group”. The BPM Journey of an Iranian Software Solution Provider

      Ahmad Alibabaei

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The System Group, a conglomerate of 30 companies, is a leading ERP-solution provider in Iran. The System Group faced several internal and external challenges: Internal sales objectives did not meet executives’ expectations, and customer satisfaction with after-sales services decreased. From an external perspective, they faced the entrance of many new start-ups in the market that could satisfy customers’ needs in a shorter time. A positive challenge lay in the elimination of political sanctions, which offered new market opportunities.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: To retain its leading position, respond to political changes, and meet its customers’ needs, the System Group implemented an enormous business process management (BPM) initiative across all of its companies with the goal of improving processes and organizational performance. The System Group implemented a central “BPM office” to govern this BPM initiative that designed process architectures, appointed process owners, developed process measures, identified process maturity levels, and pushed a shared understanding of the process among employees through communication and workshops.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The System Group identified 17 end-to-end processes and, in a first iteration, addressed the 5 highest-priority processes with regard to the overarching organizational strategy. Three of the five improvement process initiatives achieved acceptable results, whereas the remaining two either postponed their work or did not achieve particularly remarkable outcomes.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The most valuable lesson the System Group learned is that BPM is not only a technique but a whole discipline that requires various methods if it is to be implemented successfully in an organization. The company also learned that successful BPM governance requires an agreed strategy and an aligned structure that are clear to everyone.

       

   4. Making Processes Patient-Centric: Process Standardization and Automation in the Healthcare Sector at Hirslanden AG

      Thomas Kuhn, Jenny Bruhin, Tecwyn Hill

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The entire healthcare industry, including Hirslanden AG, one of Europe’s leading private hospital groups, confronts many challenges in a heavily regulated industry. One of the main challenges for hospital groups remains managing revenue streams and high costs while continuing to guarantee high-quality patient care and patient journeys. Process orientation and better process management can contribute significantly to an organization’s overall productivity and quality improvement. Therefore, Hirslanden AG needed to standardize its process models and ERP system toward a more patient-centric approach.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: Based on the transformation program “Transformation 2020” and considering the business process management (BPM) life cycle (Dumas, La Rosa, Mendling, & Reitjers. Fundamentals of business process management. Springer, Heidelberg, 2018), Hirslanden AG standardized internal processes across 2017 Clinics. The “Transformation 2020” program promotes digitization, automation, and continuous improvement of internal processes.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: This case demonstrates the direct and indirect effects on performance (patient satisfaction and financial performance, respectively) of enhanced standardization of processes, optimization, and ERP transformation (with transformation defined as workforce conditions, operational performance, and clinical quality). The innovative process conditions of specialized rollout waves had a significant positive effect on patient satisfaction, workforce conditions, dismantling of silos, operational efficiency, and financial performance.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Through the deployment of BPM in a healthcare setting, Hirslanden AG was able to secure business by balancing price and quality against efficiency and well-being, and by managing projects in an agile format, automating workflows, and implementing process mechanisms for continuous improvement.

       

   5. BPM Adoption at the Industrial Services Provider Bilfinger

      Seyed Amir Bolboli, Ludger Hasenauer, Cristina Cabanillas

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Large corporations that adopt Business Process Management (BPM) invest heavily in their BPM initiatives, which focus primarily on identifying and standardizing best practices in the various phases of the BPM lifecycle. The business processes that are designed with BPM are usually the standard way of executing the processes and tend not to be adapted to specific customers’ needs or changing conditions. Getting end users to accept a paradigm shift is an added challenge.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: This case introduces a success story of BPM adoption in complex environments, where different organizational units with different needs are involved. The projects the units execute respond to specific customers’ requirements, which affects the set of processes to be designed and executed. We developed a novel approach inspired by the Cynefin framework and used it to define process architectures and the respective business process models for a subset of the units. To ensure the applicability and acceptance of the new paradigm, we followed well-known methodologies and practices (e.g., SCRUM and gamification).

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: We moved from the traditional function orientation to BPM orientation, taking into consideration the need for flexibility, and received positive feedback from our internal and external stakeholders.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Establishing BPM in large corporations is a complex task that must be done step-by-step and by putting special effort into changing end users’ mindsets regarding process orientation. Two key factors in our work were the design of a blueprint as a universal enterprise process architecture, which was then adapted in accordance with the projects’ specific needs, and the application of gamification to ease the stakeholders’ acceptance of the paradigm shift.

       

   6. Adoption of Globally Unified Process Standards: The Case of the Production Company Marabu

      Klaus Cee, Iris Bruns, Andreas Schachermeier, Lena Franziska Kaiser

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Marabu is a worldwide manufacturer of printing inks and creative colors with 16 subsidiaries and sales partners in more than 100 countries. After a restructuring project, subsidiaries were more closely aligned with the headquarters, and the company faces the challenge of unifying the organization’s process landscape to align with the parent company’s quality requirements. Marabu planned to implement a global quality and environmental management system according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, so it was searching for a software that was capable of multilingualism and that would permit local deviations in processes and multisite certification.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: Marabu opted for a management software that works with an innovative multilingual concept and enables the harmonization of company-wide standards. The implementation of the software-based IMS took place under a tight schedule. A uniform handbook structure was developed for all sites that included a unified numbering system and a binding style guide for modeling processes.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: A few months after the rollout, the first sites were successfully certified, followed by additional sites. The transparent modeling of globally uniform processes, including local variants, is now increasingly carried out in a decentralized manner; only the final testing and approval are performed centrally. The new system contains more than 300 processes and co-applicable documents.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: With the introduction of the multilingual management software, Marabu set uniform standards worldwide. The use of the software transfers part of the responsibility for the processes to the international sites, and more employee responsibility has led to more acceptance and to a lived management system that drives continuous process improvement.

       

   7. A Processes Reference Framework for the Creative and Cultural Industries. The Case of the Puglia Creativa Cluster

      Angelo Corallo, Mariangela Lazoi, Manuela Marra, Lorenzo Quarta, Aurora Rimini, Cesare Liaci

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced:

      Like any enterprise, cultural and creative organizations have to manage their business processes, which are influenced by the internal and external environments. The corresponding dynamics and complexity require design, coordination, and awareness. However, governmental agencies often underestimate the economic potential of creative and cultural industries (CCIs), reducing them to leisure activities. These conditions have often prevented these industries from obtaining the funding and incentive they need to improve processes and envision organizational innovation.

       

      (b)

      Action taken:

      Our work has the objective of designing a process reference framework for the CCI sector. We began with an analysis of the traditional cross-industry process-classification framework provided by the APQC and then selected four organizations of the Puglia Creativa cluster association as case studies. We conducted a set of individual and group interviews with each, from which we learned about their processes and their similarities and differences. We documented our findings systematically in a new process-classification framework, which we kept largely consistent with the original structure proposed by the APQC but adapted to address the peculiarities of organizations in the CCI sector.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved:

      The comparison between the four case studies revealed that, even though the four organizations belonged to different areas of the CCI, their processes were largely the same. With the support of the managers of the four companies, we specified a process architecture by formalizing 12 groups of standard processes and their process owners. The processes were all implemented in the four organizations, regardless of the type of organization and the events they organize. Thus, our result is a first version of a new process-classification framework, inspired by the APQC, that provides an integrated view of CCI organizations’ internal and external processes.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned:

      Our work reveals that CCI organizations do not have particularly organized processes. Activities are applied as a routine, and workers lack knowledge about techniques for standardizing and optimizing processes. The benefits of developing the process-classification framework for these organizations include the newly created process awareness of the four companies and their process owners, the Puglia Creativa Cluster association’s improved clarity regarding the similarities of its members’ processes, and the recognition of BPM’ potential in CCIs.

       

   8. Exploring BPM Adoption and Assessing the Strategic Alignment of Processes at Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo

      Elheme Azemi, Saimir Bala

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo provides a wide range of banking products and services to all categories of customers in the individual and business segments. Online banking channels have increased to the point at which customers do more than 80% of their transactions through e-banking, mobile phone, or ATMs. Raiffeisen Bank adopted BPM in 2006 as a systemic and structured approach to analyzing, improving, controlling, and managing processes with the goal of improving the quality of products and services. However, the questions remain: How well has BPM been adopted and implemented in the bank, and what impact has BPM had on the bank’s strategic goals?

       

      (b)

      Action taken: This chapter addresses these questions from two angles. First, a literature review clarifies the concept of BPM and its scope. Then data is collected from nine semi-structured interviews with participants who hold high-level positions with Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo. The research both offers an evaluation of the significant aspects of the implementation process and examines the key factors’ effects on the alignment of BPM with the firm’s organization strategy.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The study reveals that BPM is well understood and considered an important practice at the bank and its implementation is familiar to the top management. Process visualization in particular is considered a core element in BPM projects, so existing projects can benefit further from BPM by applying process ownership and defining responsibilities in the end-to-end processes in every department in which these processes are performed. This study also provides evidence that strategic objectives can be led by BPM.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Applying BPM initiatives comes with many challenges, but once applied, BPM initiatives help firms achieve their strategic objectives. Two main challenges of implementing BPM at Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo are the lack of sufficient IT support and the lack of sufficient budget to cover staff training. BPM initiatives should be strategy-driven and treated in a holistic way by including several methodologies, such as Six Sigma, Lean, and Agile. Doing so would help the bank think about how its product and services are delivered to its customers.

       

   9. Developing Business Process Architecture at Poland’s Ministry of Finance. An Uneasy Journey Toward BPM

      Renata Gabryelczyk, Artur Grygorowicz, Agnieszka Bitkowska

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: In the period from 2011 to 2019, Poland’s Ministry of Finance undertook five initiatives aimed at adopting BPM and directing the Ministry on process-oriented management. Each of the five approaches involved identifying and modeling business processes to develop business process architecture. The architecture of the Ministry’s processes presents the process landscape and is the starting point for implementing the full BPM life cycle. BPM initiatives coincided with the reform of the Ministry, which sought to form a new unit, the National Revenue Administration. The reform required changes in organizational structures and responsibilities, and the architecture of business processes was to be its foundation.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: In each of five approaches to developing a process architecture, the Ministry began by identifying processes and then modeling selected processes. Management and supporting process roles were also defined, along with the scope of tasks and responsibility for the processes. However, the practical implementation did not take place because the first two initiatives were stopped by decision-makers for lack of financing. In the third and fourth approaches, the to-be versions of the architecture were created, although none were implemented and none went beyond extensive documentation. In the last approach, the newly established Business Process Architecture Division started to develop the architecture based on proven best practices, such as the APQC framework.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Each of the succession of approaches brought the Ministry closer to understanding the essence of process-oriented management and gradually raised process awareness among employees and decision-makers. At the same time, each of the initiatives generally took the same path toward BPM from the outset and encountered obstacles typical of the public sector’s adopting BPM. A major achievement was the establishment of organizational units that were responsible for BPM adoption and that involved experienced and knowledgeable employees. Of significance was the slow and gradual breaking down of barriers related to the characteristics of the public sector. An important result was understanding the need to use proven best practices.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: We learned how (not) to develop business process architecture in a large government institution. The case of the Ministry identified a research gap regarding the shaping of business process architecture for public sector organizations but also highlighted the lack of practical experience in this area. In addition, we verified the list of key success factors for adopting BPM in a government institution, thus bridging a research gap in a modest way. Finally, we drew conclusions about the barriers and restrictions associated with the adoption of BPM in public sector organizations, confirming the need to develop research on this topic.

       

   10. Integrating Hoshin Kanri into Business Process Management: A Holistic Approach at Siemens Electronic Works Amberg

       Konrad Schießl, Andreas Weigert, Gunter Beitinger

       Abstract

       (a)

       Situation faced: Normally, quality system management is conducted with textual documents, which makes holistic evaluations difficult for operational personnel to handle. In parallel, business planning is performed in a separate process with insufficient links to business process management (BPM).

        

       (b)

       Action taken: The Siemens Electronic plant in Amberg, Germany (EWA), replaced the traditional method of management reviews by introducing the Hoshin Kanri x-Matrix, which meets all international standards for management systems. A Management Review Cockpit (MRC), as the new common basis for all information, was introduced to improve the maturity of all aspects of processes, derived from the company’s strategy, mission, and vision and to define key projects and their related key performance indicators.

        

       (c)

       Results achieved: Over the last 2 years, business planning, management system reviews, and their related management tools were integrated into one common approach to give EWA’s management team to have a holistic overview of performance, established processes, and their impact on strategic key projects in one dashboard, the MRC. The main benefits were a strong strategic alignment between BPM and the “Business Strategy Process,” strong and aligned governance for the MRC that enabled EWA to work systematically toward process excellence in addition with an aligned and matched target-setting process for all employees (strategy orientation).

        

       (d)

       Lessons learned: The main lessons for us from the implementation of this new approach of combining HOSHIN KANRI with management review are:

       • The need for strategic alignment between BPM and the Business Strategy Process
       • The need for strong governance with MRC
       • The need to enable EWA to strive toward process excellence
       • The need for cultural change in performing the review