Business Process Management Cases

Table of Contents

1. Frontmatter

2. Frameworks for Business Process Management: A Taxonomy for Business Process Management Cases

   Jan vom Brocke, Jan Mendling

   Abstract

   While the body of knowledge on business process management has matured during the past decades (Dumas et al., Fundamentals of business process management. Berlin: Springer, 2013; vom Brocke and Rosemann, Handbook on business process management. Berlin: Springer, 2015), few real-world cases are available that provide practical experiences from BPM projects. This book presents a diverse set of 31 real-world BPM cases, all reported using a unified schema so the knowledge contained in these cases can be accessed readily.

3. Strategy and Governance

   1. Frontmatter

   2. How to Move from Paper to Impact in Business Process Management: The Journey of SAP

      Corinne Reisert, Sarah Zelt, Joerg Wacker

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: In order to produce innovative solutions faster and more simply, SAP started in 2008 to transform its research and development processes. SAP moved away from complex and static project methods toward agile and simple processes, thereby significantly reducing the throughput time of the standard innovation cycle. Based on the experience of this transformation and optimization, the first at that time in a global company of knowledge workers, SAP decided to increase the emphasis on Business Process Management (BPM). Therefore, BPM initiatives were implemented on a company-wide level in the effort to establish a process infrastructure and a process improvement culture.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The Productivity Consulting Group (PCG) was founded with the mission of strengthening the importance of BPM throughout the company. The SAP Process Map was established to create transparency in SAP’s key processes, roles, and responsibilities. The SAP Process Maturity Model was created with the aim of constantly increasing the maturity of SAP’s processes. An approach to performance measurement and process improvement and a portfolio of BPM-related services were introduced to support Process Managers on their way to reaching process excellence. In addition, activities were introduced to strengthen the BPM community, the foundation for BPM at SAP.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Implementing BPM at SAP was an important step toward overcoming the complexities that plague our businesses, a step that was important to both SAP and its customers. Following the operating principle “Run Simple,” SAP developed a process-management infrastructure throughout the company that led to transparency in SAP’s key processes and measurable process improvements.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The key success factor in SAP’s journey from BPM concepts and ideas to measurable impact—that is, from paper to impact—was the strategic alignment of BPM with top management support. Strong governance with the SAP Process Map, the SAP Process Maturity Model, and BPM standards enabled the company to strive toward process excellence.

       

      However, a lively and engaged BPM community was as important as having the right methods or tools at hand. Implementing BPM from a top-down perspective helped to some extent, but building an understanding of BPM and its value from the bottom-up using a variety of mechanisms (introduced in this article) was also required.

   3. Developing and Implementing a Process-Performance Management System: Experiences from S-Y Systems Technologies Europe GmbH—A Global Automotive Supplier

      Josef Blasini, Susanne Leist, Werner Merkl

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: S-Y Systems Technologies Europe GmbH develops, manufactures, and distributes worldwide wire harnesses and associated components for automotive electronic distribution systems. Problems occurred with some automotive manufacturers’ ordering wire harnesses, who sent ordering files to the intermediate S-Y Systems to be converted, interpreted, enriched, and forwarded. Errors occurred even in the first steps of data processing errors (e.g., name, format, structure, content), but the exact allocation of errors in the process, the reasons for the errors, and their origin were not apparent. Therefore, S-Y Systems faced the challenge of investigating the processing errors, hoping to prove that the reason for most of these errors lay elsewhere.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: S-Y Systems decided to monitor their operative IT processes and started a Process Performance Management (PPM) project. PPM uses performance measurements to improve the performance of processes. Performance planning, monitoring, and controlling actions in PPM are strongly supported by process-oriented key performance indicators (KPIs) and IT systems. Our case describes a PPM approach to developing and implementing PPM systems and the results of applying this approach at S-Y Systems.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The findings from the case refer to the importance of a structured, top-down-oriented development procedure and provide concrete indications about the appropriate, goal-oriented, and useful KPIs of the processes to be monitored.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The case reveals a clear risk of PPM projects’ losing their focus on the intrinsically relevant processes, the tasks in the processes, and particularly the overall initial goal of the project. Losing focus explains why many projects generate too many or inappropriate KPIs. The PPM approach presented in this paper helps to keep the focus on the overall goal and enables companies to develop a PPM system, including the appropriate KPIs.

       

   4. Establishment of a Central Process Governance Organization Combined with Operational Process Improvements

      Insights from a BPM Project at a Leading Telecommunications Operator in the Middle East Christian Czarnecki

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Because of customer churn, strong competition, and operational inefficiencies, the telecommunications operator ME Telco (fictitious name due to confidentiality) launched a strategic transformation program that included a Business Process Management (BPM) project. Major problems were silo-oriented process management and missing cross-functional transparency. Process improvements were not consistently planned and aligned with corporate targets. Measurable inefficiencies were observed on an operational level, e.g., high lead times and reassignment rates of the incident management process.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The project was structured into three phases. First, countermeasures were identified and planned based on an analysis of the current situation. Second, a new organizational unit responsible for a central BPM was established and equipped with BPM methods and tools. Based on the reference model enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM), a company-wide process framework was defined. A process ownership model linked the central governance with the execution. As a pilot implementation, the incident management was improved on an operational level. The project was accompanied by continuous communication and training. Third, the project results were monitored and transferred to daily operations.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Quantitative performance improvements in the incident management process were achieved, such as reducing the average lead time from 13.0 days to 3.6 days. Those results confirmed the BPM artifacts that were developed. All of the artifacts (methods, tools, process framework, and process models) were officially accepted and communicated. The new BPM department was staffed with eight employees. The process ownership was implemented through nominations of responsible persons. In total 290 employees were trained in the new BPM methods and operational process changes. A company-wide repository was introduced that contains the process framework and all detailed process models.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: (1) Process content is an important success factor in a BPM implementation. (2) Process ownership requires consideration of the various BPM elements. (3) Early involvement of stakeholders from top management to the operational level is essential for successful implementation. (4) Customization of reference models requires a transparent approach to decision making. (5) General BPM governance and methods are important for an operational process improvement.

       

   5. BPM Adoption and Business Transformation at Snaga, a Public Company: Critical Success Factors for Five Stages of BPM

      Andrej Kovačič, Gregor Hauc, Brina Buh, Mojca Indihar Štemberger

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Snaga is a Slovenian public company that provides a series of waste treatment services for 368,000 citizens of the Municipality of Ljubljana and ten other municipalities. In 2006, prior to adopting BPM and implementing a new information system, the company had obsolete and non-integrated IT solutions that did not provide sufficient support to the business operations. The existing business processes were not well organized, resulting in unnecessary duplication of work and excessive delays. The company also faced new challenges in waste management and new legislation that dictated the development of waste-processing technologies.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The company’s executives were aware that the company’s way of doing business was inadequate and that changes were necessary if the company was to improve its business operations and maintain its competitive advantage. The company comprehensively transformed its business operations and adopted BPM in order to undertake the critical examination, rethinking, and then redesigning of current business processes, practices, and rules. The BPM project was conducted in three phases: (1) planning for strategic business transformation, (2) business process restructuring and information architecture development, and (3) information system development and implementation in six interdependent projects.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Adopting BPM brought considerable benefits to the company. A key change brought by the BPM adoption was the transition from a functional to a more process-oriented organization with an increased customer focus. The company implemented an ERP solution to support the redesigned business processes, established process ownership and a BPM office, and introduced KPIs to measure the performance and efficiency of processes and business operations using a business intelligence solution. BPM became a way of life at Snaga, and the company has undergone considerable transformation in the last decade, evolving from a traditional, functionally organised and managed company in 2005 to a process-oriented company in 2010. Today it is one of the most effective and efficient municipal utility companies in Europe. In the past 2 years, the company also transformed itself from focusing on waste collection and delivery to separate waste collection, waste processing and promoting a zero-waste society. The company’s operating results improved significantly from 2012 to 2015, and in the 10 years ending in 2015 increased the waste it processed after collected separately from 16 to 145 kg per user, which ranked the company at the top of the industry in Europe.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The involvement—rather than just support—of top management is one of the most important critical success factors in all phases of BPM adoption. The role of the chief process officer, who was enthusiastic and encouraging during all stages of the project, and business drivers were particularly important, and the chief process officer’s communication approach contributed to the employees’ openness to change, which was essential for success. The professional guidance of external consultants was also helpful. Identifying key performance indicators and persons responsible for their achievement was the most important critical success factor I the production phase. The company also integrated the BPM philosophy with ISO 9001:2015 into a strong management system.

       

   6. Enabling Flexibility of Business Processes Using Compliance Rules: The Case of Mobiliar

      Thanh Tran Thi Kim, Erhard Weiss, Christoph Ruhsam, Christoph Czepa, Huy Tran, Uwe Zdun

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Insurance case work can follow established procedures only to a certain degree, as the work depends upon experienced knowledge workers who decide the best solutions for their clients. To produce quality documents in such a knowledge-intensive environment, business users of Die Mobiliar, the oldest private insurance company in Switzerland, were guided by a wizard application that enabled them to compose insurance documents from predefined building blocks in a series of pre-defined steps. As these steps were hardcoded into the wizard application, the processes could not adapt quickly enough to accommodate new insurance products and associated documentation. Rapidly changing insurance markets produce new types of documents daily, so business users must react flexibly to client requests. Although fully automated processes can be defined when sufficient process knowledge exists, they seriously hinder the innovation and business agility that is critical in insurance markets.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: To overcome this problem, Die Mobiliar uses the Papyrus Communication and Process Platform (http://www.isis-papyrus.com/e15/pages/software/platform-concept.html) as the basis for its customized “Mobiliar Korrespondenz System” (MKS, Mobiliar Correspondence System), with full functionality for online interactive business document production (ISIS Papyrus). Our approach combines automatically executed business compliance rules with process redesign to provide the flexibility that is essential for insurance processes. The original processes are split into reusable sub-processes, accompanied by a set of ad hoc tasks that the business users can activate at runtime to meet clients’ emergent requirements. A set of compliance rules guarantees that the process conforms to corporate and regulatory standards.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The business compliance rule approach has two primary benefits: (i) company management has a process that is well-documented and provably compliant, and (ii) the business users can respond flexibly to their clients’ needs within the boundaries of defined compliance rules, thus improving the customer experience. The flexibility achieved by this approach allows business users to adapt their insurance processes, an advantage from which the whole insurance industry can benefit. The redesigned process with few reusable core elements, combination with a set of ad hoc tasks, decreases the number of process templates (wizard processes) that are required to handle unpredictable situations. A smaller template library also reduces maintenance efforts for business administrators.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Rigid process modeling is not suitable for highly dynamic business domains, like the insurance industry, that are moving into the digital era. Instead, a hybrid of declarative and imperative modeling is best suited to such domains. Our approach provides a maximum of flexibility within mandated constraints, enabling businesses to adapt to changing market requirements with minimal involvement by IT departments. In order to set expectations properly, the use of the two modeling types should be transparent to business users. The adoption of the new approach happens gradually to cope with business considerations like the integration of compliance checking into Die Mobiliar’s production system.

       

   7. Comprehensive Business Process Management at Siemens: Implementing Business Process Excellence

      Bartosz Woliński, Saimir Bala

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Siemens is a complex organization with offices worldwide. Through many years of development, it grew into a set of businesses, each with a substantial degree of autonomy, supported by central departments. This autonomy gives the departments the flexibility needed to achieve customer intimacy, which requires different process flows in different businesses. When the global initiative concerning the implementation of standard business process management was introduced and enacted, businesses were bundled into four sectors. Every sector in the Siemens organization, including that in Poland, was managing its processes according to the local business specifics and needs, which made the comprehensive process management approach challenging. The processes were disconnected and stored in multiple conventions. Corporate initiatives that were intended to address the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes were not supported.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: Siemens strengthened its process-wise approach and worldwide process standardization by implementing a formalized process policy. As a first step, the Business Process Excellence (BPE) regulation (also referred to as BPE policy) was introduced. It formulated the Siemens Processes for Excellence (SIPEX) process standards, which replaced the previous processes base, referred to as Reference Process House (RPH). At the same time, process roles (sponsor, owner, and manager) and corporate tools with which to visualize the processes, such as ARIS, were introduced. In the Polish organization, the program was formulated as a vehicle with which to implement the process organization. The goal of the initiative, which was referred to internally as “Streamlining business processes,” included chief financial officers (CFOs) as process sponsors and the head of the business process management team as the program manager.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: At present, on the corporate level Business Excellence is a core element of Siemens—Vision 2020. It is embedded into the Corporate Technology structure, which enables it be the part of innovative products and management standards. It is also a key lever that empowers the company’s lasting business success and strengthens its competitiveness in the market.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: From the implementation of the program we learned four primary lessons:

      • Complexity in many dimensions (number of processes, number of roles, and number of formal documents and circulars) is not supportive of effective process management.
      • Having a strong, dedicated sponsor is one of the most important keys to success.
      • Not everyone in the organization will appreciate the effort at first, but they will if an attempt is made to understand their businesses and support their efforts.
      • Be flexible: without putting one’s best effort into implementing the corporate recommendations and without alignment with the business, no appreciation or cooperation should be expected.

       

   8. People-Centric, ICT-Enabled Process Innovations via Community, Public and Private Sector Partnership, and e-Leadership: The Case of the Dompe eHospital in Sri Lanka

      Wasana Bandara, Rehan Syed, Bandula Ranathunga, K. B. Sampath Kulathilaka

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: This case study is a unique example of a people-centric ICT-enabled BPM effort that overcame many challenges through steady championship fuelled by a multi-sectorial support network (local community, government agencies, private sector and institutes of higher education). Driven by a desire to make a difference, a weakly reputed regional hospital in Sri Lanka with chaotic, mundane, manual processes became a landmark success in its service efficiency and effectiveness via staged-continuous improvements, collaborative ideation, creative resource utilization, and effective management of its “people” aspects.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The project took a multi-staged people-centric approach. Major attitudinal change efforts with staff helped to build a unified internal workforce that was empowered to understand the patients’ needs. The hospital’s physical environment was transformed into a peaceful, pleasant atmosphere that was free of chaos. The entire patient-care-process was mapped, analyzed, and transformed with IT enabled process improvements. A new patient records management system and a mobile-channeling system was implemented to eliminate long queues and increase the quality of patient care. Continued reviews and improvements are key in this case, as the vision to make a difference does not end with a single initiative.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The case illustrates how an ordinary government regional hospital’s patient-care process was transformed with the collective efforts of multi-stakeholder power. The reforms have enabled the hospital to increase the quality of patient care, enhance staff satisfaction, gain deep support, and get buy-in from higher authorities and the community. These process reform efforts enabled not only a one-off improvement initiative but a sustained success story that has received national and international attention.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: A key takeaway is how all of the enabling elements (championship, community, and executive support), lined up, each making its own significant contribution. The absence or misaligned timing of any one of these elements could have caused the effort to stall or fail. The e-champion and his supporters selected and managed the people-centric resources and opportunities in a highly resource-constrained environment while balancing and strengthening the ongoing stakeholder relationships. These efforts served as the foundation for the success and sustainability of this case.

       

   9. Fast Fish Eat Slow Fish: Business Transformation at Autogrill

      Stijn Viaene, Joachim Van den Bergh

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Autogrill Belgium, part of the world’s largest provider of catering services to travellers, drifted into a worrisome position in 2006. The company had just gone through a merger, was experiencing financial difficulties, and appeared unable to respond adequately to a changing market context.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The case addresses Autogrill’s approach to aligning its staff with the company’s vision and strategy, and increasing internal communication and cooperation between functions and departments using a business process perspective as part of a holistic approach to business transformation that led to organisational survival in adverse conditions.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The main outcomes of the business transformation were the establishment of an internal customer orientation, increased decision-making speed and the organisational resilience required to thrive under adverse market conditions.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The Autogrill case study provides a valuable example of and insights into how business transformation can be managed successfully. The story triggers critical thinking about major pitfalls and success factors and how the business process perspective can add value to a holistic approach to business transformation.

       

4. Methods

   1. Frontmatter

   2. The NESTT: Rapid Process Redesign at Queensland University of Technology

      Michael Rosemann

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The higher education sector faces like most information-intensive industries an opportunity-rich, digital future. Nowadays, students demand contemporary, multi-channel learning experiences and fast evolving digital affordances provide universities with a growing design space for their future processes. Legislative changes, a globalizing market of learners and educational providers, and the emergence of new technology-based business models (EduTech) are further features of the current situation in this sector. In order to prepare for and to capitalize on this changing environment the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), like any university, needs to ensure operational inefficiencies are addressed as part of the required organisational transformation. However, traditional BPM approaches are often time-consuming, exclusively focused on pain points and not tailored to immediate process transformation, meaning a new, dedicated and agile approach for QUT was needed.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A rapid process redesign methodology called the NESTT was developed by QUT, facilitating accelerated process improvement in the four stages of ‘navigate’, ‘expand’, ‘strengthen’ and ‘tune/takeoff’. An integral and defining feature of the NESTT is the way physical space is used as part of the methodology. Each of the four walls and the floor of the workshop space carry specific meaning leading to a new process design experience. Two such NESTT rooms have been established at Queensland University of Technology and a number of processes have been redesigned based on this methodology. Further, the involvement of QUT’s human resource experts ensured that the NESTT experience is embedded into QUT’s capability building framework.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The NESTT led to three tangible outcomes for QUT. First, the performance of the processes, which were redesigned using the NESTT, has been significantly improved. Many of the ideas were implemented within a 20 days timeframe and proposals for 20 months and by the year 2020 now guide QUT process implementation teams. Second, the NESTT, as a methodology, a dedicated physical space and with its growing team of trained facilitators has provided the organisation with a much valued, business-as-usual redesign capability and capacity. Third, participation in the NESTT has been an important up-skilling for the QUT staff involved (across a broad range of designations) and has had a positive impact on the organisational culture and attitude towards change.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: It is proven possible to rigorously redesign complex business processes in 20 days. However, a number of success factors needs to be addressed including (1) a sound methodology with short term milestones and well articulated and monitored intentions for each stage, (2) participants who are intellectually agile, collaborative and have a positive attitude towards emerging design options and the changes required to today’s process, (3) facilitators who are able to guide conversations under time pressure on multiple levels of conceptualization, from vision to individual idea assessment, (4) a decisive attitude among the NESTT team and the judging panel, and (5) a smart utilisation of the spatial affordances, in particular the ability to articulate the right level of information and to ensure an always correct, relevant and easy to use display of information across all dimensions of the NESTT space.

       

   3. Kiss the Documents! How the City of Ghent Digitizes Its Service Processes

      Amy Van Looy, Sabine Rotthier

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The case focuses on the digitization of service processes in the City of Ghent. Front-office e-services are integrated into the corporate website and into the back office thanks to digitization of the internal way of working in value chains. Before 2014, the City’s digital services were limited primarily to web forms offered by three departments for taxes, mobility and parking affairs, and citizens’ affairs in a non-integrated way, as the departments used different applications and a considerable amount of manual work in the back office. Other departments focused primarily on downloadable forms that were available on the corporate website. Customers could also create profiles for some services, resulting in multiple user names and passwords to be managed for the same customer. Because of this silo mentality, the digital investments did not pay off, and a more integrated approach was needed to make the digital service processes more efficient in terms of return on investment (ROI) and customer-oriented.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The City of Ghent formulated a digitization vision based on fifteen reusable building blocks, including that facilitate the use of an authentication platform, a single customer profile, a digital signature platform, and a service-oriented architecture. These building blocks guide projects that digitize the total value chains or business processes. To stimulate reuse, the building blocks were built as generic components or process activities that e-services typically contain (e.g., “create profile,” “pay electronically”). The generic components were first translated to the digitization of three pilot chains regarding taxes, environment-related subsidies, and citizens’ affairs. The pilots were chosen based on their having volunteered to participate and their opportunities to take advantage of digitization.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Although the pilot for citizens’ affairs is still running, the results of the pilots for digital tax submissions and environment-related subsidies are already positively perceived. All environment-related subsidy requests are now digitally processed in the back office, with a digital alternative in place for the process steps of receiving and responding to the subsidy requests in the front office since 2015. The number of digital tax submissions increased to a third of all submissions in 2016, compared to only five percentage in 2014, while the number of input forms was cut in half in favor of prefilled tax proposals. Besides being generalized to apply to all services in the City of Ghent, the digitization approach with building blocks and building projects will also be applied in other business processes and future projects such as a participation platform or intranet, so it is not exclusive to e-services. The main idea is to develop once and then to reuse it maximally.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The case concludes with five lessons learned, from which other public and private organizations may benefit. First, from the perspective of reuse and inter-organizational collaboration, data about products or services should align semantically with external partners. The City of Ghent used linked open data for this purpose. Two lessons learned promote a pragmatic approach to achieving success by concretizing initial principles and temporary workarounds to achieve quick wins. The fourth lesson was the need for assistance by an internal support office or competence center. Finally, the demonstrated advantages arise from working with a single profile per customer, rather than working in silos.

       

   4. Application of the Design Thinking Approach to Process Redesign at an Insurance Company in Brazil

      José Ricardo Cereja, Flavia Maria Santoro, Elena Gorbacheva, Martin Matzner

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: During the review of an information system for medical material purchasing at a Brazilian insurance company, it became clear that part of the process supported by this system was done informally and there was no consensus among the employees about some of the related fundamental concepts and procedures.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A consulting firm hired by the insurance company to find a solution to these challenges proposed to use the Design Thinking approach to process redesign, by aligning the Design Thinking stages with the phases of the Business Process Management (BPM) lifecycle. A series of workshops that applied various Design Thinking tools was conducted with representatives from all of the company’s departments that deal with the purchasing process, as well as a team of information technology (IT) professionals.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The Design Thinking approach facilitated the following outcomes: (1) formalization of the employees’ perceptions regarding the existing purchasing process, (2) design of a to-be process for material purchasing, which was approved by all stakeholders, and (3) formalization of requirements for the new information system for managing the material-purchasing process.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The case demonstrated the value of applying the Design Thinking approach to process redesign and improvement, adding useful instruments for BPM analysis. The BPM lifecycle phases correspond well with the Design Thinking stages, and Design Thinking techniques match BPM’s social-construction viewpoint well.

       

   5. Collaborative BPM for Business Transformations in Telecommunications: The Case of “3”

      Thomas Karle, Kurt Teichenthaler

      Abstract

      Many business changes in the telecommunications sector are initiated by mergers and acquisitions, and the fast pace of this sector requires that businesses adjust or extend business processes in a minimum of time. “3,” the mobile communication brand of CK Hutchison Holdings, whose headquarters are in Hong Kong, is a leading global mobile telecommunications, data services operator, and pioneer of mobile broad-band technology. Therefore, “3” constantly faces the challenges associated with take-overs and mergers. To master these challenges a comprehensive social BPM environment with predefined process structures was developed to master these challenges within given time restrictions. Corresponding process structures support the merging of telecommunication processes during a merger and can be used for collaborative drafting of business processes across organizations. The key task in these projects is to use the knowledge and experience of all parties involved efficiently and in a short amount of time in order to carry out process consolidations or to build comprehensive processes. Therefore, support for collaborative work was implemented on all project phases, from requirements specifications for designing, implementing, and testing the respective software components to launching the new processes and providing training.

      (a)

      Situation faced: Many business changes in the telecommunications sector are initiated by mergers and acquisitions, and the fast pace of this sector requires that businesses adjust or extend business processes in a minimum of time. “3,” the mobile communication brand of CK Hutchison Holdings, whose headquarters are in Hong Kong, is a leading global mobile telecommunications company, data services operator, and pioneer of mobile broadband technology. Therefore, “3” constantly faces the challenges associated with take-overs and mergers.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A comprehensive social BPM environment with predefined process structures was developed to master these challenges within given time restrictions. Corresponding process structures support the merging of telecommunication processes during a merger and can be used for collaborative drafting of business processes across organizations. The key task in these projects is to use the knowledge and experience of all parties involved efficiently and in a short amount of time in order to carry out process consolidations or to build comprehensive processes. Therefore, support for collaborative work was implemented on all project phases, from requirements specifications for designing, implementing, and testing the respective software components to launching the new processes and providing training.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: A business process repository with predefined process and function documentation was built, and a collaborative BPM environment, embedded self-service training components, and integrated test management system were established to provide the basis for conducting projects during acquisitions, mergers, and other businesses transformations.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Four lessons learned were identified: (a) Successful implementation of BPM in a company requires combining it with other fields of operation, such as testing and training; (b) interconnecting a variety of model types helps to manage the increasing demands regarding speed of change and complexity of both business and IT; (c) embedding BPM in a collaborative environment also supports active knowledge management; and (d) business transformations require that management provides the necessary strategic control.

       

   6. Process Management in Construction: Expansion of the Bolzano Hospital

      Elisa Marengo, Patrick Dallasega, Marco Montali, Werner Nutt, Michael Reifer

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Frener and Reifer (F&R) is a leader in engineering, fabricating, and installing facades with non-standard designs. The company was looking for comprehensive, domain-specific approaches to improve the company’s control over facade processes, from design to execution and monitoring. What makes process management particularly challenging in this setting are some peculiarities of the domain, such as high levels of variability, unpredictability, and inter-organizational synchronization (vom Brocke et al., BPM Trends, 1, 2015), as well as the non-standard and non-repetitive nature of the designs, which complicates the ability to formulate reliable estimates. Indeed, in many cases the installation department exceeded the number of hours that were initially estimated.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A group of researchers developed a domain-specific methodology, called PRECISE, that provides methods with which to support the process lifecycle (Dumas et al., Fundamentals of business process management. Springer, 2013) in construction. F&R applied the methodology to construction of the hospital in Bolzano, Italy, by implementing three steps: (i) collaborative process design, with the main figures taking part in the construction project (e..g the project manager, the architect and the foreman on site); (ii) process implementation, which involves defining short-term (i.e., daily or weekly) schedules for tasks based on actual data on the progress of the work; and (iii) continuous monitoring and measurement of the progress of the work on site.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: By applying the methodology, which supports a detailed modelling and monitoring of the activities, F&R could perform reliable estimates of progress on tasks and expected cost to completion. For instance, F&R recognized that the budget it had initially estimated was too tight. By analyzing the up-to-date data on the progress of the work and consulting with the workers on the construction site, the company could identify problems and sources of delay promptly and act to mitigate their effects. During the application of PRECISE, F&R recorded an increase in productivity that was estimated to have saved 400 man hours.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: Application of the methodology singled out some aspects of the process that should be addressed to improve process management. Flexibility, which is required in dealing with the domain variability, is achieved by defining a process model and a short-term schedule, while the availability of reliable and up-to-date data on the progress of the work is obtained by applying continuous, detailed process monitoring. Engagement of the workers in the process management allows the project to benefit from their expertise (Rosemann and vom Brocke, Handbook on business process management, introduction, methods, and information systems. Springer, 2015), which is the basis of the collaborative approach. However, better IT support for the methodology is needed (Rosemann and vom Brocke, Handbook on business process management, introduction, methods, and information systems. Springer, 2015; Dumas et al., Fundamentals of business process management. Springer, 2013).

       

   7. Exposing Impediments to Insurance Claims Processing

      Compulsory Third Party Insurance in Queensland Robert Andrews, Moe Wynn, Arthur H. M ter Hofstede, Jingxin Xu, Kylie Horton, Paul Taylor, Sue Plunkett-Cole

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Processing injury-compensation claims, such as compulsory third party (CTP) claims, is complex, as it involves negotiations among multiple parties (e.g., claimants, insurers, law firms, health providers). Queensland’s CTP program is regulated by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC). The Nominal Defendant, an arm of MAIC, determines liability for claims when the vehicle “at fault” is unregistered or unidentified and manages such claims from injured persons. While the relevant legislation mandates milestones for claims processing, the Nominal Defendant sees significant behavioral and performance variations in CTP claims processing, affecting the costs and durations of claims. The reasons for these variations are poorly understood.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: The BPM initiative took a process-mining approach that focused on the process identification, discovery, and analysis phases of the BPM Lifecycle. We undertook automated process discovery and comparative performance analysis with the aim of identifying where claims processing across cohorts of interest to the Nominal Defendant differed. In parallel, we conducted a context analysis with the aim of identifying the context factors that affect claim duration and cost. The personal injury literature and interviews with representative Nominal Defendant staff informed our selection of data attributes.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Process models were developed to facilitate comparative visualization of processes. The Nominal Defendant was particularly interested in differences in the processes for specific cohorts of claims: (i) overall claims, (ii) claims involving unregistered vehicles versus unidentified vehicles, and (iii) direct claims versus legally represented claims. The model facilitated identification of aspects of claims processing where there were significant differences between cohorts. Data mining/feature selection techniques identified a set of process-related context factors affecting claim duration and cost. Models utilizing these context factors were able to distinguish between cases with short and long durations with 68% accuracy and between low-cost and high-cost claims with 83% accuracy.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: This multi-faceted process-mining study presented many challenges and opportunities for refining our process-mining methodology and toolset. Data-related challenges arose because of the replacement of claims-management software during the study. Legislative changes, changes to key personnel, and the semi-structured nature of CTP claims-processing introduced issues related to concept drift. Each of these issues affected process discovery, but close collaboration with the stakeholders proved valuable in addressing these issues. Novel visualization techniques were developed to support delivery of insights gained through comparative analysis that will guide process improvement. Consideration of context considerably broadens the scope of process mining and facilitates reasoning about process specifics.

       

   8. Mining the Usability of Process-Oriented Business Software: The Case of the ARIS Designer of Software AG

      Tom Thaler, Sabine Norek, Vittorio De Angelis, Dirk Maurer, Peter Fettke, Peter Loos

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: The quality of the technical support of business processes plays an important role in the selection of corresponding software products. Against that background, software producers invest considerable capital and manpower in improving their business software’s usability with regard to customers’ needs and process-related requirements. However, existing approaches from the field of usability engineering generally require laboratory environments, which do not cover the real user behavior without limitations. Therefore, the case described here seeks to improve a user-centric UX approach based on the idea of automatic identification of real customer needs.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: For that purpose, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and Software AG analyzed the issues in the currently available UX process at Software AG. Research and practice were searched for additional approaches to the critical point of understanding the user. Finally, a four-step approach based on process mining, consisting of user monitoring, trace clustering, usage model derivation, and usage model analysis was conceptualized and evaluated in a user study.

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: The application of the developed approach showed high flexibility and scalability in terms of the level of detail. Despite the small number of participants, it was possible to identify several process-related software issues and to reduce significantly needed resources (e.g., cost and time). Hence, a promising alternative to the existing techniques of understanding was found, leading to important improvements regarding a comprehensive and continuous lifecycle.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: The adapted UX approach increases flexibility and a widens the spectrum to proceed to the development of a user-centric business software. Although the improved procedure had a promising performance for further application in production environments, there are some open questions, such as handling the possibly high amount of upcoming data or privacy aspects that must be addressed in the future. Independently and regarding the transferability to other application scenarios, promising potential were identified, such as a mechanism for controlling the software’s evolution, the inductive development of usage reference models, and an approach to measuring the ease of learning a new business software.

       

   9. Improving Patient Flows at St. Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Department Through Process Mining

      Robert Andrews, Suriadi Suriadi, Moe Wynn, Arthur H. M. ter Hofstede, Sean Rothwell

      Abstract

      (a)

      Situation faced: Improving Emergency Department (ED) patient flows in terms of processing time, resource use, costs, and patient outcomes is a priority for health service professionals and is vital to the delivery of safe, timely, and effective patient care. Poor patient flows manifest as overcrowding in the ED, prolonged length of stay (LoS), patients “boarding” in EDs and “access block” for admission to inpatient wards. Consequences include poor patient outcomes, reduced access for new patients who present at the ED, and negative effects on staff, including dissatisfaction and stress. Further motivation for improving patient flows in EDs arises because Commonwealth- and state-sponsored financial incentives for hospitals are tied to achieving targets for improved patient access to emergency services. One measure of such improved access is meeting nationally agreed targets for the percentage of patients who are physically discharged from the ED within 4 h of arrival.

       

      (b)

      Action taken: A key challenge in deriving evidence-based improvements for patient flows is that of gaining insight into the process factors and context factors that affect patient flows. The case study reported here adopted the BPM Lifecycle reference framework to improve patient flows. In particular we focused on the process identification, discovery, and analysis phases of the BPM Lifecycle. Process-oriented data-mining techniques were applied to real practices to discover models of current patient flows in the ED of St. Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital (SAWMH) in Queensland, Australia. The discovered models were used to evaluate the effect on patient flows of certain context factors of interest to stakeholders. Case histories of 1473 chest pain presentations at SAWMH between September 2011 and March 2013 were analyzed to determine process differences between ED patients with short stays (<4 h) and those with long stays (>4 h).

       

      (c)

      Results achieved: Process models were discovered for the hospital’s ED patient flow. From a control-flow perspective, only minor differences were observed between short- and long-stay patients at SAWMH, although there were timing differences in reaching specific milestone events. Waiting time in the ED following a request for hospital admission added significantly to overall ED LoS.

       

      (d)

      Lessons learned: This project demonstrated that process mining is applicable to complex, semi-structured processes like those found in the healthcare domain. Comparative process performance analysis yielded some insights into ED patient flows, including recognition of recurring data-quality issues in datasets extracted from hospital information systems. The templated recognition and resolution of such issues offers a research opportunity to develop a (semi-)automated data-cleaning approach that would alleviate the tedious manual effort required to produce high-quality logs. The project highlighted the importance of hospital information systems collecting both start and end times of activities for proper performance analysis (duration, wait time, bottlenecks). Additions to our process-mining toolset include novel comparative process-performance visualization techniques that highlight the similarities and differences among process cohorts.