Skip to main content
Top

2017 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Discovering Causal Factors Explaining Business Process Performance Variation

Authors : Bart F. A. Hompes, Abderrahmane Maaradji, Marcello La Rosa, Marlon Dumas, Joos C. A. M. Buijs, Wil M. P. van der Aalst

Published in: Advanced Information Systems Engineering

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

Business process performance may be affected by a range of factors, such as the volume and characteristics of ongoing cases or the performance and availability of individual resources. Event logs collected by modern information systems provide a wealth of data about the execution of business processes. However, extracting root causes for performance issues from these event logs is a major challenge. Processes may change continuously due to internal and external factors. Moreover, there may be many resources and case attributes influencing performance. This paper introduces a novel approach based on time series analysis to detect cause-effect relations between a range of business process characteristics and process performance indicators. The scalability and practical relevance of the approach has been validated by a case study involving a real-life insurance claims handling process.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe




 

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Footnotes
1
\(\mathcal {P}(Y)\) denotes the powerset of a set Y, i.e. \(X \in \mathcal {P}(Y) \iff X \subseteq Y\).
 
2
See http://​promtools.​org and the RootCauseAnalysis package for more information.
 
Literature
1.
go back to reference van der Aalst, W.M.P., Adriansyah, A., van Dongen, B.F.: Replaying history on process models for conformance checking and performance analysis. Wiley Interdisc. Rev.: Data Min. Knowl. Discov. 2(2), 182–192 (2012) van der Aalst, W.M.P., Adriansyah, A., van Dongen, B.F.: Replaying history on process models for conformance checking and performance analysis. Wiley Interdisc. Rev.: Data Min. Knowl. Discov. 2(2), 182–192 (2012)
2.
go back to reference González, L.S., Rubio, F.G., González, F.R., Velthuis, M.P.: Measurement in business processes: a systematic review. Bus. Process Manag. J. 16(1), 114–134 (2010)CrossRef González, L.S., Rubio, F.G., González, F.R., Velthuis, M.P.: Measurement in business processes: a systematic review. Bus. Process Manag. J. 16(1), 114–134 (2010)CrossRef
3.
4.
go back to reference Kamiński, M., Ding, M., Truccolo, W.A., Bressler, S.L.: Evaluating causal relations in neural systems: Granger causality, directed transfer function and statistical assessment of significance. Biol. Cybern. 85(2), 145–157 (2001)CrossRefMATH Kamiński, M., Ding, M., Truccolo, W.A., Bressler, S.L.: Evaluating causal relations in neural systems: Granger causality, directed transfer function and statistical assessment of significance. Biol. Cybern. 85(2), 145–157 (2001)CrossRefMATH
5.
go back to reference Roebroeck, A., Formisano, E., Goebel, R.: Mapping directed influence over the brain using Granger causality and fMRI. Neuroimage 25(1), 230–242 (2005)CrossRef Roebroeck, A., Formisano, E., Goebel, R.: Mapping directed influence over the brain using Granger causality and fMRI. Neuroimage 25(1), 230–242 (2005)CrossRef
6.
go back to reference Pika, A., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Fidge, C.J., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Wynn, M.T.: Predicting deadline transgressions using event logs. In: Rosa, M., Soffer, P. (eds.) BPM 2012. LNBIP, vol. 132, pp. 211–216. Springer, Heidelberg (2013). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-36285-9_22 CrossRef Pika, A., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Fidge, C.J., ter Hofstede, A.H.M., Wynn, M.T.: Predicting deadline transgressions using event logs. In: Rosa, M., Soffer, P. (eds.) BPM 2012. LNBIP, vol. 132, pp. 211–216. Springer, Heidelberg (2013). doi:10.​1007/​978-3-642-36285-9_​22 CrossRef
7.
go back to reference Suriadi, S., Ouyang, C., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Root cause analysis with enriched process logs. In: Rosa, M., Soffer, P. (eds.) BPM 2012. LNBIP, vol. 132, pp. 174–186. Springer, Heidelberg (2013). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-36285-9_18 CrossRef Suriadi, S., Ouyang, C., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: Root cause analysis with enriched process logs. In: Rosa, M., Soffer, P. (eds.) BPM 2012. LNBIP, vol. 132, pp. 174–186. Springer, Heidelberg (2013). doi:10.​1007/​978-3-642-36285-9_​18 CrossRef
8.
go back to reference de Leoni, M., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Dees, M.: A general process mining framework for correlating, predicting and clustering dynamic behavior based on event logs. Inf. Syst. 56, 235–257 (2016)CrossRef de Leoni, M., van der Aalst, W.M.P., Dees, M.: A general process mining framework for correlating, predicting and clustering dynamic behavior based on event logs. Inf. Syst. 56, 235–257 (2016)CrossRef
9.
go back to reference Conforti, R., de Leoni, M., La Rosa, M., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: A recommendation system for predicting risks across multiple business process instances. Decis. Support Syst. 69(1), 1–19 (2015)CrossRef Conforti, R., de Leoni, M., La Rosa, M., van der Aalst, W.M.P., ter Hofstede, A.H.M.: A recommendation system for predicting risks across multiple business process instances. Decis. Support Syst. 69(1), 1–19 (2015)CrossRef
10.
go back to reference Ghattas, J., Soffer, P., Peleg, M.: Improving business process decision making based on past experience. Decis. Support Syst. 59, 93–107 (2014)CrossRef Ghattas, J., Soffer, P., Peleg, M.: Improving business process decision making based on past experience. Decis. Support Syst. 59, 93–107 (2014)CrossRef
11.
go back to reference van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Process cubes: slicing, dicing, rolling up and drilling down event data for process mining. In: Song, M., Wynn, M.T., Liu, J. (eds.) AP-BPM 2013. LNBIP, vol. 159, pp. 1–22. Springer, Cham (2013). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-02922-1_1 CrossRef van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Process cubes: slicing, dicing, rolling up and drilling down event data for process mining. In: Song, M., Wynn, M.T., Liu, J. (eds.) AP-BPM 2013. LNBIP, vol. 159, pp. 1–22. Springer, Cham (2013). doi:10.​1007/​978-3-319-02922-1_​1 CrossRef
12.
go back to reference Vogelgesang, T., Appelrath, H.-J.: PMCube: a data-warehouse-based approach for multidimensional process mining. In: Reichert, M., Reijers, H.A. (eds.) BPM 2015. LNBIP, vol. 256, pp. 167–178. Springer, Cham (2016). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-42887-1_14 CrossRef Vogelgesang, T., Appelrath, H.-J.: PMCube: a data-warehouse-based approach for multidimensional process mining. In: Reichert, M., Reijers, H.A. (eds.) BPM 2015. LNBIP, vol. 256, pp. 167–178. Springer, Cham (2016). doi:10.​1007/​978-3-319-42887-1_​14 CrossRef
13.
go back to reference Tan, S., Chan, T.: Defining and conceptualizing actionable insight: a conceptual framework for decision-centric analytics. In: Australasian Conference on Information Systems (2015) Tan, S., Chan, T.: Defining and conceptualizing actionable insight: a conceptual framework for decision-centric analytics. In: Australasian Conference on Information Systems (2015)
14.
go back to reference Hompes, B.F.A., Buijs, J.C.A.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: A generic framework for context-aware process performance analysis. In: Debruyne, C., et al. (eds.) OTM 2016. LNCS, vol. 10033, pp. 300–317. Springer, Cham (2016). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48472-3_17 CrossRef Hompes, B.F.A., Buijs, J.C.A.M., van der Aalst, W.M.P.: A generic framework for context-aware process performance analysis. In: Debruyne, C., et al. (eds.) OTM 2016. LNCS, vol. 10033, pp. 300–317. Springer, Cham (2016). doi:10.​1007/​978-3-319-48472-3_​17 CrossRef
15.
go back to reference Bollen, K.A.: Structural Equations with Latent Variables. Wiley, Hoboken (2014)MATH Bollen, K.A.: Structural Equations with Latent Variables. Wiley, Hoboken (2014)MATH
16.
go back to reference Jensen, F.V.: An Introduction to Bayesian networks, vol. 210. UCL Press, London (1996) Jensen, F.V.: An Introduction to Bayesian networks, vol. 210. UCL Press, London (1996)
17.
go back to reference Yu, J., Smith, V.A., Wang, P.P., Hartemink, A.J., Jarvis, E.D.: Advances to bayesian network inference for generating causal networks from observational biological data. Bioinformatics 20(18), 3594–3603 (2004)CrossRef Yu, J., Smith, V.A., Wang, P.P., Hartemink, A.J., Jarvis, E.D.: Advances to bayesian network inference for generating causal networks from observational biological data. Bioinformatics 20(18), 3594–3603 (2004)CrossRef
18.
go back to reference Shimizu, S., Hoyer, P.O., Hyvarinen, A., Kerminen, A.: A linear non-gaussian acyclic model for causal discovery. J. Mach. Learn. Res. 7, 2003–2030 (2006)MathSciNetMATH Shimizu, S., Hoyer, P.O., Hyvarinen, A., Kerminen, A.: A linear non-gaussian acyclic model for causal discovery. J. Mach. Learn. Res. 7, 2003–2030 (2006)MathSciNetMATH
19.
go back to reference Richardson, T.: A polynomial-time algorithm for deciding Markov equivalence of directed cyclic graphical models. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, pp. 462–469. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., Burlington (1996) Richardson, T.: A polynomial-time algorithm for deciding Markov equivalence of directed cyclic graphical models. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, pp. 462–469. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., Burlington (1996)
20.
go back to reference Granger, C.W.J.: Investigating causal relations by econometric models and cross-spectral methods. Econometrica 37(3), 424 (1969)CrossRef Granger, C.W.J.: Investigating causal relations by econometric models and cross-spectral methods. Econometrica 37(3), 424 (1969)CrossRef
21.
go back to reference Dahlhaus, R., Eichler, M.: Causality and graphical models in time series analysis. In: Oxford Statistical Science Series, pp. 115–137 (2003) Dahlhaus, R., Eichler, M.: Causality and graphical models in time series analysis. In: Oxford Statistical Science Series, pp. 115–137 (2003)
22.
go back to reference van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Re-engineering knock-out processes. Decis. Support Syst. 30(4), 451–468 (2001)CrossRef van der Aalst, W.M.P.: Re-engineering knock-out processes. Decis. Support Syst. 30(4), 451–468 (2001)CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Discovering Causal Factors Explaining Business Process Performance Variation
Authors
Bart F. A. Hompes
Abderrahmane Maaradji
Marcello La Rosa
Marlon Dumas
Joos C. A. M. Buijs
Wil M. P. van der Aalst
Copyright Year
2017
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59536-8_12

Premium Partner