Process Knowledge Value Proposition in Business Process Management

Abstract

Business process conceptual modeling focuses on studying process scenarios and mapping workflows as well as analyzing a business actor’s behavior. Taking the process-modeling techniques that have been presented in the literature into account, the author noticed a variety of notations that were applied for the process’s description. In addition, the values in the business-process models and the management-science literature have different interpretations. In this study, the author focused on process-value identification, interpretation, and visualization and aimed to provide literature surveys on process knowledge as well as on process value. However, the academic research background is followed by another qualitative approach to capture process value and emphasize the thoughts of the business actors in a process. Hence, the case-study analysis is supplemented by a literature survey. In this case study (concerning a publishing house), process knowledge was received through interviews with the publishing house’s main editor as well as through a study of discussions that were provided by the editorial committee members. Finally, the potential advantages of the studying of process value and some limitations and challenges for the identification and modeling of value are identified. By examples, the author revealed some values that are realizable in the business process and discussed them; i.e., relevance and rigor in the publishing process. The main contribution concerned identifying and visualizing business-process value through modeling techniques. The author strongly emphasized that, in the research process as well as in the research-result-dissemination process, relevance and rigor as values should be critical. Beyond this, the author presented how goal-modeling notation i* and ArchiMate notation can be combined with e3 value-modeling notation and which consequences arrived from this combination.