Analysis of business activities Define framework conditions The analysis of business activities determines and defines the framework conditions for successful business process modeling. Ideal steps can be: • define the relevant applications of business process modeling on the basis of the
business model and where it is positioned in the
value chain, • derive the strategy for the long-term success of business process modeling from the
business strategy and develop an approach for structuring the business process models. Both the relevant purposes and the strategy directly influence the
process map.
Identify business processes A business process constitutes a set of interconnected, organized activities geared towards delivering a specific service or product for a particular clientele.
Structure business processes – building a process map The structuring of business processes generally begins with a distinction between management, core, and support processes. •
Management processes govern the operation of a company. Typical management processes include corporate governance and
strategic management. They define corporate objectives and monitor the achievement of objectives. •
Core processes constitute the
core business and create the primary value stream. Typical operational processes are
purchasing,
manufacturing,
marketing, and
sales. They generate visible, direct customer benefits. •
Support processes provide and manage operational resources. They support the core and management processes by ensuring the smooth running of business operations. Examples include
accounting,
recruitment, and
technical support. Once the business processes have been identified and named, they can be compiled in overviews referred to as process maps. These can be represented through models like
value chain diagrams.
Assigning the process responsibility The
process owner is responsible for success, creates the framework conditions, and coordinates approach with that of the other process owners, and is responsible for the exchange of information between the business processes. This coordination is necessary in order to achieve the overall goal orientation.
Modeling business process ;
As-is modeling and
to-be modeling The question of whether the business process model should be created through
as-is modeling or
to-be modeling is significantly influenced by the defined application and the strategy for the long-term success of business process modeling. The previous procedure with analysis of business activities,
definition of business processes and
further structuring of business processes is advisable in any case. The following disadvantages speak against as-is modeling: • The creativity of those involved in the project to develop optimal target processes is stifled, as old structures and processes may be adopted without reflection in downstream target modeling. • The creation of detailed as-is models represents a considerable effort, also influenced by the effort required to reach a consensus between the project participants at interfaces and responsibility transitions. ;
To-be modeling Mario Speck and Norbert Schnetgöke define the objective of
to-be modeling as designing the target processes based on the strategic goals of the company. This involves analysing all sub-processes and individual activities of a company with regard to their target contribution. They also list five basic principles that have proven their worth in the creation of the to-be models: • Parallel processing of sub-processes and individual activities is preferable to sequential processing – it contains the greater potential for optimization. • The development of a sub-process should be carried out as consistently as possible by one person or group – this allows the best model quality to be achieved. • Self-monitoring should be made possible for individual sub-processes and individual activities during processing – this reduces quality assurance costs. • If not otherwise possible, at least one internal customer/user should be defined for each process – this strengthens customer awareness and improves the assessability of process performance. • Learning effects that arise during the introduction of the target processes should be taken into account – this strengthens the employees' awareness of value creation.
Components Components that can be used for modelling are: • Sub-processes • Functions or Tasks • Artifacts • External documents or IT systems
Model consolidation For a successful model consolidation, it may be necessary to revise the original decomposition of the sub-processes and check for any redundancies.
Process chaining The chaining of the sub-processes with each other and the chaining of the functions (
tasks) in the sub-processes is modeled using Control Flow Patterns.
Process interfaces Process interfaces are defined in order to • Show the relationships between the sub-processes after the decomposition of business processes • Determine what the business processes or their sub-processes must 'pass on' to each other Process interfaces represent the exit from the current business process/sub-process and the entry into the subsequent business process/sub-process • Interfaces can be defined by: • Transfer of responsibility/accountability from one business unit to another • Transfer of data from one IT-system to another In real terms, the transferred inputs/outputs are often data or information, but any other business objects are also conceivable. == Representation type and notation ==