Overview
Welcome to the first chapter of our online course, entitled Introduction to Business Process Management. This week will set the scene for the remainder of this course. You will learn about the background of business processes, their role in organizations, and how they are put into effect.
In particular, the following topics are covered, each in a separate video clip.
Defining Business Processes
Business processes are fundamental to the operations of any organization, as each product manufactured and each service delivered is the outcome of a series of actions that are executed in coordination. Process models make these operations explicit and provide the basis for communication with stakeholders, automation, and improvement, among others.On Modeling
Models are a representation of reality that abstract from irrelevant aspects, and hence provide a way to cope with complexity. In computer science, there are a number of model types for different purposes, including process models to capture the way how work is done in organizations.Business Process Models
A business process model is an abstract representation of a business process. Depending on the particular modeling goal, process models provide answer to a number of questions with regard to the business, e.g., which events trigger a business process, what are the possible outcomes, who is responsible for which activities, etc.Interacting Business Processes
If two or more companies collaborate, their business processes interact by sending messages. This enables successful joint work, while neither company controls the business process of the other company. However, this interaction needs to be designed carefully in order to avoid deadlocks or indeterminate waiting conditions.Models and Instances
Process models act as blueprint for concrete cases, which are called process instances. Informally, process instances "run" a business process model, involving the processing of information and material and requiring actual resources.Levels of Process Models
Based on the modeling goal, process models show different degrees of abstraction with regard to the underlying business process. We distinguish organizational business process models, operational business process models, and implemented business process models. For each business process there exists a process model on each level.Business Process Lifecycle
In order to put business processes into effect, to evaluate and improve them, they pass a number of phases: design and analysis, configuration, enactment, and evaluation. This leads to an iterative improvement of business processes which is referred to as business process lifecycle.
Organization
You can find several self tests , by which you can check your learning progress. There is no time limit or submission deadline for these tests and you receive direct feedback on your answers. You can even repeat them.
At the end of the week, you need to submit a homework . For the homework you should calculate 30-45 minutes and the homework has a time limit (60 minutes) . Please be advised that this test can only be started ONCE (closing the browser does not stop the timer). In addition, the homework starts when you click on the start button on the homework page . So, only click on the button if you are willing to take the assignment. The achieved score in the homework contributes to your total score for this course. You will be informed about your results and a sample solution is published a day after submission deadline.
In case you have questions regarding the lectures, self tests, or assignments, please use the discussions forum. Often these questions can be answered by your fellow participants. Members of the teaching team also read the questions in the forum and help, whenever help is needed. We are looking forward to fruitful discussions.
Have fun and good luck in the first course week!
Weekly Schedule
Please be aware of the following dates for this week.
- The homework needs to be submitted latest April 18th, 2016, at 22:00 (10:00 pm). Submission is already open; after consulting the lecture material (videos, slides, and reading material), you can start on the homework right away. Make sure that you have enough time and you are prepared to take the test.
- The solution for this week's homework will be published on Tuesday, April 19th , 2016, at 10:00 (am).
- The material for the next week , covering Basics of Business Process Modeling, will be made available on Saturday, April 16th, 2016, at 10:00 (am).
- All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2). Please check your local time zone. The remaining time until April 18th, 2016, at 22:00 (10:00 pm) can be checked at the provided link.
Reading Material
Most of the material discussed in Week 1 can also be found in Chapter 1 of Business Process Management – Concepts, Languages, Architectures (discount of 20% for printed version and
discount of 50% for electronic version applies for participants of this course)The blog modelpractice shares some thoughts on Stachowiak’s modeling theory at http://modelpractice.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/model-stachowiak/
You might also be interested in the (German) Wikipedia entry of Stachowiak at http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Stachowiak
An early survey that introduces a business process lifecycle is: Business process management: A survey by Wil van der Aalst, Arthur ter Hofstede and Mathias Weske. Business process management, 1-12, available at http://scholar.google.de/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=de&user=Qc4JtWcAAAAJ&citation_for_view=Qc4JtWcAAAAJ:u5HHmVD_uO8C