Grupo Alarcos · Conference paper · 2011
Business Process Model Improvement based on Measurement Activities
Laura Sánchez González, Félix Óscar García Rubio, Mario Piattini Velthuis
The current importance of Business Process improvement lies in the fact that it is a key aspect for organizational improvement. Since business process improvement can be dealt from different perspectives, we propose the use of measurement as a technique by which to collect information concerning the quality of the process. We have specifically applied measures to the design stage of the business process lifecycle, which signifies measuring conceptual models. Measurement in Design and Analysis lifecycle stage has several advantages, principally in that it is a means to avoid the propagation of errors to later stages, in which their detection and correction may be more difficult. We therefore propose certain steps for business process model improvement, based on measurement activities (measurement, evaluation, and redesign). These activities have been applied to a real hospital business process model. The model was modified by following expert opinions and modelling guidelines, thus leading to the attainment of a higher-quality model. Our findings clearly support the practical utility of measurement activities for business process model improvement.