Informatica

One of the problem in business process reengineering is the identification and implementation of new workflow procedures for specific business processes, if they are not clearly defined. Analysis of unstructured (ad-hoc) activities cannot be based on traditional approaches using existing business procedures and expert knowledge. The method of business processes analysis in unstructured environments is presented in this paper. The creation of new business procedures is based on investigation of the communication acts, and application of similar workflow patterns. This method is useful in the earliest stages of business process reengineering. Preliminary analysis in ad-hoc area can be done for process identification, applying the existing knowledge baggage, reducing the analytical efforts, and creating the strong motivation for managers.

Most efforts in business process reengineering to date are motivated by potential improvement in performance measures such as costs, quality of products or services, and cycle time for their delivery. While obviously important, these factors do not necessarily reflect any intrinsic improvement in how work is organized. This paper presents an approach to the structural analysis of business processes. The goal is to capture an inherent degree of synchronization of the various interdependent activities involved. This way, the process before and after reengineering, or alternative designs, can be compared without arbitrary scaling effects introduced by nonstructural variables. Our methodology for modeling and analysis incorporates established techniques in fuzzy logic and systems. Its application to a well-known example is used as illustration.