Em ambientes de negócios, a busca incessante pela competitividade tem demandado uma maior capacidade de lidar com as mudanças. Com o objetivo de atender à esta dinâmica, as empresas buscam soluções de integração dos seus processos com uso intensivo de tecnologia da informação, de modo a prover maior flexibilidade e agilidade nas suas operações. O termo Solução de Business Process Management, ou abreviadamente BPMS (Business Process Management System), diz respeito à plataforma tecnológica para a realização das iniciativas de integração e gestão dos processos de negócio neste contexto. Identifica-se como relevante a discussão sobre os requisitos organizacionais necessários para o uso de tais instrumentos e, especialmente, quanto à adequação das soluções de BPM existentes no mercado sob a ótica da estratégia de operações pela diversidade de alternativas existentes. Assim, esta pesquisa amplia os estudos relacionados com Gestão de Operações no que tange aos aspectos de avaliação de soluções de BPM na ótica do gestor de negócios. Foi desenvolvido um modelo de avaliação com o uso da técnica AHP (Analytic Hyerarchy Process), que permitiu identificar e relacionar as características funcionais de uma solução BPM com os objetivos de desempenho na visão do gestor do negócio. Tal modelo consubstancia-se em um questionário e uma matriz de priorização dos objetivos de desempenho, possibilitando a obtenção de uma nota de perfil competitivo para cada solução de BPM avaliada. Para a validação do modelo foram utilizados o método Delphi na definição do questionário e o método do estudo de caso na verificação da sua aplicabilidade. O modelo proposto mostrou-se adequado para o entendimento das soluções apresentadas e as diferenças entre as mesmas em termos de capacidades e vocações dentro da perspectiva do gestor do negócio. Além disso, o resultado do estudo de caso pemitiu a classificação das alternativas e a delimitação do universo a ser considerado à priori, o que contribui para uma seleção na visão do gestor do negócio e diminui a percepção de risco do investimento a ser feito. / In business-oriented environments, the incessant search for competitiveness has demanded a higher ability to deal with changes. In order to follow such dynamics, companies have been searching for solutions of integration of its processes with intensive use of information technology, in a way of providing better flexibility and speed to its operations. The term Business Process Management Solution, or Business Process Management System (BPMS) provides a technological platform for realizing such initiatives. It seems relevant a discussion about organizational requirements needed to apply such tools and, specially, on BPM solutions adequacy under operations strategy point-of-view. A model for evaluation based on the use of AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) was developed to identify the functional characteristics of a BPM solution and link to the performance objectives from the business manager point-of-view. Such model is composed of a questionnaire and a matrix of prioritization of the targeted performance objectives, making possible the attainment of one competitive profile grade for each evaluated solution. The model has been validated with the Delphi method for the questionnaire definition and the method of case study for its applicability. Its application proved to be adequate to better understand the presented solutions and the differences among them in terms of capacity and strengths from the manager view, and, it allows a logical selection delimiting the universe to be evaluated what might diminish the perception of risk of the investment to be made.

A promoção do business process managment (BPM) tem o potencial de trazer diversos benefícios para organizações de diferentes tamanhos, setores de atuação, regiões geográficas ou níveis de maturidade em gerenciamento de processos. Um dos fatores críticos de sucesso para a promoção de BPM é o seu alinhamento com o planejamento estratégico da organização. Este trabalho procura explorar o potencial de facilitação da promoção de BPM em uma unidade de pesquisa clínica (UPC) por meio do alinhamento com o planejamento estratégico. A pergunta de pesquisa que se pretende responder é: quais são os benefícios de um diagnóstico e planejamento estratégico prévios à promoção de um programa de BPM em uma unidade de pesquisa clínica (UPC)? Assim, o objetivo é definir as etapas e auxiliar na condução de um planejamento estratégico em uma unidade de pesquisa clínica, identificando posteriormente os benefícios decorrentes desta prática para a promoção de um programa de BPM. O método utilizado no trabalho foi a pesquisa-ação. Concluiu-se que a análise e estruturação inicial do processo de planejamento estratégico foi adequado como preparação para um primeiro ciclo de promoção de BPM na organização focal. Com base nas lições aprendidas durante o desenvolvimento foi proposto um modelo de planejamento estratégico orientado à promoção de BPM. / Business process management (BPM) has the potential to enhance performance for organizations of different sizes, industries, geographical locations or maturity levels of process management. One critical success factor for the promotion of BPM is its alignment with strategic planning. This research aims to explore the potential benefits of aligning the strategic planning process with a BPM program. Thus, the research question is defined as: what are the benefits of executing a diagnosis and strategic planning before a BPM program in a clinical research center (CRC)? The objective of the research is to define and execute steps of a strategic planning process in a clinical research center, identifying the benefits of these activities for a subsequent BPM program. Action-research was the method applied. The main findings were that the initial diagnosis of the organization in focus\' management practices and structuring of the strategic planning process ware adequate to prepare for the first cycle of a BPM program. Based on lessons learned along the research, a model was proposed for the strategic planning process oriented towards the promotion of BPM.

This thesis is aimed on the business process management of semi-budgetary organizations in the Czech Republic. For description of the field of business process management, the work lists common definitions and important information that is linked to this area. Subsequently, there was described the specificity of public administration in the Czech Republic, taking into account the level of and ability to implement business process management in this area. The important part of this thesis is the analysis of assumptions, which should public organizations fulfill in order to implement business process management. Thesis focuses on business process modeling, both in terms of methodology and standards used, and from the perspective of adequate tools for creating business process models. The main focus of the work is on the consolidation of the business process models of semi-budgetary organizations simultaneous checked on a case study. Case study, which is part of the practical part of this thesis, is a modified description of the implemented project, which aimed to merge two semi-budgetary organizations, especially from the perspective of the consolidation process management and process models.

The subject of my thesis is the optimization of selected business processes in the specific company. These are processes, which optimization will lead to save time, money and will generate additional income and increase the current level of profit significantly. In my thesis, I proposed several indicators of metrics and describe new information systems that will be part of optimized processes. In the first part I present the theoretical aspects and the transition from functional to process management, modeling based on different methodologies, standards and measuring the performance of individual processes. In the next chapter I am dealing with the practical application of theoretical knowledge on a specific company. First I briefly introduce this company, define its position in the market, and going through complex of strategic analysis. Next I give solution how to find out the problematic aspects of the most critical processes and then I suggest optimization. An important part of this thesis are suggested metrics and indicators for these metrics, which are monitored and evaluate targets of each individual process and thus his successful implementation. After incorporating the proposed optimization, the company has significantly shifted not only in monitored metrics, but will also increase its value. These ideas I will summarize in the end of the work.

Die Gestaltung betrieblicher Prozesse stellt heute einen wichtigen Wettbewerbsfaktor dar. Um am Markt erfolgreich agieren zu können, ist es notwendig, die eigenen Prozesse konsequent an den Bedürfnissen der Kunden auszurichten. Methoden der Prozessverbesserung beschreiben, welche Schritte hierfür durchzuführen sind. Modelle stellen dabei ein wesentliches Werkzeug für die Visualisierung der betrieblichen Abläufe dar. Gleichwohl wird in bestehenden Methoden der Prozessverbesserung nur unzureichend auf die systematische Nutzung und Wiederverwendung von Modellen eingegangen. Dadurch klafft eine Lücke zwischen erwartetem und tatsächlichem Nutzen des Modelleinsatzes im Rahmen der Prozessverbesserung. So wird insbesondere die methodische Nutzung und Auswertung von Modellen bisher entweder gar nicht oder lediglich isoliert von der Prozessverbesserung betrachtet. Damit existiert zwar eine Vielzahl an methodischen Puzzleteilen, eine durchgängige Unterstützung der Modellerstellung und -nutzung im Rahmen der Prozessverbesserung kann jedoch nicht erkannt werden. Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt sich diesem methodischen Defizit und beschreibt Schritt für Schritt, wie die Verwendung von Modellen im Rahmen der Prozessverbesserung systematisiert werden kann. Damit soll die Nutzung von Modellen im betrieblichen Alltag forciert und der Aufwand für die Modellierung langfristig reduziert werden.

Tato práce pojednává o návrhu architektury systému pro řízení podnikových procesů, který je schopen reagovat i na měnící se kontext již běžících procesů. Architektura systému je navržena tak, aby systém byl schopen měnit jednotlivé fragmenty procesů dle aktuálního kontextu. Tímto zajišťuje i řízení přeplánování procesu, při čemž využívá k rozhodování optimální varianty historická data po řízená vlastním během systému.

Актуальность темы исследования: на сегодняшний день для укрепления положения предприятия в рыночной экономике необходимо осуществлять управление бизнес процессами предприятия. В настоящее время вопрос управления бизнес процессами предприятий является большой проблемой. Целью исследования является реализация мероприятий по совершенствованию основного бизнес-процесса на примере конкретного коммерческого предприятия. Практическая значимость работы основывается на предложении рекомендаций для исследуемого предприятия. / The relevance of the research topic: today, in order to strengthen the position of the enterprise in a market economy, it is necessary to manage the business processes of the enterprise. Currently, the issue of managing business processes of enterprises is a big problem. The purpose of the research is to implement measures to improve the main business process using the example of a particular commercial enterprise. The practical importance of the work is based on the proposal of recommendations for the enterprise under study.

There is a growing need to study factors that affect user comprehension of Business Process Management (BPM) information portrayed by graphical process models (GPMs). For example, deployment of BPM Systems, unique types of enterprise-level information systems, has dramatically increased in recent years. This increase is primarily because BPM Systems give a variety of managers across an enterprise the ability to directly design, configure, enact, monitor, diagnose, and control business processes that other types of enterprise systems do not. This is possible because BPM Systems uniquely rely on GPMs derived from formal graph theory. Besides controlling the business processes, these GPMs, such as metagraphs and Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams, portray business process information (BPI) and prompt BPM managers to apply their training and expertise to deal with BPM situations. As a result, GPMs are the primary information artifacts for decision-making and communication among different, often geographically dispersed stakeholders. Therefore, user comprehension of these unique GPMs is critical to the efficient and effective development, deployment, and utilization of BPM Systems. User comprehension outcomes are jointly affected by the (1) BPM cognitive resources available to each manager (including the type of GPM, BPI, and user educational training and experience), and (2) cognitive differences between individual BPM managers (such as their mental workload, cognitive styles and cognitive abilities). Although research has studied GPMs in various contexts, there is apparently no empirical research investigating GPM user comprehension in the context of BPM Systems. This research makes an important contribution by addressing this gap in the literature. Statement of the Objective: The purpose of this research is to empirically study how BPM cognitive resources and cognitive differences between individuals affect outcomes of GPM user comprehension. This research centered on the following objectives: A. Investigate whether more positive user comprehension outcomes are produced by novice users if a single GPM technique is used to portray different types of BPI (e.g., as with metagraphs) or if different GPM techniques are used to portray different types of BPI (e.g., as with UML diagrams). B. Investigate whether one type of BPI is more easily comprehended and interpreted by novice users irrespective of the type of GPM or the type of educational training of the user. C. Investigate whether users with a specific type of user educational training can more easily comprehend and interpret BPM information irrespective of the type of GPM or the type of BPI. D. Evaluate influences of individual cognitive differences (i.e., mental workload, cognitive styles, and cognitive abilities) on outcomes of user comprehension. In order to accomplish these objectives, this study: (a) defined a theoretical framework conceptualizing user comprehension outcomes in terms of the interaction between cognitive resources external to the user and individual differences affecting how users cognitively process BPI, (b) empirically tested an operational research model of GPM user comprehension that is based on the theoretical framework, and (c) interpreted the experimental results in the context of related literatures. Description of Research Methods: This study empirically tested relationships between several variables representing BPM cognitive resources and individual cognitive differences hypothesized as influencing the outcomes of user comprehension. A laboratory experiment, involving 87 upper-level undergraduate students from two universities, analyzed relationships between participant comprehension of two types of GPMs (i.e., metagraphs and UML diagrams) used to portray three types of BPI (i.e., task-centric, resource-centric, and information-centric BPI) by novice GPM users possessing different educational training (i.e., industrial engineering, business management, and computer science training). Dependent variables included assessments of task accuracy, task timeliness, subjective mental workload, and self-efficacy. Covariate effects were also analyzed for two types of participant cognitive abilities (i.e., general cognitive ability (GCA) and attentional abilities) and two types of participant cognitive styles (extroversion-introversion and sensing-intuitive). Multivariate analysis techniques were used to analyze and interpret the data. Discussion of Results: The type of GPM and participants' GCA produced significant effects on the dependent variables in this study. For example, metagraph users produced significantly more desirable results than UML users across all dependent variables, contrary to what was hypothesized. However, if only the BPM cognitive resources (i.e., GPM Type, BPM Type, and the Type of Participant Education) were studied in relation to user comprehension outcomes, spurious conclusions would have been reached. When individual cognitive differences were included in the research model and analyses, results showed participants with higher GCA produced significantly more positive user comprehension outcomes compared to participants with lower GCAs. Also, many of the impacts of differences in the types of BPI and the types of UET were moderated by the differences in participants' GCA and attentional abilities. In addition, the relationship between subjective mental workload and task performance (i.e., accuracy and timeliness) suggest a possible GPM cognitive "profile" for user comprehension tasks in a BPM Systems context. These results have important implications for future research and practice in several bodies of knowledge, including GPM user comprehension in management systems engineering, BPM modeling, BPM Systems, HCI, and cognitive ergonomics literature. / Ph. D.

This dissertation focuses on the re-use of business process reference models, available in a business process model warehouse, to enable the definition of more comprehensive business requirements. It proposes a business process model warehouse framework to promote the re-use of multiple business process reference models and the flexible visualisation of business process models. The critical success factor for such a framework is that it should contribute to minimise to some extent the causes of inadequate business requirements. The proposed framework is based on an analogy with a data warehouse framework, consisting of the following components: usage of multiple business process reference models as source models, the conceptual design of a process to extract, load and transform multiple business process reference models into a repository, a description of repository functionality for managing enterprise architecture artefacts, and motivation of flexible visualisation of business process models to ensure more comprehensive business requirements. / Computer Science (School of Computing) / M.Sc. (Information Systems)

Une entreprise doit être capable de décrire et de demeurer réactive face à un événement endogène ou exogène. Une telle flexibilité peut s'obtenir par la gestion des processus d'entreprise (Business Process Management - BPM). Lors d'une démarche BPM, différentes transformations interviennent sur les modèles de processus développés par l'analyste métier et l'expert en technologies de l'information. Un non-alignement se crée entre ces modèles hétérogènes lors de leurs manipulations : il s'agit du "fossé métier-TI" tel que décrit dans la littérature. L'objectif de notre travail est de proposer un cadre méthodologique permettant un meilleur pilotage des processus métier, afin de tendre vers un alignement systématique de leur modélisation à leur implémentation au sein du système cible. A l'aide de concepts issus de l'ingénierie d'Entreprise et des Systèmes d'Informations dirigée par les modèles et des TI, nous définissons une démarche générique assurant une cohérence intermodèle. Son rôle est de conserver et de fournir toutes les informations liées à la structure et à la sémantique des modèles. En permettant la restitution intégrale d'un modèle transformé au sens de l'ingénierie inverse, notre plateforme permet une synchronisation entre modèle d'analyse et modèle d'implémentation. Le manuscrit présente également l'adéquation possible entre l'ingénierie des procédés et le BPM à travers un point de vue multi-échelle. / A company must be able to describe and to remain responsive against endogenous or exogenous events. Such flexibility can be obtained with the Business Process Management (BPM). Through a BPM approach, different transformations operate on process models, developed by the business analyst and IT expert. A non-alignment is created between these heterogeneous models during their manipulation: this is the "business-IT gap" as described in the literature. The objective of our work is to propose a methodological framework for a better management of business processes in order to reach a systematic alignment from their modelling to their implementation within the target system. Using concepts from Model-driven Enterprise and Information System engineering, we define a generic approach ensuring an intermodal consistency. Its role is to maintain and provide all information related to the model structure and semantics. By allowing a full restitution of a transformed model, in the sense of reverse engineering, our platform enables synchronization between analysis model and implementation model. The manuscript also presents the possible match between process engineering and BPM through a multi- erspective scale.