Paskutinį dešimtmetį bendrovės labai daug dėmesio skiria procesų analizei, veiklos efektyvumo didinimui. Verslo procesų valdymas pritraukia vis didesnį bendrovių dėmesį ir šis dėmesys joms leidžia pereiti nuo imituojamų verslo procesų prie realiai veikiančių. Verslo procesų valdymas apima procesų konstravimą, atvaizdavimą, kontrolę ir analizę. Bendrovės didina darbo efektyvumą nuolatos vertindamos procesų pridedamąją vertę. Verslo procesų tobulinimas yra nenutrūkstamas ciklas, kuriame itin svarbią rolę atlieka procesų konstravimas ir pertvarkymas. Yra begalės būdų pakeisti vystančius procesus ir tik geriausios alternatyvos procesas turi pakeisti realiai vykdomą. Intuityvus proceso pasirinkimas gali nemaloniai nustebinti ir sumažinti verslo efektyvumą vietoje siektų tikslų. Procesų imitavimas yra vienas iš tinkamų būdų jų pertvarkymui. Verslo procesų imitavimas padeda suprasti, analizuoti ir konstruoti procesus. Pasitelkus imitavimą procesai gali būti įvertinti ir palyginti. Imitavimas suteikia proceso poveikio verslo efektyvumui kiekybinį įvertinimą, pagal kurį lengva pasirinkti tinkamiausią procesą. Galima išskirti eilę žingsnių susijusių su verslo procesų imitavimu. Pirmiausia verslo procesas yra atvaizduojamas procesų modelyje. Tada identifikuojami po-procesai ir įvykiai. Yra apibrėžiama proceso eiga, nustatomos jo esybės ir nustatomi ryšiai tarp skirtingų proceso dalių. Galiausiai yra numatomi ir paskiriami resursai. Proceso modelis turėtų būti patvirtintas tik įsitikinus... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Business process is: “A collection of related, structured activities – a chain of events- that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers” [How06]. A simulation is an imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process. The supporting tools of process mapping and business process simulation are used in the change process and assist in communicating the current process design and people's roles in the overall performance of that design. The simulation model is also used to predict the performance of new designs incorporating the use of information technology. The approach is seen to have a number of advantages in the context of a public sector organization. These include the ability for personnel to move from a traditional grouping of staff in occupational groups with relationships defined by reporting requirements to a view of their role in a process, which delivers a performance to a customer. By running the simulation through time it is also possible to gauge how changes at an operational level can lead to the meeting of strategic targets over time. Business processes are increasingly recognized as the key to competitive survival. The important opportunities inherent to this invisible economic asset are the foundations of process-centered management. Simulation of business processes creates added value in understanding, analyzing and designing processes by introducing dynamic aspects. It provides decision support by anticipation of... [to full text]

Strategic business and IT alignment assessment is growing in importance. Different assessment methods have been used to try to pursue the complexity of this dynamic and evolutionary alignment. Despite the fact that alignment is a real problem and a challenge of utmost importance, no consensus can be found on what alignment really is, how it should be measured in the organization in practice, or what measures should be taken to maintain and improve it. Consequently, the key question about how to assess and accomplish (define, identify, measure, maintain and improve) the strategic business and IT alignment is still a great unanswered challenge for many enterprises. In this thesis work, three main research questions were formulated: how can the validity and reliability of an alignment assessment method be improved, what are the dominant topics in the area of alignment, and how to facilitate the analysis of the business and IT governance alignment based on business process simulation and balanced scorecard methods. This is a composite thesis work that includes an introduction and six papers (paper A-F). The main contributions and results of this thesis are described in published and included technical papers. In papers A and B an alternative organization-wide approach and metamodel for assessing strategic business and IT alignment are proposed. Two case studies were performed applying the proposed approach. In paper C, a prioritized diagram of the most widely accepted strategic alignment model, with the purpose of categorizing the most important topics in the research area of strategic business and IT alignment is presented. One of the relevant topics that were identified is governance. In papers D, E and F, there are presented a business process simulation approach and a balanced scorecard method in order to facilitate the assessment of the business and IT governance alignment. An illustrative example of the simulation approach is presented in an appendix of this thesis. This research work aims to improve the decision-making process for business and IT managers at different levels in an enterprise by means of increasing the level of understanding and knowledge as well as by enhancing existing models and methods, for evaluating strategic business and IT alignment. / <p>QC 20101110</p>