(A) framework for business process reengineering supporting tool

Abstract

As with successful applications of business process re-engineering (BPR) to real business, computerized supporting systems for BPR have been developed that include models representing the business process. However, the concept of the business process is not clear, and these tools have roots in other areas such as CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) and information engineering. In this paper, we will define the business process model as a model that describes an organization in the process view. It represents work-flows (processes), the static functional structure of an organization, its resources, and their relationships. For this representation, the ProMap Model is proposed. The ProMap model provides three conceptual models: the resources model, the functional structure model, and the process model. The resource model is responsible to describe the static and structural aspects of an organization. The functional structure model takes an organization as a collection of primitive operations to show what an organization can do. The process model specifies cross-functional aspects of an organization. A process in the process model consists of activities and flows. Each activity is an instance of functions in the functional structure model. In this thesis, we suggest the hierarchical framework for BPR supporting tool. It consists of four levels: the basic model, analyzing tool, intelligent support system, and user interface. The basic model is the ProMap model, which is the platform for higher application such as analysis and artificial intelligence. This basic model integrates the concept of the traditional functional organization structure and that of the revolutionary cross-functional structure to enhance the advantages of two concepts, which are the continuous improvement and the radical change, respectively. In addition, the framework might give the chance for applying stepwise development of supporting facilities.