José Luís Pereira

Business Process Modeling Languages: A Comparative Framework

Underlying any Business Process Management (BPM) project is the need to represent business processes, using an appropriate language. In this paper, based on a thorough review of the relevant literature, we made a comparative analysis of five business process modeling languages, widely used in the context of BPM projects. The main objective is to understand the strengths and major limitations of each one, in order to draw a comparative perspective between them. For this purpose, we have created a comparative framework in which each one of the languages are characterized regarding a number of relevant criteria. Finally, a prototype specifically developed to support this framework, is presented. The purpose of this prototype is to assist users in choosing a suitable business process modeling language, according to their specific needs.

Simulation of BPMN Process Models: Current BPM Tools Capabilities

Nowadays, more and more organizations are using Business Process Management (BPM) to prepare themselves to deal, in an effective way, with the increasingly difficult conditions of modern markets. Essential to BPM is the collection of tools which support the operationalization of the business process concept—BPM tools. These tools deal with business process models, which have to be described with a suitable language. In the present, BPMN is considered the standard modeling language to describe business processes. Once a business process is modeled, a process simulation approach might be used in order to find its optimized version. Therefore, the simulation of business process models, such as those defined in BPMN, appears as an obvious way of improving processes. This paper advances work previously published by the authors regarding BPM tools capabilities in terms of the simulation of BPMN process models. In this context a platform to support the characterization of BPM tools regarding process simulation capabilities has been developed. This platform might be helpful to users who want to select the most adequate BPM tool regarding their simulation needs.

Decision Support in Big Data Contexts: A Business Intelligence Solution

In the last few years we all have witnessed an enormous growth in the production of data. According to some estimates, ninety percent of the existing world’s data was created over the past two years! Indeed, we are in the era of Big Data which is characterized by the continuous creation of vast amounts of data, originated from different sources, and with different formats. First, with the rise of smart devices, mobile applications, cloud computing, and social networks and, more recently, with the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), data with enormous potential for organizations is being continuously generated. In order to be more competitive, organizations want to access and explore all the richness that is present in those data, which is the main purpose of Business Intelligence. In this paper we continue the presentation of an experiment in which data obtained from a NoSQL database (database technology explicitly developed to deal with the specificities of Big Data) is used to feed a Business Intelligence solution.

Task allocation in Business Processes supported by BPMS: Optimization perspectives

By default, in the execution of processes supported by BPMS (Business Processes Management System) any task requiring human intervention is delivered to all the persons registered on the corresponding “role”. This article argues that in order to optimize the execution of work in organizations it is necessary to conciliate the characteristics of the tasks to be performed and the social and human aspects of the people who may perform them. In this sense the BPMS, while managing the execution of organizational processes, should be prepared to select the human resources which are more suitable to perform each task, taking into account their own characteristics, and those of the people who can accomplish them.

Exploring Data Analytics of Data Variety.

The Internet allows organizations managers access to large amounts of data, and this data are presented in different formats, i.e., data variety, namely structured, semi-structured and unstructured. Based on the Internet, this data variety is partly derived from social networks, but not only, machines are also capable of sharing information among themselves, or even machines with people. The objective of this paper is to understand how to retrieve information from data analysis with data variety. An experiment was carried out, based on a dataset with two distinct data types, images and comments on cars. Techniques of data analysis were used, namely Natural Language Processing to identify patterns, and Sentimental and Emotional Analysis. The image recognition technique was used to associate a car model with a category. Next, OLAP cubes and their visualization through dashboards were created. This paper concludes that it is possible to extract a set of relevant information, namely identifying which cars people like more/less, among other information.

Improving Work Allocation Practices in Business Processes Supported by BPMS.

BPMS (Business Process Management Systems) are responsible for the execution of business process models, by delivering work activities to suitable agents (human or automatisms) that execute them. During the design-time, modelers have to specify the potential performers of a work activity according to their organizational position or role. Once several workers may share the same role, during run-time all of them can be assigned by BPMS to execute a work activity. However, distinct persons have different personality traits and, in a specific piece of work (for instance, requiring special teamwork skills), some of them can perform better than others. Addressing a gap in theory and practice of BPMS, in this paper we present a new approach that enables BPMS to assign (in run-time) the most suitable workers to perform specific work activities, grounded on the concept of psychological profile and taking into account technical, human and social aspects.

Baby Steps in E-Health: Internet of Things in a Doctor’s Office

IoT is a very common buzzword in e-Health because the creation of new and better healthcare services are possible through technology-push. There are great expectations in using IoT in healthcare, but most studies describe very futuristic and disruptive solutions for the healthcare real world. In a near future these solutions could be implemented, but now we need some “baby steps” to reach an e-Health with IoT technology. In this paper it is presented a solution to transform a doctor’s office in an IoT office by helping the doctor attend a patien. This solution has impact in the doctor’s work because (s)he has a limited time to attend a patient and a big part of this time is spent writing the results of the appointment in a computer record - the electronic patient record. By other hand the patient improve their experience because the doctor will give them more attention and care.

Business Process Simulation Models: The (Re)Use of Simulation Components

Depending on the complexity of organizational processes, the development of process simulation models might be a very demanding activity in which simulation professionals describe business processes using a specific simulation language. Besides being a difficult and error prone activity, process simulation modelling is also a major reason why simulation projects have a tendency to take too much time to be accomplished. In an effort to contribute to improve the situation, in this paper we present an approach in which previously developed process simulation components are used in the context of simulation projects. Using this approach, new process simulation models are developed in a component-based fashion by simply selecting pieces of simulation functionality from a repository of process simulation components, which were previously developed and properly tested. As an example, by taking advantage of the componentization mechanisms available in a specific simulation tool, we have developed a small set of process simulation components which were stored in a repository and then used in the development of a new business process simulation model.

Performance appraisal approaches and methods for IT/IS projects: a review

In increasingly demanding environments, organizations need to manage their human resources effectively, as these are fundamental to their success. Therefore, it is important to improve the performance of these resources by conducting systematic evaluations and by collecting information on their productivity, training needs, and individual and team performance. In the context of Information Technologies/Information Systems (IT/IS) projects, there is not much research work focused on human resources performance evaluation. This paper aims to fill this gap by reviewing approaches and methods for performance appraisal, which can be successfully applied in IT/IS projects. Are presented approaches and methods focused on: personality; behaviors; comparison; and outcomes/results.

Process-Based Information Systems Development: Taking Advantage of a Component-Based Infrastructure

Abstract Background: Owing to the highly competitive business environment in which contemporary organizations have to operate, a quick and effective way of developing and maintaining information systems is of utmost importance to their success. Obviously, the computerized information systems that support the everyday operations and management of organizations play a critical role in their competitiveness. For that reason, nowadays, more than ever, information systems have to be quickly developed, rapidly reconfigured, and easily maintained. Objectives: We aim to define a technological infrastructure, accompanied by a set of methodological development requirements, which might help to fulfil those needs. Methods/Approach: In this work, we followed a Design Science Research (DSR) approach. Results: We propose a specific IT infrastructure, inspired by the concept of a business process and using the functionalities provided by collaborative and workflow technologies, which allows the development of distributed IT solutions, Process-Based Information Systems (PBIS), in a component-based fashion. In the context of PBIS, we also propose a set of development requirements. Conclusions: We claim that Process-Based Information Systems allow organizations to evolve quickly and smoothly in face of changing business requirements, facilitating the integration of existing and future IT artefacts, while simplifying the overall development and maintenance effort of information systems.