Susanne Leist

Evaluation of current architecture frameworks

With the growing importance of enterprise architecture the discussion about how to create or choose the right enterprise architecture framework for a specific organization arose quickly. But it is not only a question of choosing the right framework for describing or developing an enterprise architecture. It is more important to discover whether the chosen architecture framework meets the defined requirements or not. In this paper, we describe which requirements currently existing architecture frameworks should meet to constitute a useful procedure that enables to develop, describe and keep up an enterprise architecture. Our evaluation of current frameworks shows their lacks and identifies further improvement.

The process map as an instrument to standardize processes: design and application at a financial service provider

The standardization of processes and the identification of shared business services in a service-oriented architecture (SOA) are currently widely discussed. Above all in practice, however, there still is a lack of appropriate instruments to support these tasks. In this paper an approach for a process map is introduced which allows for a systematic presentation—as complete as possible—of the processes in an enterprise (division). After a consistent refinement of the process has taken place by means of aggregation/disaggregation respectively, generalization/specialization relations, it is possible to identify primarily functional similarities of the detailed sub-processes. The application of the process map at a financial service provider (FSP) highlights how these similarities can be taken as a basis to standardize processes and to identify shared services.

A Six Sigma approach for integrated solutions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a proposed Six Sigma approach for integrated solutions of goods and services.Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper follows the principles of design research in developing a Six Sigma approach for integrated solutions. The approach is tested in practice in the context of a financial services company in the automotive industry.Findings – The study demonstrates that the differential characteristics of service processes and manufacturing processes must be taken into account when developing a Six Sigma approach for integrated solutions. Evaluation of the proposed approach in cooperation with a financial services company reveals considerable benefits.Research limitations/implications – The detailed description of the approach is limited to the “Define” phase of the Six Sigma program. Moreover, the proposed approach is tested in only one setting; its application in other settings should be an objective for future research.Practical implications – Th...

Six sigma as a business process management method in services: analysis of the key application problems

Apart from being applied in production, Six Sigma has grown considerably in importance as a business process management (BPM) method in services. The transfer of the method from production to service applications does, however, pose problems which affect the success of implementing Six Sigma as a BPM method in services. For a successful application of the Six Sigma method in services it is helpful to know these possible problems in order to be able to avoid them and to achieve the goals of Six Sigma improvement projects. In addition from a theoretical view knowing the problems is a first step for further development of the Six Sigma method. Therefore, the present article deals with the following questions: which key problems regarding the application of Six Sigma in services are mentioned in the literature and which phases of the Six Sigma cycle can they be assigned to? The existing literature on this subject is reviewed and a qualitative content analysis of its contents is presented. Additionally, a survey based on the problems found in the literature is conducted to compare theory and practice. The evaluation of the results shows, on the one hand, that to date the problems of the application of Six Sigma in services have little been dealt with. On the other hand the evaluation provides a survey of the problems structured in accordance to the phases of the Six Sigma cycle. Thus, the present paper offers new findings as regards the state-of-the-art of the Six Sigma method.

Success factors in process performance management

Purpose – Although process performance management (PPM), doubtlessly contributes to the increase of business performance, it has been given only little attention to date. The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of what constitutes successful PPM and to identify critical success factors in PPM.Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted two complementary literature reviews – a representative literature review to get an overview of possible success factors, and an extended literature review to identify detailed success factor items. To increase the reliability of the success factors, a multiple case‐study was additionally conducted.Findings – In the first literature review – the representative one – 11 success factors of PPM were identified, to which several detailed PPM success factor items could be identified in the extended literature review. Obviously, the success factor “information quality” is much more mentioned in literature than factors regarding “process quality” or ...

Finanzdienstleistungen im Informationszeitalter — Vision, Referenzmodell und Transformation

Das Bankgeschaft unterliegt in den letzten Jahren einem Strukturwandel, der sich insbesondere im Retailbereich mit enorm hoher Geschwindigkeit vollzieht. Ursachen auf nationaler Ebene sind dafur einerseits die zunehmende Wettbewerbsdynamik, die sich aufgrund der gesattigten Inlandsmarkte, neue Entwicklungen der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien und des branchenubergreifenden Wettbewerbs (Allfinanzkonzept) ergibt sowie andererseits die Verschiebung der Kundenbedurfnisse (Choi 1997, S. 1). Der sogenannte Wertewandel beim Kunden stellt dabei eine besondere Herausforderung fur die Banken dar. Wahrend die Anspruche des Kunden bezuglich der (Beratungs-)Qualitat sowie der Flexibilitat und Verfugbarkeit des Dienstleistungsangebotes stetig steigen, sinkt gleichzeitig die Loyalitat der Kunden gegenuber der eigenen Bank. Letzteres wird durch den Aspekt verstarkt, dass ein Wechsel der Banken durch die Inanspruchnahme beispielsweise von Direktbanken fur den Kunden deutlich einfacher geworden und meist mit weniger Kosten verbunden ist.

Bankenarchitektur des Informationszeitalters - Zielsetzung und Gestaltungsebenen

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein Architekturvorschlag fur das Retail Banking vorgestellt, der dem Kompetenzzentrum “Bankenarchitekturen im Informationszeitalter“ zugrunde liegt. Die Architektur umfasst Gestaltungsebenen (Geschafts-, Prozess- und Applikationsebene), denen jeweils Zustandsund Vorgehensmodelle zugeordnet sind. Die Zielsetzung des Beitrages besteht darin, die Gestaltungsebenen und in einem ersten Ansatz die Modelle aus der kritischen Diskussion alternativer Architekturvorschlage heraus zu entwickeln.

Service Integrators in business networks—the importance of relationship values

To realise the potentials of CRM (customer relationship management), relationship-specific processes need to be designed and implemented in companies. This is all the more important and complicated in business networks where two or more actors collaborate to serve the customers. A good collaboration within business networks is the basis for understanding the customer process and identifying customer needs. But, even in these days of customer orientation, transaction orientation is still a matter of strong interest, and the following questions remain to be answered: What is the difference between relationship-oriented processes and transaction-oriented processes, and how can relationship-oriented processes be designed for a business network? The authors give first answers to both questions by using a systematic, goal-oriented specialisation of generic actions. To give an example, one relationship-oriented process will be designed and specified for a certain customer process in the course of this paper.

Bankenarchitekturen im Informationszeitalter - Zur Rolle des Geschäftsmodells

Deregulierte Markte, anspruchsvollere Kunden, variantenreiche Produkte, Eindringen neuer Wettbewerber, Zusammenwachsen von Bank- und Versicherungsleistungen und vieles mehr sind Zeichen eines nachhaltigen und tiefgreifenden Strukturwandels auf dem Bankenmarkt, der sich insbesondere im Retailbereich mit enorm hoher Geschwindigkeit vollzieht.

Wand and Weber’s Decomposition Model in the Context of Business Process Modeling

Whereas the benefits of decomposing process models are obvious, the question what actually characterizes a “good” decomposition of a business process model has been given little attention to date. In addition, the process of decomposition itself is considered as being an “art” in literature. Our approach for achieving a “good” decomposition is Wand and Weber’s decomposition model for information systems. As a first step in our investigation we aim to explore in how far the decomposition model can be adapted for business process modeling at all. The potential this model might bear for evaluating decompositions of process models has been promoted in literature quite often, while a corresponding investigation is still missing. We address this gap by the following research. In the long term, we intend to establish guidelines for decomposing business process models in a structured way.