22. Business Process Design [1] (1)

22. Business Process Design [1] (1) file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/glushko/My%20Documents/Lectures/243-S2008/24...

1 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

22. Business Process Design [1]

DE + IA (INFO 243) - 7 April 2008

Bob Glushko


2 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Plan for Today's Class

Some alternative process modeling metamodels and approaches

"Service Blueprinting"

"Business Artifacts: Operational specification"

Overview of Patterns in Process Design

Adopting, Adapting, Inventing, Implementing Patterns


3 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Service Blueprinting

Blueprinting is a service design methodology for "systematically

managing the customer experience" and "promotes a conscious

decision on what consumers see and which employees should be in

contact at each moment of truth"

It is a design methodology for services that have an interface with an

actual customer through technology or interpersonal interactions, but

doesn't seem appropriate for purely computational services

Appropriate for services that are "dynamic, unfolding over time through

a sequence or constellation of events and steps"

Allows firms to visualize their service processes, points of customer

contact, and the physical evidence associated with their services from

their customers' perspective


4 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Service Blueprint for Overnight Hotel Stay


5 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Blueprinting Methodology: Activities

Identify customer types

For each customer, specify customer actions

Specify the "contact employees" and their activities

Add links that connect the customer to contact employee activities and

to needed support functions

(For services that do not have any onstage contact employee activities,

replace the employee action row and replace it with an onstage

technology row)

Add physical evidence


6 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Blueprinting Methodology: "Metamodel"


7 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

"As Is" and "To Be" Blueprints

For a new service, the blueprint should specify the desired service

For an existing service, it is useful to blueprint how the service is

currently being offered -- to identify those touch points where service

failure can occur

Also useful to create blueprints for your competitors' services, because

this makes it easy to see "service gaps" where your offerings are

inferior


8 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Blueprint Case Study - Lake Powell Houseboat Experience

Compare the blueprint for a quality hotel/resort experience with the

Lake Powell As-Is experience

The Lake Powell experience required the customers to do lots of hard

work to secure provisions and get them to the boat and then to handle

the boat

Solution was to offer a range of "concierge" and onboard support

services (boat captains, chefs) so that customers could select a high

quality experience if they wanted it


9 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Business Artifacts

All businesses produce records or artifacts...

that are "concrete, identity able, self-describing chinks of business

information

that are the evidence that the business is "working" to produce what

customers value

Other less essential artifacts are derived from these


10 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Operational Specification

The "operational specification" depicts how the artifacts are created

and manipulated in the course of doing business

Can we have a notation for "following business artifacts" that is intuitive

for a business person but formal enough to be computable?


11 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Business Artifacts in the Restaurant


12 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Business Artifacts -- Transformed View


13 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Why We Use Patterns

Assist in analysis

Expose inefficiencies

Simplify/ consolidate / remove redundancies

Encourage best practices

Enable transparent substitution


14 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

How We Use Patterns

Adopt pattern (it already fits what I do)

Adapt to pattern (change what I do to fit pattern)

Adapt pattern (change the pattern to fit what I do)

Invent new pattern (no pattern fits)

Instantiate the adopted/adapted/new pattern


15 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Patterns in Document Engineering

The essence of Document Engineering is its systematic approach for

discovering and exploiting the relationships between patterns of

different types

Working from the top down to connecting a business model to the

document/process and information component level can ensure that a

business model is feasible

Working from the bottom up to establish a business model context on

transactions and information exchanges can ensure that we are

designing and optimizing the activities that add the most value

These relationships between patterns "bridge the gap between strategy

and implementation"


16 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Patterns in the "Model Matrix"


17 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

The "Pattern Compass"


18 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

The Abstraction Hierarchy in the RosettaNet Process Pattern Repository


19 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Contextualizing Patterns

If you are in a context where there are no existing processes or

solutions, you will probably identify goal-oriented processes and more

general constraints

Your challenge will be to contextualize these general or abstract

processes by identifying and applying the constraints in your target

context(s)

You have a strategic opportunity to analyze a range of potentially

appropriate process patterns and select the one(s) that best satisfy the

abstract goals of your business model


20 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Contextualization and Innovation

So Contextualization == Innovation because you will have to make

choices about how to frame the context and satisfy abstract constraints

with specific instances

The pattern you choose will reinforce the context by emphasizing some

requirements and rules more than others

One pattern may better describe the As-IS model, but another might

provide more insight, and a better roadmap, for getting to a TO-Be

model


21 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Generalizing Patterns

In contrast, if you are evaluating or re-engineering existing processes

or solutions, you will probably identify transactional processes and

specific constraints on information components created or consumed

by the processes

To generalize is to take a more abstract view of something by

eliminating requirements or constraints, creating a less contextualized

perspective

If generalize = de-contextualize, then we can generalize by

"unapplying" the "context dimensions" from Chapter 8 and assessing

whether we can ignore the requirements they had imposed


22 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

The Context "Stack" in Document Models


23 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Generalizing Business Model Patterns

You can identify business model patterns inductively, by looking at

specific examples of businesses and factoring out repeating elements to

identify the pattern:

Bank in supermarket

Fast food franchise in supermarket

Post office in supermarket

==> Complementary product or service for supermarket customers

"plugged into" supermarket

==> Complementary product or service for customers of business type

X plugged into type X establishment


24 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Conceptual Model Innovation vs Physical Model Innovation

This kind of innovation through generalization is most effective when

done at the conceptual, pre-implementation phases of a project

When it comes to implementation, you find that lots of application

software is optimized for very concrete business models. So you'll find

software for running book stores, department stores, movie theaters,

not "software for selling" -- the contextualization is built in and not

easily removed

But on the other hand, it is usually easier to see the contextualization in

the physical model if you compare different implementations


25 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

(Cooking) Recipe Patterns

A recipe describes both objects and structures (ingredients) and the

processes (cooking instructions) for creating a food dish

Recipes are typically written with narrow scope to describe how to

make specific dishes


26 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Pizza Patterns


27 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Using Pizza Patterns

What granularity of a pizza recipe is best for teaching new employees

at a pizza franchise?

What granularity is best for differentiating pizza varieties and

recognizing possibilities for new ones?

What granularity is most likely to reveal that making pizza and making

bread have something in common, yielding the hybrid model of

focaccia?


28 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Following Recipes Exactly:Implementations as Patterns

Sometimes we want to replicate a process exactly as it has been

implemented somewhere else

This means we want to apply a physical model rather than a

conceptual one and will use the same implementation technology and

the specific values that fill the roles and activities in the source process

When would we want to do this?

What are the costs and benefits of using implementations as patterns?


29 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

"Process Rituals" and "Document Relics"

At the time it is done, exact copying can seem easy because it isn't

necessary to understand the underlying requirements and conceptual

models embodied in the solution being copied

But when the copied implementation needs to change, as it inevitably

does, this lack of understanding of "what's really going on" makes it

harder to know how to revise and improve it

So sometimes processes and information models persist even though

they are no longer serving much purpose


30 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

The Flavor Principle Cookbook (aka "EthnicCooking")

The "flavor principle cookbook" by Elisabeth Rozin, who analyzed 30

cultures and sub-cultures to determine what patterns of flavors and

spices characterize different cuisines, presents "recipes" at an abstract

level to guide experimentation and culinary innovation

e.g., Oriental cooking dominated by soy sauce (China, Japan, Korea,

Indonesia) and fish sauce (Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Burma)

Indonesia: soy sauce, brown sugar, peanut, chile

Provence: olive oil, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, sage, tomato

Northeast Africa: garlic, cumin, mint


31 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Adopting Patterns

"If a pattern fits, use it" sounds like reasonable advice

But how do we assess the "fit" of a pattern?

Is it easier to adopt a pattern if there is no "As-Is" model?

How does the abstractness of the pattern affect its applicability and fit?


32 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Model from Scratch, or Adapt a Pattern?


33 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

The Process of Pattern Selection

Choosing a pattern is an iterative process

Whenever there is "business" going on almost by definition that means

there are buyers and sellers, or producers and consumers. So we can

apply that pattern to almost every situation to gain insights.

Who has the power, the buyer or seller?

Who can set standards or terms/conditions in the relationships? (who

can choose the pattern?)

Who is the authoritative source of the information involved?

What kinds of products or goods are being "sold"


34 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Applying Patterns to Achieve Insight

Sometimes we can get new insights about a business problem or

inefficiency by trying to apply a pattern to a context substantially

different from its usual one

We aren't likely to find a pattern that can serve as a To-Be model,

because we might have to make analogical or even metaphorical

assignments of activities and roles

This is a brainstorming or "thinking outside the box" technique


35 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Different Ways to Frame the Application of Patterns

SELECT A PATTERN – "here are some observations about the

university - classes and majors are oversubscribed, some classes are

underenrolled... how could you eliminate or reduce these problems?"

INSTANTIATE A PATTERN – "how is the university like a supply chain

and marketplace?"

EVALUATE AN INSTANTIATED PATTERN – "can the university be

viewed as a marketplace operator that indirectly distributes degrees

manufactured by a school or department?"


36 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Adapting to Patterns

If a pattern almost fits, you can change the pattern slightly so it fits your

specific requirements or you can change your requirements so that the

pattern fits exactly

How do you decide?


37 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

The Cost of Adaptation

"Differentiation that does not drive customer preference is a liability"

What are the costs for employees if a pattern is adapted?

What are the costs for customers if a pattern is adapted?

how do these costs change over the life cycle of the

product/service/process?


38 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Adapting a Pattern

A pattern might be specified in terms of roles or elements that can be

instantiated in different ways

When does an adaptation become a pattern in its own right?

We might adapt a recipe by applying a different set of flavor principles

to an old one

We would be inventing a new recipe if we were to come up with a new

combination of spices to create a new flavor principle


39 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Summary

Best practices in Document Engineering require and reinforce the

identification and reuse of patterns of information exchange of different

levels of granularity and abstraction

Patterns can be reused exactly, adapted to, adapted, or changed

significantly in their application

Each of these approaches has its benefits and liabilities


40 of 40 4/7/2008 8:01 AM

Readings For April 9

Some Reading TBD about the Design Structure Matrix

"RosettaNet for Intel’s Trading Entity Automation" J. Cartwright, J.

Hahn-Steichen, J. He and T. Miller. Intel Technology Journal (August

2005)

"Combining RFID Technology and Business Intelligence for Supply

Chain Optimization – Scenarios for Retail Logistics." Henning Baars,

Hans-Georg Kemper, Heiner Lasi, and Marc Siegel. Proceedings of the

41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (January

2008)

"Personalization Technologies: A Process-Oriented Perspective"

Adomavicius, G. & Tuzhulin, A. Communications of the ACM 48(10)

(October 2005.)

22. Business Process Design [1] (1)

Documents

Transcript of 22. Business Process Design [1] (1)