Business Process Modeling - Case Study Example

Business Process Modeling Executive Summary The challenges companies face in handling their internal process may sometimes be overwhelming. The managements may be forced to seek for an external assistance; a professional expert who may provide them with consultative services to help it address some of these issues. Such companies include the Seamless Service Provision (SSP). Basically, they deal with issues related to personnel management, as well as those involving the economic stability of the client firms they are assisting. It is worth noting that these issues are not only experienced in the private sector. SSP extends their services even to the public sectors in which they commonly deal with matters to do with invoicing among others within the Australian economy. Financial processing is usually very critical and the more reliable the customer perceives the company, the more the trust. It is, therefore, essential that firms handle their financial processes such as invoicing in a more accurate, efficient and reliable manner that can meet the satisfaction of the customers. This is the reason why SSP is restructuring its operations to meet these goals having received myriad complains from its customers. In order to attain this objective, process modelling is identifiably the most significant method that can be used. Technically, the method uses visual analysis and design to gain insight into the challenging process with the application of Business Process Model and Notation (language). This technique is vital in evaluating the status of the SSP and recommending what can be done to enhance the future. This report aims at comprehensively evaluating two processes that can help address the issues of the SSP. Initially, a choreography illustration is presented to demonstrate the relationship SSP has with its primary stakeholders such as the clients. The second diagram is a more sophisticated demonstration of the collaboration SSP has in its operation. It critically analysis how process run within the firm and how invoices (as at now) move in straight into the company. In a nutshell, the above mentioned process models are meant to determine how SSP invoicing system functions and contextualize the relationships/interactions the organization has with the primary entities. Moreover, this report assesses governance of SSP through lenses of ‘governance structure and model conventions’. To gain a deep understanding of the nuances of the functional processes and value chain activities going on the company, a functional matrix is applied. It is virtually possible to unfold some of the coordination and interaction processes between different systems in the firm if the governance structure is evaluated. In this report, Signavio has been deployed as a method of determining the value chain activities and understand the streaming of data from one system to the other. Purposefully, process modelling has been utilized since it allows for an accurate evaluation of the internal process going through in the organization and show how best they can be enhanced. 2. Introduction This report is a wide-ranging analysis that is presenting a deep insight into the issues surrounding process modelling of Seamless Service Provision (SSP). It aims at providing an insightful investigation on SSP’s process models and outline some of the pertinent questions that should be solved achieve better future outcomes. It seeks to conduct this using BPMN 2.0 as a standardized tool for this investigation. With a workforce of about seven hundred, SSP commitment to offer financial and personnel resource services to clients within the Australian economy has seen it gain recognition. Amongst the many services this company offers include direct invoice processing. It is practically the ‘middleman’ between the client and the paying company. SSP verifies the invoice it receives from the customers and pay them out to the customers. However, therefore, have been various criticisms raised concerning the whole invoice process that SSP engages in. Customers have expressed their dissatisfaction on the services the company offers. Most of the clients are especially concerned about the undependability of SSP when it comes to processing of the direct invoices forwarded to the company. Issues of late payment or sometime errors in approximation makes the customers lose trust in the organization. This is a major challenge the firm is currently faced with as many loses are incurred hence the need to make some changes that can steer the company to success. Process model is essential for this company as it will unfold and reveal the exact happenings in the organization. It is easy, with process model, to have an understanding of the processes that are going through within an organization and shed light on some of the areas that are not working up to the expectation. The company is able to make modifications and share this information with the employees who handle these processes every day. There is a dire need to first understand how the various components of SSP as a system interact and relate to each other. This coordination is very important to have a deep knowledge of if the process is to be comprehensively addressed. The interaction between SSP and other parties is very vital in having a holistic view of the exact situation in the company. This is addressed and summarized in the choreography diagram. Once this is done and the interactions amongst different parties have been determined, it is possible to understand the flow of processes in a higher scale. This is illustrated in a collaboration diagram. SSP requires the information about how its direct invoices are processed in order to identify some of the inadequacies that require adjustments. In the end, governance model is overviewed and convention model well discussed in regard to SSP and this gives an understanding of the overall relations, in a more hypothetical way, among the various elements found in the organization. 3. Governance Model Governance Structure Spelling out the function of each participant in any activity is a prerequisite if any good outcome is to be achieved. Since most activities that are tentatively addressed require laid down procedure and criteria, setting rules and regulations becomes a necessity. Good decision making and problem solving requires deliberate efforts in which every party involved knows what is expected of them and how to go about their processes. Governance model is a scheme of work that defines and describes how the task is to be processed, rules to follow, who to do what and how relationships are developed collaboratively between the team and the outside community. Process Architecture This is activity that involves customers transacting with the company. Customers provide their direct invoices to the company so they may be confirmed/certified and paid out. The roles in this stage can be illustrated diagrammatically as follows: Function SSP Collects invoices Authenticates Disburse compensation Files records after payment Client Directs invoice to SSP Vendor Delivers invoice to the client Table: Indicating roles and activities that are conducted in Process Architecture Departments within SSP Structurally, the firm is segmented into different departments that perform different functions Incoming Mail Centre This unit is specifically staked to obtain invoices from the clients and forward them to the administration for further processing. Admin Officers This department is involved with organizing and categorizing the received invoices based on their details. In cases where some particular details are found to be missing, it is this department that square with the clients. Data Entry Department This entity performs duties of entering details of the invoices received into the records. They put the invoices in the systems for referencing and record purposes. Validation Office This is the verification office that certifies if the invoices’ information are accurate and should be paid. They write a report concerning the particular invoices indicating whether the invoices are error-free or not. In case of any mistakes, the invoices are re-evaluated to rectify the faults. Registry It is the center where the invoices are collected once validation has been done as they await payment. Payment Office This is the department charged with the responsibility of delivering payments to the clients and once it has done this, it writes and notifies the three departments involved to update the status of the paid invoices (clients, registry and the accounts). Diagrammatic illustration of Functional Matrix of SSP: Client Invoice with Purchase Order Invoice without Purchase Order Management Level Tactical Procedures Process/Operations Level Obtaining Invoices X Organizing and Categorizing X Allotting and Inserting X Scrutinizing X Paying X Archiving X Support Level IT (SAP) X HR Table: Showing Functional Matrix As a value chain, the business strata can be demonstrated as follows to indicate the sophisticated processes that occur in SSP firm: As seen above, value chain has diverse functions that include receiving, registering, validating, paying and arching invoice. It is worth noting that the above functions have several other diverse activities that support then. The processes and activities that regard the interactions between among varied components within the organization can be viewed in a nonconcrete angle in the figure below: Modelling Conventions In reference to the provided figures, there a number of constant conditions that have been observed in the documentation and these include: The names have been restricted to less than five words. As seen, the streaming of data is developed from the left-hand side to the right excluding for the twists. Information is represented as an Object. There is a necessity for a ‘Verb-Object’ (representing the activities) Events are used as Object in their past participle forms. The set rules(conditions) regards the Objects There is minimization of elements utilized in the process Time events are determined by the problem and the available time The model is required to be well formatted highly Reduce the routing trails for every element and even ignore any if possible For those with more than thirty components, breakdown is required. Recommended the use of Signavio 4. Reflection The standardized BPMN 2.0 is a valuable tool in evaluating the internal process that happen in firms. It allows interested parties to understand the elusive processes and organization go through in its service delivery. It is undoubtable that it as myriad benefits in exposing the issues challenge efficient performance within an organization. However, it also has various drawbacks touching on its depiction to structural composition. For the case of SSP, there was a hitch in flow of process and the interaction among different units. BPMN 2.0 has been able to expose some of these problems and enabled an understanding of the points that has hampered effective relation between SSP and other parties. However, it has not been sufficient in depicting the exact state of the snags SSP is experiencing. For example, choreography does not demonstrate the interdepartmental information transfer. Based on what has been evaluated, it is recommended that the organization should adopt a hierarchical system in order to achieve more efficiency (Allweyer, 2009, p. 121). Consequently, since BPMN 2.0 is composed of several events that may be confusing, it is also recommended that they be reduced to a number that is easily comprehendible by the analysts and this can be done using sequence flows in lieu of the message flows as in the above case. It is also in order if colors used in choreography be scrapped off. Instead, numbers can be representatively used for these matters. These are probable problems that may develop due to the inflexibility of this standards scale especially when a company needs to make abrupt changes. The sub processes may not be able to absorb the shock of radical changes an organization indulges. In conclusion, there are several advantages and benefits that BPMN 2. 0 brings in understanding and correcting challenges that come with processes. However, the notation drawback is overwhelmingly a big thorn in the flesh that requires remedy. There is the need to make modifications that can help protect the organization when changes are made. Reference Allweyer, T. (2009). BPMN 2.0 - Business process modeling notation. Norderstedt: Books on Demand. Read More