Coupling Object-Oriented and Workflow Modelling in Business and Information Process Reengineering

Abstract

The focus of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) on the process concept puts forth the need for consistent methods and techniques for the capture, representation and performance assessment of business processes. In addition, Information Process Reengineering (IPR), i.e., the analysis of how to use legacy and new information systems to automate and support the reengineered business processes, requires the development of information process models, that are consistent, transparent and coherent with the business process models. Although the object-oriented approach seems to be the most suitable for a common process modelling scheme, it lacks significant attributes that would model the specificities of the business domain. In order to tackle this problem, the present paper develops a coupled modelling framework, that integrates an object-oriented method (Object Modelling Technique, OMT) and a business workflow analysis method (Action Workflow Analysis, AWA). The application of the framework to a banking case-study proves its usefulness and practicality.