Making Sense of What Is Going On: Process Modeling for Exploring Operations Solutions

摘要

To facilitate the management and improvement of business operations, this paper elaborates on process modelling for exploring operations solutions. "Operations solutions" is used as a general term encompassing the different ways a business creates value for its stakeholders. The first half of the paper outlines different operations solutions that can be distinguished in a business as possible topics of exploration. In the second half of the paper, different process-modelling techniques are analysed and contrasted. Resulting from the analysis, two key differences among the techniques are discussed in the light of the core elements of operations solutions. The first difference concerns the focus on behaviour vs. transformation; the second concerns the focus on needs vs. supplies. Together, the range of operations solutions and the characteristics of particular process-modelling techniques contribute to the sense made of what is going on in a business.