Business Process Management
Professors Vassiliki Koufi
Course category CM/SDS
Course ID DS-530
Credits 5
Lecture hours 3 hours
Lab hours 2 hours
Digital resources View on Aristarchus (Open e-Class)

Learning Outcomes

The objective of this course is to present fundamental principles of Business Process Management (BPM) and to study various methods and techniques for analyzing, modeling, automating, executing and optimizing business processes. The course will incorporate a laboratory component with well-known BPM software tools that allow students to practice some of the principles addressed.

Upon successful completion of this course student will be able to:

  • Create business process models by using BPMN based modelling tools
  • Execute business processes by using Business Process Management Systems
  • Analyze the performance of existing business processes and improve business processes that are not sufficient according to certain criteria
  • Create business process management strategies and business processes implementation plans within organizations

Course Content

  1. Business process definition, intra- and inter-organizational processes. Process-oriented organizations. Build processes’ business models. Virtual enterprises. Business processes and workflows.
  2. Process analysis techniques. Qualitative process analysis (e.g. Pareto analysis, value-added analysis, root-cause analysis). Quantitative process analysis (e.g. queuing analysis, simulation). Performance metrics (time, cost, quality).
  3. BPM life cycle. Discover, analyze, model, monitor, map, simulate, deploy. Business Process Reengineering-BPR and Business Process Improvement- BPI methodologies. Business Process modeling tools.
  4. The BPMN standard for business process modelling.
  5. Business process automation. Conceptual and executable process models.
  6. Business Processes Management Systems-BPMS (e.g. structure, architecture, standards).
  7. Process and activity life cycles. Workflow-based applications.
  8. Business processes and workflows, workflow categories, workflow dimensions, workflow management, workflow functional requirements, workflow specifications and execution languages.
  9. Workflow management using a specific BPMS software tool.
  10. Process Analytics. Metrics for evaluating business processes’ performance. Monitoring of standard metrics and process specific, user dined metrics.
  11. BPM methodologies (e.g. Six Sigma, Lean).
  12. Service-oriented and process-oriented information systems.

Suggested Bibliography

  • John Jeston and Johan Nelis (2008): Business Process Management, Second Edition: Practical Guidelines to Successful Implementations, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston, ISBN: 0750669217.
  • Artie Mahal (2010): How Work Gets Done: Business Process Management, Basics and Beyond, Technics Publications, New Jersey, ISBN: 193550407.
  • Matias Weske, (2010): Business Process Management: Concepts, Languages, Architectures, Springer, New York, ISBN: 3642092640.
  • Simha Magal and Jeffry Word (2009): Essentials of Business Processes and Information Systems, Wiley, New York, ISBN: 0470418540.
  • Howard Smith and Peter Fingar (2003): Business Process Management: The third wave. Meghan Kiffer, ISBN: 0929652339.
  • Mark McDonald, (2010): Improving Business Processes, Harvard Business Review Press, Boston, ISBN: 142212973.
  • Business process management Journal, Emerald.
  • International Journal of Business Process Integration and management, Inderscience Publishers.