Title: Using ontology for the representational analysis of process modelling techniques

Authors: Michael Rosemann, Jan Recker, Peter F. Green, Marta Indulska

Addresses: Faculty of Science and Technology, Queensland University of Technology, 126 Margaret Street, Brisbane QLD 4000, Australia. ' Faculty of Science and Technology, Queensland University of Technology, 126 Margaret Street, Brisbane QLD 4000, Australia. ' UQ Business School, University of Queensland, 11 Salisbury Road, Ipswich QLD 4305, Australia. ' UQ Business School, University of Queensland, 11 Salisbury Road, Ipswich QLD 4305, Australia

Abstract: Selecting an appropriate business process modelling technique forms an important task within the methodological challenges of a business process management project. While a plethora of available techniques has been developed over the last decades, there is an obvious shortage of well-accepted reference frameworks that can be used to evaluate and compare the capabilities of the different techniques. Academic progress has been made at least in the area of representational analyses that use ontology as a benchmark for such evaluations. This paper reflects on the comprehensive experiences with the application of a model based on the Bunge ontology in this context. A brief overview of the underlying research model characterises the different steps in such a research project. A comparative summary of previous representational analyses of process modelling techniques over time gives insights into the relative maturity of selected process modelling techniques. Based on these experiences suggestions are made as to where ontology-based representational analyses could be further developed and what limitations are inherent to such analyses.

Keywords: business process management; BPM; representational analysis; ontology; business process modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPIM.2009.032282

International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management, 2009 Vol.4 No.4, pp.251 - 265

Published online: 28 Mar 2010 *

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