Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter V
Metrics for
Workfl ow Design:
How an Information
Processing View on
Business Processes Helps
to Make Good Designs
Hajo A. Reijers, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands
ABSTRACT
On the way to process automation, an important issue is the defi nition of the various ac-
tivities or work tasks within the respective business process. Design decisions on this issue
considerably affect business performance. Several guidelines known in the area of workfl ow
management exist, but do not give the inexperienced workfl ow designer much to hold on to.
This chapter introduces a cohesion metric that can be used for the identifi cation of weakly
cohesive activities in a workfl ow design. Also, a heuristic is presented that is based on this
cohesion metric to decide between various workfl ow design alternatives. A theoretical and
an empirical evaluation are included in this chapter, both positively supporting the sound-
ness of the metric. The inspiration for the introduced notion is derived from similar cohesion
metrics in software engineering.
INTRODUCTION
Workfl ow management projects typically start with the design of a business process.
This usually results in a model of the process as a network of related activities. After the
