RDBPM 2013 Abstracts

Short Papers
Short Papers
Paper Nr: 1
Title:

Business Analytics - Analysis of an Emerging Concept
Authors:

Marcos Paulo Valadares de Oliveira, Claudia Xavier Cavalcanti and Marcelo Bronzo Ladeira
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a scientometric research on Business Analytics concept aiming to analyze the literature in a quantitative and descriptive way. In order to develop this research, it was conducted a literature review considering all papers that had the term “Business Analytics” in the title and which were published from 2002 to 2012. The findings presented in this paper are based on 155 papers found, being 137 identified as publications in IT and business magazines and just a few number of articles a total of 23 articles were published in academic journals. The findings corroborate that BA is becoming very well known among a large number of companies worldwide, being applied in order to improve business process performance. Since BA concept is in an embryonic state, more researches should be conducted in order to build a more robust literature under the realm of business administration considering the scarcity of empirical articles in reputable academic journals.
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Paper Nr: 2
Title:

Using Stocks and Flows Diagrams to Understand Business Process Behavior
Authors:

Timo Itälä and Mika Helenius
Abstract: Business Process Modeling has over the years focused in the activities and the logic how work gets done. That is reflected in the modeling notations like BPMN, which show the sequence of activities, their performers and the different paths each instance of the process can take. However, the performance of an organization and its business processes are measured aggregating the flow of the results of single process instances. Often the flows are not running smoothly but there are variations, delays, accumulations and other phenomena, which can be causes for the processes not to meet their expected performance levels. Therefore understanding the behavior of the business process over time is critical for any improvement initiative. In this paper we show how stocks and flows diagrams can be used to model business processes and how that model can be simulated to understand its behavior over time. Simulations can help in revealing the critical points to remove bottlenecks and improve the overall performance of the processes. First we a simple introduction to modeling business processes using stocks and flows diagrams. The we describe a real life case using stocks and flows models and simulation to reveal a problem and proposing a solution in health care environment.
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Paper Nr: 3
Title:

Performance Indicators and their Relationship with Organizational Strategy - A Study in Brazilian Companies

Authors:

Rosimeire Pimentel Gonzaga, Antonio Thadeu Mattos da Luz, Flávia de Araújo e Silva and Marcos Paulo Valadares de Oliveira
Abstract: The institutional mission declared by an organization can be taken as baseline for management as well as a mechanism for communicating its objectives and organizational strategies. In a complementary fashion, performance indicators support the evaluation of the processes aimed to execute companies specific strategies. Thus, the present study sought, through an empirical quantitative approach, test the hypothesis of the performance indicators used by a company is associated with the content of the mission it declares. A sample of 85 Brazilian companies listed in BM&FBovespa’s IbrX Index was used. Data has been extracted from the mandatory reference reports issued annually by companies and from its institutional sites. For examination of the data, the technique of content analysis was used in order to identify the characteristics present in the missions reported by the companies studied. Further, the logistic regression was used to test the association between the variables studied. In the context analyzed, no evidence of association between the characteristics of the missions reported by the companies and the performance indicators used by them was observed in the results. The results found contradict, in part, the logic and theory of organizations management control, especially regarding the congruence amongst the objectives that must be pursued, including the alignment of what an organization declared as being relevant in its mission with the indicators it uses to evaluate its performance. Finally, Business Process Management (BPM) is discussed as a fundamental support for the definition of performance indicators in order to guarantee the alignment to the organization’s strategic objectives.
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