Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Redesign process of the business process structure'

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня доктора філософії за спеціальністю 122 "Комп’ютерні науки". – Національний технічний університет "Харківський політехнічний інститут", Харків, 2020. Об’єктом дослідження є процес синтезу структури та реструктуризації бізнес-процесів складних систем. Предметом дослідження є моделі та інформаційна технологія аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів на основі використання різних нотацій моделювання. Дисертацію присвячено вирішенню науково-практичної задачі – розробці моделей та інформаційної технології аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів складних систем. У вступі обґрунтовано актуальність теми дисертаційної роботи, зазначено зв’язок роботи з науковими темами, сформульовано мету і задачі дослідження, визначено об’єкт, предмет та методи дослідження, показано наукову новизну та практичне значення отриманих результатів, наведено інформацію про практичне використання, особистий внесок здобувача, апробацію результатів дослідження та їх висвітлення у публікаціях. Приводяться відомості щодо структури та обсягу дисертаційної роботи. У першому розділі проведено аналіз процесу синтезу структури та реструктуризації бізнес-процесів складних систем як об’єкта дослідження. Виділені проблеми, які в даний момент ще не вирішені і є актуальними з точки зору аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів. Детально розглянуті найбільш популярні та поширені нотації опису структури бізнес- процесів (BPMN, EPC, IDEF0 та DFD); сучасні підходи щодо накопичення та аналізу колекцій моделей бізнес-процесів з метою їх повторного використання; формати представлення структури бізнес-процесів (XPDL, AML, BPMN 2.0). Розглянуто існуючі методи та засоби аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів. В результаті здійсненого огляду було визначено, що у розглянутих літературних джерелах не представлені формальні методи, які б дозволили виявити порушення правил побудови структури бізнес-процесів, представлених за допомогою різних нотацій моделювання, та сформувати рекомендації щодо їх усунення. Сформульовано постановку задачі дослідження проблем, які було виявлено під час аналізу процесу синтезу структури та реструктуризації бізнес-процесів складних систем в ролі об’єкта дослідження. Основними з даних проблем є: формалізація правил побудови моделей бізнес-процесів на основі різних нотацій моделювання; розробка узагальненого критерію якості моделей бізнес-процесів; формування методу аналізу та вдосконалення структури бізнес-процесів; розробка моделей, призначених для формування рекомендацій щодо усунення виявлених порушень правил побудови моделей бізнес-процесів; розробка інформаційної технології аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів. У другому розділі сформовано теоретичні основи аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів. На основі рекомендацій щодо побудови моделей бізнес-процесів визначено та формалізовано правила побудови моделей бізнес-процесів з використанням різних нотацій моделювання. Сформовано окремі критерії та розроблено узагальнений критерій якості моделей бізнес-процесів на основі методу адитивної згортки критеріїв. На основі виконаних досліджень отримали подальший розвиток: – метод кількісного аналізу структури бізнес-процесів за рахунок формування коефіцієнтів збалансованості, які, на відміну від існуючого, враховують різні елементи структури бізнес-процесу та особливості їх з’єднання, що дозволяє застосувати сформовані коефіцієнти для аналізу моделей бізнес-процесів у різних нотаціях з метою визначення їх відповідності правилам побудови; – метод оцінки якості моделей бізнес-процесів за рахунок формалізації правил побудови та формування узагальненого критерію якості замість окремих метрик якості моделей бізнес-процесів у певних нотаціях, що дозволяє оцінити якість моделі бізнес-процесу на основі єдиного кількісного показника. Третій розділ присвячено розробці моделей аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів. Було розглянуто метод аналізу та вдосконалення структури бізнес-процесів, який дозволяє виявити та усунути порушення правил побудови моделей бізнес-процесів при використанні різних нотацій моделювання, та відповідні моделі, призначені для формування рекомендацій щодо усунення виявлених порушень правил побудови моделей бізнес-процесів (необхідні зміни у кількості відповідних елементів структури бізнес-процесу та зв’язків між ними), що дозволяє підвищити їхню якість. Оптимізаційні задачі вирішуються на основі використання методу градієнтного спуску. Метод аналізу та вдосконалення структури бізнес-процесів базується на людино- машинній процедурі прийняття рішень, тому було запропоновано процедуру формування зрозумілих людині рекомендацій у вигляді текстових вказівок щодо вдосконалення структури бізнес-процесів на основі результатів вирішення оптимізаційних задач. З метою повторного використання досвіду щодо підвищення якості моделей бізнес-процесів було розроблено процедуру їх групування за подібністю щодо відповідності правилам побудови структури бізнес-процесу. В результаті виконаних досліджень було вперше: – розроблено метод аналізу та вдосконалення структури бізнес-процесів, що дозволяє виявити та усунути порушення правил побудови моделей бізнес-процесів при використанні різних нотацій моделювання; – розроблено моделі, призначені для формування рекомендацій щодо усунення виявлених порушень правил побудови моделей бізнес-процесів, що дозволяє підвищити якість структури бізнес-процесів. У четвертому розділі на основі опису процесу аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів були визначені функціональні можливості та сформульовані вимоги до інформаційної технології. Архітектура інформаційної технології базується на використанні сучасних технологій вилучення, обробки та збереження інформації про структуру бізнес-процесів. Робота користувача з отриманими результатами може здійснюватися як через веб-інтерфейс, так і на основі використання аналітичної приладової панелі, яка демонструє узагальнені результати аналізу та забезпечує підтримку прийняття рішень щодо підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів. Працездатність розробленої інформаційної технології було перевірено на заздалегідь підготовлених моделях бізнес-процесів у різних нотаціях, в яких було навмисно допущено структурні помилки, які порушують правила побудови структури бізнес-процесів у нотаціях BPMN, EPC, IDEF0 та DFD, а також на повнорозмірній вихідній інформації щодо структури бізнес-процесів у різних нотаціях та різної галузевої приналежності. В результаті було удосконалено інформаційну технологію аналізу та підвищення якості структури бізнес-процесів, яка базується на використанні розроблених методу та моделей замість існуючих рішень, що дозволяє автоматизувати виявлення та усунення порушень правил побудови моделей бізнес-процесів при використанні різних нотацій моделювання. Аналіз отриманих результатів дослідження показав, що розроблений метод та моделі, на яких базується інформаційна технологія, на відміну від існуючих формальних методів та засобів, дозволяють не лише більш точно виявити помилки у структурі бізнес-процесів, поданих у нотаціях BPMN, EPC, IDEF0 та DFD, а й оцінити якість структури бізнес-процесу на основі єдиного кількісного показника та отримати рекомендації щодо її підвищення шляхом внесення необхідних змін у кількості відповідних елементів структури бізнес- процесу та зв’язків між ними. Наведено результати впровадження дисертаційного дослідження у ТОВ "Науковий Парк НТУ "ХПІ" (м. Харків), у Інституті монокристалів НАН України (м. Харків), у науково-дослідних роботах та навчальному процесі кафедри програмної інженерії та інформаційних технологій управління Національного технічного університету "ХПІ".
Thesis for obtaining the philosophy doctor scientific degree on the specialty 122 “Computer sciences”. – National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kharkiv, 2020. Object of research is the process of synthesis and redesign of the business process structure of complex systems. Subject of research includes models and information technology of analysis and quality improvement of the business process structure based on the using of various modeling notations. The dissertation is devoted to the solution of the scientific and practical problem – development of the models and information technology of analysis and quality improvement of the business process structure of complex systems. The introduction substantiates the relevance of the topic of the dissertation, indicates the relationship with scientific topics, the purpose and objectives of the study are formulated, the object, subject and methods of research are identified, the scientific novelty and practical significance of the obtained results is shown, the information on practical use, personal contribution of the applicant, validation of the research results and their coverage in publications are provided. Information about the structure and scope of the dissertation is given. The first section analyzes the process of synthesis and redesign of the business processes structure of complex systems as a research object. Issues that have not yet been resolved and are relevant in terms of analysis and improvement of the quality of business processes are denoted. The most popular and widely used notations (BPMN, EPC, IDEF0, and DFD) that serve to describe business process structure, modern approaches to storing and analyzing business process model collections for their further reuse, business process structure representation formats (XPDL, AML, BPMN 2.0) are discussed in detail. Existing methods and tools of analysis and improvement of quality of business process structure are considered. As a result of the review, it was determined that the reviewed literature sources are not present formal methods that would allow to identify violations of the rules of structure of business processes, represented by various notations of modeling, and to generate recommendations in order to their elimination. The research problem related to those issues, which were revealed during the analysis of the process of synthesis and restructuring of the structure of business processes of complex systems as a research object, is formulated. The main of these problems are: formalization of rules of business process model design based on different modeling notations; development of the generalized quality criterion for business process models; formation of the method of analysis and improvement of a business process structure; development of the models, which are intended to form recommendations for elimination of revealed violations of business process model design rules; development of the information technology of analysis and quality improvement of the business process structure. The second section describes the theoretical foundations of the analysis and improvement of the quality of the structure of business processes. Based on the recommendations of business process model design, the rules of business process model design using different modeling notations are defined and formalized. Individual criteria have been formed, as well as the generalized quality criterion for business process models has been developed, which is based on the multi-criteria decision making method. The research presented in the second section has allowed elaborating: – the method of quantitative analysis of the business process structure is elaborated through the formation of balance coefficients, which, unlike the existing one, take into account different elements of the business process structure and features of their interrelations, which allows to apply the formed coefficients for the analysis of business process models in different notations in order to determine their compliance with the design rules; – the method of business process model quality assessment is elaborated by formalizing the design rules and generating a generic quality criterion instead of individual business process model metrics for certain notations, which allows to evaluate the business process model quality using a single quantitative metric. The third section is devoted to the development of models of analysis and improvement of the business process structure. There were considered the method of analysis and improvement of the business process structure, which allows detecting and eliminating violations of business process model design rules when using different modeling notations, and the models used to form recommendations for elimination of detected violations of business process model design rules (necessary changes in the number of certain elements of the business process structure and connections between them), which allows to improve the business process structure quality. The corresponding optimization problems are solved using the gradient descent method. The method of analyzing and improving the business process structure is based on the human-machine decision-making process, so it was proposed the procedure for formulating recommendations in the form of understandable text instructions for improving the business process structure based on the results of optimization problem solutions. In order to reuse the experience of improving the business process model quality, the procedure for grouping them by similarity in the context of fulfillment to the rules of business process structure design was developed. As the result of research, for the first time were obtained: – the method of analysis and improvement of the business process structure, which allows identifying and eliminating violations of the rules of building business models when using different modeling notations; – the models designed to formulate recommendations for eliminating identified violations of business process model design rules, which can improve the quality of the business process structure. In the fourth section on the basis of a detailed description of the process of analysis and improvement of the business process structure quality, functional capabilities and requirements for the information technology were defined. The information technology architecture is based on the use of modern technologies for extracting, processing and storing information about the business process structure. User work with the obtained results can be performed either through the web interface or through the analytical dashboard, which demonstrates generalized analysis results and provides decision support for improving the quality of the business process structure. The information technology was validated using prepared business process models provided in various notations, in which structural errors that violate certain business process structure design rules of BPMN, EPC, IDEF0, and DFD notations were intentionally injected; and using the full scale input information on the business process structure provided in different notations and domains. As the result there were improved the information technology of analysis and improvement of quality of business process structure, which is based on the developed method and models instead of existing solutions, which further allows automating detection and elimination of violations of business process models design in various notations. The analysis of the research results has shown that the formed method and the developed models, on which the information technology is based, unlike the existing formal methods and tools, allow not only to more accurately detect errors in the business process structure described using BPMN, EPC, IDEF0, and DFD notations, but also to evaluate the quality of the business process structure on the basis of a single quantitative indicator and obtain recommendations for its improvement by making necessary changes in the number of certain elements of the business process structure and the relations between them. Thesis research results were implemented at the “Scientific Park of NTU “KhPI” LLC (Kharkiv), state scientific institution “Institute for Single Crystals” of National Academy of Science of Ukraine (Kharkiv), in scientific research works and educational process of the Department of Software Engineering and Management Information Technologies of National Technical University “KhPI”.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management) Naval Postgraduate School, September 1993.
Thesis advisor(s): Haga, William James ; Euske, Kenneth J. "September 1993." Bibliography: p. 142-144. Also available online.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
PROGRAMA DE SUPORTE À PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO DE INSTS. DE ENSINO
A melhoria dos processos de negócios é considerada importante para o suporte da competitividade e sustentabilidade das companhias, ganhando assim, destaque na comunidade acadêmica. Neste sentido, a obtenção de melhorias nos processos organizacionais pode ser obtida por meio do (re)desenho dos processos de negócios, o qual é considerado a etapa de maior valor agregado dos projetos de gestão de processos de negócios. Contudo, apesar da existência de uma literatura ampla a respeito da temática de (re)desenho de processos de negócios, as metodologias ou procedimentos estruturados que visam garantir o entendimento da transformação dos processos atuais as-is para futuros to-be ainda são escassos. Neste contexto, visando preencher esta lacuna presente na literatura, este estudo apresenta os achados empíricos e as lições apreendidas durante a realização de uma pesquisa ação com o objetivo de (re)desenhar os processos logísticos de uma empresa de produção cultural. O estudo empírico teve duração de nove meses. Um modelo conceitual de síntese de (re)desenho de processos de negócios organizacionais foi proposto a partir da literatura. Este modelo incorporou três camadas (i.e., organização, processos de negócios e implementação) e guiou a condução do estudo empírico. Diferentes fatores críticos de sucesso e barreiras foram identificados e analisados com foco nas dimensões organizacionais, sociais e técnicas, resultando em contribuições para pesquisadores da academia e para os especialistas da indústria em abordagens de (re)desenho de processos de negócios.
The improvement of business processes is considered important to support companies competitiveness and sustainability, therefore, being highlighted in the academic community. In this way, the improvement of the organizational processes can be achieved through the business processes redesign, which is considered the most value-added phase in a business process management (BPM) project. However, despite the existence of an extensive literature on the subject of business processes redesign, methodologies or structured procedures that aim to understand the transformation from the as-is to the desired to-be processes are still scarce. Within this context, in order to fill this gap in the literature, this study presents the empirical findings and the lessons learnt from an action research with the objective of redesigning the logistic processes of a cultural production enterprise. The empirical study lasted nine months. A synthesis conceptual model for redesigning organizational business processes was proposed based on the literature. This model incorporated three tiers (i.e., organization, business processes and implementation) and provided guidance for conducting the empirical study. Different critical success factors and barriers have been identified and analyzed with a focus on organizational, social, and technical dimensions, resulting in contributions to scholars and to practitioners in redesigning business process approaches.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2000.
Thesis advisor(s): Dolk, Daniel R. ; Nissen, Mark E. "June 2000." Includes bibliographical references (p. 145). Also available online.

The main goal of this work is to create some kind of simple methodology that can help to improve effectiveness of public organizations. There're a lot of theories and methodologies focused on this topic and there is a good chance many new ones will be presented in the future. These came mainly from management field and sometimes from other fields as well. This work focuses mainly on Business Process Reengineering and combines it with other methodologies hoping, it will help in a process improvements in the public sector. Focus is on Czech Republic but this work should be useful to other countries as well, if necessary changes are made in order to shape things that are different between the countries. In this work, a whole project cycle of the public organization processes improvement project can be found, but some project phases will be explained in more detail then the other. Focus is on the analytic parts of the project (strategy creation, use of UML, BSC and other models and methodologies like that) rather than the project management parts of the project. All the practical examples are from public sector organization -- namely the administrative office of one of the city districts of Prague. After reading this work, reader should have moderate understanding of the application of a BPR methodology in the public sector and how it can be supported by other methodologies. There is also big portion of models and diagrams in this work showing pieces of reality from chosen public organization. Their meaning is to show what is usually done in this kind of project and how to understand the models. This works goal isn't creation of a guideline to UML or any other modeling principles.

The research investigates the past, present and potential future role of Information Specialists (ISps) in process oriented companies. It tests the proposition that ISps in companies that have undertaken formal process reengineering exercises are likely to become more proactive and more business oriented (as opposed to technically oriented) than they had previously been when their organisations were organised along traditional, functional lines. A review of existing literature in the area of Business Process Reengineering and Information Management reveals a lack of consensus amongst researchers concerning the appropriate role for ISps during and after BPR. Opinion is divided as to whether IS professionals should reactively support BPR or whether IT/IS developments should be driving these initiatives. A questionnaire based ‘Descriptive Survey’ with 60 respondents is used as a first stage of primary data gathering. This is followed by follow-up interviews with 20 of the participating organisations to gather further information on their experiences. The final stage of data collection consists of further in-depth interview with four case study companies to provide an even richer picture of their experiences. The results of the questionnaire are analysed and displayed in the form of simple means, frequencies and bar graphs. The ‘NU-DIST’ computer based discourse analysis package was tried in relation to summarising the interview findings, but this proved cumbersome and a visual collation method is preferred. Overall, the researcher contends that the supposition outlined above is proven, and she concludes the research by suggesting the implications of these findings. In particular she offers a ‘Framework for Understanding and Action’ which is deemed to be relevant to both practitioners and future researchers.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management) Naval Postgraduate School, Sept. 2001.
Thesis advisos: Kamel, Magdi N. ; Eitelberg, Mark J. "September 2001." Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-105). Also Available online.

Many relationship-based studies focus on how businesses are maintained and developed. However, little attention focused on individuals as business initiators and the consequent processes. This study will bridge this gap. A theoretical model with two cases will answer two questions    -How individuals initiate business through personal network? -What is the consequent process?   The studies demonstrate that individual do play a very important role when initiating a new business and they set in motion relationship-building processes that change the network structure.   The contribution for research and management is clear. The netentrepruer is a new ‘actor’ and can be useful in future studies of business networks. Management can usefully become conscious of the possibilities they have in studying their network contacts before initiating new businesses. Managers should utilize managing individual’s networks as new competition strategies. This will modify the view of management strategy and also contribute to theory building.

In recent years companies across different sectors have been facing a new competitive environment, characterized by an increase in the number of competitors, shorter product cycles and changing customer demand. In order to cope with these challenges and to achieve competitive advantage, companies are engaged in alliances and partnerships with other organizations and closer collaboration with suppliers and customers. Accordingly companies have turned their attention towards improving the management of their supply chains to achieve competitive advantage. One way to improve the management of supply chain is through process integration, which offers potential benefits such as cost reduction, creation of value by increasing profits, market share and strengthening competitive position. E-business has been considered by both researchers and companies as an option to construct supply chain integration. However evidence found in the e-business and supply chain literature shows a number of technical and organizational challenges faced by organizations regarding the use and adoption of e-business for the improvement of supply chain management (SCM). One of the organizational challenges is the necessity to change business processes to support the successful adoption and use of e-business technologies. This challenge has been highlighted in the supply chain and e-business literature to be at the core of a successful adoption and use of e-business. A literature search and review was conducted to find a methodology to conduct business process redesign (BPR) to adopt e-business for SCM improvement. From the review it was found that although a number of methodologies exist on business process redesign, supply chain redesign and e-business process design there is a lack of an integrated methodology to conduct business process redesign to support e-business adoption for supply chain management improvement. Through an inductive approach of pattern recognition from reviewing different methodologies (Kettinger, Teng and Guha, 1997) in three different domains: business process redesign, supply chain redesign and e-business process design, a methodology embedded within an action research approach to conduct business process redesign is proposed to support e-business technologies adoption for supply chain management improvement. This proposed BPR methodology can potentially be adapted to any company on any sector, this is possible due to the type of techniques and methods employed in the methodology which can be used on any BPR project to support the adoption of e-business for the improvement of supply chain management. This methodology is tested and validated through a practical application in an independent Airline Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) provider giving as a result a redesign of the component services process. This methodology will require further validation; however results from its application in an independent airline MRO provider show it can clearly guide and produce a business process redesign to support e-business adoption for supply chain management improvement.

This research focuses on the design and verification of inter-organizational controls. Instead of looking at a documentary procedure, which is the flow of documents and data among the parties, the research examines the underlying deontic purpose of the procedure, the so-called deontic process, and identifies control requirements to secure this purpose. The vision of the research is a formal theory for streamlining bureaucracy in business and government procedures. Underpinning most inter-organizational procedures are deontic relations, which are about rights and obligations of the parties. When all parties trust each other, they are willing to fulfill their obligations and honor the counter parties’ rights; thus controls may not be needed. The challenge is in cases where trust may not be assumed. In these cases, the parties need to rely on explicit controls to reduce their exposure to the risk of opportunism. However, at present there is no analytic approach or technique to determine which controls are needed for a given contracting or governance situation. The research proposes a formal method for deriving inter-organizational control requirements based on static analysis of deontic relations and dynamic analysis of deontic changes. The formal method will take a deontic process model of an inter-organizational transaction and certain domain knowledge as inputs to automatically generate control requirements that a documentary procedure needs to satisfy in order to limit fraud potentials. The deliverables of the research include a formal representation namely Deontic Petri Nets that combine multiple modal logics and Petri nets for modeling deontic processes, a set of control principles that represent an initial formal theory on the relationships between deontic processes and documentary procedures, and a working prototype that uses model checking technique to identify fraud potentials in a deontic process and generate control requirements to limit them. Fourteen scenarios of two well-known international payment procedures -- cash in advance and documentary credit -- have been used to test the prototype. The results showed that all control requirements stipulated in these procedures could be derived automatically.

A review of the developments within the field of structural reliability theory shows that some gaps still exist in the reliability prediction process and hence there is an urgent desire for improvements such that the estimated structural reliability will be capable of expressing a physical property of the given structure. The current reliability prediction process involves the continuous estimation and use of reliability index as a way of estimating the safety of any given structure. The reliability index β depends on the Probability Density Function (PDF) distribution for the wave force and the corresponding PDF of resistance from respective structural members of the given structure. The PDF for the applied wave force will depend on the PDF of water depth, wave angular velocity and wave direction hence the reliability index as currently practiced is a statistical way of managing uncertainties based on a general probabilistic model. This research on Smart Offshore Structure for Reliability Prediction has proposed the design of a measurement based reliability prediction process as a way of closing the gap on structural reliability prediction process. Structural deflection and damping are some of the measurable properties of an offshore structure and this study aims at suggesting the use of these measurable properties for improvements in structural reliability prediction process. A design case study has shown that a typical offshore structure can deflect to a range of only a few fractions of a millimetre. This implies that if we have a way of monitoring this level of deflection, we could use the results from such measurement for the detection of a structural member failure. This advocated concept is based on the hypothesis that if the original dynamic characteristics of a structure is known, that measurement based modified dynamic properties can be used to determine the onset of failure or failure propagation of the given structure. This technology could reveal the location and magnitude of internal cracks or corrosion effects on any given structure which currently is outside the current probability based approach. A simple economic analysis shows that the recommended process shows a positive net present value and that some $74mln is the Value of Information for any life extension technology that could reveal the possibility of extending the life of a given 10,000bopd production platform from 2025 to 2028.

Organizações modernas apresentam demandas relacionadas à automação dos seus processos de negócio devido à alta complexidade dos mesmos e à necessidade de maior eficácia na execução. Neste contexto, a tecnologia de workflow tem se mostrado bastante eficiente, principalmente para a automatização dos processos de negócio. No entanto, por ser uma tecnologia emergente e em evolução, workflow apresenta algumas limitações. Ainda que diversos (meta) modelos de workflow tenham sido propostos nos últimos, anos, seus sub-modelos para representação dos aspectos estruturais da organização apresentam baixo poder de expressão. Além disso, a maioria das ferramentas para modelagem de workflow não provêm funcionalidades para definição, consulta e reuso de padrões. Um dos principais problemas é falta de um mapeamento consolidado entre padrões de funções recorrentes em processos de negócio (ex: solicitação de execução de atividade, aprovação de documentos) e (meta) modelos e/ou ferramentas para modelagem de processos de negócio e workflow. Além disso, a maioria das abordagens em padrões de workflow não exploram a completude e necessidade dos seus padrões para modelagem de workflow. A primeira contribuição desta tese é um Modelo Transacional de Processos de Negócio (MTPN) com suporte aos aspectos estruturais da organização. O metamodelo possibilita a criação de (sub-)processos de negócio a partir do reuso de padrões, principalmente com base nestes aspectos. Adicionalmente, o metamodelo sugere a geração automática de padrões através da Linguagem de Execução para Web Services (BPEL4WS). Outra importante contribuição da tese é um conjunto de padrões de workflow representados como atividades de bloco. Cada padrão descreve uma função recorrente em processos de negócio. A mineração de 190 processos de workflow de mais de 10 organizações diferentes provou a existência dos padrões com alto suporte nos processos de workflow analisados. Além disso, o estudo mostrou que o conjunto de padrões é suficiente e necessário para modelar todos os 190 processos investigados. O estudo também resultou em um conjunto de regras de associação. As regras não apenas contribuem para uma melhor definição dos padrões de atividade de bloco, mas também para a combinação destes com padrões de controle de fluxo.
Modern organizations have demands related to the automation of their business processes since such processes are highly complex and need to be efficiently executed. Within this context, the workflow technology has shown to be very effective, mainly in the business process automation. However, as it is an emergent technology and in constant evolution, workflow presents some limitations. Though several workflow (meta) models have been proposed in recent years, their sub-models for organizational structure aspects representation show limited power of expression. On the other hand, most of the current workflow modeling tools do not provide functionalities that enable users to define, query, and reuse workflow patterns properly. One of the main problems is the non-availability of a consolidated mapping between patterns based on recurrent functions found in business processes (e.g., request for activity execution, notification, decision, or approval) and workflow (meta) models or workflow modeling tools. Relying on these problems, the first contribution of this thesis is a Transactional Metamodel of Business Process (TMBP) with support to organizational structure aspects. The metamodel makes feasible to create business (sub-)processes from the reuse of organizational –based workflow patterns. An additional feature of TMBP supports the generation of business (sub-)processes through the Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS). Other important contribution of this thesis is a set of workflow patterns represented as block activity patterns. Each pattern refers to a recurrent business function frequently found in business processes. The mining of 190 workflow processes of more than 10 different organizations has evidenced the existence of the set of workflow patterns with high support in the workflow processes analyzed. Moreover, it became clear through this study that the set of patterns is both necessary and enough to design all 190 processes that were investigated. As a consequence of the mining process, a set of association rules was identified too. The rules not only help to better define specific workflow patterns, but also combine them with existent control flow patterns. These rules can be useful for building more complex workflows.

Many management system engineering ideas and theories have evolved to help businesses grow and achieve their goals. Applying these ideas and theories to a business system is a strategic planning issue and results in a bewildering array of strategic alternatives for business system improvement. Choosing the appropriate alternatives is a complex and difficult decision. The most appropriate strategic alternative must be executable. To be executable the strategic alternative must not only be technically feasible, but must also overcome social and cultural obstructions. This research presents a planning approach to select the most appropriate strategic alternative and to plan its implementation. The planning approach is built on a planning framework synthesized from previous research. This framework involves the following planning functions: 1. Determine business strategic alternatives 2. Acquire business knowledge 3. Shape business for strategic advantage 4. Implement plan - operational engagement The planning approach uses Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Project Management Tools (PMT) and Design Structure Matrix (DSM) to implement these functions and plan business improvements. This research demonstrates that rational hierarchies appropriate for strategic alternatives analysis using AHP can be constructed. Business scenarios are used to show that AHP method prioritizes alternative strategies differently under different business circumstances. In addition, the data generated by the AHP can be aggregated into statements of work and input into DSM to generate a project plan to implement organizational design changes and achieve strategic intent.

Background: Mergers have been increasing during the latter part of the 1990s. In the Nordic region many previously national companies have joined their forces to create a new Nordic company. This will lead to many challenges when the companies are integrated.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the integration phase. Our goal is to study the integration of Cloetta Fazer and learn how the company can handle the two types of integration.

Procedure: To be able to prove our assumptions, that were made on the basis of literature, we have collected empirical material by interviewing eight managers at Cloetta Fazer.

Summary: We have identified a conflict between structural and cultural integration that occur because one type of integration may proceed faster than the other. That is why our statement is that the two types of integration are dependent on each other.

Bakgrund: Fusioner har ökat under senare delen av 1990-talet. I Norden har många tidigare nationella företag gått samman för att bilda ett nytt nordiskt företag. Detta leder till utmaningar när företagen skall integreras.

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka integrationsprocessen. Vårt mål är att studera integrationen av Cloetta Fazer och lära hur ett företag kan hantera de två olika typerna av integration.

Genomförande: För att kunna bevisa våra frågeställningar, som gjordes på basen av litteratur, har vi samlat in empiriskt material genom att intervjua åtta stycken chefer på Cloetta Fazer.

Sammandrag: Vi har identifierat en konflikt mellan strukturell och kulturell integration som beror på att den ena typen fortgår snabbare än den andra. Därmed är vår slutsats att dessa två typer av integration är beroende av varandra.

This thesis examines two complex, dynamic problems by employing the theory of Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). Chapters 2 and 3 consider assemble-to-order (ATO) inventory systems. An ATO system consists of several components and several products, and assembles products as demand is realized; it is becoming increasingly popular since it provides greater flexibility in manufacturing at a reasonable cost. This work contributes to the ATO research stream by characterizing optimal inventory replenishment and allocation policies. Chapter 4 examines the new product development (NPD) process with scarce resources and many projects in parallel, each lasting several periods, in the face of uncertainty. This study advances the NPD literature by revealing that optimal project selection and resource allocation decisions are congestion-dependent. Below, I elaborate on the novel optimal policies and structural results I obtain using MDP formulations, which is the overarching theme of the thesis. In Chapter 2, I consider generalized ATO “M-systems" with multiple components and multiple products. These systems involve a single “master" product which uses multiple units from each component, and multiple individual products each of which consumes multiple units from a different component. Such systems are common for manufacturers selling an assembled product as well as individual spare parts. I model these systems as infinite-horizon MDPs under the discounted cost criterion. Each component is produced in batches of fixe size in a make-to stock fashion; batch sizes are determined by individual product sizes. Production times are independent and exponentially distributed. Demand for each product arrives as an independent Poisson process. If not satisfied immediately upon arrival, these demands are lost. Therefore the state of the system can be described by component inventory levels. A control policy specifies when a batch of components should be produced (i.e., inventory replenishment), and whether an arriving demand for each product should be satisfied (i.e.,inventory allocation). The convexity property that has been largely used to characterize optimal policies in the MDP literature may fail to hold in our case. Therefore I introduce new functional characterizations for submodularity and supermodularity restricted to certain lattices of the state space. The optimal cost function satisfies these new characterizations: The state space of the problem can be partitioned into disjoint lattices such that, on each lattice, (a) it is optimal to produce a batch of a particular component if and only if the state vectors less than a certain threshold associated with that component, and (b) it is optimal to fulfill a demand of a particular product if and only if the state vector is greater than or equal to a certain threshold associated with that product. I refer to this policy as a lattice-dependent base-stock and lattice-dependent rationing (LBLR) policy. I also show that if the optimization criterion is modified to the average cost rate, LBLR remains optimal. Chapter 2 makes three important contributions. First, this is the first study that establishes the optimal inventory replenishment and allocation policies for M-systems. Second, this study is the first to characterize the optimal policies for any ATO problem when different products may use the same component in different quantities. Third, I introduce new functional characterizations restricted to certain lattices of the state space, giving rise to an LBLR policy. In Chapter 3, I evaluate the use of an LBLR policy for general ATO systems as a heuristic. I numerically compare the globally optimal policy to LBLR and two other heuristics from the literature: a state-dependent base-stock and state-dependent rationing (SBSR) policy, and a fixed base-stock and fixed rationing (FBFR) policy. Taking the average cost rate as the performance criterion, I develop a linear program to find the globally optimal cost, and Mixed Integer Programming formulations to find the optimal cost within each heuristic class. I generate more than 1800 instances for the general ATO problem, not restricted to the assumptions of Chapter 2, such as the M-system product structure. Interestingly, LBLR yields the globally optimal cost in all instances, while SBSR and FBFR provide solutions within 2.7% and 4.8% of the globally optimal cost, respectively. These numerical results also provide several insights into the performance of LBLR relative to other heuristics: LBLR and SBSR perform significantly better than FBFR when replenishment batch sizes imperfectly match the component requirements of the most valuable or most highly demanded product. In addition, LBLR substantially outperforms SBSR if it is crucial to hold a significant amount of inventory that must be rationed. Based on the numerical findings in Chapter 3, future research could investigate the optimality of LBLR for ATO systems with general product structures. However, as I construct counter-examples showing that submodularity and supermodularity { which are used to prove the optimality of LBLR in Chapter 2 { need not hold for general ATO systems, showing the optimality of LBLR for general ATO systems will likely require alternate proof techniques. In Chapter 4, I study the problem of project selection and resource allocation in a multistage new product development (NPD) process with stage-dependent resource constraints. As in Chapters 2 and 3, I model the problem as an infinite-horizon MDP, specifically under the discounted cost criterion. Each NPD project undergoes a different experiment at each stage of the NPD process; these experiments generate signals about the true nature of the project. Experimentation times are independent and exponentially distributed. Beliefs about the ultimate outcome of each project are updated after each experiment according to a Bayesian rule. Projects thus become differentiated through their signals, and all available signals for a project determine its category. The state of the system is described by the numbers of projects in each category. A control policy specifies, given the system state, how to utilize the resources at each stage, i.e., the projects (i) to experiment at each stage, and (ii) to terminate. I characterize the optimal control policy as following a new type of strategy, state-dependent on-congestive promotion (SDNCP), for two different special cases of the general problem: (a)when there is a single informative experiment and projects are not terminated, or (b) when there are multiple uninformative experiments. An SDNCP policy implies that, at each stage, it is optimal to advance a project with the highest expected reward to the next stage if and only if the number of projects in each successor category is less than a state-dependent threshold. In addition, I show that threshold values decrease in a non-strict sense as a later stage becomes more congested or as an earlier stage becomes less congested. (A stage becomes “more congested" with an increase in the number of projects at this stage or with an increase in the expected reward of any project at this stage.) An SDNCP policy can be used as a heuristic for the general problem. I support the outstanding performance of an SDNCP policy in the general case through a numerical study. These findings highlight the importance of taking into account congestion in optimal portfolio strategies.

The purpose of this study was to examine the structure of the event process on Cal Poly’s campus. An intrinsic case study method was used, and data were collected and analyzed using triangulation from three sources of information: documents, interviews, and participation research. Overall, the structure of the event management process on campus was found to be stable, but could use improvement. Cal Poly should consider establishing a specific, designated organization that would help centralize the event management process at Cal Poly. This organization could be in charge of training and updating event managers, approving events, monitoring volume of events on campus at a specific time, holding event managers accountable to following policies, and maintaining a website that would act as a hub for all event-related materials.

Measurement processes are vital for any organization as they are used to asses, analyze, monitor and control the processes, products and resources. The measurement programs are used in different ways in different organizations. Most of the measurement programs fail to provide the expected results; therefore it‘s needed to consider the success factors and reasons of failures for the measurement programs. The GQM is the most widely used model for measurement programs having various extensions to overcome its shortcomings in different scenarios. The Goals, Questions and metrics are defined and used in different ways at different levels in the organizations. There is a need of improving the measurement programs and one of the solutions is to provide a framework that can define the goals, questions and measures in a structured way. The prioritization, traceability and re-usability of goals and questions provide the effectiveness in the measurement program. The optimization of the measures and building a measurement repository makes the measurement collection process precise. In this thesis, the results of a systematic review on the current literature on software measurement programs are presented. An assessment of the current state of art on measurement programs, their usability and success factors is done. The study of measurement models, frameworks, tools and standards is done later on to know the different ways of goals, questions definition and measurement collection methods. The systematic review of the research work is done over the period 1997 – 2009. In order to understand and explore the difficulties in application of measurement programs in the industrial settings, interviews are conducted within a CMMI Level 3 company. On the basis of the systematic review analysis results and industrial interviews, a framework for a more effective measurement process is defined and within the framework, a model called ‗Structured Prioritized Goal Question Metrics (SPGQM)‘ is developed. This framework extends the well-known Goal Question Metric paradigm and basically comprises of two models; the Optimum Measures Set Decision (OMSD) model developed within a Master of Science thesis study at the Blekinge Institute of Technology and the SPGQM. This framework defines the process in order to define structured goals and questions with the help of templates and to prioritize them with the help of OMSD model. This framework has been validated in a CMMI Level 3 company. The validation was done by means of conducting a case study.

Budget framhålls som ett viktigt styrinstrument för företag och användningsområdena är många. Blumentritt (2006) och Orlando (2009) är överens om att budgetprocessen borde vara integrerad i verksamheten för att främja de strategier som finns. Mintzberg (1979) menar att företag kommer att organisera sig på olika sätt beroende på hur deras omvärld ser ut. Vi är intresserade av att se hur företag arbetar med sin budgetprocess i kombination med de strategier och den struktur som finns.

Syftet med vårt arbete är att med en multipel fallstudie beskriva de eventuella samband som finns i hur företagen i vår undersökning arbetar med budgetprocessen i organiationens kontext. Hur kombinerar företag sitt struktur- och strategiarbete med sin budgetprocess?

Vår kvalitativa studie består av fem fallstudier. Vi har intervjuat anställda som har god kännedom om budgetprocessen i företaget. Vi har ställt frågor om struktur, strategi och budgetprocess. Varje kapitel är indelat i kategorier som inleds med en teoridel och följs av empiri och diskussion. Våra resultat presenteras i tabell 6.1. 

De viktigaste slutsatserna är att eftersom företagen i vår undersökning är stora så tenderar de att bli väldigt lika, vilket stabiliserar deras omvärld. Företagen i undersökningen arbetar med olika budgetmetoder. De använder budget som styrmedel i olika stor utsträckning. De viktigaste syftena med budget som vi har hittat är planering, samordning och kontroll.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze whether the relationship between structural domains represented by CAATs and judgment represented by professional scepticism is related to auditors’ individual characteristics, trait scepticism. Methodology: This study is based on a quantitative method in the form of a questionnaire sent to all Swedish authorized auditors. The response rate was 16.8 per cent. The responses were analyzed by Spearman correlation matrix, principal component analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, and hierarchical moderated multiple regression analysis. Moreover, this thesis is based on a positivistic perspective to get a general picture of professional scepticism. A deductive approach, going from theory to empirics, has been implemented. Findings: The results showed a positive relationship between judgment represented by professional scepticism and structure represented by CAATs, where auditors’ individual characteristics, trait scepticism, have a positive moderating effect on the relationship. Theoretical perspectives: We apply the profession theory, comfort theory and structure and judgment at Swedish authorized auditors with diverse experience.

Nous proposons une approche de gestion des processus métier configurables (cBP) offrant une vue consolidée des variantes de ces processus. Une variante est le résultat de l'ajustement d'un cBP en réponse à des besoins fonctionnels et / ou structurels. Cette approche utilise une base de connaissances pour suivre les spécificités de chaque variante représentée sous la forme d'arborescence de structure de processus configurable (cPST). Une implémentation de l'approche consistant à générer un cPST à partir d'un cBP est proposée. Nous appliquons cette approche pour calculer la complexité des processus métier configurables et prouver son avantage pour améliorer la qualité du cBP
We propose an approach for managing configurable Business Processes (cBP) that offer a consolidated view over these processes’ variants. A variant is the result of adjusting a BP in response to functional and/or structural needs. The approach uses a knowledge base to track the specificities of each variant that is represented as configurable Process Structure Tree (cPST). An implementation of the approach that consists of generating a cPST from a cBP is proposed. We apply this approach to compute configurable business process complexity and to prove its advantage for improving cBP quality

Bakgrund: Trenden att tjänstefiera sin verksamhet har under de senaste åren blivit allt mer påtaglig. Idag härrör intäkter från tjänster en betydande del av omsättningen hos många företag. Däremot har det visat sig att det inte är helt enkelt att kombinera produkter och tjänster. Tidigare forskning har belyst denna problematik, dock inte lika tydligt inom just organisering. En förstudie till denna uppsats visar att många företag har svårt att organisera sig till att kunna kombinera sina produkter med ett utökat tjänsteutbud. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att ta reda på vilka organisatoriska utmaningar svenska tjänstefierade företag har stött på samt hur dessa kan hanteras. Genomförande: Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär med en abduktiv ansats. Studien är en enfallsstudie av fallet organisering inom kontexten tjänstefiering som har studerats med hjälp av tre företag verksamma i Sverige. På dessa företag har tre till fem personer blivit intervjuade i syfte att insamla data till den empiriska referensramen. Slutsats: En organisering som främjar försäljning av tjänster och lösningar kräver tvärfunktionella samarbeten och en styrning och koordinering från ledningen. Därutöver behöver tjänsteavdelningen i företag övertyga resterande delar av organisationen och ledningen om tjänsternas potential för att få hjälp att leverera dessa. Det tenderar att vara paradoxalt då hjälpen krävs för att kunna sälja kundcentrerade erbjudanden från första början. Med hjälp av diverse uppkopplade tjänster kan dock tjänsteavdelningen föra samman företagets produkter och tjänster och därmed lättare övertyga resterande delar av organisationen.
Background: The trend of servitization has become more obvious in recent years. Today, revenue from services is a significant part of the turnover of companies. On the other hand, it has been found that it is not completely easy to combine products and services. Previous research has confirmed this problem, however not as clear regarding the organization of the company. A pilot study to this one shows that many companies meet difficulties in organizing themselves to enable a combination of products with the expanded service offering. Aim: The aim of this study is to find out what organizational challenges Swedish servitized companies have encountered and how these can be handled. Completion: The study is of a qualitative nature with an abductive approach. The study is a single case study of the case organizing within the context of servitization, which has been observed through three companies operating in Sweden. In each company, three to five people has been interviewed for collecting data to the findings chapter. Conclusion: An organization that promotes sales of services and solutions requires cross-functional co-operations, control and coordination from top management. In addition, the service unit needs to convince the remaining parts of the organization and top management about the potential of the services to receive help to deliver these. It tends to be paradoxical, when the help initially is needed to sell customer-centered offers. With the help of various connected services, however, the service unit may link the company's products and services together and thus more easily convince the remaining parts of the organization.

Thesis focuses on the theory and practice of process analysis. The main objective of this paper is describing the theory of process analysis and its application at the Prague City Hall, particularly processes related to procurement. Thesis describes these processes and suggests their improvements. Thesis will also design the processes that relate to the procurement of City Hall. The work is divided into two parts. The first part deals with a purely theoretical basis of process analysis and the second (analytical) part is focused on the specific application of this knowledge on process analysis of the Prague City Hall, specifically on the processes related to procurement.

The impact of globalisation and advanced information technology on service and knowledgebased industries in South Africa contributes to these workplaces becoming increasingly virtual. Virtual teams can be seen as a mechanism that organisations could use to increase their orientation for change through enhancing and integrating key organisational resources such as people, space and information technology to deliver greater business value. The findings of several studies suggest that the implementation of virtual teams is associated with benefits such as cost and time saving, increased employee productivity and employee empowerment. There are however salient barriers to effective virtual teamwork that organisations need to address before engaging in the transformational process towards virtual teamwork. The literature review identified ineffective leadership practices, factors relating to virtual team development, inadequate use of information technology and a paucity of social and organisational cultural integration, as the most salient features that impede effective virtual teamwork. The objective of this research was to develop a basic theoretical framework for the implementation of virtual teams. Since virtual teams emanate from a relatively new area of research an inductive methodology, based on a literature review, was used to achieve the research objective. Several theoretical models on virtual teams and their effectiveness thereon were explored to conceptualise the dynamic nature of virtual teams and the requirements for implementing them in the workplace. The results of the study indicated that an emergent approach to change be followed and that the following factors be addressed to determine an organisation's readiness for the implementation of virtual teams, namely: the degree of interdependence between tasks, structural requirements, technological requirements, process redesign and the selection of appropriate people. A methodology for work transformation towards virtual teamwork was suggested based on an integration of these factors.
Thesis (M.Sc. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

This research investigates the mutual influence between self-management as organizational structure and intuition in decision-making. Self-management as organizational structure has recently developed as a response to current challenges in society and business, thus constitutes an emerging research field. This study is contributing empirically to this under-research field while at the same time building on the well-researched field of decision-making. In particular, this study is building on the positive view of intuition in decision-making that comes along with dual-process theories. The empirical contribution of this study is collected through semi-structured interviews with a multiple-case study research design. This study’s main finding is the confirmation of a mutual influence, even more, a positive mutual influence, between self-management as organizational structure and intuition in decision-making. Furthermore, first findings on how they are influencing each other are brought forward as well as insights into the diversity of decision-making processes when applying self-management as organizational structure.

This thesis addresses important operational aspects relating to fundamental components of any successfully executed NPD strategy: the processes, incentives and structure of decision rights that should be implemented given the objectives and capabilities of the firm. The first chapter outlines when a firm might prefer to compensate members of a NPD project team either, as individuals (e.g. based on their functional contribution to overall value) or as a team (e.g. based on the overall profit generated). We find that neither team nor individual based compensation is preferred for all types of projects. Specifically, when there is higher uncertainty, the firm can benefit by employing team-based compensation. We discuss the implications of our findings towards the firm's ability to pursue different types of projects. In Chapter 3, we look at the strategic resource allocation processes that are employed by firms in order to decide whether NPD initiatives get funded or not. We find that there is not a "one size fits all" resource allocation process that all firms should employ. Furthermore,we extend this finding by further by providing a rationale explaining why even a single firm could benefit by employing multiple processes internal to the firm. Finally, in Chapter 4, we empirically explore how key managerial levers of the firm (i.e. incentives, tolerance for failure, and project management structure) affect an individual's propensity to invest in a project. Our analysis brings forth several under-explored and novel aspects. We examine how multiple managerial levers work in concert with one another (revealing interactions that, to our knowledge, have not been exposed). We also recognize an important aspect of most (if not all) NPD contexts: the probability of success is strongly tied to the level of resources that are invested.

U doktorskoj disertaciji su predstavljeni modeli za unapređenjeorganizacione strukture i upravljanja poslovnim procesima iupravljanje performansom poslovnih procesa. U prvom modelu surazvijeni postupci analize, modelovanja, ocenjivanja i vrednovanjapostupaka unapređenja struktura i poslovnih procesa, a u drugommodelu su postavljene faze planiranja, merenja i vizuelizacijeperformansi poslovnih procesa. Primenjeni su savremeni softveriza upravljanje procesima i njihovim performansama. Mogućnostpraktične primene razvijenih modela istražena je u dve studijeslučaja realnog idustrijskog uslužnog preduzeća.
In his doctoral dissertation, presented models for improving organizationalstructures and business process management and performancemanagement business processes. In the first model developed methods ofanalysis, modeling, assessment and evaluation procedures to improve thestructure and business processes, and in the second model are set phasesof planning, performance measurement and visualization of businessprocesses. Were applied modern software management processes and theirperformance. A possible application of the developed model was investigatedin two case studies of real industrial service enterprise.

Revisorer har sedan länge kopplats till professionella bedömningar men idag visar trenden allt mer på ett arbetssätt med mer användning av formalia. Även ett behov av revisorns tjänster och konsulttjänster förekommer allt mer hos klienten. Syftet med studien är att förstå hur klienten upplever revisorns användning av formalia i arbetsprocessen gentemot klienten i form av olika formella dokument för både stora som små företag. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ undersökning och abduktiv ansats då vi växlar mellan empirisk och teoretisk reflektion. Vår intervjuguide var till en början utforskande och utvecklades till att bli mer semistrukturerad. För att uppnå syftet med studien har vi genomfört elva intervjuer där vi har begränsat vårt urval till klienter som arbetar som redovisningsansvarig/chef och ekonomiansvarig/che f i södra Sverige. Eftersom revisorns tjänster erbjuds till klienten är denna studie analyserad utifrån ett klientperspektiv. Klientperspektivet hjälper oss att besvara frågor kring hur revisorer arbetar med formalia och hur dessa upplevs. Denna studie bidrar till diskussionen kring klienten som erhåller en formalia att följa, likt en förberedelselista, inför varje bokslutsmöte med revisorn. Utifrån förberedelselistan förbereder klienten dokument som efterfrågas av revisorn. Resultatet indikerar att klienter ställer sig positivt till arbetet med formalia där onödiga moment reduceras i samarbetet med revisorn och att arbetet med formalia gynnar klientens verksamhet på så sätt att verksamheten kan visa sin legitimitet gentemot sina intressenter. Vi identifierar klientens upplevelser kring revisorns användning av formalia och visar en förståelse för klientens synpunkter och värderingar vid revision.
Accountants have long been linked to professional judgements but the current situation shows an increasing trend on an approach with more use of formality. The client is in existing need of use of auditand consulting services. The study’s purpose is to contribute better understanding and analysis of how clients perceive auditors’ structural use of formalities towards them. The study is based on a qualitative survey with abductive approach as we alternate between empirical and theoretical reflection. The interviewguide has evolved to become more semi-structured. In order to achieve the purpose of the study we have completed eleven interviews which we have limited our selection to clients in southern Sweden. As the auditor’s services are offered to the client, this study is analyzed based on clients’ perspective. The clientperspective helps us to answer questions concerning how accountants are working with formalities and how these are perceived. This study contributes to discussion of clients who receives formality, similar to a preparation list, before each year-end meeting with the auditor. Based on the preparatory list, the client prepares documents requested by the auditor. It indicates that the client is in favor of working with formalities with reduced unnecessary moments under the cooperation. To work with the formalities favors the client's business so that they can prove its legitimacy to stakeholders. We are identifying client experiences of auditor’s use of formalities and presenting an understanding of client’s views and values at audit.

This master`s thesis focuses on suggestion of changes in the purchasing process in relation to supplier management. Served suggestion of changes in the purchasing structure to the satisfaction of the customer in term sof delivery dates, quality and cost. Analyzes the current state of purchasing process and suggest, based on critical points further steps to improve the situation of management contracts. Evaluates the theoretical approaches and implementation conditions with all the benefits.

On the road to success, companies need to fulfil their stakeholders’ expectations. On the road to business excellence, companies need to exceed these expectations. Oliver Wight Inc. has established a certification called Class A Business, which shows that a company is exceeding stakeholders’ expectations and that it performs in the upper quartile in its respective industry. The Class A Business certification is awarded, once a company fulfils a certification checklist with Class A Business criteria. To get to this point, a company can design their road to business excellence by following a specific set of nine Class A Behaviors. This study focuses on four of these behaviors, divided in three parts, and how they are implemented at a pharmaceutical packaging department at Roche in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland. In addition, through employee feedback potential areas of improvement are identified. For a company to understand how it is running, it has to understand its underlying processes. Once the processes are in place, a process-oriented way of thinking can change a company to make decisions based on process’ needs rather than on individual preferences. Business processes and their potential for continuous improvement were the first part of the study. The second part of the study investigated the communication of different functions in the packaging process and how the flow of information could be improved. In the third part, the usage of operational metrics in the packaging department is researched by a user feedback survey. An innovative way to visualize meeting conversations was developed in this study to make meetings more tangible for the reader. This is a newly developed and never before described method for business research colorfully showing interactions in meetings. The results are very intriguing. Simple thought business elements seem to pose larger hurdles than would be expected sometimes.

Nowadays a company’s focus has shifted from a product-centric view to a more customer-centric view. Customers play a major role for doing business with companies. That leads to the purpose of this research, which is to identify critical factors of CRM implementation and to gain a deeper understanding of how companies deal with those critical factors. This was done with the help of a qualitative method, where six case companies were taken under the research. These six case companies are operating in different industries (1) laundry system industry, (2) printing industry and (3) heavy industry. In addition, the aim of this thesis was to find out how CRM implementation is influenced by critical factors in terms of CRM process and CRM system, interaction of sales force, information / communication flow and organizational structure / culture. The main points which influence the critical factors of CRM implementation were (1) customer-focused, (2) create trust, (3) sharing information and knowledge and (4) decision-making. To overcome these points at first companies need to be customer-focused their sales force need to be able to create trust with customers. Also it is important that companies have a well-implemented information / communication flow to optimise the decision-making process. Within the research more points for how an international organization can manage these critical factors are described. The collected data was analysed with the help of the theoretical framework. The conclusion could be drawn that, a well implemented CRM would help companies to build a better customer relationship and to be able to know as much about customers as possible.

An initial review of literature concerned with commercial and industrial office design indicated the need to research and develop a method for the design of the management systems of offices with the purpose of improving the operational effectiveness and alignment to strategy. In particular the literature review indicated that the application of lean methods, in non-manufacturing areas is comparatively rare. A critical review of the literature identified that Value Stream Mapping has been used to map mechanistic task activities, however, a need was identified for a new generation of Value Stream Mapping to map mixed mechanistic and organic task activities. To complement the literature survey and discover if there were significant variables (e.g. task uncertainty, interdependence, task complexity, mechanistic / organic structures, risk, task analysability etc) influencing office design, pilot studies were carried out in a mechanistic and organic office. Several additional variables were identified. From the pilot studies combined with the literature review a conceptual model was formulated which provides guidelines for managers enabling them to design the management systems fully taking all the variables into account. The conceptual model was then tested using a multiple case study design of two small consulting type offices that exhibited mixed mechanistic and organic characteristics. This resulted in an improved version of the model which was then further validated. This validation based upon the opinions of office managers focused mainly on identifying the practical usefulness of the model from an industrial perspective. Following the validation a final form of the model has been proposed in this research. It remains for future researchers to fully test the model by applying it in a wider range of offices. This study makes an explicit contribution to the redesign of offices as well as the utilisation of Value Stream Mapping to the mechanistic and the organic task activities within commercial and industrial offices.

Розроблена узагальнена схема інноваційної діяльності організації, яка характеризує взаємозв’язки видів інноваційного процесу, інноваційного бізнесу та інноваційних стратегій. Уточнено особливості виконання робіт виділених видів інноваційного процесу. Запропоновано рекомендації щодо визначення доцільності виконання робіт окремих етапів інноваційного процесу для організацій, які мають комбінований тип інноваційного бізнесу. Уточнено сутність і зміст видів НДДКР і робіт маркетингу інновацій на етапах інноваційного і життєвого циклу нового продукту. Розроблено таблицю рішень для вибору варіантів інноваційного процесу, які доцільно реалізувати конкретній організації, залежно від стану складових підсистем її потенціалу інноваційного розвитку та ступеня радикалізації інноваційного продукту. Розроблено укрупнену блок-схему алгоритму вибору раціональної структури інноваційного процесу в межах одного чи кожного з кількох інноваційних проектів, які реалізує організація. Авторські розробки у комплексі дозволяють істотно підвищити обґрунтованість і знизити ризик вибору раціонального варіанту інноваційного процесу конкретної організації у конкретних ринкових умовах, а також виду її інноваційної стратегії, забезпечити взаємно узгоджену взаємодію НДДКР і маркетингу інновацій на етапах інноваційного процесу.
Разработана обобщенная схема инновационной деятельности организации, которая характеризует взаимосвязи видов инновационного процесса, инновационного бизнеса и инновационных стратегий. Уточнены особенности выполнения работ выделенных видов инновационного процесса. Предложены рекомендации относительно определения целесообразности выполнения работ отдельных этапов инновационного процесса для организаций, которые имеют комбинированный тип инновационного бизнеса. Уточнены сущность и содержание видов НИОКР и работ маркетинга инноваций на этапах инновационного и жизненного цикла нового продукта. Разработана таблица решений для выбора вариантов инновационного процесса, которые целесообразно реализовать конкретной организации, в зависимости от состояния составляющих ее потенциала инновационного развития и степени радикализации инновационного продукта. Разработана укрупненная блок-схема алгоритма выбора рациональной структуры инновационного процесса в пределах одного или нескольких инновационных проектов, которые реализует организация. Авторские разработки в комплексе позволяют существенным образом повысить обоснованность и снизить риск выбора рационального варианта инновационного процесса конкретной организации в конкретных рыночных условиях, а также вида ее инновационной стратегии, обеспечить взаимно согласованное взаимодействие НИОКР и маркетинга инноваций на этапах инновационного процесса.
The generalized scheme of organization innovative activity is investigated. It characterizes interconnections between innovative process types, innovative business and innovative strategies. The peculiarities of the works conduct concerning innovative process distinguished types are confirmed. Recommendations concerning works conduct reasonability of the several stages in the innovative process for organizations, which have innovative business combined type are suggested. Essence and content of SRRCW works and innovations marketing works are confirmed at the innovative and life cycle stages of the new product. Table of decisions is developed to choose innovative process variants, which are reasonably to realize by concrete organization, depending on subsystems constituents state of its innovative development potential and innovative product radicalization degree. The enlarged block-scheme of the algorithm to choose rational structure in the innovative process within one or every innovative projects, realized by organization, is investigated. Author’s studies together allow to increase validity and decrease risk to choose rational variant in the innovative process in the concrete organization under concrete market conditions, and also its innovative strategy type, to provide mutually coordinated interconnection between SRRCW and innovations marketing at the innovative process stages.

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The need to relate the various architectural domains captured in partial descriptions of an enterprise is addressed in virtually all enterprise modeling approaches. One of these domains, namely that of organizational behavior, has received significant attention in recent years in the context of business process modeling and management. Another important domain, that of organizational structure is strongly inter-related with the process domain. While the process domain focuses on how the business process activities are structured and performed, the organizational structure domain focuses on who performs these activities, i.e., which kinds of entities in an organization are capable of performing work. Given the strong connection between the organizational behavior and organizational resources, we argue that any comprehensive enterprise modeling technique should explicitly establish the relations between the modeling elements that represent organizational behavior, called here behavioral elements, and those used to represent the organizational resources (organizational actors) involved in these activities, called here active structure elements. Despite the importance of the relations between these architectural domains, many of the current enterprise architecture and business process modeling approaches lack support for the expressiveness of a number of important active structure allocation scenarios. This work aims to overcome these limitations by proposing a framework for active structure assignment that can be applied to enterprise architecture and business process modeling approaches. This framework enriches the expressiveness of existing techniques and supports the definition of precise active structure assignments. It is designed such that it should be applicable to a number of enterprise architecture and business process modeling languages, i.e., one should be able to use and apply different (enterprise and business process) modeling languages to the framework with minor changes
A necessidade de se relacionar os vários domínios arquiteturais capturados em descrições parciais de uma organização é, virtualmente, tratado em todas as abordagens de modelagem de arquiteturas organizacionais. Um destes domínios, particularmente chamado de comportamento organizacional, tem recebido atenção significativa nos últimos anos no contexto de modelagem e gerenciamento de processos de negócio. Outro domínio importante, chamado de estrutura organizacional, é fortemente inter-relacionado com o domínio de processo. Enquanto o domínio de processo foca em "como" as atividades de processos de negócio são estruturadas e executadas, o domínio de estrutura organizacional foca em "quem" executa essas atividades, i.e., quais tipos de entidades em uma organização são capazes de executar trabalho. Dada a forte conexão entre o comportamento organizacional e os recursos organizacionais, nós argumentamos que qualquer técnica de modelagem de arquitetura organizacional deve explicitamente estabelecer relações entre os elementos de modelagem que representam o comportamento organizacional, chamado aqui de elementos comportamentais e aqueles suados para representar recursos organizacionais (atores organizacionais) envolvidos nestas atividades, chamados aqui de elementos da estrutura ativa. Apesar da importância das relações entre esses domínios arquiteturais, muitas das abordagens de modelagem de processo de negócio e modelagem de arquiteturas organizacionais tem um suporte insuficiente para expressar uma quantidade importante de cenários de alocação da estrutura ativa. Este trabalho visa superar essas limitações propondo um framework para a atribuição da estrutura ativa que pode ser aplicado a abordagens de modelagem de processo de negócio e modelagem de arquitetura organizacionais. Esse framework enriquece a expressividade das técnicas existentes e dá suporte à definição de atribuições precisas da estrutura ativa. Ele é desenvolvido tal que pode ser aplicável a linguagens de modelagem de processo de negócio e linguagens de modelagem de arquiteturas organizacionais, i.e., é possível utilizar e aplicar diferentes linguagens de modelagem ao framework com mudanças mínimas

Syftet med denna studie är att göra en kartläggning av ledarskapets roll i den kreativaprocessen inom majorbolagens organisationsstrukturer, samt på vilka sätt ledarskapet styr denkreativa processen. Ledarskapets betydelse i den kreativa processen diskuteras kring olikasituationer samt omgivningen och dess krav som styr marknaden och dess förutsättningar.Det dubbla ledarskapets teori får en viktig roll i studiens analys. Tillsammans medentreprenörskapets innovativa ledarskap ger det en koppling till den teknologiska utvecklingsom skett inom musikindustrin, genom framför allt digitaliseringen av industrin.
The purpose of the study is to do a mapping over the role of the leadership in the creativeprocess within the major record labels’ organizational structure and in what ways theleadership directs the creative process. The importance of leadership in the creative process isdiscussed in different situations as well as the environment’s demands which controls themarket and its conditions. The theory of the double leadership has a vital role in the study’sanalysis together with the innovative leadership of entrepreneurship and the connection to thetechnological advancements which have occurred in the music industry, mostly through thedigitalization of the industry.

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This research aims to understand how white goods company s production strategy affects structural and relacional aspects of supply chain management, in specially those relatives of first tier suppliers. A reason for this research is the importance of understanding the dynamic of companies supply chain, constantly requested to serve all kinds of different markets. It couldn t be found a referential model to analyze this research, so a hypothesis is used: production strategy decisions influences the structure and relationship of supply chain management by execution of business process with suppliers. So, based on some aspects of production strategy and supply chain management literature, this research seeks to determine some elements capable of management tools to find out if that hypothesis is correct.The managemently elements are taken because they promote the integration of business process, bonding focal company and suppliers. This research is characterized by explorative and qualitative search and the way to get information is done through interviews with purchase and products development managers of focal company and production managers of suppliers companies. The main contribution of this research is to find out that production strategy s focal company influences the structure and relationship of supply chain management. This occur by conformation of managemently elements that allow cooperation of first tier suppliers, due to those stand the execution of business process of focal company.
Este trabalho tem como objetivo entender como a estratégia de produção de uma montadora do setor de linha branca afeta os aspectos estruturais e relacionais de gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, em especial aqueles relativos aos fornecedores de primeira camada. Uma justificativa para a condução deste trabalho é a crescente relevância do entendimento sobre a dinâmica da cadeia de suprimentos de uma empresa, cujo gerenciamento é requerido para se atender as constantes exigências de mercado. Como não há um modelo de referência já difundido para suportar a proposição analítica desenvolvida nesta dissertação, parte-se da hipótese de que a estratégia de produção influencia a estrutura e as relações de gestão da cadeia de suprimentos mantidas com membros da cadeia a partir da execução dos processos de negócios estabelecidos com fornecedores. Assim, utilizando-se a literatura de estratégia de produção e gestão da cadeia de suprimentos, definem-se alguns elementos gerenciáveis para verificar, por meio de um estudo de caso, se tal hipótese pode ser considerada plausível. Os elementos gerenciáveis foram escolhidos por fomentarem a integração de processos de negócios entre empresa focal e seus fornecedores. Tal abordagem caracteriza a pesquisa como exploratória e qualitativa em que o principal meio de obtenção de informações foram entrevistas realizadas com pessoas de nível gerencial das áreas de compras e desenvolvimento de produto na empresa focal e com os gerentes de produção de seus fornecedores. A principal contribuição deste trabalho é a verificação de que a estratégia de produção da empresa focal influencia a estrutura e as relações de sua gestão da cadeia de suprimentos. Isso ocorre por meio da conformação dos elementos gerenciáveis que permitem obter maior cooperação dos fornecedores de primeira camada, uma vez que esses apóiam fortemente a execução dos processos de negócios da empresa focal.

Bakgrund: Företag kan använda sig av flera olika distributionsprocesser för att leverera produkter till kunder och alla dessa distributionsprocesser innebär olika kostnader, förutsättningar och hinder. Distributionskostnaden består av transport-, hanterings-, lagrings- och informationskostnad och utgör hos många företag en stor andel av de totala produktkostnaderna. Kostnaderna påverkas av hur ett företag väljer att utforma sin distributionsstruktur. Vid utformning av en distributionsstruktur finns det även vissa faktorer att ta hänsyn till, såsom olika kundkrav. Dessa faktorer och kostnader behöver samlas i ett ramverk för att kunna utgöra beslutsunderlag för företag. Syfte: Studien syftar till att utveckla ett teoretiskt ramverk för val av distributionsstruktur. Vidare syftar studien till att applicera ramverket på fallföretaget för att demonstrera hur ramverket kan tillämpas och branschanpassas. Slutligen redovisas möjliga kostnadsbesparingar för fallföretaget och en handlingsplan för att uppnå besparingarna. Tillvägagångssätt: Studien är en fallstudie på möbelåterförsäljaren Svenssons i Lammhult. Utifrån intervjuer och observationer har fallföretagets nuläge kartlagts i form av en processkarta. Därefter har ett teoretiskt ramverk för val av distributionsstruktur utformats och tillsammans med nulägesbeskrivningen har kostnader för alternativa distributionsprocesser beräknats på 30 utvalda produkter. Utifrån kostnadsberäkningarna har en ny distributionsstruktur presenterats tillsammans med en handlingsplan för en övergång till den nya distributionsstrukturen. Slutsats: Den största kostnadsbesparingen, cirka 2.000.000 kr, uppnås vid en övergång till direktleverans för de hemlevererade produkter som i dagsläget endast skickas med produkter från en leverantör. Vidare kostnadsbesparingar är uppnåbara genom att distribuera mindre produkter via upphämtningsplats istället för att dessa levereras hem till kund. För att implementera dessa förändringar kan förhandlingar med leverantörer krävas och kostnader för integrerade informationssystem kan uppstå.
Background: Companies can use a variety of distribution processes in order to deliver their products to their customers and all of these distribution processes results in different costs. The distribution costs are transport, handling, storage and information costs and these costs constitute a large share of the total product cost for many companies. Depending on how a company designs their distribution structure the resulting cost varies. There are also several factors that influence the design of a distribution structure, such as various customer requirements. When gathering these factors and costs in a framework it is possible to use the framework when making business decisions. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to develop a theoretical framework designed to choose a distribution structure. Furthermore, the framework will be applied on the case company in order to demonstrate how the framework can be applied on the case company and adapted to an industry. Lastly, possible savings for the case company will be demonstrated and an action plan for reaching these savings will be presented. Methodology: The study is a case study at the furniture retailer Svenssons i Lammhult. A current state map has been created through interviews and observations at the case company. Thereafter a theoretical framework for choosing a distribution structure has been developed, and by using the current state map, cost calculations for alternative distribution processes has been carried out on 30 selected products. Based on the cost calculations a new distribution structure and an action plan has been presented. Conclusions: The largest savings, about 2.000.000 SEK, can be achieved by a transition to direct delivery for home delivered products that are being ordered with products from a single supplier. Further cost savings can be achieved by distributing smaller products through pickup points instead of home delivery. To implement these changes the case company needs to negotiate with their suppliers and investigate costs for implementing integrated information systems with their suppliers.K

Дисертацію присвячено вирішенню теоретичних і практичних проблем управління капіталізацією підприємства як критерієм ефективності його господарської діяльності. Розширено трактування категорії «реінжиніринг бізнес-процесів» з урахуванням сучасних особливостей розвитку економіки, а також запропоновано застосування ризик-орієнтованого підходу до визначення бізнес-процесів підприємства. Визначено взаємозв'язок між вартістю підприємства та структурою його капіталу. Виявлено вплив факторів капіталізації на діяльність підприємства в умовах доктрини «Industry 4.0». Виявлено методологічні підходи до визначення складових капіталізації підприємства. Також розроблено фінансово-економічну модель складових капіталізації, яку було використано в управлінні підприємством. На підставі всіх перерахованих вище комплексних складових було оцінено ефективність реінжинірингових заходів для підприємства
The dissertation is devoted to the solution of theoretical and practical problems of capitalization management of an enterprise as a criterion of the effectiveness of its economic activity. The interpretation of the category "reengineering of business processes" is expanded, the modern features of the development of the economy were taken into account for the study of the issues, and the application of a risk-oriented approach to the definition of business processes of an enterprise is proposed. As a result of the research, the concept of enterprise value was developed because of the synthesis of five value standards (fair market, market, investment, domestic and fair) and two approaches to it (continuous and liquidation). During research, attention was drawn to the fact that, in the context of Ukraine's integration into the international economic community, the widespread introduction of container traffic is becoming increasingly important. An important reserve for further growth of traffic is container traffic in the direction of Europe - Asia, the volume of which is constantly growing. In this context, the geographical location of Ukraine has a significant potential of a transit state. Stevedoring companies play a key role as representatives of the transport and logistics chain in the global freight industry. Therefore, it is extremely important for both investors (business owners) and business management to properly assess the value of each individual company in order to make the right management decisions. The essence of business process reengineering has been improved, which consists in the formation of enterprise management processes, in which costs are decisively reduced, the level of customer service is significantly improved, and time costs are significantly lowered. It was proved that the specifics of business process reengineering involve a radical way of thinking and acting of all management and employees of the enterprise and consists in its key features: fundamental nature, radicalism, innovation, and process approach. The relationship between the value of an enterprise and the structure of its capital has been determined. The influence of capitalization factors on the activity of an enterprise in the conditions of the “Industry 4.0” doctrine is revealed. Economic and mathematical modeling of capitalization of transport and logistics enterprises based on vector autoregressive modeling was improved, which, in contrast to previous studies, considers the influence of macroeconomic, price, financial factors of the enterprise environment. A comprehensive methodological approach to increasing the company's capitalization was developed in the context of the implementation of reengineering 19 measures, which is characterized by the use of the specific indicators that affect the company's capitalization. Methodological approaches to determining the components of the capitalization of an enterprise have been identified, namely: the features of planning an increase in the cost of capital have been investigated, a technical and economic analysis of the activities of enterprises in the studied industry has been carried out for the application of modern technologies for reengineering business processes. Also, a financial and economic model of the components of capitalization was developed, which was used in the management of the enterprise. Scientific and methodological tools for planning the increase in the cost of capital of enterprises in the transport and logistics industry have been developed. A technical and economic analysis of transport and logistics companies for the application of business process reengineering technologies was conducted. An author's approach to the components of the CAPM model was developed, as well as an author's approach to the use of market multipliers, which, in contrast to the existing ones, considers industry specialization. Based on all the above complex components, the effectiveness of reengineering measures for the enterprise was assessed.

Abstract The main objective of this study is to clarify the current challenges and preconditions relating to product portfolio management (PPM) and widen the PPM framework over horizontal and vertical portfolios, including a related governance model, strategic performance management and the PPM process. This study analyses comprehensively the current PPM literature and the relevant practices of 10 case companies representing business areas such as hardware (HW), software (SW) and Services. This study approaches PPM from a more comprehensive viewpoint as all product life cycle phases and product structure levels are not covered well in this context by the earlier literature. The principal results of this study involve revealing the need for a new PPM governance model including strategic targets, KPIs and the PPM process according to vertical and horizontal portfolios. The created PPM framework clarifies the strategic role of PPM in cross-functional analysis and decision making for commercial and technical portfolios. The role and the impact of strategic PPM have been further enhanced by positioning the PPM process on the level of other business processes. The created PPM framework enhances the collaboration between business and engineering teams. The managerial implications include the potential preconditions of clarifying the dynamic and active role of PPM at the level of other business processes. The findings can aid business managers in understanding PPM as an entity that has a role in managing the entire product portfolio and its renewal based on strategic performance measures over horizontal and vertical portfolios according to cross-functional governance bodies. This highlights the criticality of managing all items both in commercial and technical portfolios. The role of other business processes should be highly operational by executing product development, marketing and sales, delivery and care activities according to PPM decisions. The primary role of PPM should be active management of the entire product portfolio over product life cycle phases and product structure levels, instead of merely focusing on new product development, to ensure product portfolio renewal
Tiivistelmä Tämä tutkimus selventää tuoteportfolion hallintaan liittyviä edellytyksiä ja haasteita, sekä laajentaa tuoteportfolion hallintamallia, suorituskyvyn johtamista ja prosessia horisontaalisesti ja vertikaalisesti. Tuoteportfolion hallintaa on lähestytty kattavasti analysoimalla nykyistä kirjallisuutta, sekä kymmenen kohdeyrityksen käytänteitä nykytila-analyysin keinoin. Kohdeyritykset edustavat useita liiketoiminta- ja tuotealueita kattaen laitteiston, ohjelmiston ja palvelut. Tämä tutkimus lähestyy tuoteportfolion hallintaa laajemmalta katsantokannalta kuin nykyinen kirjallisuus joka ei kata kaikkia tuotteen elinkaaren vaiheita ja tuoterakennetasoja. Tämän väitöstutkimuksen tärkeimmät tulokset liittyvät uuden tuoteportfolion hallintamallin tarpeellisuuden esille tuomiseen, sisältäen tuoteportfolion strategiset tavoitteet, suorituskykymittarit ja hallintaprosessin perustuen vertikaalisiin ja horisontaalisiin tuoteportfolioihin. Luotu viitekehys selkeyttää tuoteportfolion hallinnan strategista roolia organisaatiorajat ja liiketoimintaprosessit ylittävässä analyysissa ja päätöksenteossa liittyen kaupallisiin ja teknisiin tuoteportfolioihin. Strategisen tuoteportfolion hallinnan roolia ja merkitystä on erityisesti korostettu nostamalla tuoteportfolion hallintaprosessi muiden liiketoimintaprosessien tasolle. Tässä tutkimuksessa luotu tuoteportfolion hallinnan viitekehys vahvistaa yhteistyötä liiketoiminnanjohto- ja insinööritiimien välillä kaikilla organisaatiotasoilla. Työn kontribuutiot yritysjohdolle korostavat tuoteportfolion hallintaprosessin keskitettyä, dynaamista ja aktiivista roolia johtaa yrityksen kaupallisia ja teknisiä nimikkeitä horisontaalisesti ja vertikaalisesti kokonaisuutena perustuen strategisiin suorituskykymittareihin. Tuoteportfolion hallinta yli horisontaalisten ja vertikaalisten portfolioiden mahdollistaa tuoteportfolion uudistumisen yli kaikkien elinkaarivaiheiden ja tuoterakennetasojen. Muiden liiketoimintaprosessien roolin tulisi olla selkeästi operatiivinen toteuttaen tuotekehitykseen, markkinointiin, myyntiin, tilaamiseen, hankintaan, toimittamiseen ja huoltoon liittyviä tehtäviä perustuen strategisiin tuoteportfolion hallinnan tavoitteisiin ja suorituskykymittareihin

System dynamics modelling has been used for around 40 years to address complex, systemic, dynamic problems, those often described as wicked. But, system dynamics modelling is not an exact science and arguments about the most suitable techniques to use in which circumstances, continues. The nature of these wicked problems is investigated through a series of case studies where poor situational awareness among stakeholders was identified. This was found to be an underlying cause for management failure, suggesting need for better ways of recognising and managing wicked problem situations. Human cognition is considered both as a limitation and enabler to decision-making in wicked problem environments. Naturalistic and deliberate decision-making are reviewed. The thesis identifies the need for integration of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Case study results and a review of the literature led to identification of a set of principles of method to be applied in an integrated framework, the aim being to develop an improved way of addressing wicked problems. These principles were applied to a series of cases in an action research setting. However, organisational and political barriers were encountered. This limited the exploitation and investigation of cases to varying degrees. In response to a need identified in the literature review and the case studies, a tool is designed to facilitate analysis of multi-factorial, non-linear causality. This unique tool and its use to assist in problem conceptualisation, and as an aid to testing alternate strategies, are demonstrated. Further investigation is needed in relation to the veracity of combining causal influences using this tool and system dynamics, broadly. System dynamics modelling was found to have utility needed to support analysis of wicked problems. However, failure in a particular modelling project occurred when it was found necessary to rely on human judgement in estimating values to be input into the models. This was found to be problematic and unacceptably risky for sponsors of the modelling effort. Finally, this work has also identified that further study is required into: the use of human judgement in decision-making and the validity of system dynamics models that rely on the quantification of human judgement.

The thesis will discuss the Systems Engineering phase of an original Conceptual Design Engineering Methodology for Aerospace Engineering-Vehicle Synthesis. This iterative phase is shown to benefit from digitization of Integrated Product&Process Design (IPPD) activities, through the application of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) technologies. Requirements analysis through the use of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and 7 MaP tools is explored as an illustration. A "Requirements Data Manager" (RDM) is used to show the ability to reduce the time and cost to design for both new and legacy/derivative designs. Here the COTS tool Teamcenter Systems Engineering (TCSE) is used as the RDM. The utility of the new methodology is explored through consideration of a legacy RFP based vehicle design proposal and associated aerospace engineering. The 2001 American Helicopter Society (AHS) 18th Student Design Competition RFP is considered as a starting point for the Systems Engineering phase. A Conceptual Design Engineering activity was conducted in 2000/2001 by Graduate students (including the author) in Rotorcraft Engineering at the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta GA. This resulted in the "Kingfisher" vehicle design, an advanced search and rescue rotorcraft capable of performing the "Perfect Storm" mission, from the movie of the same name. The associated requirements, architectures, and work breakdown structure data sets for the Kingfisher are used to relate the capabilities of the proposed Integrated Digital Environment (IDE). The IDE is discussed as a repository for legacy knowledge capture, management, and design template creation. A primary thesis theme is to promote the automation of the up-front conceptual definition of complex systems, specifically aerospace vehicles, while anticipating downstream preliminary and full spectrum lifecycle design activities. The thesis forms a basis for additional discussions of PLM tool integration across the engineering, manufacturing, MRO and EOL lifecycle phases to support business management processes.