A Methodology for Graphical Modeling of Business Rules

Bona, Daniele Di; Re, Giuseppe Lo; Aiello, Giovanni; Tamburo, A.; Alessi, Miriam

doi:10.1109/ems.2011.68

Cited by 16 publications

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“…In practice, business process models and business rules are either kept in separated repositories, which make review and assessment a difficult task, or mixed together, which decreases the configurability and flexibility of processes [173]. Prior research has indicated that integration of business process models and business rules can improve the flexibility of business processes [29]. The lack of comprehensive representation for business rules makes business process modeling notations problematic for modeling complex business logics and makes it hard to meet frequently changing business requirements.…”

Section: Business Process Model and Business Rule Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Modeling of Business Processes and Business Rules

Wang¹

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Two major components in current information system architectures in terms of modeling business requirements are business processes and business rules, both of which focus on creating a representation of the organization's policies and practices. The conceptual and pragmatic overlap between business process models and business rules indicates a need to model the two related aspects together. Over the past two decades the need to model business rules in an integrated manner with business processes has been argued theoretically as well as validated empirically, and a variety of integration methods have been developed. However, the following questions have not yet been answered by current research. First, while researchers have argued that integrated modeling of business process models and business rules can improve the understanding of business processes, this proposition has neither been theoretically analyzed, nor empirically evaluated.Second, there are situations in which a business rule is better modelled independently of a business process model, but also situations in which it is more appropriate to integrate the rule with a business process model. An important aspect of integrated modeling is the understanding of such situations and how they influence business rule representation.Thus, the aim of this thesis is to address the above two questions and then develop a decision framework that guides modelers on whether and how to integrate a business rule with a business process model. Accordingly, the thesis has the following three objectives:(1) theoretically analyze and empirically evaluate if and when business rule integration can improve business process model understanding, (2) identify and evaluate factors that will influence the decision of whether or not a business rule should be integrated with a business process model, and (3) develop a decision framework that guides modelers on whether or not, and if so how, to integrate a business rule with a business process model.

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