Integration of risk identification with business process models

Abstract

A variety of methodologies commonly known as business process models are widespread in systems engineering and diverse technology systems. Business process modeling encourages uniform documentation of who generates what information, products, services; for whom; how; and why; and with what authorization. However, no known business process models have the capability to describe sources of risk: that is, what can go wrong in the business process. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the integration of risk identification into a single existing methodology of business process modeling. The paper thus develops an extension of the integrated definition for function (IDEF) modeling that supports describing sources of programmatic risk in business processes. This is demonstrated in an application to planning and programming $1.5 billion per year of highway construction. Identifying the sources of risk is supported by existing methodologies such as hierarchical holographic modeling (HHM) and failure modes, effects, and criticality analysis (FMECA). The results of this paper will emphasize the importance of explicitly introducing the sources of risk in IDEF and other types of business process modeling. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 9: 187–198, 2006