2019/10/12 by Greta Adamo, Adamo, Greta, Chiara Ghidini +3
Business, Management and Accounting · Computer Science · #Business Process Modeling and Analysis #Service-Oriented Architecture and Web Services #Information Technology Governance and Strategy
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1910.05564
Business process modelling languages typically enable the representation of\nbusiness process models by employing (graphical) symbols. These symbols can\nvary depending upon the verbosity of the language, the modeling paradigm, the\nfocus of the language, and so on. To make explicit the different constructs and\nrules employed by a specific language as well as bridge the gap across\ndifferent languages, meta-models have been proposed in literature. These\nmeta-models are a crucial source of knowledge on what state-of-the-art\nliterature considers relevant to describe business processes. Moreover, the\nrapid growth of techniques and tools that aim at supporting all dimensions of\nbusiness processes and not only its control flow perspective, as for instance\ndata and organisational aspects, makes even more important to have a clear\nidea, already at the conceptual level, of the key process constructs. The goal\nof this work is to provide the first extensive systematic literature review\n(SLR) of business process meta-models. This SLR aims at answering research\nquestions concerning: (i) the kind of meta-models proposed in literature; (ii)\nthe recurring constructs they contain; (iii) their purposes; and (iv) their\nevaluations. Thirty-six papers were selected and evaluated against four\nresearch questions. The results indicate the existence of a reasonable body of\nwork conducted in this specific area, but not a full maturity. In particular,\nwhile traditional paradigms towards business process modelling, and aspects\nrelated to the business process control flow seem to be well present, novel\nparadigms and aspects related to the organisational, data and goal-oriented\naspects of business processes seem to be still under-investigated.\n