Harmonization of business process models

Abstract

When multiple similar business processes must be designed, a trade-off is necessary between designing a single, standardized, process or designing multiple, specific, processes. Standardization, on the one hand, helps to benefit from re-use of resources and to reduce redundancy. Specificity, on the other hand, helps to tailor the processes to specific needs. The activity of deciding on this trade-off is called harmonization. This paper operationalizes the notion of process harmonization, identifies aspects that determine harmonization and defines metrics to determine the level of harmonization. Furthermore, it presents the factors that influence the level of harmonization that can be achieved in a company. The harmonization aspects and factors are extracted from case studies in practice. Together the metrics, aspects and factors can be used to determine the current and optimal level of harmonization for a company. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.