{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,2]],"date-time":"2025-08-02T17:47:54Z","timestamp":1754156874355,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,5]],"date-time":"2018-06-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1528156800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BPMJ"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,26]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to measure the flexibility of business process models. The authors give the notions of flexible process distance, which corresponds to the number of change operations needed for transforming one process model into another, considering the different perspectives (functional, operational, behavioral, informational, and organizational).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The proposed approach is a quantitative-based approach to measure the flexibility of business process models. In this context, the authors presented a method to compute the distance between two process models. The authors measured the distance between a process model and a process variant in terms of the number of high-level change operations (e.g. to insert or delete actors) needed to transform the process model into the respective variant when a change occurred, considering the different perspectives and the flexible features.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>To evaluate the flexibility-measurement approach, the authors performed a comprehensive simulation using an emergency care (EC) business process model and its variants. The authors used a real-world EC process and illustrated the possible changes faced in the emergency department (possible variants). Simulation results were promising because they fit the flexibility needs of the EC process users. This was validated using the authors\u2019 previous work which consists in a guidance approach for business process flexibility.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Research limitations\/implications<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The authors defined six different distances between business process models, which are summarized in the definition of total process distance. However, changes in one perspective may lead to changes in other perspectives. For instance, adding a new activity may lead to adding a new actor.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Practical implications<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The results of this study would help companies to obtain important information about their processes and to compare the desired level of flexibility with their actual process flexibility.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study is probably the first flexibility-measurement approach which incorporates features for capturing changes affecting the functional, operational, informational, organizational, and behavioral perspectives as well as elements related to approaches enhancing flexibility.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/bpmj-03-2017-0058","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,5]],"date-time":"2018-06-05T06:57:29Z","timestamp":1528181849000},"page":"1023-1049","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["A quantitative approach for measuring the degree of flexibility of business process models"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Asma","family":"Mejri","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sonia","family":"Ayachi-Ghannouchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ricardo","family":"Martinho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref032","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2013\/507984","article-title":"Business process management: a comprehensive survey","year":"2013","journal-title":"ISRN Software Engineering"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.3917\/sim.081.0089","article-title":"Une exp\u00e9rience de bpr dans un h\u00f4pital tunisien","volume":"13","year":"2008","journal-title":"Syst\u00e8mes d\u2019information & management"},{"first-page":"222","article-title":"A flexible integration of security concern in rule based business process modeling","year":"2012","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref002"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1504\/IJBPIM.2011.043389","article-title":"A rule-based approach to model and verify flexible business processes","volume":"5","year":"2011","journal-title":"International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref400","first-page":"89","article-title":"Enhancing the case handling paradigm to support object-aware processes","year":"2013","journal-title":"SIMPDA, Volume 1027 of CEUR Workshop Proceedings"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"423","DOI":"10.1007\/s11423-013-9293-6","article-title":"Using centrality of concept maps as a measure of problem space states in computer-supported collaborative problem solving","volume":"61","year":"2013","journal-title":"Educational Technology Research and Development"},{"volume-title":"jBPM 6 Developer Guide","year":"2014","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref005"},{"volume-title":"Fundamentals of Business Process Management","year":"2013","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref006"},{"first-page":"95","article-title":"Achieving business process flexibility with business rules","year":"2008","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref007"},{"volume-title":"Business Modeling with UML: Business Patterns at Work","year":"2000","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref008"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gerth, C. (2013), \u201cBusiness process models \u2013 change management\u201d, PhD thesis, LNCS, Vol. 7849, University of Paderborn, Springer, Berlin and Heidelberg.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-38604-6"},{"first-page":"173","article-title":"Measuring process flexibility and agility","year":"2010","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref010"},{"first-page":"229","article-title":"Supporting flexible processes with adaptive workflow and case handling","year":"2008","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref011"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref012","unstructured":"Hay, D., Healy, K.A. and Hall, J. (2000), \u201cDefining business rules-what are they really\u201d, The Business Rules Group."},{"first-page":"359","article-title":"Performance measures to evaluate the impact of best practices","year":"2007","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref013"},{"first-page":"226","article-title":"Design attributes and performance outcomes: a framework for comparing business processes","year":"2005","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref014"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref015","unstructured":"Li, C. (2010a), \u201cMining process model variants: challenges, techniques, examples\u201d, PhD thesis, SIKS Dissertation Series No. 2010-47, Enschede."},{"volume-title":"Mining Process Model Variants: Challenges, Techniques, Examples","year":"2010","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref016"},{"first-page":"248","article-title":"On measuring process model similarity based on high-level change operations","year":"2008","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref017"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref018","unstructured":"Li, C., Reichert, M. and Wombacher, A. (2009a), \u201cDiscovering reference models by mining process variants using a heuristic approach\u201d, in Dayal, U., Eder, J., Koehler, J. and Reijers, H. (Eds), \u2018Business Process Management\u2019, Vol. 5701 of LectureNotes in Computer Science, Springer, Berlin and Heidelberg, pp. 344-362."},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, C., Reichert, M.U. and Wombacher, A. (2009b), \u201cA heuristic approach for discovering reference models by mining process model variants\u201d, CTIT Technical Report Series No. TR-CTIT-09-08, Databases (DB), Enschede.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-03848-8_23"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1043","DOI":"10.1016\/j.procs.2015.08.514","article-title":"Evaluation of process modeling paradigms enabling flexibility","volume":"64","year":"2015","journal-title":"Procedia Computer Science"},{"year":"2015","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref021","article-title":"Examining flexibility in scrum under a scientific approach a survey study"},{"volume-title":"Process Flexibility Patterns","year":"2008","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref022"},{"first-page":"1","article-title":"Open source power on BPM \u2013 a comparison of jBoss jBPM and Intaglio BPMS","year":"2007","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref023"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref024","first-page":"29","article-title":"Theoretical origins of concept maps, how to construct them, and uses in education","volume":"3","year":"2007","journal-title":"Reflecting Education"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref025","unstructured":"Novak, J.D. and Ca\u00f1as, A.J. (2008), \u201cThe theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them\u201d, technical report, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, FL."},{"first-page":"378","article-title":"A survey on the flexibility requirements related to business processes and modeling artifacts","year":"2008","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref026"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref027","unstructured":"Ouni, A.B. (2012), \u201cPlan blanc et gestion des crises sanitaires aux urgences\u201d, PhD thesis, Facult\u00e9 de m\u00e9decine Sousse."},{"year":"2008","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref071","article-title":"Constraint-based workflow management systems: shifting control to users"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref072","first-page":"91","article-title":"A regulation-based view on business process and supporting system-exibility","volume":"5,","year":"2005","journal-title":"Proceedings of the CAiSE"},{"year":"2006","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref028","article-title":"Taxonomy of flexibility in business processes"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Reichert, M. and Weber, B. (2012a), \u201cAristaFlow BPM Suite\u201d, Enabling Flexibility in Process-Aware Information Systems, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 441-464.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-30409-5_15"},{"volume-title":"Enabling Flexibility in Process-aware Information Systems: Challenges, Methods, Technologies","year":"2012","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref030"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Schonenberg, H., Mans, R., Russell, N., Mulyar, N. and van der Aalst, W. (2008), \u201cProcess flexibility: a survey of contemporary approaches\u201d, Advances in Enterprise Engineering, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 16-30.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-540-68644-6_2"},{"issue":"7","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref070","first-page":"1084","article-title":"A rule-based approach to supporting adaptable web service composition","volume":"29","year":"2006","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Computers Chinese Edition"},{"first-page":"42","article-title":"Beyond workflow management: product-driven case handling","year":"2001","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref033"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref034","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1007\/s00450-009-0057-9","article-title":"Declarative workflows: balancing between flexibility and support","volume":"23","year":"2009","journal-title":"Computer Science-Research and Development"},{"key":"key2021041412471321200_ref035","first-page":"34","article-title":"ProM 6: the process mining toolkit","volume":"615","year":"2010"},{"volume-title":"Business Process Management: Concepts, Languages, Architectures","year":"2012","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref036"},{"issue":"8","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1187","DOI":"10.1016\/j.infsof.2009.02.002","article-title":"Patterns-based evaluation of open source {BPM} systems: The cases of jBPM, openWFE, and Enhydra Shark","volume":"51","year":"2009","journal-title":"Information and Software Technology"},{"volume-title":"Process Measurement in Business Process Management: Theoretical Framework and Analysis of Several Aspects","year":"2014","key":"key2021041412471321200_ref038"}],"container-title":["Business Process Management Journal"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/BPMJ-03-2017-0058\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/BPMJ-03-2017-0058\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T23:14:36Z","timestamp":1753398876000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/bpmj\/article\/24\/4\/1023-1049\/258556"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,5]]},"references-count":42,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,5]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,26]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/BPMJ-03-2017-0058"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/bpmj-03-2017-0058","relation":{},"ISSN":["1463-7154"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"1463-7154"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,5]]}}}