BISM1201 Chap.6 Process Modelling and Sustainable Operations
Process Modelling and Sustainable Operations
Process models communicate tasks, decisions, events and responsibility. BPMN provides a common notation for this logic, but a standard flow may leave resource use invisible. Environmental performance indicators can track water, energy, waste, recyclability and greenhouse-gas emissions.
Connecting an indicator to the activity that creates it supports diagnosis and ownership, while a company-wide total mainly supports reporting. A useful indicator needs a defined unit, boundary, timing, data source and owner.
Design science offers a disciplined way to create an extended notation: identify the practical problem, build an artefact, evaluate comprehension and problem-solving performance, then refine from evidence.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Tasks, gateways, events and swimlanes
- 02
BPMN as a shared process language
- 03
Environmental performance indicators by activity
- 04
Indicator units, boundaries, sources and ownership
- 05
Design science build, test and refine cycle
Testing a packaging-impact notation
- +1Define the problem as environmental impact being invisible in the activity model.
- +1Attach a labelled material indicator and unit to the packing task.
- +1Test whether fresh users interpret the symbol correctly against the existing representation.
- +1Measure whether users choose the lower-waste route in a decision task.
- +1Refine confusing visual cues and assign an operational data owner.
Key terms
- Process model
- A structured representation of activities, decisions, events, roles and flows in a business process.
- BPMN
- Business Process Model and Notation, a standard visual language for communicating process logic and responsibility.
- Process activity
- A defined unit of work that changes a case or contributes to an outcome within a process.
- Environmental indicator
- A governed measure of environmental performance such as resource consumption, waste, recyclability or emissions.
- Design science
- A research approach that builds and evaluates an artefact intended to address a practical problem.
- Problem performance
- Observed ability to use a representation or artefact to complete a decision or analytical task correctly.
Process Modelling and Sustainable Operations FAQ
Why add environmental indicators to a process model?
Activity-level indicators show where resource use or waste occurs and who can act on it. A total may reveal a reporting problem, while the linked process view supports diagnosis and targeted improvement.
What makes an environmental indicator reliable?
Define the resource, unit, process boundary, timing, source and owner. Without those details, two activities can display numbers that look comparable but represent different measurement conditions.
How should a new notation be evaluated?
Test whether intended users understand the symbols and whether the representation improves a realistic problem-solving task. Compare against the existing representation and refine from observed errors, not only preferences.
Does measurement automatically improve sustainability?
No. Measurement creates visibility, but improvement still requires targets, decision rights, process changes and review. A dashboard or symbol without an accountable action cycle remains descriptive rather than operational.
Exam move
Draw a short process with two roles, a gateway and an exception. Add one environmental indicator and write its unit, boundary, source and owner. Then design two evaluation questions: one comprehension test and one decision task. Practise explaining why activity-level visibility supports improvement while distinguishing measurement from the change that follows.
Train notation reading before notation creation.
Take a small process and describe every symbol in complete sentences: who performs the task, what event triggers it, which rule controls the gateway and where an exception ends. Ask another reader to reconstruct the process from your sentences. Any difference reveals ambiguity in the model or in the business rule.
Build an indicator contract for water, energy, waste, recyclability or emissions.
State the unit, denominator, measurement point, reporting period and accountable role. Compare total impact with impact per transaction and explain why both can move in different directions. Then attach the measure to the activity that creates it. This forces you to distinguish company reporting from process diagnosis.
For design-science practice, write the problem independently of the proposed artefact.
Sketch a representation, predict one likely misunderstanding and create an objective comprehension question. Add a realistic decision task that tests whether the representation improves problem solving. Compare with a baseline, examine errors and specify the refinement.
Finish with operational governance: how data will be captured, verified and reviewed once the artefact leaves the study setting.
Stress-test the indicator with two boundary changes. First alter the denominator, such as output units or completed cases, and explain how the interpretation changes. Next widen the process boundary to include an upstream input or downstream consequence. Record which conclusion remains stable.
Pair the environmental measure with a service or quality measure so improvement is not achieved by shifting harm. Assign verification and review responsibilities before recommending action.
