Lecture 2: Businesses and Business Processes

 archaic : purposeful activity : BUSYNESSBUSYNESS  usually commercial or mercantile activity engaged in as a means of livelihood : TRADE TRADE  BUSINESS may be an inclusive term but specifically designates the activities of those engaged in the purchase or sale of commodities or in related financial transactions. COMMERCE and TRADE imply the exchange and transportation of commodities. INDUSTRY applies to the producing of commodities, especially by manufacturing or processing, usually on a large scale* BUSINESS COMMERCE TRADE INDUSTRY  *Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary 2

 Retail  Financial  Insurance  Manufacturing  etc 3

 The organizational areas needed to support a business.  These can to equate to departments. 4

 An organizational structure made up of executives, middle management, supervisory management and operational staff. 5

 Executives (Top Management) ▪ Those that make strategic and day to day decisions  Middle Management ▪ Those that make tactical and day to day decisions  Lower Management ▪ Supervisory personnel who make day to day decisions 6

 The individuals involved in the day to day processing of transactions I.e. Bank Tellers; Mutual Fund Sales People; Sales Associate 7

 Information systems  Collection of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and provide as output the information needed to complete business processes 8

9 IS Planning Level Type of planningTypical IS applicationsOrganizational Unit Responsible for Developing StrategicStrategies in support of organizational long-term objectives Market and sales analysis, Product planning, Performance evaluation Senior Management/ Executives TacticalPolicies in support of short-term goals and resource allocation Budget analysis, Salary forecasting, Inventory scheduling, Customer service Middle Management OperationalDay-to-day staff activities and production support Payroll, Invoicing, Purchasing, Accounting Lower Management; Operational

 Horizontally - information flows across departments  Vertically - information needs of clerical staff, middle management, and senior executives 10

 A Business Process could be an event that the business needs to respond to or it could be an event where the business needs to generate some kind of response back  Can include manual as well as automated processes 11

 “A commercial event is usually triggered by an event (for example receipt of an application form) and has at least one visible domain-specific result (e.g., a contract)”* * Developing Software with UML by Bernard Oestereich, p

 “An area of knowledge or activity characterized by a set of concepts and terminology understood by practitioners in that area.”* * Use Case Modeling by Kurt Bittner and Ian Spence, p

 “The activities of a business process are usually chronologically and logically related to each other.”* * Developing Software with UML by Bernard Oestereich, p

 “A business use case describes how a business actor uses a business to achieve a goal and what the business does for the business actor to achieve that goal.”* * Use Case Modeling, by Bittner & Spence, p

 “It tells the story of how the business and its actors collaborate to deliver something of value for at least one of the actors.”* * Use Case Modeling, by Bittner & Spence, p

 “… is independent of the concrete possibilities and requirements for its (IT- related) implementation.”* * Developing Software with UML: Object-Oriented Analysis and Design in Practice, Bernard Oestereich, p

 How to identify a Business Use Case?  Look for processes the company uses to satisfy the requests of the business actors ▪ Processes could be an event that the business needs to respond to or it could be an event where the business needs to generate some kind of response back ▪ Can include manual as well as automated processes 18

 Where does a Use case start?  “At the start there is always a commercial trigger, a commercial event ▪ Customer would like to conclude a contract ▪ Customer would like to rent a vehicle ▪ Marketing department would like a statistical evaluation of reservations”* * Developing Software with UML, Object-oriented Analysis and Design in Practice,Bernard Oestereich, p

 Where does a Use case start?  “At the start there is always a commercial trigger, a commercial event ▪ Customer would like to conclude a contract ▪ Customer would like to rent a vehicle ▪ Marketing department would like a statistical evaluation of reservations”* * Developing Software with UML, Object-oriented Analysis and Design in Practice,Bernard Oestereich, p

 Where does a Use case end?  “At the end a result has been produced that has “commercial value” ▪ A vehicle registration ▪ A letter to the customer ▪ A business management evaluation”* * Developing Software with UML, Object-oriented Analysis and Design in Practice, Bernard Oestereich, p

 How to identify the Actors?  Look for who is placing requirements on the system.  Anybody who is directly or indirectly involved affected by the system. ▪ Directly: someone who will have direct contact with the system ▪ Indirectly: someone who does not have direct contact with the system but who is involved in the business that is supported by the system 22

 Example of Actors:  Users of the system  Other departments (Marketing, Sales)  Clients or Management  Customers  System Administrators, Service Personnel, Training Personnel, Support Personnel  System Developers, System Maintenance Personnel  Buyers of the system 23

 What is Business Modeling?  It shows how people and business processes need to work together  Two diagrams support Business Modeling: ▪ Use Case diagram which contains business use cases and actors ▪ An Activity diagram which describes in more detail the flow of the Business Processes 24

 Why Business Modeling?  It shows the scope of the system  If building a system which will use several related systems, it clarifies what each system needs to be responsible for and what the relationships are between systems 25

 “A model of a business (defined in terms of business use cases, business actors, and the associations between them) that describes the requirements of a business.”* * Use Case Modeling, by Bittner & Spence, p

 What is a Business Use Case?  A business process that happens within an organization 27

 What is an Actor?  Someone who interacts with the business process 28

 Business Use Case Diagram Example 29