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3.6.1 An Abstract Form of Design Research

This section describes the board outline of the developmental research phases as conducted in this research by translating the general methodology of DR (Vaishnavi & Kuechler 2004) into three main practical stages: (1) Awareness of the Problem and

Types of Solutions, (2) Development and (3) Final Evaluation. The development stage

consists of three iterations of (1) Design, (2) Deployment, and (3) Evaluation. Figure 3-4 illustrates the broad outline of the developmental research phases. These iterations are repeated in the Development stage as three iterations of research are planned to realise the proposal of evolving (generating) a methodology for identifying patterns of business processes from enterprise knowledge sources. Awareness of the problem space first forms the understanding of the problem to undertake the type of solutions that forms a proposal for the research in the Awareness of the Problem and Types of Solutions stage. Then in the Development stage, iterations deliver improvement in the artefact(s) as more knowledge is acquired that evolves awareness of the problem. A Final Evaluation stage leads to the conclusion about the design process as well as the design product and may suggest further modification to either or both.

Iterations in the Development stage begin with a design phase. For the first iteration this uses the first version of the Semantic Discovery and Reuse (SDR) methodological framework and draws requirements from the Awareness of the Problem and Types of

Solutions stage. The iteration then cycles repeatedly through iterations of Design, Deployment and Evaluation to evolve an improved and more effective version of SDR.

The iteration stops when either the process is interrupted, as inaccuracies in the artefacts are identified, or an effective solution is found. Evaluation of the artefact generates knowledge and learning that forms feedback to the next iteration. The feedback helps to inform the next version of the SDR methodological framework that then becomes the input into the next iteration. Analysis of the artefact and the research approach during the iteration occurs at this point, producing emergent assumptions regarding how the artefact ought to influence the phenomenon. The feedback is then passed to the next iteration to influence the research design. For the Final Evaluation scenarios are used in order to

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raise the discussion on the importance and limitation of the developed patterns in this research.

Figure 3-4: Broad Outline of the Overall Research

The following sections outline the problem space that the artefact is constructed to resolve with respect to the discussion in Chapter 2. The initial suggestion is provided within the Awareness of the Problem and Types of Solutions stage section, where the suggestion is abducted from the knowledge base and proposed as a solution to the problem space. In the Development section the iterations are clarified and form the research designs for Chapters 4, 5 and 6. Each chapter includes a research outline for the iteration consisting of the practical application of the methodological framework within a specific domain and outputs generated by the iteration and evaluation criteria to

Stage 3 Stage 2 Final Evaluation Development Stage 1 3 It era ti ons

Awareness of the Problem and Types of Solutions

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determine artefact utility. The emerging output is communicated within the evaluation section to describe how the artefact performs for the problem and how the solution may be improved in the next iteration. In the last section the Final Evaluation of the research is described.

3.6.2 Research Proposal

With regards to the hypothesis about existing patterns explained in Chapter 2, it has been found that existing patterns do not resolve the problems of domain reuse in modelling organisational processes (see subsection 2.4.2). Also, none of the previous work on patterns provides guidelines to modellers as to how these patterns can be discovered and reused. This encourages the proposal of this research, which is to develop and evaluate a methodology for empirically deriving ontological patterns of business processes from organisational knowledge sources (i.e., documentation, systems, domain experts, legacy application, etc.). A methodology that contributes to business modelling in IS development with a unique type of solution consisting of a systematic methodology for uncovering patterns of business behaviour from organisational knowledge assets in an empirical fashion. From this proposal the aim of this research is defined as follows:

To investigate the effectiveness of business process patterns in business process

modelling, by developing and evaluating a methodology for empirically deriving ontological patterns of business processes from organisational knowledge sources.

This leads to drive the following research objectives:

Objective I: Evolve a methodological framework for identifying patterns of business processes from enterprise knowledge sources (i.e., documentation, systems, domain experts, etc.).

Objective II: Derive a set of generic business process patterns by applying the developed methodology and to organise the patterns within the repository.

Objective III: Investigate the development of an ontology of business process to be used for the derivation of the semantic process modelling.

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Objective IV: Evaluate the methodological framework and derived patterns in terms of their significance to theory and practice through recognised evaluation techniques.

As a broad outline of the developmental research phases various stages are included. The first stage of Awareness of the Problem and Types of Solutions derives its initial requirements from the objectives stated in Section 3.6.2. Then the Development stage is defined by three iterations of Design, Deployment and Evaluation. Each of these iterations then derives its requirements from feedback of the iteration that precedes it. The Final Evaluation stage describes how the artefact performs for a specific domain problem, and how the solution has improved the organisational process.

3.6.3 Data Collection Sources

In order to provide an effective solution to the business problem, suitable data sources are required. Thus, data was acquired from: (1) multiple systems (retail banking, insurance and mortgages) from the financial services domain and are summarised in Section 4.2, and (2) two handbooks (staff and student) of Brunel University from the educational domain which are summarised in Section 5.4. The sourcing of such domains, and the context from which they were exhumed, are of particular importance. Both in directing the research and serving the research aim. Similarities are found in the way processes are performed in the domains under investigation, e.g. define product type in different systems within the same domain. Variation in the number of organisations and systems utilised provides the required level of external validity across multiple domains, enabling general conclusions to be drawn from both the SDR methodological framework and the subsequently discovered business process patterns.