Student name – Jack Jackson Student number – 12345678 Subject – ISYS90081 Final Exam – X NOV 202X Answer 1: EXAMPLE OF GOOD ANSWER (worth 8 points) – Discursive format Given that the bank hired me to review its existing process architecture and update it, the first thing I would do is to request access to the latest version of the process architecture. Process architectures require to be updated when one or more processes change, new processes are added, or old processes are deprecated. Consequently, I would ask for support from the bank managers or process participants to identify those processes likely to have changed from the last updated of the process architecture. Once identified those processes, I would get in touch with the (current or past) process owners to understand what changed and if those processes are still executed or if they are now deprecated. Given that the whole project would focus on the process identification phase, I would validate each process mentioned in the existing process architecture. Once the existing process architecture is validated, e.g. by removing deprecated processes, I would focus on identifying possible new processes that are not documented in the existing process architecture. This investigation could be done by asking information to managers and customer service teams, to understand whether the bank has new internal processes and/or provides new services or products to customers. Then, I would add all the new processes to the updated process architecture. When that is completed, I would identify the relations among the processes, such as horizontal relations to determine value-chains, and vertical relations, to draft the vertical scoping, which I would hand over with the final process architecture. Given the scope of the project, it is unlikely that the bank would request the process profile of each of their processes or the prioritized process portfolio, because the bank is not interested (at the moment) to proceed with other phases of the BPM lifecycle. So I would complete the project by just handing over the reviewed and up to date process architecture. EXAMPLE OF GOOD ANSWER (worth 8 points) – Bullet points format 1. I would request access to the latest available version of the process architecture. I assume there is one because the bank hired me to review and update the existing process architecture, and not to create it from scratch. 2. I would identify the processes in the existing process architecture that have changed or have been removed. To do this, I would require the support of some employees. For example, I could ask for the support of the process governance officer, which I assume to be present in a large bank with an existing process architecture. Alternatively, I could ask for the support of managers or even process participants if necessary. 3. Once identified the processes mentioned at point b., I would remove from the existing process architecture those that are not executed anymore. Then I would get in touch with the current or past process owners of the processes that have changed over time, to understand whether they are still core processes and therefore should remain in the process architecture or if they are now subprocesses or support processes. 2 4. Completed point c. the existing process architecture should be updated by adding any new process. To do this, I would ask information to either managers and/or customer service team, to identify new internal processes (e.g. management or support processes) or new processes that deliver services and products to customers. 5. Lastly, I would focus on identifying value-chains (analysing how the processes succeed each other) and producing the vertical scopes. I would not instead produce process profiles and prioritised portfolio because they are clearly not requested by the bank, and they are artifact mostly valuable as input for the successive phases of the BPM lifecycle. EXAMPLE OF BAD ANSWER (worth 2 points) – Bullet points format 1. I get the existing process architecture 2. I check what processes are still in use 3. I remove the processes that are not used anymore 4. I add the new processes Answer 2: EXAMPLE OF GOOD ANSWER (worth 7 points) – Bullet points format 1. As cycle time efficiency = processing time / cycle time, a low cycle time efficiency means that only a small amount of time is taken up by activities and there is a large amount of waiting time. 2. Firstly, I would perform Waste analysis to identify the sources of the large amount of waiting time. 3. According to Waste analysis, there are 7 types of waste, and they are: a. Transportation b. Motion c. Inventory d. Waiting e. Defects f. Over-processing g. Over-production 4. I would go through each activity in the process and identify any of the 7 types of waste, but I would have a special focus on Waiting waste, because I assume it to be the major cause of the low cycle time efficiency and therefore I would like to remove it. 5. There can be two kinds of Waiting waste. They are Task waiting for resources (task idleness) and Resource waiting for work (resource idleness). I would check each activity and resource to identify both kinds of Waiting waste in the process. 6. Once I have identified all the Waiting waste in the process, I would report it in a list together with their amount of waiting. 7. Lastly, I would perform root-cause analysis to identify the causes of the Waiting waste, by starting with the Waiting waste that has the largest amount of waiting time. 8. Why-why diagram or Cause-effect diagram could be used for root-cause analysis. I would use Why-why diagram for root-cause analysis. I would arrange to meet with the concerned process participants. In the meeting, I would explain the purpose of the meeting to them and then repeatedly ask them why questions to better understand why the identified waiting is happening in the process. 3 EXAMPLE OF BAD ANSWER (worth 2 points) – Bullet points format 1. I assume that there is a large amount of waiting. 2. I would perform Waste analysis to identify the waiting. 3. I would also identify non-value adding activities in the process. 4. Lastly, I would ask why-questions to identify the causes. Answer 3: To familiarise with this exam format, please try to write answer 3 by yourself, then send it to Kameron.chan@unimelb.edu.au or the discussion forum for feedback.
