An integrated model for business process measurement

Purpose - Research in the evaluation of business processes (BPs) seems to have missed those of BP modeling techniques. Past studies on evaluations have focused in most cases on a single objective or goal of a BP using quantitative performance measures or qualitative surveys. In this paper, an approach that combines all relevant single purpose measures (relevant to the goals of the BP) into one overall measure is proposed. The overall measure will reflect all stakeholders' perspective and preference ratings on the attributes/criterion of the BP in question. The conceptual model is supported by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology. Design/methodology/approach - Adiscussion of factors that might be the root cause of difficulties in defining an appropriate evaluation is given along with a review of major measures used. The synthetic combination of single purpose measures basically follows the AHP, with major stake-holders represented in defining the relative priority/ranking matrix between criteria of the BP goal. Findings - The AHP could produce a set of more logical weights for the multiple criteria that are usually associated with a BP goal. These weights are then applied to each single purpose measure in order to come up with the final process score. This process score should represent a fairer rating viewed collectively by all concerned parties of the company. The procedure is practical and easy to apply. Research limitations/implications - The paper has not been implemented in real world applications; therefore a future work direction is to conduct an actual application and evaluate the feedback from actual implementations. Practical implications - The procedure utilizes different key criteria measures and stakeholders' preferences to come up with a composite measure. Final measurement outcome obtained in this manner is expected to be more acceptable to all stakeholders. Originality/value - The paper proposes a new approach to creating a measure of BP based on all relevant single measures derived from the BP goal. The score from the new process measure has a more balanced meaning and therefore may be more valuable than by just relying on a single criterion measure.