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Increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository
Business Process Modeling has become a common activity in organisations. However, as the number of process models increases, so too does the number of duplicated models increase, and the level of process model reuse has been found to be surprisingly low. In organisations which operate in an environm...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Information Systems
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613190303514624 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Veitch, Ross Shearer |
| author2 | Seymour, Lisa |
| author_browse | Seymour, Lisa Veitch, Ross Shearer |
| author_facet | Seymour, Lisa Veitch, Ross Shearer |
| author_sort | Veitch, Ross Shearer |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Business Process Modeling has become a common activity in organisations. However, as the number of process models increases, so too does the number of duplicated models increase, and the level of process model reuse has been found to be surprisingly low. In organisations which operate in an environment with multiple channels, products and customer types, complete process model reuse becomes especially challenging. While the value of process modeling increases with process model reuse, this study also considered the system dynamics arising from not reusing process models. Therefore, the motivation for this study was to increase the level of reuse of process models in a repository. To answer the research questions, a pragmatic research paradigm was adopted. Using a DSR strategy, a new modeling method was designed and tested in a real-world setting in a large South African financial services organisation. A mixed-methods approach was used, consisting of semi-structured interviews conducted with modellers, and a quantitative analysis of the process repository. The new modeling method incorporates reuse concepts from the software development domain. This study makes three contributions to knowledge. Firstly, it describes the consequences for the organisation, using system dynamics, of not reusing process models, and illustrates how vicious cycles are established which result in continually increasing costs. Secondly, the study develops a measure which can be used to determine the level of process model reuse in a process repository. Finally, this study develops a new modeling method which increases the level of reuse of process models in a process repository. This research project was carried out in a single organisation. Data collection from semi- structured interviews was limited to those process modellers who were using the new modelling method. It is possible that other modellers could identify additional factors impacting the consequences of not reusing complete process models. The new modeling method designed is dependent on the underlying architecture of the modeling tool in use. Therefore, this method will not be suitable for every available process modelling tool. This research project also offers the vendors of process modeling tools opportunities to further enhance their products by incorporating elements of the new method to facilitate the increased reuse of complete process models by users. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42790 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:12.136Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Department of Information Systems |
| publisherStr | Department of Information Systems |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42790 Increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository Veitch, Ross Shearer Seymour, Lisa Business Process Modeling process modelling repository Business Process Modeling has become a common activity in organisations. However, as the number of process models increases, so too does the number of duplicated models increase, and the level of process model reuse has been found to be surprisingly low. In organisations which operate in an environment with multiple channels, products and customer types, complete process model reuse becomes especially challenging. While the value of process modeling increases with process model reuse, this study also considered the system dynamics arising from not reusing process models. Therefore, the motivation for this study was to increase the level of reuse of process models in a repository. To answer the research questions, a pragmatic research paradigm was adopted. Using a DSR strategy, a new modeling method was designed and tested in a real-world setting in a large South African financial services organisation. A mixed-methods approach was used, consisting of semi-structured interviews conducted with modellers, and a quantitative analysis of the process repository. The new modeling method incorporates reuse concepts from the software development domain. This study makes three contributions to knowledge. Firstly, it describes the consequences for the organisation, using system dynamics, of not reusing process models, and illustrates how vicious cycles are established which result in continually increasing costs. Secondly, the study develops a measure which can be used to determine the level of process model reuse in a process repository. Finally, this study develops a new modeling method which increases the level of reuse of process models in a process repository. This research project was carried out in a single organisation. Data collection from semi- structured interviews was limited to those process modellers who were using the new modelling method. It is possible that other modellers could identify additional factors impacting the consequences of not reusing complete process models. The new modeling method designed is dependent on the underlying architecture of the modeling tool in use. Therefore, this method will not be suitable for every available process modelling tool. This research project also offers the vendors of process modeling tools opportunities to further enhance their products by incorporating elements of the new method to facilitate the increased reuse of complete process models by users. 2026-01-30T12:20:14Z 2026-01-30T12:20:14Z 2025 2026-01-30T12:18:46Z Thesis / Dissertation Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42790 en eng application/pdf Department of Information Systems Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Business Process Modeling process modelling repository Veitch, Ross Shearer Increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository |
| title_full | Increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository |
| title_fullStr | Increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository |
| title_short | Increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository |
| title_sort | increasing the level of reuse of complete process models in a process modelling repository |
| topic | Business Process Modeling process modelling repository |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42790 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT veitchrossshearer increasingthelevelofreuseofcompleteprocessmodelsinaprocessmodellingrepository |