http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41522 Thu, 23 Jul 2026 01:29:54 GMT 2026-07-23T01:29:54Z http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41530 Business Process Modeling in the 1920s and 1930s as reflected in Fritz Nordsieck's PhD Thesis Jan Mendling The PhD thesis by Fritz Nordsieck submitted in 1931 was one of the first scientific works in Germany that focused explicitly on business process models. Although the general contributions of Nordsieck to the study of business processes is often acknowledged, there is hardly any reflection on his specific findings on process modeling in any of the works after World War II. This is problematic since research on process modeling often assumes that later works on Petri nets and IDEF in the 1960s defined the starting point of process modeling. In this article, we discuss the contributions of Nordsieck's thesis. We find that the practice of workflow modeling was already richly developed in the 1920s. Even though some present-day concepts were still missing, the thesis still has the potential to inform contemporary research. Most important is the discussion of different categories of diagrams on a spectrum from spatio-temporal to conceptual, which demonstrates the need of re-integrating ideas from information visualization and conceptual modeling, two fields that have been artificially separated and researched by different communities over the last 40 years. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41530 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41529 Industry Solution adaptability Wiel Bruls, Edward Giesen The spectrum of changes that enterprises need to deal with varies from simple continuous adjustments of the product portfolio in response to evolving customer preferences, to complete overhauls of the business and operating model in response to disruptive trends. Many research fields and practitioner disciplines have produced analysis and engineering approaches that can help enterprises to assess and prepare for the impact of changes from this spectrum. However, they have partial scopes and consequently limited integration. By selecting, slightly extending and integrating existing approaches, this paper introduces a ‘simple enough’ integrated solution model and a ‘simple enough’ integrated analysis and engineering method that covers the full spectrum of changes. Our focus is the large, complex enterprise that operates in a specific industry and performs information processing at scale. The research is intended to provide methodical support to practitioners with a responsibility for shaping solutions. Our proposal is the result of initial experiences in practice that instilled the research theme, application in a large-scale industry project, focused collaborative research that joined researchers and academia, and ongoing applications and experiences in practice. The solution model and the analysis and engineering method that we propose support three types of adaptability: a) foundational adaptability produces full new business model and operating model parts, b) transitional adaptability extends the current business model and operating model and adds additional configurability, and c) routine adaptability is managed within the configurability of individual operating model components that need to be designed with sufficient bandwidth. A business configuration center is proposed as a key constituent that manages the differences in underlying technology, and that allows to perform integrated, technology agnostic administration of an industry solution. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41529 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41528 User Interface Design Research for Modeling Tools Benjamin Ternes, Kristina Rosenthal Modeling tools constitute a class of software assisting modelers in creating, documenting, and maintaining conceptual models, for example, via graphical editors, diagram layouting, and syntax checking. Research on modeling tools has been a recurring theme in conceptual modeling research for more than 30 years. An evident focus in modeling tool research is on user interface design. In this literature study, we systematically identify and analyze 72 contributions to user interface design research for modeling tools published between 1980 and 2017 to develop a structuring overview of the current state of research. Building on this overview, we assess and discuss promising paths for future research, and compile recommendations informing user interface design of modeling tools. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41528 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41527 Five questions to be clarified before starting to model conceptually Elmar J. Sinz Conceptual modeling looks at the concept of a system. An important property of such a concept is that it can be viewed from at least two perspectives: The perspective of the users of the system and the perspective of the implementers. Based on these different perspectives, five sets of questions are identified that should be sufficiently answered before modeling is started. This is not a guarantee for the success of the modeling project, but it is necessary. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/41527 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z