A method for integrated business process modeling and ontology development

From knowledge management point of view, business process models and ontologies are two essential knowledge artifacts for organizations that consume similar information sources. In this study, the PROMPTUM method for integrated process modeling and ontology development that adheres to well-established practices is presented. The method is intended to guide practitioners who develop both ontologies and business process models in the same or similar domains.

The method is supported by a recently developed toolset, which supports the modeling of relations between the ontologies and the labels within the process model collections. This study introduces the method and its companion toolset. An explanatory study, that includes two case studies, is designed and conducted to reveal and validate the benefits of using the method. Then, a follow-up semi-structured interview identifies the perceived benefits of the method.

Application of the method revealed several benefits including the improvements observed in the consistency and completeness of the process models and ontologies. The method is bringing the best practices in two domains together and guiding the use of labels within process model collections in ontology development and ontology resources in business process modeling.

The proposed method with its tool support is a pioneer in enabling to manage the labels and terms within the labels in process model collections consistently with ontology resources. Establishing these relations enables the definition and management of process model elements as resources in domain ontologies. Once the PROMPTUM method is utilized, a related resource is managed as a single resource representing the same real-world object in both artifacts. An explanatory study has shown that improvement in consistency and completeness of process models and ontologies is possible with integrated process modeling and ontology development.