Consistency Issues in Large Business Process Model Environment, a Case Study.

Consistency is a quality required by many approaches to the design of systems. In our practice we have found that keeping the business models consistent is one of the most difficult and critical tasks in corporations. Therefore we decided to explore this issue and its causes in a qualitative study. This paper discusses approaches to mutual consistency between business models, and proposes original concept of weak and strong mutual model consistency, independent on modeling language. The consistency is studied in one large corporate business process model and its evolution through the years by a case study and ethnographical observation methods. Relevant model types and its important consistency relations are described. Then an influence of various factors to consistency is narrated as a result of observations. Three factors with impact to mutual consistency are drawn: complexity, relation between evolving business and stagnant model, and modeling purpose.