Impact of Process Mining Tools on Process Analysis (ProImpact)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jan Mendling
• Subject Area: Data Management, Data-Intensive Systems, Computer Science Methods in Business Informatics
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 531115272

It is said that a fool with a tool is still a fool. But does this make an expert with a tool a better expert? New types of analytical tools fundamentally change the way how process analysts do their work, withthe expectation to drastically impact various professional services including auditing or business process management. Here, we refer to those analytical tools that provide insights into processes as process mining tools. Recent years have seen an increasing uptake of process mining tools by corporations and by professional services companies, where they are used to support the analysis of business processes. A novel feature appreciated by these adopting companies is the capability of process mining tools to generate visual representations of business processes from fine-granular event data that spans over different actors and departments. In this way, the digital traces of the division of labour become visible as a process model enhanced with information on quantities and probabilities. Research on process mining has traditionally focused on developing new and improved algorithms for automatic process discovery, conformance checking, and process enhancement. Recent research on the organisational impact of process mining highlights benefits for process awareness and overall value creation. Research on the impact of process mining tools on the work of the process analyst in various domains has been limited to exploratory studies. Interviews have revealed that analysts perceive challenges in conducting process mining projects and apply different types of strategies to understand, plan, analyze, and evaluate their results. At the individual level, theorizing is limited to the observation that models of technology acceptance and task-technology fit are presumably applicable. Still, these theories focus on preconditions of use, while offering little regarding how tool-supported task performance feeds back to the behaviour of the analyst. Foregrounding the dynamics of actual usage is the basis for understanding the impact that process mining tools have on the work of process analysts. The ProImpact project addresses this research problem. It contributes to information systems research, auditing, and business process management by empirically investigating the impact of process mining tools on the work of process analysts.To this end, the project will focus on the following research questions. (Q1) How do process analysts interact with process mining tools to accomplish their analysis tasks? (Q2) How and to which extent are process analysts affected by complacency when using process mining tools? (Q3) How and to which extent are process analysts affected by skill degradation when using process mining tools? (Q4) To which extent is the effect of process mining tools on process analysts different in an audit and a redesign setting?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Belgium
• Partner Organisation: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen ; Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Mieke Jans