A Multicriteria Group Decision-Making Sorting Approach for Evaluating BPM Maturity and Risk in Process Facilities

Abstract

In this thesis, two relevant problems from the literature were analyzed: Risk Analysis in Process Facilities (1) and Business Process Management (BPM) Maturity Evaluation (2). In the context of risk analysis, Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approaches are widely used. However, previous studies identified opportunities for improvement in both the MCDM methods used (cognitive effort in pairwise comparisons and the risk of misestimating hazards) and the results they produce (difficulty in setting safety measures for ranked hazards or in the transition areas of the risk matrix). In the context of BPM maturity evaluation, although several models have been proposed, issues regarding their practical effectiveness remain unresolved, which includes a clear evaluation procedure and an adjustable structure, with the flexibility to adapt to different organizational contexts. These issues are related to key aspects of BPM maturity assessment and improvement. Both problems were addressed using models constructed from the same Multi-criteria Group Decision Making (MCGDM) method, with adjustments tailored to the specific features of each problem. For the first problem, a hybrid model was developed by combining MCGDM, Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA), and Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IFS). This methodology combination addresses all improvement opportunities: SODA with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cognitive Maps is used in both hazard identification and mitigation stages, while MCGDM with IFS is applied in the hazard classification stage. To address the issues related to problem II, a practical BPM Maturity Model (BPM-MM) and its assessment procedure were proposed. Additionally, a web-based Group Decision Support System was created to facilitate the application of this new BPM-MM. In both cases, real-world applications were conducted, and a comparative analysis of related studies demonstrated the advantages of the proposed approaches. Overall, the MCGDM approach proved beneficial for both problems, primarily due to its flexibility. The proposed model for problem I proved to be effective in addressing the opportunities for improvements from previous studies, showing also benefits such as resource savings, increased focus, objectivity, and a clearer understanding of hazards. In the BPM-MM case, MCGDM with IFS provided a robust, transparent, adaptable, and multidimensional methodology. These models have expanded knowledge in their fields, offering solutions to current challenges, opening new opportunities for exploration, and generating new research questions. When effectively applied by companies, they can also deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits.