Process Mining in Practice. Development of a Project Methodology

Master's Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, University of Bayreuth, language: English, abstract: Process Mining uses data to discover, monitor, and improve ongoing processes running inside organizations. Even though the relatively novel research discipline has matured theoretically, its practical application was treated with restraint by companies and lacks methodological thoroughness to this day. In order to diminish these shortcomings, this thesis aims to develop a process mining project methodology, which guides organizations through the implementation of process mining projects in practice. This work was developed using the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) and is based on both a theoretical and practical foundation. To this end, preexisting theoretical methodologies and fundamental literature were instrumented to build the methodology’s rough framework. Subsequently, a case study analysis enabled the incorporation of further details about specific tools, techniques, and roles typically employed in practical process mining applications. This way, the methodology obtains a deep level of detail, is geared to practical applicability in several economic sectors, and facilitates the entry into the field for beginners. Ultimately, a significant number of domain experts evaluated the methodology in an online survey format, allowing for further improvement of its design and validity.