Abstract:

Modern education is increasingly relying on information and communication technology. In teaching methods, in addition to the use of standard office tools (word processor, calculation worksheets, and presentation tools), the use of CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) tools is becoming more common. These complex software solutions enable the application of various semi-formal and formal methods in the teaching process, especially in performing exercises. One of the semi-formal methods, which is often used in different courses, is process modeling. Widely used notations for process modeling is BPMN (Business Process Modeling and Notation). The use of tools that support BPMN allows not only process modeling, but also simulations of the organization's business technology. Crisis management is a set of processes that are performed in a state of crisis and whose goal is to reduce the damage caused by a disaster or incident, as well as to reduce the duration of the crisis to a minimum. The disaster life cycle has three phases: preparation, response, and recovery. The response phase is critical in crisis management and the processes that take place in that phase need to be well designed and optimized. Thus, the importance of the analysis of these processes in the syllabus of crisis management course is great. The learning outcomes of this course should ensure that the student, once completing this course, will be able to analyze the business process of crisis management in terms of the time and resources required by the process. The paper describes the application of BPMN methodology in exercises on the example of the course Crisis Management. The analyzed specific exercise was developed based upon data related to the standard operating procedure for interdepartmental coordination of crossing the state border when receiving and sending emergency assistance in protection and rescue in disasters and major accidents. Various state institutions are involved in the execution of this standard operating procedure: the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, etc. Students should, using the BPMN methodology, define all the concepts that will describe the mentioned standard operating procedure in the as-is state: swim lanes corresponding to individual state institutions participating in the standard operating procedure, flow elements like start and end nodes, tasks, gateways, connecting and data objects. Each institution is assigned the tasks for which it is in charge and the connections between the tasks using data flows are shown. For each task, students need to determine the average duration as well as the resources required. After the standard operating procedure is developed using BPMN methodology, a simulation is performed. The obtained values of the simulation parameters are compared with the actual values. If they match, students look for opportunities for improvement and suggest changes to the process and standard operating procedure accordingly. On the new to-be model, the simulation is performed again, and the obtained parameter values are compared with the values of the as-is model. If parameter values indicate improvement, a new standard operating procedure is proposed. This way of using BPMN methodology in the teaching process of the Crisis Management course has a dual purpose: a better understanding of the crisis management process and easier adoption of learning outcomes.

Keywords:

Crisis management course, business process and modeling notation, CASE tool.