1.
Trust-awareProcessDesign
Michael Rosemann
Queensland University of Technology 3 September 2019

2.
Process Design Foci
1) Engineering Excellence
2) Corporate Excellence
3) Customer Excellence
4) Societal Excellence

3.
• The Problem
• Trust has eroded in many industries (Edelman 2019),
and business processes are a root cause of this
• The Opportunity
• Digitalization has led to new (decentralized) forms of trust
• Trusted processes can unlock commitment and loyalty
• The Gap
• The related body of BPM knowledge is very limited
• Tradition of x-aware BPM, but so far x = trust
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

4.
How can trust be embedded
in the design of business processes?

5.
• Trust is comprehensively studied in a variety of scientific disciplines
(e.g., sociology, psychology, economics, game theory)
• Trust worthiness = ability, benevolence and integrity
(Mayer, Davis, Schoorman 1995)
• Trust in BPM: B2B processes (Kamers 2015), process outsourcing
(Greenberg et al 2008), trustworthy processes (Mohammadi & Heisel
2016), process visibility (Berner et al. 2012) and the trust impact of
Blockchain on processes (e.g., Mendling et al. 2018)
Research Context
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

6.
• Identification of foundational theories
• Information asymmetry (Akerlof 1970);
Diffusion of innovation (Rodgers 2003)
• Explorative case studies
• Consular service
• Financial service
• Conceptual design
• Four stage model
• Meta model
Research Method
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

7.
Confidence
in the
relationship with
uncertainty
What is Trust?
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019
Rachel Botsman

8.
The Two Levers of Trust-aware Process Design
Uncertainty
Confidence
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

9.
1) Identify Moments of Trust
2) Reduce Uncertainty
3) Reduce Vulnerability
4) Build Confidence
Four Stage Model of Trust-aware Process Design
Trustworthiness
}
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

10.
1) Where does trust materialize along the process?
-> moments of trust
2) What are the requirements?
-> trust concerns
3) Who are the stakeholders?
-> trust persona
1) Identify Moments of Trust

11.
• Quality of a process activity: Will the forecasted balance of my account be
correct?
• Process success rate: Will my application to re-naturalize be successful?
• Resource expertise: Does the person dealing with my case have the specific
expertise needed?
• Resource goal: Can I trust the organization to incentivize their broker so that
they recommend the right product to me?
• Resource availability: Will I get my appointment at 9.30am, or do I have to
consider waiting for a while?
Trust Concerns as per Explorative Case Studies

12.
2) Reduce Uncertainty
Operational
Uncertainty
Perceived
Uncertainty
Behavioral
Uncertainty
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

13.
• Uncertainty grounded in business processes and systems
• Reduced operational (systemic) uncertainty leads to
• Consistency
• Reliability
• Predictability
• Compliance
• Trust patterns:
• Reduce process complexity (e.g., lean, process standardization)
• Reduce process variation (e.g., Six Sigma, liquid resources)
• Increase process compliance (e.g., RPA, process mining)
2a) Operational Uncertainty
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

14.
• Uncertainty grounded in behavioral differences among staff
• Reduced behavioral uncertainty leads to
• Sincerity
• Commitment
• Honesty
• Benevolence
• Trust patterns:
• Outcome-based process metrics (e.g., mortgage brokers)
• Benevolence > compliance, if needed
• Convert behavioral into systemic uncertainty
2b) Behavioral Uncertainty
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

15.
• Uncertainty grounded in information asymmetry
• Increasing the line of visibility leads to
• Transparency
• Comprehension
• Clarity
• Information symmetries
• Trust patterns:
• Transparent process design (e.g., published business rules)
• Transparent process execution (e.g., parcel tracking, open kitchen)
• Predictive process monitoring (e.g., Uber ETA)
2c) Perceived Uncertainty
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

16.
3) Reduce Vulnerability
Vulnerability = cost to the trustor in case the trustee (process)
does not perform as expected
Vulnerability trust patterns
• Process compensation
• Reimburse for delays (transport)
• Free return of products (e-commerce)
• Process postponement
• Value-based pricing (professional services)
• Process insurance
• Pay rent after x weeks (real estate)
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

17.
4) Build Confidence
Provide additional confidence-building information
Sources of confidence
• Institutional Trust: Trust the organization
• Democratic Trust: Trust the majority
• Specific Trust: Trust someone like you
• Local Trust: Trust your network
• Global Trust: Trust the expert
• Robotic Trust: Trust the machine
• Experiential Trust: Trust the past
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

18.
A B C
Institutional Democratic Specific Local Global Robotic Experiential
4) Build Confidence at a Moment of Trust
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

19.
2) Match Confidence – Process
Democratic Trust
Low service
specificity, high
process volume
“Most popular
choice is…”;
“Average delay is
5 mins”
Local Trust
High situational
specificity; high
service
complexity
“4 of your trusted
connections used
this service”
Special Trust
High customer
specificity,
medium-high
process volume
“92% of
applicants like
you…”
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

20.
Meta Model

21.
• Trust is becoming a primary design concern, but is insufficiently
reflected in BPM body of knowledge
• Proposed four staged approach provides guidance on how to
design trusted processes (uncertainty/vulnerability min!,
confidence max!)
• Meta model provides semi-formal trust conceptualization
• First proposals for trust patterns and relevant process types
Summary
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

22.
• Narrow scope (B2C, trust concerns)
• Only explorative case studies and secondary data
• Trust patterns and trust-process match
are untested hypotheses
• Experiential trust out of scope
Limitations
Trust-aware Process Design
Michael Rosemann – m.rosemann@qut.edu.au | T: ismiro
BPM 2019 Conference
Vienna, 3 September 2019

23.
Future Research
• Taxonomy for trust concerns and opportunities
• Framework for trust patterns / trust scaffolding
• Trust monitoring and mining
• Trust governance

24.
Michael Rosemann
School of Management
Queensland University of Technology
e m.rosemann@qut.edu.au
w www.michaelrosemann.com
t ismiro