Reflections on the modularity of business process models: The case for introducing the aspect-oriented paradigm

Purpose – The aspect-oriented (AO) paradigm is first proposed to deal with programing modularity issues, but different researchers have been exploring AO concepts in the designing and definition of software systems. The goal of this paper is to discuss and present a proposal that addresses the application of AO concepts to the design of business processes (BPs) in order to improve usability and understandability of process models. Design/methodology/approach – The paper departs from previous work on analyzing the application of AO for software design. The observations were backed by a case study, which was used to illustrate the issues by means of examples. Findings – The paper presents findings on important issues related to the integration of AO paradigm and BP modeling, such as crosscutting representation, crosscutting composition, quantification, and join point exposure. Originality/value – The paper explores a new frontier: the application of AO concepts to the design of BPs. As of now, few works have explored this new view on process modularity. The paper claims that application of AO concepts to the design of BPs is important in the consideration of usability and understandability. Its contributions are also backed by a prototype process editor, CrossOryx, a web-based editor for modeling process using AO concepts.