A sequence analytics approach for detecting handoff patterns in workflows: an exploratory case study on the Volvo IT incident management process
Year: 2017
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: In this study, we analyze the activity logs of fully resolved incident management tickets in the Volvo IT department to understand the handoff patterns i.e., how actors pass work from one to another using a sequence analytic approach (a method for studying activity patterns from event log sequences). A generic actor pattern here describes the sequence in which actors participate in the resolution of an incident. We classify actor handoff patterns as straight, loop and ping-pong. Then we analyze the patterns by frequency and duration to draw insights about how actor patterns affect the incident resolution time. The results are quite surprising. In particular, we find that certain loop and ping-pong patterns outperform straight patterns even though more steps are involved in them. Our results have implications for resource allocation in organizations. They suggest that handoff patterns should be another factor to be considered while allocating work to actors along with position, role, experience, skill, preferences, etc.
Authors: Akhill Kumar, B. Veeresh Thummadi
Institution: Case Western Reserve University
Language: English
Subfield: Management Information Systems
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2900495407