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Pockets of Flexibility in Workflow Specification

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Conceptual Modeling — ER 2001 (ER 2001)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 2224))

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Abstract

Workflow technology is currently being deployed in quite diverse domains. However, the element of change is present in some degree and form in almost all domains. A workflow implementation that does not support the process of change will not benefit the organization in the long run. Change can be manifested in different forms in workflow processes. In this paper, we first present a categorization of workflow change characteristics and divide workflow processes into dynamic, adaptive and flexible processes. We define flexibility as the ability of the workflow process to execute on the basis of a loosely, or partially specified model, where the full specification of the model is made at runtime, and may be unique to each instance. To provide a modeling framework that offers true flexibility, we need to consider the factors, which influence the paths of (unique) instances together with the process definition. We advocate an approach that aims at making the process of change part of the workflow process itself. We introduce the notion of an open instance that consists of a core process and several pockets of flexibility, and present a framework based on this notion, which makes use of special build activities that provide the functionality to integrate the process of defining a change, into the open workflow instance.

The work reported in this paper has been funded in part by the Cooperative Research Centres Program through the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the Commonwealth Government of Australia.

Prof. Maria Orlowska is currently a visiting professor at the Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Distributed Systems Technology Center The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia

    Shazia Sadiq, Wasim Sadiq & Maria Orlowska

Authors
  1. Shazia Sadiq
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  2. Wasim Sadiq
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  3. Maria Orlowska
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ricoh Company, Ltd., Software Research Center, 1-1-17 Koishikawa, Bunkyo-ku, 112-0002, Tokyo, Japan

    Hideko S.Kunii

  2. George Mason University, Center for Secure Information Systems, Mail Stop 4A4, Fairfax, 22030-4444, VA, USA

    Sushil Jajodia

  3. Department of Computer and Information Science, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Arne Sølvberg

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Sadiq, S., Sadiq, W., Orlowska, M. (2001). Pockets of Flexibility in Workflow Specification. In: S.Kunii, H., Jajodia, S., Sølvberg, A. (eds) Conceptual Modeling — ER 2001. ER 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 2224. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45581-7_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45581-7_38

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-42866-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45581-3

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