基于活动图的OWL-S过程模型的图形化建模及实现

用可扩展标记语言(XML)对Web服务合成的描述,存在着描述的复杂性高和不易于用户理解的问题。本文采用基于模型驱动框架(MDA)方法,利用UML活动图对OWL-S的过程模型进行图形化建模,实现了对Web服务合成的描述,并通过实例验证了该方法的可行性。     

On the refactoring of activity labels in business process models

Large corporations increasingly utilize business process models for documenting and redesigning their operations. The extent of such modeling initiatives with several hundred models and dozens of often hardly trained modelers calls for automated quality assurance. While formal properties of control flow can easily be checked by existing tools, there is a notable gap for checking the quality of the textual content of models, in particular, its activity labels. In this paper, we address the problem of activity label quality in business process models. We designed a technique for the recognition of labeling styles, and the automatic refactoring of labels with quality issues. More specifically, we developed a parsing algorithm that is able to deal with the shortness of activity labels, which integrates natural language tools like WordNet and the Stanford Parser. Using three business process model collections from practice with differing labeling style distributions, we demonstrate the applicability of our technique. In comparison to a straightforward application of standard natural language tools, our technique provides much more stable results. As an outcome, the technique shifts the boundary of process model quality issues that can be checked automatically from syntactic to semantic aspects.     

Semantics and Verification of Data Flow in UML 2.0 Activities

One of the major changes in going from UML 1.5 to UML 2.0 is the reengineering of activity diagrams. This paper examines activity diagramies as described in the current version of the UML 2.0 standard by defining a denotational semantics. It covers basic control flow and data flow, but excludes hierarchy, expansion nodes, and exception handling (see [Störrle, H., Semantics of Control-Flow in UML 2.0 Activities, in: P. Bottoni, C. Hundhausen, S. Levialdi and G. Tortora, editors, Proc. IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC) (2004), pp. 235–242, Störrle, H., Semantics of Exceptions in UML 2.0 Activities (2004), submitted to Journal of Software and Systems Modeling, May, 9^th, available at www.pst.informatik.uni-muenchen.de/~stoerrle, Störrle, H., Semantics of Expansion Nodes in UML 2.0 Activities, in: I. Porres, editor, Proc. 2^nd Nordic Ws. on UML, Modeling, Methods and Tools (NWUML'04), 2004] for these issues). The paper shows, where the constructs proposed in the standard are not so easily formalized, and how the formalisation may be used for formal analysis.     

基于UML活动图的软件过程建模合理性问题的研究

x阐述了使用UML活动图进行软件过程建模需要解决的合理性检测问题。分析了使用活动图进行软件过程建模的原理,给出了软件过程模型的4种基本结构和一个过程模型实例。讨论了建模过程中需要考虑的合理性问题的3个方面,在此基础上提出了检验模型正确性和完整性的静态、动态和整体规则。     

Developing a decision model for business process outsourcing

Information technology (IT) outsourcing has been one of the critical issues in organization management. Business process outsourcing (BPO) is an advanced type of IT outsourcing, which will be the next big wave in information technology services. Nevertheless, since prior studies have only examined issues related to traditional IS outsourcing, there have been few researches that introduce and discuss the important factors that should be considered in the decision of BPO adoption. This paper identifies factors affecting the BPO decision and structures a decision model using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method.By proposing a quantitative decision model, this paper will not only assist management in making better decisions in outsourcing their business processes, but also help them to obtain the most benefits from BPO.     

Semantic constraint specification and verification of ebXML business process specifications

Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language (ebXML) Business Process Specification Schema (BPSS) supports the specification of the set of elements required to configure a runtime system in order to execute a set of ebXML business transactions. The BPSS is available in two stand-alone representations; a UML version and an XML version. Due to the limitations of UML notations and XML syntax, however, the current ebXML BPSS specification is insufficient to formally specify semantic constraints of modeling elements. In this study, we propose a classification scheme for BPSS semantic constraints, and describe how to represent those semantic constraints formally using Object Constraint Language. As a way to verify a particular Business Process Specification (BPS) with formal semantic constraint modeling, we suggest a rule-based approach to represent the formal semantic constraints, and describe a detail mechanism to apply the rule-based specified constraints to the BPS in a prototype implementation.     

UML活动图在工作流过程建模中的应用研究

UML(Unified Modeling Language)是一种定义良好、易于表达、功能强大且普遍适用的建模语言,其引入活动图的目的之一就是用于企业建模或描述工作流。根据具体应用需要,对活动图的子过程活动、逻辑连接符、控制流边等进行了扩展,给出了扩展后UML活动图的数学模型。     

Choosing the right business process maturity model

We have built and tested a decision tool which will help organisations properly select one business process maturity model (BPMM) over another. This prototype consists of a novel questionnaire with decision criteria for BPMM selection, linked to a unique data set of 69 BPMMs. Fourteen criteria (questions) were elicited from an international Delphi study, and weighed by the analytical hierarchy process. Case studies have shown (non-)profit and academic applications. Our purpose was to describe criteria that enable an informed BPMM choice (conform to decision-making theories, rather than ad hoc). Moreover, we propose a design process for building BPMM decision tools.     

Detecting approximate clones in business process model repositories

Empirical evidence shows that repositories of business process models used in industrial practice contain significant amounts of duplication. This duplication arises for example when the repository covers multiple variants of the same processes or due to copy-pasting. Previous work has addressed the problem of efficiently retrieving exact clones that can be refactored into shared subprocess models. This paper studies the broader problem of approximate clone detection in process models. The paper proposes techniques for detecting clusters of approximate clones based on two well-known clustering algorithms: DBSCAN and Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC). The paper also defines a measure of standardizability of an approximate clone cluster, meaning the potential benefit of replacing the approximate clones with a single standardized subprocess. Experiments show that both techniques, in conjunction with the proposed standardizability measure, accurately retrieve clusters of approximate clones that originate from copy-pasting followed by independent modifications to the copied fragments. Additional experiments show that both techniques produce clusters that match those produced by human subjects and that are perceived to be standardizable.     

Detecting artifact anomalies in business process specifications with a formal model

Many business process analysis models have been proposed, however there are few discussions for artifact usages in workflow specifications. A well-structured business process with sufficient resources might fail or yield unexpected results dynamically due to inaccurate artifact specification, e.g. an inconsistency between artifact and control flow, or contradictions between artifact operations. This paper, based on our previous work, presents a model for describing the input/output of a workflow process and analyzes the artifact usages upon the model. This work identifies and formulates thirteen cases of artifact usage anomalies affecting process execution and categorizes the cases into three types. Moreover, the methods for detecting these anomalies with time complexities O(n²), less than O(n³) in previous methods, are presented. Besides, the paper uses an example to demonstrate the processing of them.     

Adaptive integration activity management for on demand business process collaboration

Today businesses are interacting and collaborating more often in the context of a business value chain involving a variety of partners to deliver products and services. Business to business (B2B) connectivity, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and general business collaboration processes are becoming more critical in operating and managing efficient enterprises. The required level of inter and intra enterprise integration is generally a large undertaking and involves substantial development and customization efforts. In this paper, we propose an adaptive integration activity management approach based on web services technologies to reduce code changes associated with business process integration in a distributed collaboration environment. Specifically, we present a concept of activity chain to capture non-deterministic process flows as well as deterministic process flows in a uniform manner. Then an Activity Ontology is introduced to capture the integration requirements that include adaptation behaviors, action properties, business rules, and access control policy references. The unique ontology representation and management of the integration activities provides a uniform way to integrate additional internal and external business applications to reduce the need for pre-defined and hard-wired integration methods and to minimize code changes to existing components in an existing business collaboration and integration (B2B/EAI) infrastructure. In addition, a Petri-Net modeling exercise of the proposed integration activity management is performed to help better understand the actual system and improve the system design beforehand.     

A machining process planning activity model for systems integration

A key issue of integrating process planning systems with design systems and production planning systems is how to overcome barriers in data exchange and sharing amongst software systems. A machining process planning activity model was developed to address some of the barriers. This model represents functional components and data requirements in process planning systems. The purpose of the model is to create the context in which data requirements and data flow for numerically controlled machining process planning are defined. Furthermore, the model was developed as a unification of many previously developed process planning activity models.     

Integrating open innovation and business process innovation: Insights from a large-scale study on a transition economy

Open innovation and business process innovation (BPI) have been investigated by their respective research communities for decades. However, the important relationship between externally focused open innovation and internally implemented BPI is currently unexplored, particularly in transition economies. The main purpose of this study is to contribute toward closing this important research gap. This study describes the main findings of a research study of innovation practices of 224 companies operating in a transition economy.We propose and validate a comprehensive model of integrative innovation and offer some important insights into the relationship between externally focused R&D collaboration and a firm's internal process innovation.     

When success turns into failure: a package-driven business process re-engineering project in the financial services industry

This article discusses a Business Process Re-engineering project that involved the implementation of an enterprise resource planning software package. Although the project was deemed to be a success when the system was first delivered, this initial success soon turned to failure. While the short-term financial results were spectacular, the long-term implications of the changes were more worrying. This paper raises many questions about the meaning of “success.” In particular, it shows how a “successful implementation” can, within a relatively short space of time, turn into failure.