Dickson K. W. Chiu

Workflow View Driven Cross-Organizational Interoperability in a Web Service Environment

Workflow technology has recently been employed not only within businesses but also as a framework for implementing e-services over the Internet. Such e-services typically require collaborative enactment of workflows across multiple organizations. In this paper, we propose the use of workflow views as a fundamental support mechanism for the interoperability of multiple workflows across business organizations. We present a meta-model of workflow views and their semantics using a cross-organization workflow example based on a supply-chain e-service. We also formulate an interoperation model of workflow views and its consistency criteria. Finally, this paper presents an implementation of the model based on XML and contemporary Web services technologies, with adaptation to our E-ADOME workflow engine.

A meta modelng approach to workflow management systems supporting exception handling

Abstract Workflow Management Systems (WFMSs) facilitate the definition of structure and decomposition of business processes and assists in management of coordinating, scheduling, executing and monitoring of such activities. Most of the current WFMSs are built on traditional relational database systems and/or using an object-oriented database system for storing the definition and run time data about the workflows. However, a WFMS requires advanced modeling functionalities to support adaptive features, such as on-line exception handling. This article describes our advanced meta-modeling approach using various enabling technologies (such as object orientation, roles, rules, active capabilities) supported by an integrated environment, the ADOME, as a solid basis for a flexible WFMS involving dynamic match making, migrating workflows and exception handling.

Web interface-driven cooperative exception handling in ADOME workflow management system

Exception handling in workflow management systems (WFMSs) is a very important problem since it is not possible to specify all possible outcomes and alternatives. On the other hand, cooperative support for user-driven computer supported resolution of unexpected exceptions and workflow evolution at run-time is vital for an adaptive WFMS. We have been developing ADOME-WFMS as a comprehensive framework in which the problem of workflow exception handling can be adequately addressed. We present an adaptive exception manager and its Web-based interface for ADOME-WFMS with procedures for supporting the following: effective management of problem solving agents, cooperative exception handling, user-driven computer supported resolution of unexpected exceptions, and workflow evolution.

Workflow View Based E-Contracts in a Cross-Organizational E-Services Environment

In an e-service environment, workflow involves not only a single organization but also a number of business partners. Therefore, workflow inter-operability in such an environment is an important issue for enacting workflows. In this article, we introduce our approach of using workflow views as a fundamental support for E-service workflow inter-operability and for controlled visibility of (sub-)workflows by external parties. We discuss various aspects of a workflow view, and their semantics with example usage. Furthermore, we develop a contract model based on workflow views and demonstrate how management of e-contracts can be facilitated, with an Internet start-up E-service inter-organization workflow example.

A three-layer architecture for e-contract enforcement in an e-service environment

In an e-service environment, contracts are important for attaining business process interoperability and enforcing their proper enactment. An e-contract is the computerized facilitation or automation of a contract in a cross-organizational business process. We find that e-contract enforcement can be divided into multiple layers and perspectives, which has not been adequately addressed in the literature. This problem is challenging as it involves monitoring the enactment of business processes in counter parties outside an organizations boundary. This paper presents an architecture for e-contract enforcement with three layers, viz., document layer, business layer, and implementation layer. In the document layer, contracts are composed of different types of clauses. In the business layer, e-contract enforcement activities are defined through the realization of contract clauses as business rules in event-condition-action (ECA) form. In the implementation layer, cross-organizational e-contract enforcement interfaces are implemented with contemporary Enterprise Java Bean and Web services. We present a methodology for the engineering of e-contracts enforcement from a high-level document-view down to the implementation layer based on this architecture, using a supply-chain example. As a result, e-contracts can be seamlessly defined and enforced. Conceptual models of various layers are given in the Unified Modeling Language (UML).

Agent-based negotiation and decision making for dynamic supply chain formation

Modern businesses are facing the challenge of effectively coordinating their supply chains from upstream to downstream services. It is a complex problem to search, schedule, and coordinate a set of services from a large number of service resources under various constraints and uncertainties. Existing approaches to this problem have relied on complete information regarding service requirements and resources, without adequately addressing the dynamics and uncertainties of the environments. The real-world situations are complicated as a result of ambiguity in the requirements of the services, the uncertainty of solutions from service providers, and the interdependencies among the services to be composed. This paper investigates the complexity of supply chain formation and proposes an agent-mediated coordination approach. Each agent works as a broker for each service type, dedicated to selecting solutions for each service as well as interacting with other agents in refining the decision making to achieve compatibility among the solutions. The coordination among agents concerns decision making at strategic, tactical, and operational level. At the strategic level, agents communicate and negotiate for supply chain formation; at the tactical level, argumentation is used by agents to communicate and understand the preferences and constraints of each other; at the operational level, different strategies are used for selecting the preferences. Based on this approach, a prototype has been implemented with simulated experiments highlighting the effectiveness of the approach.

View-Based Contracts in an E-Service Cross-Organizational Workflow Environment

In an e-service environment, workflow involves not only a single organization but also a number of business partners. Workflow interoperability is therefore an important issue for workflow enactment in such an environment. In this paper, we introduce a novel concept of workflow views as a fundamental support for E-service workflow inter-operability and for controlled visibility by external parties. Furthermore, we develop a contract model based on workflow views and demonstrate how management of contracts can be facilitated, with an Internet start-up E-service inter-organization workflow example.

Towards ubiquitous tourist service coordination and process integration: A collaborative travel agent system architecture with semantic web services

With the recent advances in Internet and mobile technologies, there are increasing demands for ubiquitous access to tourist information systems for service coordination and process integration. However, due to disparate tourist information and service resources such as airlines, hotels, tour operators, it is still difficult for tourists to use them effectively during their trips or even in the planning stage. Neither can current tourist portals assist tourists proactively. To overcome this problem, we propose a Collaborative Travel Agent System (CTAS) based on a scalable, flexible, and intelligent Multi-Agent Information System (MAIS) architecture for proactive aids to Internet and mobile users. We also employ Semantic Web technologies for effective organization of information resources and service processes. We formulate our MAIS architecture for CTAS further with agent clusters based on a case study of a large service-oriented travel agency. Agent clusters may comprise several types of agents to achieve the goals involved in the major processes of a tourist’s trip. We show how agents can make use of ontology from the Semantic Web to help tourists better plan, understand, and specify their requirements collaboratively with the CTAS. We further illustrate how this can be successfully implemented with Web service technologies to integrate disparate Internet tourist resources. To conclude, we discuss and evaluate our approach from different stakeholders’ perspectives.

Developing e-Negotiation support with a meta-modeling approach in a web services environment

Motivated by frequently repeated activities of negotiating similar sales contracts and inadequate studies of business-to-business (B2B) negotiation processes, we formulate a meta-model of e-Negotiation based on a practical meta-model for e-Contract template and template variables to allow flexible support for a variety of negotiation processes. Based on our meta-models, we develop an effective implementation framework with contemporary Web services technology. We illustrate our methodology with three typical kinds of sales e-Negotiation processes, namely, bargaining, auction, and request for proposals (RFPs). As a result, B2B, business-to-customer (B2C), or even customer-to-customer (C2C) negotiation can be systematically supported in a unified pragmatic framework for both human and programmatic access.

An ER EC framework for e-contract modeling, enactment and monitoring

A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to create mutual business relations or legal obligations. It defines a set of activities to be performed by different parties satisfying a set of terms and conditions (clauses). An e-contract is a contract modeled, specified, executed and enacted (controlled and monitored) by a software system (such as a workflow system). As contracts are complex, their enactment is predominantly established and fulfilled with significant human involvement. This necessitates a comprehensive framework for generic fulfillment of e-contracts. In this paper, we present an EREC framework for designing e-contract processes, a mechanism that allows modeling, enactment and monitoring. This framework centers on the EREC model that bridges between the XML contract document and Web Services based implementation model of an e-contract.