Toward a Formal Semantics for Control-Flow Process Models

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry H. Bi ◽  
John Nolt
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Formal Semantics ◽  
Control Flow ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Modeling Languages ◽  
Flow Process

A number of information systems have been developed to automate business processes. For process modeling, verification, and automation in information systems, a formal semantics of control-flow process models is needed. Usually process modeling languages (e.g., BPMN, EPC, IDEF3, UML, and WfMC standards) are used to represent control-flow process models. When these process modeling languages are developed, their informal semantics are typically described using examples, but their formal semantics are not defined. Although many different semantics for control-flow process models have been proposed, the existing semantics specifications have limitations because they do not support certain desirable features. In this paper, we propose a new formal semantics for control-flow process models. We show that it is more accurate, complete, and applicable than the existing semantics specifications.

scholarly journals Exploring location-dependency in process modeling

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 794-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinwei Zhu ◽  
Jan Recker ◽  
Guobin Zhu ◽  
Flávia Maria Santoro
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Context Awareness ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Control Flow ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Location Awareness ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – Context-awareness has emerged as an important principle in the design of flexible business processes. The goal of the research is to develop an approach to extend context-aware business process modeling toward location-awareness. The purpose of this paper is to identify and conceptualize location-dependencies in process modeling. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a pattern-based approach to identify location-dependency in process models. The authors design specifications for these patterns. The authors present illustrative examples and evaluate the identified patterns through a literature review of published process cases. Findings – This paper introduces location-awareness as a new perspective to extend context-awareness in BPM research, by introducing relevant location concepts such as location-awareness and location-dependencies. The authors identify five basic location-dependent control-flow patterns that can be captured in process models. And the authors identify location-dependencies in several existing case studies of business processes. Research limitations/implications – The authors focus exclusively on the control-flow perspective of process models. Further work needs to extend the research to address location-dependencies in process data or resources. Further empirical work is needed to explore determinants and consequences of the modeling of location-dependencies. Originality/value – As existing literature mostly focusses on the broad context of business process, location in process modeling still is treated as “second class citizen” in theory and in practice. This paper discusses the vital role of location-dependencies within business processes. The proposed five basic location-dependent control-flow patterns are novel and useful to explain location-dependency in business process models. They provide a conceptual basis for further exploration of location-awareness in the management of business processes.

Overcoming Heterogeneity in Business Process Modeling with Rule-Based Semantic Mappings

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (08) ◽  
pp. 1131-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Prackwieser ◽  
Robert Buchmann ◽  
Wilfried Grossmann ◽  
Dimitris Karagiannis
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Process Simulation ◽  
Interface Design ◽  
Business Process Modeling ◽  
Control Flow ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Modeling Languages ◽  
Generic Level ◽  
Hybrid Character

The paper tackles the problem of notational heterogeneity in business process modeling. Heterogeneity is overcome with an approach that induces semantic homogeneity independent of notation, driven by commonalities and recurring semantics in various control flow-oriented modeling languages, with the goal of enabling process simulation on a generic level. Thus, hybrid process models (for end-to-end or decomposed processes) having different parts or subprocesses modeled with different languages become simulate-able, making it possible to derive quantitative measures (lead time, costs, or resource capacity) across notational heterogeneity. The result also contributes to a better understanding of the process structure, as it helps with identifying interface problems and process execution requirements, and can support a multitude of areas that benefit from step by step process simulation (e.g. process-oriented requirement analysis, user interface design, generation of business-related test cases, compilation of handbooks and training material derived from processes). A use case is presented in the context of the ComVantage EU research project, where notational heterogeneity is induced by: (a) the specificity and hybrid character of a process-centric modeling method designed for the project application domain, and (b) the collaborative nature of the modeling effort, with different modelers working with different notations for different layers of abstraction in a shared on-line tool and model repository.

Lost in Business Process Model Translations

2011 ◽  
pp. 227-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Recker ◽  
Jan Mendling
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Modeling Languages ◽  
Seamless Integration ◽  
Complementary Nature

Often, different process models are employed in different phases of the BPM life cycle, each providing a different approach for capturing business processes. Efforts have been undertaken to overcome the disintegration of process models by providing complementary standards for design and execution. However, this claim has not yet been fulfilled. A prominent example is the seemingly complementary nature of BPMN and BPEL. The mapping between these process modeling languages is still unsolved and poses challenges to practitioners and academics. This chapter discusses the problem of translating between process modeling languages. We argue that there is conceptual mismatch between modeling languages stemming from various perspectives of the business-process management life cycle that must be identified for seamless integration. While we focus on the popular case of BPMN vs. BPEL, our approach is generic and can be utilized as a guiding framework for identifying conceptual mismatch between other process modeling languages.

Application of formal methods to modelling and analysis aspects of business process reengineering

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 548-569
Author(s):  
Junaid Haseeb ◽  
Naveed Ahmad ◽  
Saif U.R. Malik ◽  
Adeel Anjum
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Business Process Reengineering ◽  
Formal Semantics ◽  
Control Flow ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Process Reengineering ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Meta Model ◽  
Smt Solver

Purpose Business process (BP) reengineering is defined as reinventing BPs either structurally or technically to achieve dramatic improvements in performance. In any business process reengineering (BPR) project, process modeling is used to reason about problems found in existing (as-is) process and helps to design target (to-be) process. BP model notation is a widely accepted standard for process modeling. “Expressiveness” and “missing formal semantics” are two problems reported to its modeling practices. In existing studies, solutions to these problems are also proposed but still have certain limitations. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach In proposed methodology, a meta-model is formally defined that is composed of commonly used modeling elements and their well-formedness rules to check for syntactic and structural correctness of process models. Proposed solution also check semantics of process models and allows to compare as-is and to-be process models for gap identification which is another important aspect of BPR. To achieve the first goal, Z specification is used to provide formal specifications of modeling constructs and their rules and Z3 (an SMT solver) is used for comparisons and verifying properties. Findings Proposed method addresses both “expressiveness” and “missing formal semantics” of BPR models. The results of its evaluation clearly indicate that using formally specified meta-model, BPR model is syntactically and structurally correct. Moreover, formal modeling of BPs in Z3 helped to compare processes and to check control flow properties. Research limitations/implications Although the proposed method is tested on an example that is widely used in BPR literature, the example is only covering modeling elements which are part of the proposed subset and are reported in literature as frequently used modeling elements. A separate detailed study is required to test it on more complex systems. Practical implications Specifying process models using Z specification and Z3 solver requires certain expertise. Originality/value The proposed method adds value to BPR body of knowledge as it proposes a method to ensure structural and syntactic correctness of models, highlighting the importance of verifying run time properties and providing a direction toward comparing process models for gap analysis.

A Method for Eliciting Goals for Business Process Models based on Non-Functional Requirements Catalogues

2013 ◽  
pp. 226-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evellin Cardoso ◽  
João Paulo A. Almeida ◽  
Renata S. S. Guizzardi ◽  
Giancarlo Guizzardi
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Business Process Modeling ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Business Process Models ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Goal Models

While traditional approaches in business process modeling tend to focus on “how” the business processes are performed (adopting a behavioral description in which business processes are described in terms of procedural aspects), in goal-oriented business process modeling, the proposals strive to extend traditional business process methodologies by providing a dimension of intentionality to business processes. One of the key difficulties in enabling one to model goal-oriented processes concerns the identification or elicitation of goals. This paper reports on a case study conducted in a Brazilian hospital, which obtained several goal models represented in i*/Tropos, each of which correspond to a business process also modeled in the scope of the study. NFR catalogues were helpful in goal elicitation, uncovering goals that did not come up during previous interviews prior to these catalogues’ use.

Ontology-Based Framework for Quality in Configurable Process Models

2020 ◽  
pp. 464-478
Author(s):  
Loubna El Faquih ◽  
Mounia Fredj
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Ontology Languages ◽  
Variability Management

In recent years, business process modeling has increasingly drawn the attention of enterprises. As a result of the wide use of business processes, redundancy problems have arisen and researchers introduced the variability management, in order to enhance the business process reuse. The most approach used in this context is the Configurable Process Model solution, which consists in representing the variable and the fixed parts together in a unique model. Due to the increasing number of variants, the configurable models become complex and incomprehensible, and their quality is therefore impacted. Most of research work is limited to the syntactic quality of process variants. The approach presented in this paper aims at providing a novel method towards syntactic verification and semantic validation of configurable process models based on ontology languages. We define validation rules for assessing the quality of configurable process models. An example in the e-healthcare domain illustrates the main steps of our approach.

scholarly journals The Influence of Business Process Representation on Performance of Different Task Types

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamzah Ritchi ◽  
Mieke Jans ◽  
Jan Mendling ◽  
Hajo A. Reijers
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Process Representation ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Information Systems Research ◽  
Task Types

ABSTRACT The analysis of business processes is an integral part of audit methodology. In both auditing research and process modeling research, there is an ongoing debate on which representation format might be best suited to support analysis tasks. Most important in this context is the question of whether process models as visual representation might be superior to textual narratives. This paper investigates the affinity of different tasks with two process representational formats: textual narratives and visual diagrams (BPMN models). Our findings demonstrate that the representation format has an impact on task performance and that the direction of this impact depends upon the affinity of the tasks type with the representation format. This implies that auditors are best provided with different process representations, depending on the task they are performing. These findings have important implications for research on auditing tasks, and more broadly also for software engineering and information systems research.

Integrating Business Processes and Information Systems in an Interorganizational Context

2011 ◽  
pp. 136-153
Author(s):  
Peter Rittgen
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Unified Modeling Language ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Unified Modeling ◽  
Business Process Models ◽  
System Models ◽  
Close Cooperation

When organizations engage in close cooperation they usually need to reorganize the business processes that serve the interface between them. This reorganization is often done with the help of business process models. As a result, the underlying information systems have to be adapted, too. The changes to the latter can be supported by information system models which are typically “written” in a different language from that of the business processes. Here we suggest an approach to facilitate the development of information system models based on the models of the respective business processes. This is achieved by mapping a suitable business process language to the Unified Modeling Language. We apply this approach in the context of an interorganizational business process.

Foundations of Business Process Modeling

2010 ◽  
pp. 6-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Mendling
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Process Modeling ◽  
General Information ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Business Process Execution

This chapter provides an overview of business process management and business process modeling. We approach business process management by giving a historical classification of seminal work, and define it by the help of the business process management life cycle. Business process models play an important role in this life cycle, in particular, if information systems are used for executing processes. We deduct a definition for business process modeling based on a discussion of modeling from a general information systems point of view. In the following, we detail business process modeling techniques, in particular, modeling languages and modeling procedures for business process modeling. Finally, we discuss some future trends with a focus on the business process execution language for Web services (BPEL), and conclude the chapter with a summary. The chapter aims to cover business process modeling in a comprehensive way such that academics and practitioners can use it as a reference for identifying more specialized works.

E-Business Modeling Languages

2013 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Gábor Kovács
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Process Modeling ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Business Process Modeling ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Modeling Languages ◽  
Business Modeling ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Process Engine ◽  
Business Process Execution

This chapter gives an overview of modeling languages used for modeling business environment, abstract workflows, executable business processes, and business data. The languages are either abstract that primarily serve the purposes of business modeling or executable that can be run in a business process engine. The business process modeling languages BPMN (Business Process Modeling Language) and BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) are in the center of the discussion; however, the core concepts and application area of other languages are given as well. An important part of business modeling is the description of business collaboration and the format of business information exchanged. XML based data modeling languages are used for describing such contracts. Throughout the chapter the focus is on the underlying concepts of these languages rather than the syntax.

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