A New Methodology for Process Modeling of Workflows

Sabah Al-Fedaghi, Rashid Alloughani, Mohammed Al Sanousi

Computer Engineering Department, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.

DOI: 10.4236/jsea.2012.58064                

Abstract

Workflow-based systems are typically said to lead to better use of staff and better management and productivity. The first phase in building a workflow-based system is capturing the real-world process in a conceptual representation suitable for the following phases of formalization and implementation. The specification may be in text or diagram form or written in a formal language. This paper proposes a flow-based diagrammatic methodology as a tool for workflow specification. The expressiveness of the method is appraised though its ability to capture a workflow-based application. Here we show that the proposed conceptual diagrams are able to express situations arising in practice as an alternative to tools currently used in workflow systems. This is demonstrated by using the proposed methodology to partial build demo systems for two government agencies.

Keywords

Process Specification; Workflow; Conceptual Modeling

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	D. Hollingsworth, “The Workflow Reference Model, Workflow Management Coalition (WFMC),” Document No. TC00-1003, No. 1.1, 1995. http://www.wfmc.org/Download-document/TC00-1003-The-Workflow-Reference-Model.html
[2]	W. van der Aalst and K. van Hee, “Workflow Management: Models, Methods, and Systems,” MIT Press, Cambridge, 2004.
[3]	Sistemi Informatici Supporto Alle Decisioni, “Introduction to Workflow,” AA 2006-2007. http://www.di.unipi.it/~giangi/CORSI/SISD/Lezioni/WFM1.pdf
[4]	M. Dumas and A. H. M. ter Hofstede, “UML Activity Diagrams as a Workflow Specification Language,” In: M. Gogolla and C. Kobryn, Eds., UML 2001—The Unified Modeling Language, 4th International Conference, Toronto, 1-5 October 2001.
[5]	P. Muth, D. Wodtke, J. Weissenfels, A. K. Dittrich and G. Weikum, “From Centralized Workflow Specification to Distributed Workflow Execution,” Journal of Intelligent Information Systems, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1998, pp. 159-184. doi:10.1023/A:1008608810770
[6]	W. M. P. van der Aalst, “The Application of Petri Nets to Workflow Management,” The Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1998, pp. 21-66. doi:10.1142/S0218126698000043
[7]	M. Schader and A. Korthaus, “Modeling Business Processes as Part of the BOOSTER Approach to Business Object-Oriented Systems Development Based on UML,” Proceedings of the 2nd International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Workshop, IEEE Press, New York, 1998.
[8]	W. M. P. van der Aalst, A. P. Barros, A. H. M. ter Hofstede and B. Kiepuszewski, “Advanced Workflow Patterns,” Proceedings of the 5th IFCIS International Conference on Cooperative Information Systems, Eilat, 6-8 September 2000.
[9]	W. M. P. van der Aalst, A. H. M. ter Hofstede, B. Kiepuszewski and A. Barros, “Work-Flow Patterns,” Technical Report WP 47, BETA Research Institute, 2000. http://tmitwww.tm.tue.nl/research/patterns
[10]	S. A. White, “Process Modeling Notations and Workflow Patterns,” BPTrends, 2004. http://www.omg.org/bp-corner/bp-files/Process_Modeling_Notations.pdf
[11]	R. Robbins and K. Coulter, “Management,” Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2001.
[12]	C. Bock, “UML 2 Activity and Action Models,” Journal of Object Technology, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2003, pp. 43-53. doi:10.5381/jot.2003.2.4.c3
[13]	Wikipedia, “Workflow,” 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workflow
[14]	J. D. Casni, “‘Flow’ Hits Its Peak,” 2005. http://metaphorobservatory.blogspot.com/2005/11/flow-hits-its-peak.html
[15]	S. Al-Fedaghi, “Scrutinizing the Rule: Privacy Realization in HIPAA,” International Journal of Healthcare Information Systems and Informatics (IJHISI), Vol. 3, No. 2, 2008, pp. 32-47. doi:10.4018/jhisi.2008040104
[16]	S. Al-Fedaghi, “Software Engineering Interpretation of Information Processing Regulations,” IEEE 32nd Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference, Turku, 28 July-1 August, 2008.
[17]	S. Al-Fedaghi, “Personal Information Flow Model for P3P,” W3C Workshop on Languages for Privacy Policy Negotiation and Semantics-Driven Enforcement, Ispra, 17-18 October 2006.
[18]	W. van der Aalst and K. van Hee, “Workflow: Models, Methods, and Systems,” MIT Press, Cambridge, 2004. http://www.di.unipi.it/~giangi/CORSI/SISD/Lezioni/WFModel.pdf