Towards Incorporating Context Awareness into Business Process Management
Context-aware technologies provide system
applications with the awareness of environmental conditions,
customer behaviours, object movements, etc. Further, with such
capability system applications can be smart to intelligently adapt their
responses to the changing conditions. In regard to business
operations, this promises businesses that their business processes can
run more intelligently, adaptively and flexibly, and thereby either
improve customer experience, enhance reliability of service delivery,
or lower operational cost, to make the business more competitive and
sustainable. Aiming at realising such context-aware business process
management, this paper firstly explores its potential benefit, and then
identifies some gaps between the current business process
management support and the expected. In addition, some preliminary
solutions are also discussed in regard to context definition, rule-based
process execution, run-time process evolution, etc. A framework is
also presented to give a conceptual architecture of context-aware
business process management system to guide system
implementation.
[1] B. Das, A. M. Seelye, B. L. Thomas, D. J. Cook, L. B. Holder, and M.
Schmitter-Edgecombe, "Using Smart Phones for Context-aware
Prompting in Smart Environments," in Consumer Communications and
Networking Conference, 2012, pp. 399-403.
[2] A. K. Dey, "Understanding and Using Context," Personal and
Ubiquitous Computing, vol. 5, pp. 4-7, 2001.
[3] M. Rosemann and J. Recker, "Context-aware Process Design: Exploring
the Extrinsic Drivers for Process Flexibility," in International
Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering,
Luxembourg, 2006, pp. 149-158.
[4] C. Stamford. Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for
2008 (Online). Available: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/530109
[5] A. K. Dey, G. D. Abowd, and D. Salber, "A Conceptual Framework and
A Toolkit for Supporting the Rapid Prototyping of Context-aware
Applications," Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 16, pp. 97-166, 2001.
[6] P. Mehra, "Context-Aware Computing: Beyond search and locationbased
services," IEEE Internet Computing, vol. 16, pp. 12-16, 2012.
[7] B. N. Schilit and M. M. Theimer, "Disseminating Active Map
Information to Mobile Hosts," IEEE Network, vol. 8, pp. 22-32, 1994.
[8] H. Ishii and B. Ullmer, "Towards Seamless Interfaces between People,
Bits and Atoms," in ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human factors in
computing systems, New York, NY, USA, 1997, pp. 234-241.
[9] M. Weiser, "The Computer for the Twenty-first Century," Scientific
American, pp. 94-104, 1991.
[10] A. Oulasvirta, "Finding Meaningful Uses for Context-aware
Technologies: The Humanistic Tesearch Strategy," in SIGCHI
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, NY,
USA, 2004, pp. 247-254.
[11] M. Rosemann, J. Recker, C. Flender, and P. D. Ansell, "Understanding
Context-awareness in Business Process Design," in Australasian
Conference on Information Systems, Adelaide, Australia, 2006.
[12] C. Liu, Q. Li, and X. Zhao, "Challenges and Opportunities in
Collaborative Business Process Management," Information System
Frontiers, vol. 11, pp. 201-209, 2009.
[13] R. Hamadi and B. Benatallah, "Recovery Nets: Towards Self-Adaptive
Workflow Systems," presented at the the 5th International Conference
on Web Information Systems Engineering, Brisbane, Australia, 2004.
[14] S. W. Sadiq, M. E. Orlowska, and W. Sadiq, "Specification and
Validation of Process Constraints for Flexible Workflows," Information
Systems, vol. 30, pp. 349-378, 2005.
[15] M. La Rosa, M. Dumas, A. H. M. ter Hofstede, and J. Mendling,
"Configurable Multi-Perspective Business Process Models," Information
Systems, vol. 36, pp. 313-340, 2011.
[16] L. T. Ly, S. Rinderle, and P. Dadam, "Semantic Correctness in Adaptive
Process Management Systems," presented at the the 4th International
Conference on Business Process Management, Vienna, Austria, 2006.
[17] P. Etingof, O. Golberg, S. Hensel, T. Liu, A. Schwendner, D. Vaintrob,
et al. Introduction to Representation Theory (Online). Available:
http://math.mit.edu/~etingof/replect.pdf
[18] X. Zhao, C. Liu, and T. Lin, "Incorporating Business Logics into RFIDenabled
Applications," Information Processing & Management, vol. 48,
pp. 47-62, 2012.
[19] X. Zhao, C. Liu, and T. Lin, "Incorporating Business Process
Management into RFID-enabled Application Systems," Business
Process Management Journal, vol. 16, pp. 932-953, 2010.
[20] S. Yongchareon, C. Liu, J. Yu, and X. Zhao, "A View Framework for
Modeling and Change Validation of Artifact-Centric Inter-
Organizational Business Processes," Information Systems, vol. 47, pp.
51-81, 2015.
[21] S. Yongchareon, C. Liu, and X. Zhao, "A Framework for Behavior-
Consistent Specialization of Artifact-Centric Business Processes," in
International Conference on Business Process Management, Tallin,
Estonia, 2012, pp. 285-301.
[22] J. Xu, C. Liu, and X. Zhao, "Resource Planning for Massive Number of
Process Instances," in On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems,
Vilamoura, Portugal, 2009, pp. 219-236.
[23] J. Xu, C. Liu, X. Zhao, and Z. Ding, "Incorporating Structural
Improvement into Resource Allocation for Business Process Execution
Planning," Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience,
vol. 25, pp. 427-442, 2013.
[24] X. Zhao, C. Liu, Y. Yang, and W. Sadiq, "CorPN: Managing Instance
Correspondence in Collaborative Business Processes," Distributed and
Parallel Database, vol. 29, pp. 309-332, 2011.
[25] X. Zhao and C. Liu, "Version Management for Business Process
Schema Evolution," Information Systems, vol. 38, pp. 1046-1069, 2013.
[26] X. Zhao and C. Liu, "Version Management in the Business Process
Change Context," presented at the 5th International Conference on
Business Process Management, Brisbane, Australia, 2007.
[27] S. Gregor and A. R. Hevner, "Positioning and Presenting Design Science
Research for Maximum Impact," MIS Quarterly, vol. 37, pp. 337-355,
2013.
[1] B. Das, A. M. Seelye, B. L. Thomas, D. J. Cook, L. B. Holder, and M.
Schmitter-Edgecombe, "Using Smart Phones for Context-aware
Prompting in Smart Environments," in Consumer Communications and
Networking Conference, 2012, pp. 399-403.
[2] A. K. Dey, "Understanding and Using Context," Personal and
Ubiquitous Computing, vol. 5, pp. 4-7, 2001.
[3] M. Rosemann and J. Recker, "Context-aware Process Design: Exploring
the Extrinsic Drivers for Process Flexibility," in International
Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering,
Luxembourg, 2006, pp. 149-158.
[4] C. Stamford. Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for
2008 (Online). Available: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/530109
[5] A. K. Dey, G. D. Abowd, and D. Salber, "A Conceptual Framework and
A Toolkit for Supporting the Rapid Prototyping of Context-aware
Applications," Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 16, pp. 97-166, 2001.
[6] P. Mehra, "Context-Aware Computing: Beyond search and locationbased
services," IEEE Internet Computing, vol. 16, pp. 12-16, 2012.
[7] B. N. Schilit and M. M. Theimer, "Disseminating Active Map
Information to Mobile Hosts," IEEE Network, vol. 8, pp. 22-32, 1994.
[8] H. Ishii and B. Ullmer, "Towards Seamless Interfaces between People,
Bits and Atoms," in ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human factors in
computing systems, New York, NY, USA, 1997, pp. 234-241.
[9] M. Weiser, "The Computer for the Twenty-first Century," Scientific
American, pp. 94-104, 1991.
[10] A. Oulasvirta, "Finding Meaningful Uses for Context-aware
Technologies: The Humanistic Tesearch Strategy," in SIGCHI
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, NY,
USA, 2004, pp. 247-254.
[11] M. Rosemann, J. Recker, C. Flender, and P. D. Ansell, "Understanding
Context-awareness in Business Process Design," in Australasian
Conference on Information Systems, Adelaide, Australia, 2006.
[12] C. Liu, Q. Li, and X. Zhao, "Challenges and Opportunities in
Collaborative Business Process Management," Information System
Frontiers, vol. 11, pp. 201-209, 2009.
[13] R. Hamadi and B. Benatallah, "Recovery Nets: Towards Self-Adaptive
Workflow Systems," presented at the the 5th International Conference
on Web Information Systems Engineering, Brisbane, Australia, 2004.
[14] S. W. Sadiq, M. E. Orlowska, and W. Sadiq, "Specification and
Validation of Process Constraints for Flexible Workflows," Information
Systems, vol. 30, pp. 349-378, 2005.
[15] M. La Rosa, M. Dumas, A. H. M. ter Hofstede, and J. Mendling,
"Configurable Multi-Perspective Business Process Models," Information
Systems, vol. 36, pp. 313-340, 2011.
[16] L. T. Ly, S. Rinderle, and P. Dadam, "Semantic Correctness in Adaptive
Process Management Systems," presented at the the 4th International
Conference on Business Process Management, Vienna, Austria, 2006.
[17] P. Etingof, O. Golberg, S. Hensel, T. Liu, A. Schwendner, D. Vaintrob,
et al. Introduction to Representation Theory (Online). Available:
http://math.mit.edu/~etingof/replect.pdf
[18] X. Zhao, C. Liu, and T. Lin, "Incorporating Business Logics into RFIDenabled
Applications," Information Processing & Management, vol. 48,
pp. 47-62, 2012.
[19] X. Zhao, C. Liu, and T. Lin, "Incorporating Business Process
Management into RFID-enabled Application Systems," Business
Process Management Journal, vol. 16, pp. 932-953, 2010.
[20] S. Yongchareon, C. Liu, J. Yu, and X. Zhao, "A View Framework for
Modeling and Change Validation of Artifact-Centric Inter-
Organizational Business Processes," Information Systems, vol. 47, pp.
51-81, 2015.
[21] S. Yongchareon, C. Liu, and X. Zhao, "A Framework for Behavior-
Consistent Specialization of Artifact-Centric Business Processes," in
International Conference on Business Process Management, Tallin,
Estonia, 2012, pp. 285-301.
[22] J. Xu, C. Liu, and X. Zhao, "Resource Planning for Massive Number of
Process Instances," in On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems,
Vilamoura, Portugal, 2009, pp. 219-236.
[23] J. Xu, C. Liu, X. Zhao, and Z. Ding, "Incorporating Structural
Improvement into Resource Allocation for Business Process Execution
Planning," Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience,
vol. 25, pp. 427-442, 2013.
[24] X. Zhao, C. Liu, Y. Yang, and W. Sadiq, "CorPN: Managing Instance
Correspondence in Collaborative Business Processes," Distributed and
Parallel Database, vol. 29, pp. 309-332, 2011.
[25] X. Zhao and C. Liu, "Version Management for Business Process
Schema Evolution," Information Systems, vol. 38, pp. 1046-1069, 2013.
[26] X. Zhao and C. Liu, "Version Management in the Business Process
Change Context," presented at the 5th International Conference on
Business Process Management, Brisbane, Australia, 2007.
[27] S. Gregor and A. R. Hevner, "Positioning and Presenting Design Science
Research for Maximum Impact," MIS Quarterly, vol. 37, pp. 337-355,
2013.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:71693", author = "Xiaohui Zhao and Shahan Mafuz", title = "Towards Incorporating Context Awareness into Business Process Management", abstract = "Context-aware technologies provide system
applications with the awareness of environmental conditions,
customer behaviours, object movements, etc. Further, with such
capability system applications can be smart to intelligently adapt their
responses to the changing conditions. In regard to business
operations, this promises businesses that their business processes can
run more intelligently, adaptively and flexibly, and thereby either
improve customer experience, enhance reliability of service delivery,
or lower operational cost, to make the business more competitive and
sustainable. Aiming at realising such context-aware business process
management, this paper firstly explores its potential benefit, and then
identifies some gaps between the current business process
management support and the expected. In addition, some preliminary
solutions are also discussed in regard to context definition, rule-based
process execution, run-time process evolution, etc. A framework is
also presented to give a conceptual architecture of context-aware
business process management system to guide system
implementation.", keywords = "Business process adaptation, business process
evolution, business process modelling, and context awareness.", volume = "9", number = "12", pages = "4270-8", }
