工作流管理：模型与方法探索

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"工作流管理：模型、方法和系统" 本书深入探讨了工作流管理的核心概念、模型、方法以及系统，由W ilvander Aalst和Kees van Hee共同撰写，是MIT出版社出版的一本关于合作信息系统的重要著作。原书名为"Workflow Management: Modellen, Methoden en Systemen"，于1997年首次在荷兰发行，2002年被翻译成英文版。工作流管理是信息技术与业务流程集成的关键领域，它涉及到如何设计、实施和优化企业中的任务分配和协作过程。本书旨在提供一个全面的工作流理论框架，帮助读者理解工作流管理系统的设计和使用，从而提升企业的效率和生产力。书中涵盖的主要知识点包括： 1. **工作流基础**：介绍工作流的基本概念，如工作流定义、工作流模型以及它们在组织中的作用。工作流是一系列相互关联的任务，这些任务按照特定的顺序执行，以完成一个业务过程。 2. **工作流模型**：详细阐述了各种工作流模型，如流程图、Petri网、活动网络等。这些模型用于表示业务流程，有助于分析和改进流程的结构和效率。 3. **工作流方法**：讨论了用于设计和分析工作流的各种方法，如建模技术、流程优化策略和决策支持工具。这些方法可以帮助管理者识别瓶颈，优化资源分配，以及确保合规性。 4. **工作流系统**：介绍了工作流管理系统（WfMS）的架构和功能，包括任务分配、监控、报告和审计功能。WfMS是实现自动化工作流的关键，能有效协调跨部门、跨系统的任务执行。 5. **实施与案例研究**：通过实际案例分析，展示了工作流管理在不同行业的应用，包括制造业、服务业和公共部门。这些案例提供了将理论应用于实践的见解。 6. **技术和标准**：讨论了如BPMN（业务流程模型和符号）和WFMC（工作流管理联盟）标准等技术，这些标准对工作流的标准化和互操作性至关重要。 7. **未来发展**：书中还展望了工作流管理领域的未来趋势，如云计算、大数据和人工智能如何影响工作流系统的进化。 8. **参考文献与索引**：包含详细的参考文献列表，方便进一步研究，以及一个全面的索引，便于查找特定主题。这本书对于IT专业人士、企业管理者、流程设计师以及对工作流管理感兴趣的学者来说，都是一份宝贵的参考资料，它提供了深入的理解和实用的指导，有助于读者理解和掌握工作流管理的核心理念和技术。

4 Chapter 1

Each case involves a process being performed. A process consists of a

number of tasks that need to be carried out and a set of conditions that

determine the order of the tasks. A process can also be called a proce-

dure. A task is a logical unit of work that is carried out as a single whole

by one resource. A resource is the generic name for a person, machine or

group of persons or machines that can perform specific tasks. This does

not always mean to say that the resource necessarily carries out the task

independently, but that it is responsible for it. We will examine this sub-

ject more closely in the next section.

As an example of a process, we shall examine how a (fictional) insur-

ance company deals with a claim. We can identify the following tasks:

1. recording the receipt of the claim;

2. establishing the type of claim (for example, fire, motor vehicle, travel,

professional);

3. checking the client's policy, to confirm that it does in principle cover

what has been claimed for;

4. checking the premium, to confirm that payments are up to date;

5. rejection, if task 3 or 4 has a negative result;

6. producing a rejection letter,

estimating the amount to be paid, based upon the claim details;

8. appointment of an assessor to research the circumstances of the dam

age and to establish its value;

9. consideration of emergency measures to limit further damage or re

lieve distress;

10. provision of emergency measures if approved as part of task 8;

11. establishment or revision of amount to be paid and offer to client;

12. recording of client's reaction: acceptance or objection;

13. assessment of objection and decision to revise (task 11) or to take

legal proceedings (task 14);

14. legal proceedings-,

15. payment of claim; and

16. closure of claim: filing.

Here we can see sixteen tasks that do not necessarily need to be per-

formed in the order shown. Two or more tasks that must be performed

in a strict order are called a sequence. For some cases, certain tasks do

not need to be carried out. One example is the appointment of an expert,

if the claim report is clear and the amount of the claim is below a par-

Organizing Workflows 5

ticular value, the involvement of an expert is not necessary. Other tasks

that do not always need to be performed are taking emergency measures,

assessing an objection, or taking legal proceedings. Sometimes, therefore, a

choice between two or more tasks can be made. This we call a selection.

There are also tasks that can be performed in parallel, for exam-

ple checking the policy and checking the premiums. These tasks must

both be completed before the "rejection" task can begin. This is called

synchronization.

This example of a process also includes iteration, or repetition—

namely, the repeated assessment of an objection or the revision of the

amount to be paid. In theory, this could go on forever. Figure 1.2 shows

the order of the tasks as a process diagram: an arrow from task A to task

B means that A must be done before B. We can also see that the diagram

contains more information than the list of tasks. For example, it shows

that a claim can only be closed once any emergency measures required

have been taken. Each task is indicated by a rectangle. If a task has more

than one successor task—that is, if it has more than one arrow leading

from it—then precisely one of these subsequent tasks must be chosen

during the task in question. If a task has more than one predecessor—

more than one arrow leading to it—then all of these must be completed

before that task can begin (synchronization). The circles indicate where

particular workflows meet or split. The gray circles have several precur-

sor tasks and only one subsequent task. They indicate that only one of

the preceding tasks needs to be performed in order to continue. The

black circles have one predecessor and several subsequent tasks. They

show that all the subsequent tasks must be performed. (The circles can be

regarded as "dummy" tasks.) Chapter 2 introduces a process notation

which makes it easier to express such properties.

To summarize, we can identify four different basic mechanisms in

process structures: sequence, selection, parallelization, and iteration. All

are very commonplace in practice, and in principle all processes can

be modeled using these four constructions. We shall consider them in

greater detail in chapter 2.

Some tasks can be performed by a computer without human interfer-

ence. Other tasks require human intelligence: a judgment or a decision.

For instance, a bank employee decides if a client's loan request will be

granted or not. Human workers need knowledge to execute tasks. This

Organizing Workflows 7

knowledge is stored in their minds by experience, the so-called tacit

knowledge. Other forms of knowledge can be obtained by learning and

information retrieval, the so-called explicit knowledge. Knowledge man-

agement is concerned with the acquisition, enrichment, and distribution

of knowledge so that the right knowledge is at the right time with the

person who has to fulfill a task.

A task can also be defined as a process that cannot be subdivided any

further: an atomic process. There is a subjective element in this—what

one person regards as a single task may be a nonatomic one to another.

For an insurance company, for example, the compilation of an assessor's

report of damage to a car is a single task, whereas for the expert himself

it is a process comprising various tasks, such as checking the chassis, en-

gine, and bodywork. A task is therefore an atomic process for the person

defining or ordering it, but for the person carrying it out it is often a

nonatomic one.

A single process is carried out on each case. We call the performance of

a task by a resource an activity. Various cases may have the same pro-

cess, but each case may follow a different route through that process. In

the insurance company, for example, one claim may involve an objection

and another not. The route taken depends upon the specific character-

istics of the case—the case attributes. The number of processes in a

company is (generally) finite and far smaller than the number of cases to

be handled. As a result, a company can develop a routine for performing

processes and thus operate efficiently.

This is clearly seen in the clothing industry: it is much faster to make

one hundred skirts with the same pattern than one hundred skirts using

different patterns. Off-the-rack is cheaper than made-to-measure. What's

more, producing one thousand skirts of the same pattern is less expensive

than ten times making one hundred in that pattern. This is called the

economy of scale: the costs per case fall as the number of cases increases.

Companies therefore endeavor to keep the number of processes small

and to make the number of cases that each can perform as high as pos-

sible—at least, as long as they can earn something from each case. Profit,

after all, is the ultimate objective.

An insurance company wants to keep the number of claims as low

as possible—but this is generally a factor that it cannot control. It will

also try to keep the number of processes low. There is, however, a catch:

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