Business Process Flexibility in Virtual Organizations

Abstract

Virtual organizations are perceived as a means for achieving flexibility. However, shared inter-organizational business processes may pose additional constraints on the internal processes of an organization and reduce their flexibility. The paper builds on a conceptual model of business processes in a virtual organization. The model aimes at identifying a minimal process definition to support the collaborative process while allowing flexibility of the internal processes. The model is informally presented through a case study of an inter-library loan process, and its implications on flexibility are discussed.

1 Introduction

Virtual organizations are perceived as a means for achieving flexibility. The

formation of a virtual organization allows a partner organization to focus on core competencies while outsourcing various operations [ 6 ]. Flexibility is achieved by the ability to expand the variety of products and services offered to the customer, the ability to switch partners and select the appropriate partners for a given task.

However, shared business processes may pose additional constraints on the internal processes of an organization. The necessity to perform in coordination with other organizations and the resulting obligations may lead to a higher rigidity of the possible processes.

Various mechanisms at various levels of detail have been proposed for achieving

interoperability or shared business processes among organizations. Most of them focus on implementation details (e.g., [ 2 ]). We claim that an implementation solution must rely on a solid conceptual model, depicting the essence of shared business processes and interoperability.

A key issue discussed in the literature with respect to virtual organizations and inter-organizational processes is the required balance between trust and control, visibility and privacy. Addressing this delicate balance, solutions vary from complete central control to pure distribution. [ 11 ][ 12 ][ 13 ][ 21 ][ 14 ][ 10 ] propose models where an inter-organizational workflow is defined as part or as result of a contract between organizations. The organizations are then contractually committed to the defined workflow (or to a partial definition). Different levels of visibility of a partner’s internal process by the other partners at run time are also proposed and supported. In general, a high degree of central control and required visibility imposes constraints on the internal operations of an organization, thus reduces its flexibility.

This paper builds on a conceptual model of shared processes in a virtual organization, proposed by [ 8 ]. The conceptual model aims at identifying the minimal definition required to enable a smooth operation of shared processes, while allowing the partners a maximal degree of privacy and flexibility. The model is based on the formal Generic Process Model (GPM) and Bunge’s ontology. In this paper we informally present it through a case study of an inter-library loan process, and discuss its implications on business process flexibility.

The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 briefly introduces the main concepts of GPM, as a basis for the analysis of the case study, which is presented in Section 3. Section 4 discusses the model with respect to the flexibility it enables, and conclusions are presented in Section 5.

2 The Generic Process Model

GPM is based on Bunge’s ontology [3][4], as adapted for information systems modeling (e.g., [18][20]), for conceptual modeling, and for modeling business process concepts.

According to the ontological framework, the world is made of things that possess properties. Properties are perceived by humans in terms of attributes, which can be represented as functions on time. The state of a thing is the set of values of all its attribute functions (also termed state variables). When properties of things change, these changes are manifested as state changes or events. State changes can happen either due to internal transformations in things (self action of a thing) or due to interactions among things. The rules governing possible states and state changes are termed state laws and transition laws, respectively. States can be classified as being stable or unstable, where an unstable state is a state that must change by law, and a stable state is a state that can only change as a result of an action of something external to the thing or the domain.

A domain is a part of the world, namely, a set of things and their interactions. It is

represented by a set of state variables, whose values represent the state of the domain at a moment in time. A sub-domain is a part of the domain, represented by a subset of the domain state variables. A sub-domain may be in a stable state while the entire domain is in an unstable state, meaning that a different part of the domain is currently subject to changes.

A process is a sequence of unstable states, transforming by law until a stable state

is reached. A process is defined over a domain, which sets the boundaries of what is in a stable or an unstable state. Events that occur outside the domain are external events and they can activate the domain when it is in a stable state.

A process model in GPM is a quadruple <S, L, I, G>, where S is a set of states representing the domain of the process; L is the law, specified as mapping between subsets of states; I is a subset of unstable states, which are the initial states of the process after a triggering external event has occurred; G is a subset of stable states, which are the goal of the process. Subsets of states are specified by conditions over the state variables of the domain. Hence, a process starts when a certain condition on the state of the domain holds, and ends when its goal is reached, i.e., when another condition specified on the state of the domain holds.

3 The Inter-Library Loan Case Study

This section presents a case study of an inter-library loan process, as an example of a virtual organization (VO) business process.

Libraries partner with each other in order to share items, collections, journals and thus provide their customers maximum accessibility to interesting items. This process must be as transparent as possible to all customers (except for inevitable costs and delivery time issues).

The Inter Library Loan (ILL) process is triggered by customers, i.e., students or researchers in research centers, universities, colleges etc. The customer asks for an item from a virtual catalogue that includes all available items locally and within the association. If the item is available locally, it is provided by the local library. If not, the information system of the local library shall search for tentative providers through the catalogue and rank them according to a set of parameters, such as delivery time, quality, price, etc. The system sends a request to the first ranked tentative provider and waits for response. Different scenarios may occur: the provider may accept the request and notify the requester, who should pay for the service before delivery is made by the provider. An alternative scenario is when the tentative provider does not respond within a given period of time. The request is timed-out and the requester may initiate a request to another tentative provider. All this process logic is normally established at the level of the consortium / association and each partner that joins the consortium agrees to comply with it.

Every partner library can play one of two roles in each occurrence of the ILL

process: a requester or a provider. Figure 1 and Figure 2 present example state flows of a requester and a provider in the ILL process, respectively.

Each of the parties has its own private process that takes place within its domain of control, and has a defined (local) goal. These private processes entail states where interaction with a partner takes place. Figures 1 and 2 distinguish “internal” from interaction states, where each can be stable or unstable. We take a special interest in the interaction states. In GPM terms, a stable interaction state is a discontinuity point [ 16 ], where the process domain is in a stable state waiting for an external event to reactivate it so it can progress towards its goal. Specifically, the expected external event should be a result of an action of the other party. An unstable interaction state is a state that follows an external event, originated by the other party. Note that every stable interaction state in one of the figures has a corresponding unstable interaction state in the other figure.

Customer confirms receipt Requester cancels request Delivery Waiting Timeout

Provider’s delivery notification

Item delivered

Delivery to customer

Item Receiving Confirmed Request Timeout

Requester cancels request Request response timer’s event Legend:

Unstable internal states Stable internal states Stable Interaction states Unstable Interaction states

Request Rejected Payment Enquiry Received Request received from end-user

Select tentative providers

Customer Requests an Item

Pick next tentative Provider Provider confirms cancellation

Tentative Providers selected

Idle Provider confirms cancellation Select Next Tentative Provider

RequesterCustomer cancellation sends request to provider Process states (requester side)

In order to streamline the overall VO process and to assure its validity as well as

the validity of the private processes of each partner, these interaction points need to be defined and coordinated. Coupling the corresponding interaction states of Figures 1 and 2 yields the states specified in Figure 3, which are the shared states of the requester and the provider.

Request Sent to provider Request rejected

Request cancelled

Shared state definition

The specification of the shared states is intended to define the state variables that

are known to both parties and their required values. In fact, it sets the format of the message to be passed between the parties. For example, the shared state of Request sent to provider is specified by the following state variables: Request status whose value is “sent to tentative provider”, state variables holding the provider details and the details of the request, which are Order ID, Order issuing time, Item details, Customer details, Required delivery options, and a state variable indicating the status of the Request response timer, which is initiated once the order is sent. The values of these state variables are set by the requester. This definition includes all the information needed for the provider to process the request and respond to it. The provider is expected to respond by changing the value of the Request status state variable (to “rejected” or “accepted”).

A complete definition and agreement of both parties regarding the shared states is necessary in order to facilitate the collaboration between the organizations. Consider, for example, a situation where the request is for a soft-copy of an item to be sent by email, but the provider’s process does not consider the Required delivery options state variable, and is capable only of sending hard copies. Including this state variable in the shared state definition and specifying its possible values should be a result of the negotiation between the parties during the VO formation.

Constraints on Quality of Service parameters

While the above discussed definition of the shared states is necessary for achieving the goal of the overall process (and of the internal processes of the parties), it is not enough for this process to achieve a desired quality of service. QoS relates to state variables which can indicate the desirability of different states where the process has achieved its goal. For example, consider two possible states where the customer has confirmed receiving the item, namely the process has reached its goal. However, one state is where the customer has received the item within two days, and the other is where it took a month for the item to arrive.

Setting constraints on the QoS of the entire process constrains the values of

specific state variables in the internal processes of the parties. These constraints should be negotiated and agreed upon. As well, the definition of the shared states should include state variables which are relevant for these constraints.

In the ILL case study, the main QoS parameter identified is order processing time.

Hence, an upper threshold, Max order processing time, was defined, depending on

possible service levels offered to the customers. As a result, constraints were defined with respect to time taken for specific parts of the process. In particular, these constraints relate to phases where one party is in a stable “waiting” state while the other party is active. Furthermore, both parties share the overall constraint on the order processing time.

Note that in this case no penalty was set for not meeting the constraint. However, it

is possible to define such penalty as part of the shared state definition.

Table 1 specifies the shared states of Figure 3, including QoS constraints and their related state variables. The table specifies the relevant state variables, their required values, the party responsible for achieving them, the party triggered to action as a result, and QoS constraints (where T1 – T5 are defined time thresholds). Note that the last two states (Item received by requester and Item delivered to customer) are identical in their shared definition, but different in the internal state variables of the requester, whose expected action in response to each state is different. Obligations

The overall VO process, spanning at least two parties, is not centrally mandated, nor can it be entirely viewed by a single party. The partner organizations of the VO should commit themselves to their required parts of the process in order to establish

Request status = canceled

Requester State definition Request status =sent to tentative provider; Provider details; Request details (order ID, Order issuing time, customer details, delivery options); Required service level (Max order processing time, item quality); Request response Timer= Initiated; Request status = rejected Request status = accepted; Payment waiting timer= initiated; Order processing elapsed time= updated Payment status = completed; Delivery waiting timer= initiated Order processing elapsed time= updated Payment status= enquiry; Payment waiting Timer= initiated; Delivery status= enquiry; Delivery waiting Timer= initiated; Order processing elapsed time updated the necessary trust among the partners, so a commitment to an end-customer can be made. Once negotiation and shared state definitions are completed, including agreement on QoS constraints, the partners should make an obligation to these states. State Request sent to provider Request rejected Request canceled Request accepted Payment done Payment enquiry Delivery enquiry

In GPM terms, an obligation means that the law operating in each private organizational domain is designed to achieve the agreed upon states. Based on the

obligations made, although an observer cannot see the details of the entire end-to-end VO process, he has some information about it, which reduces uncertainty. An observer knows the entire process is designed so that certain events will take place, complying with certain constraints, leading to the obliged shared states, and eventually to the goal of the process. This is in spite of the fact that the internal process of each partner is completely private, and independently of the means by which the obligation is made (e.g., contract, human agreement).

4 Discussion

The proposed model, as demonstrated through the ILL case study, provides a minimal definition that facilitates the operation of a VO business process. At the same time it allows maximal privacy and flexibility in the internal processes of the participating organizations.

The literature dealing with inter-organizational business processes addresses both infrastructure and process models. Infrastructures, such as XRL/flower [ 2 ], may support flexibility and autonomy of the participating organizations. However, a specific process model should be designed and operated on top of the infrastructure, and constraints may be formed through this design. Comparing our model to other models proposed for inter-organizational processes in general and VO processes in particular, most of these models impose stricter constraints on the internal processes of the participants.

[ 11 ][ 12 ][ 13 ][ 21 ] address legal contracts between parties (organizations), and show how a detailed workflow can be derived from a contract. They also provide rules for matching the contract-based workflow with the existing organizational business processes. The contract-based workflow relates to the entire process, thus it allows no flexibility to a single organization for changing the process or deviating from it in specific cases.

In [14] privacy of organizational processes is maintained at run time, limiting the

visibility of the internal process. However, the entire workflow has to be defined at build time, when a contract between the parties is established. Being contractually obligated to the workflow model, the flexibility of the parties is limited.

In [10], the contract specifies the internal process of the “service provider” party and required interface between the organizations, and allows limited visibility of the provider process. Here the process flexibility is reduced only for the “provider” party, and not for the other side.

The PRODNET project [5] is aimed at facilitating autonomy and heterogeneity of

the organizations. However, their solution is based on a central mandating and coordinating party, to whom all parties must report. This requirement forms a limitation on the privacy and autonomy of the participants.

A model that facilitates the autonomy of partners through workflow views and inheritance is proposed by [1]. This model allows a relatively high level of flexibility to the partners. However, our model, unlike [1], addresses QoS parameters and constraints as well as the process flow.

Autonomy of the partners is also facilitated by the ebXML BPSS model [7].

However, this model is more detailed and less generic than ours. Its evaluation on the basis of Bunge’s ontology [ 9 ] indicates a lack of ontological completeness as well as clarity, which may lead to modeling and interpretation difficulties. Specifically, the identified construct redundancy may imply that some ebXML BPSS constructs can be generalized and yield a more concise and clear model. The over-specification of ebXML can also be viewed as being rigid. For example, specific QoS parameters are part of the model, while there is no construct that allows the inclusion of others.

Clearly, when more constraints are imposed by the inter-organizational process, less flexibility can exist in the internal processes of an organization [ 18 ]. This rigidity applies to both process types and process instances [ 15 ]. The rigidity of the process type relates to (a) process design, when a new process type is designed in collaboration with the other parties; (b) the transformation of an existing process to an inter-organizational one, which requires matching the process details with the agreedupon process [ 21 ]; and (c) modifications made to an existing process type, which must be coordinated with the other partners. The rigidity of the process instances is a result of the lack of freedom to deviate from the agreed upon process in exceptional situations, besides predefined agreed-upon exceptions.

Our model, in contrast, allows a partner organization to design and modify its

internal process type and to deviate in specific instances, as long as the obligation to the shared states is kept. Within the boundaries of the obligations, any kind of change is possible, relating to all possible subjects (perspectives [ 15 ]) and having different properties (e.g., extent, duration [ 15 ]).

5 Conclusion

Flexibility, among many other benefits, is frequently associated with the formation

of a virtual organization. However, shared inter-organizational processes may impose constraints on the internal processes of an organization and reduce their flexibility.

The case study presented in the paper demonstrates a minimal definition of a VO

collaboration. It facilitates the achievement of the VO process goal, while allowing maximal flexibility in the partner’s internal processes. We show that a process definition is possible despite the complete privacy and autonomy of the partner processes.

The underlying model to our approach is GPM, whose formality enables a precise

definition of the terms involved, and process analysis possibilities.

Future research will address the implications of our models in terms of possible implementation solutions and systems supporting inter-organizational processes.

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