Toward an Algebra for Manipulating Process Models

Abstract:     
The existing practice of developing and modifying business process models in information systems is primitive — the user has to manually add, change, or delete each node and arc piece by piece. In this paper, we propose a novel algebraic formalism called process manipulation algebra (PMA), which formulates process models into symbolic expressions and manipulation operations (e.g., insertion, deletion, merging, and split) on process models into algebraic operations. PMA provides guiding principles for the user to systematically specify operations on process models and standardizes those operations so that a computer can perform the specified operations.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 6

Keywords: process manipulation algebra, process models

JEL Classification: M1

working papers series