Knowledge based approach to flexible workflow management systems

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).Today's business environments are characterized by dynamic and uncertain environments. In order to effectively support business processes in such contexts, workflow management systems must be able to adapt themselves effectively. In this dissertation, the workflow is redefined in concept and represented with a set of business rules. Business rules play a central role in organizational workflows in context of cooperation among actors. To achieve business goals, they constrain the flow of works, use of resources, and responsibility mapping between tasks and actors using role concept. Business rules are explicitly modeled in the Knowledge-based Workflow Model (KWM) using frames. To increase the adaptability of workflow management system, KWM has several distinctive features. First, it increases expressiveness of workflow model so that exception handling rules and responsibility mapping rules between tasks and actors as well as task scheduling rules are explicitly modeled. Secondly, formal definition of KWM enables one to define and to analyze correctness of workflow schema. Knowledge-based approach enables more powerful analysis on workflow schema including checking consistency and compactness of routing rules as well as terminality of a workflow. Thirdly, providing change propagation mechanism which assures correctness of workflow after the modification of workflow schema increases adaptability. Change propagation rules for the modification primitives are provided to manage workflow evolution. On the other hand, metarules that control rules in KWM are used to handle exceptions that occur in a running workflow instance. Workflow participants can easily change workflow schema of a workflow instance with the support of extra rules and a metarule. Based on KWM, K-WFMS (Knowledge-based WorkFlow Management System) has been implemented in client/server architecture. Inference shell of knowledge-based systems is employed for enactment of business rules and integrated with database systems. From a real application based on the KWM architecture, it has been shown that system performance can increase notably by reducing the number of rules and facts that are used in the course of workflow enactment

How fluidity drives the evolution of group norms in open online communities: A dialectical model

This paper develops a dialectic process model to explain how group norms evolve in self-organizing open online communities. Archive data collected from a celebrity fandom community is used for a netnography study that is complemented by an interview with the community administrator. The analysis of the data reveals that the fluidity of online communities triggers changes on norm conformity leading to increased peer to peer moderations. That raised contradictions on norm schema (clarity and alignment with the community identity). I find drivers that affect the resolution of norm contradictions. This paper develops an iterative model to explain how norm contradictions are continuously raised due to fluidity and resolved by community members. The findings have theoretical and practical implication on the sustainability and fluidity of online communities from group norm perspective

Governance of IT Service Procurement: Relationship vs Network based Approach

Relational and structural embeddedness are reported to play an important role in the context of information technology outsourcing (ITO). However, we do not fully understand which of the two types of embeddedness is more appropriate in preventing opportunistic behaviour and improving long-term performance in the presence of uncertainty which is not uniform across a wide range of outsourced IT services and products. In order to address this question, a virtual ITO network is simulated where firms take the partner selection and control strategy based on relational or structural embeddedness. They also compete with each other to maximise their long-term profits. The simulation results show that the advantage of each type of embeddedness is different according to the levels of measurement difficulty and requirement unpredictability which coexist in the ITO business environments. Therefore, this study provides a better understanding of the conditional superiority of each type of embeddedness in the precence of the two uncertainties and offers ITO managers with a guideline for a choice between relational and structural embeddedness

Speed optimization and bunkering in liner shipping in the presence of uncertain service times and time windows at ports

Recent studies in maritime shipping have concentrated on environmental and economic impacts of ships. In this regard, fuel is considered as one of the important factors for such impacts. In particular, the sailing speed of the vessels affects the fuel consumption directly. In this study, we consider a speed optimization problem in liner shipping, which is characterized by stochastic port times and time windows. The objective is to minimize the total fuel consumption while maintaining the schedule reliability. We develop a dynamic programing model by discretizing the port arrival times to provide approximate solutions. A deterministic model is presented to provide a lower bound on the optimal expected cost of the dynamic model. We also work on the effect of bunker prices on the liner service schedule. We propose a dynamic programing model for bunkering problem. Our numerical study using real data from a European liner shipping company indicates that the speed policy obtained by proposed dynamic model performs significantly better than the ones obtained by benchmark methods. Moreover, our results show that making speed decisions considering the uncertainty of port times will noticeably decrease fuel consumption cost

Flexible Task coordination for mobile workforce

With the advancement of networking and mobile devices, more and more mobile business processes are automated and supported using the technologies. Mobile businesses processes are naturally exposed to uncertainty and dynamic changes that require distributed coordination. In large business organizations, the complexity of the processes also makes central control difficult due to the large number of variables to consider and mobile workers involved. To this end, this paper presents a flexible coordination mechanism for mobile workforce where multiple task assignment models are used together to adapt to dynamic changes and achieve efficiency. The overall system is flexible in that the assignment models are easily added because they are constructed as components, and the switch between assignment models are easy using manual or automated transition between the models. An example application of the model is presented using a real telecommunication organization in Europe where field workers install and repair telecommunication networks for customers

Investigating Obesity Related Behaviours in Friendship Networks Among the Youth: A Systemized Review

Background: An unhealthy diet, low levels of physical activity and increased participation in sedentary activities are important obesity-related behaviours that negatively impact the health of today’s youth. Friends’ health behaviours have been found to influence the individual health behaviours; however current evidence on the specific role of friendship networks on obesity-related behaviours are inconclusive. The purpose of this review is to profile the existing literature in an attempt to identify the associations between friendship networks and obesity-related behaviours among adolescents. Method: A systemized review of the literature was undertaken after a search of the Scopus database, a total of fifteen articles were eligible for inclusion. The selected publications assessed the association between friendship networks and obesity-related behaviours (diet, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour) among the youth. Results: There is consistent evidence that friends are similar in physical activity; evidence on diet and sedentary behaviour is mixed and limited. Friendship network characteristics seem to associated with obesity-related behaviours. Popularity (receiving ties) is likely to be associated with diet, network size and the proportion of active friends is tends to be associated with physical activity and finally, network density is associated with sedentary behaviour. Conclusion: Friendships are critical in shaping young people’s obesity-related behaviours. There is extensive research investigating friendship influences on diet physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Future studies should investigate whether friendship influence operates via other obesity-related behaviours that have not been explored yet such as sleep. Results from this review are informative for designing effective public health interventions because network-based promotion interventions have a promising potential. Keywords: social networks, friendship, diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, obesit

Knowledge hoarding and user acceptance of online discussion board systems in eLearning: A case study

This paper aims to reveal the determinants of the effectiveness of online discussion board systems (ODBSs) in eLearning environments to foster the interactions among the learners and/or instructors. A case in which an ODBS failed to foster the interactions among learners / instructors for knowledge sharing is introduced and hypotheses to explain the failure are developed based on thorough literature review in technology acceptance model (TAM) and knowledge hoarding. The hypotheses are tested via statistical analysis on the data collected from a questionnaire survey against the students who actually involved in the case study. The result shows that the low perceived usefulness of the ODBS by the students played major role in the failure of the system. Also it is hinted that network externalities as an intrinsic motivator is more effective than extrinsic motivators to increase the students' activities on the ODBS. Finally the paper provides the designers of eLearning systems with advice for successful operation of ODBS in eLearning

A WORKFLOW MODEL TO SUPPORT LOCATION BASED PARTICIPATION TO POLICY MAKING PROCESSES

This paper aims to propose PMWF model, a new workflow model to automate ubiquitous policy making processes and facilitate citizen participation. While workflow technology has been widely adopted in public sector, the use of technology is mostly limited to supporting back-end administrative business processes. PMWF model targets front-end policy making processes that require active participation of large number of citizens. Automatic delivery of relevant policy issues into citizen’s life is expected to enhance their participation in policy formulation and implementation processes. PMWF model provides modelling constructs to link back-end admin tasks by policy makers to front-end opinion tasks whose main actors are citizens. The core constructs for linkage is opinion-tag which contains policy issues and is attached to geographical objects so that citizens can identify relevant policy issues in the middle of their every-day life patterns. The proposed model is applied to real world policy making processes in the UK and Turkey to show its generality

E-GOVERNMENT ADOPTION IN QATAR: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CITIZENS\u27 PERSPECTIVE

Electronic government (e-government) initiatives are in their early stages in many developing countries and faced with various issues pertaining to their implementation, adoption and diffusion. Like many other developing countries, the e-government initiative in the state of Qatar has faced a number of challenges since its inception in 2000. Using a survey based study this paper describes citizens‟ behavioural intention and adoption in terms of applying and utilising the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of technology (UTAUT) model to explore the adoption and diffusion of e-government services in the state of Qatar. A regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of e-government adoption factors and the empirical data revealed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influences determine citizens‟ behavioural intention towards e-government. Moreover, facilitating conditions and behavioural intention were found to determine citizens‟ use of e-government services in the state of Qatar. Implications for practice and research are discussed

Fostering Smart Cities through ICT Driven Policy-Making: Expected Outcomes and Impacts of DAREED Project

YesThe concept of smart city is emerging as a key strategy to tackle the problems generated by the urban population growth and rapid development. It is widely recognised that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) play a key role in addressing some of the urban societal challenges such as improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Although there are various ICT tools providing intelligence and services relating to energy consumption and monitoring processes, they mostly tend to work in isolation. Therefore, this paper presents the outcomes and impacts of the concept of DAREED which aims to deliver an integrated ICT service platform to drive energy efficiency and low carbon activities at neighbourhood, city and district levels. Furthermore, the research highlights the need for ICT-driven policy making using platforms such as DAREED in the context of e-Government. This paper contributes to the current understandings of e-Government literature in terms of how ICT can help public authorities and stakeholders such as policy makers to achieve and drive energy efficiency. From a practical stance, the paper offers valuable insights to public administrations on how ICT can be used to address pressing societal challenges such as efficient energy use and facilitate better policy making