A Framework for XML-Based Workflow Interoperability - The AFRICA Project

With the advance of electronic business relationships over the internet, the linking of cross-organizational business processes in virtual supply chains and other scenarios is rapidly increasing. Existing standards for the interoperability of information systems on the business process level are being adapted to suit the needs of the Internet economy. Especially the use of XML as a domain-independent encoding standard for business documents has led to the development of business frameworks such as BizTalk or open/EDI, and interoperability mechanisms that support these standards are being developed. In this paper we describe an architecture for the support of cross-organizational workflows through XML messages. This architecture has been implemented and tested within the AFRICA project at the University of Muenster, Germany. While our work is based upon the emerging Wf-XML standard of the Workflow Management Coalition, it contains a number of significant enhancements that provide a secure, reliable management of global workflow processes

Robustifying Learnability

In recent years, the learnability of rational expectations equilibria (REE) and determinacy of economic structures have rightfully joined the usual performance criteria among the sought after goals of policy design. And while some contributions to the literature (for example Bullard and Mitra (2001) and Evans and Honkapohja (2002)) have made significant headway in establishing certain features of monetary policy rules that facilitate learning, a comprehensive treatment of policy design for learnability has yet to surface, especially for cases in which agents have potentially misspecified their learning models. This paper provides such a treatment. We argue that since even among professional economists a generally acceptable workhorse model of the economy has not been agreed upon, it is unreasonable to expect private agents to have collective rational expectations. We assume instead that agents have an approximate understanding of the workings of the economy and that their task of learning true reduced forms of the economy is subject to potentially destabilizing errors. We then ask: can a central bank set policy that accounts for learning errors but also succeeds in bounding them in a way that allows eventual learnability of the model, given policy. For different parameterizations of a given policy rule applied to a New Keynesian model, we use structured singular value analysis (from robust control) to find the largest ranges of misspecifications that can be tolerated in a learning model without compromising convergence to an REE. A parallel set of experiments seeks to determine the optimal stance (strong inflation as opposed to strong output stabilization) that allows for the greatest scope of errors in learning without leading to expectational instabilty in cases when the central bank designs both optimal and robust policy rules with commitment. We compare the features of all the rules contemplated in the paper with those that maximize economic performance in the true model, and we measure the performance cost of maximizing learnability under the various conditions mentioned here.monetary policy, learning, E-stability, model uncertainty, robustness

Robustifying learnability

In recent years, the learnability of rational expectations equilibria (REE) and determinacy of economic structures have rightfully joined the usual performance criteria among the sought-after goals of policy design. Some contributions to the literature, including Bullard and Mitra (2001) and Evans and Honkapohja (2002), have made significant headway in establishing certain features of monetary policy rules that facilitate learning. However a treatment of policy design for learnability in worlds where agents have potentially misspecified their learning models has yet to surface. This paper provides such a treatment. We begin with the notion that because the profession has yet to settle on a consensus model of the economy, it is unreasonable to expect private agents to have collective rational expectations. We assume that agents have only an approximate understanding of the workings of the economy and that their learning the reduced forms of the economy is subject to potentially destabilizing perturbations. The issue is then whether a central bank can design policy to account for perturbations and still assure the learnability of the model. Our test case is the standard New Keynesian business cycle model. For different parameterizations of a given policy rule, we use structured singular value analysis (from robust control theory) to find the largest ranges of misspecifications that can be tolerated in a learning model without compromising convergence to an REE.Robust control ; Monetary policy

Myths and Realities: The Fallacy of Faculty Shortages in the Next Decade

This study confronts the popular conviction that Canadian universities are likely to suffer serious shortages offaculty in the 1990s. Despite an aging professoriate, faculty replacement demand will increase only gradually. Flexible retirement conditions and faculty renewal incentives have lessened the danger of a large simultaneous retirement, and increased demand due to growth is not likely. On the supply side, doctoral enrolment has increased substantially in recent years. Past cohort analysis and projections of enrolment trends indicate that the supply of doctoral recipients will be adequate at least until 1995. Furthermore, holding patterns for recent doctoral graduates and the coming of age of graduate programs in Canada suggest a flexible supply potential in response to any increased demand. This study concludes that in fact there will be a 2:1 faculty supply/demand surplus until at least 1990 and that such a situation will be maintained well into the 1990s.Cette étude s'attaque à la conviction populaire qu'il y aura une pénurie de professeurs dans les universités canadiennes durant les années 1990. En dépit de l'âge avancé de la plupart du corps enseignant, la demande due au remplacement des professeurs ne s'accroîtra que graduellement. Des conditions de retraite flexibles ainsi que des programmes pour inciter le remplacement ont diminué le danger d'un retrait en bloc des professeurs dans les années 1990. Il est prévu que la demande d'enseignants se limitera à celle causée par le remplacement. Du côté de l'offre, les inscriptions au doctorat se sont accrues considérablement depuis quelques années. Basée sur une analyse des cohortes antérieures et sur les projections d'inscriptions, la présente étude prévoit une offre adéquate au moins jusqu'en 1995. En plus, des « postes d'attente » des diplômés récents de doctorat, ainsi que la maturation des programmes de 2ième et de 3ième cycles impliquent que l'offre sera flexible face à toute éventuelle croissance de la demande. Cette étude arrive à la conclusion que l'offre d'enseignants sera deux fois plus élevée que la demande jusqu'en 1990, et que cette situation se maintiendra durant une bonne partie de la décennie suivante

The Changing Profile of Full-Time Faculty at Canadian Universities

Canadian universities underwent a remarkable expansion from the late sixties until the mid-seventies. However, they are entering the eighties on an uncertain note, due to financial restraints imposed by governments, the sudden growth in university enrolment and the shift to professionally oriented programs. These developments have had an impact on the socio-economic characteristics of the 33,000 full-time university teachers: their age, sex, academic rank, salary, citizenship, and qualifications. Especially uncertain is the demand for new faculty in this decade and the implications for the health of Canadian universities. This statistical series documents the changes which are occurring in the demand and supply patterns of doctoral recipients from Canadian universities with the purpose of providing a statistical base from which policy analyses could be developed.Les universités canadiennes ont subi au cours des années 1960/mi-1970 un épanouissement remarquable. Cependant, elles se voient entrer dans une période d'incertitude au début des années 1980 due aux contraintes financières imposées par les gouvernements, l'accroissement soudain de l'inscription au niveau univer-sitaire, et au déplacement vers les programmes de métier. Ces développements ont eu un impact sur les caractéristiques socio-économiques des quelques 33,000 professeurs engagés à plein temps soit l'âge, le sexe, le rang académique, le salaire, la citoyenneté et les qualifications. Comme la demande de professeurs est res-treinte dans cette décade, le fonctionnement des universités canadiennes en est affecté. Les différentes statistiques présentent les changements qui surviennent face aux modèles d'offre et de demande chez les détenteurs de doctorats d'univer-sités canadiennes. Cette documentation a pour but de fournir une ligne de con-duite qui servira au développement de nouvelles politiques

Robustifying learnability

In recent years, the learnability of rational expectations equilibria (REE) and determinacy of economic structures have rightfully joined the usual performance criteria among the sought-after goals of policy design. Some contributions to the literature, including Bullard and Mitra (2001) and Evans and Honkapohja (2002), have made significant headway in establishing certain features of monetary policy rules that facilitate learning. However a treatment of policy design for learnability in worlds where agents have potentially misspecified their learning models has yet to surface. This paper provides such a treatment. We begin with the notion that because the profession has yet to settle on a consensus model of the economy, it is unreasonable to expect private agents to have collective rational expectations. We assume that agents have only an approximate understanding of the workings of the economy and that their learning the reduced forms of the economy is subject to potentially destabilizing perturbations. The issue is then whether a central bank can design policy to account for perturbations and still assure the learnability of the model. Our test case is the standard New Keynesian business cycle model. For different parameterizations of a given policy rule, we use structured singular value analysis (from robust control theory) to find the largest ranges of misspecifications that can be tolerated in a learning model without compromising convergence to an REE. In addition, we study the cost, in terms of performance in the steady state of a central bank that acts to robustify learnability on the transition path to REE. (Note: This paper contains full-color graphics) JEL Classification: C6, E5E-stability, learnability, Learning, monetary policy, robust control

Deployment of Business to Business Scenarios in ERP Education: Evaluation and Experiences from an International Collaboration

Collaboration between Universities has increased in an attempt to help curriculum stay abreast with the business of the 21 st century. Many businesses have extended to an e-business world that is business to business process oriented, web-centric, and ERP driven. Developing effective collaborative methods that simulate this new process oriented e-business world remains a challenge. This paper presents a description of the collaboration and the preliminary evaluation results, in the form of students feedback, of an international collaboration between two universities that address these issues of new e-centric business practices. The collaboration deploys a case scenario methodology that utilizes SAP R/3 and the web to link geographically dispersed students. A description of the collaborative method and a report on the lessons learned in deploying this type of collaboration is provided. Keywords: Enterprise resource planning, collaboration, inter-organizational processes, curriculu

From the Stone Age to the Cloud: A Case Study of Risk-Focused Process Improvement

Organizations strive to continually improve organizational performance while maintaining compliance to increasingly complex rules and regulations. Several methods and techniques for the identification and management of operational risks in business processes have been proposed in the academic literature, yet there are few examples of practical applications. This paper addresses this gap through a case study of a process improvement project that employed some of the proposed risk and compliance management techniques. We describe a business process reengineering project within the purchasing and accounts payable operations of a university United States. The project focused on improving service quality by improving the transparency and predictability of operations through the introduction of a workflow management system. We outline the stepwise transformation of manual process operations through technology, and discuss the risk and compliance objectives identified throughout the project and their impact on process design. This case study illustrates how process re-engineering techniques can improve process designs while balancing performance and compliance objectives. It provides guidance for the selection of an appropriate level of abstraction during process analysis and demonstrates how process objectives and technology capabilities shape the design of to-be processes