Abstract. Evaluation of modelling languages is important both to be able to select the most suitable languages according to the needs, and to improve existing languages. In this paper Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is presented and analytically evaluated according to the Semiotic Quality Framework. BPMN is a functionally oriented language well suited for modeling within the domain of business processes, but probably also general processes not only within the business domain. The evaluation indicates that BPMN is easily learned for simple use, and Business Process Diagrams (BPDs) are relatively easy to understand. Tools may fairly easily map BPDs into the BPEL4WS format, but executable systems then require creation of Web Services representing the Activities in BPDs. An evaluation according to the BWW ontology is useful for finding ontological discrepancies, and the semiotic framework is useful for evaluating quality on a relatively general level. These methods thus complement each other. 1

Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules offer a flexible, adaptive, and modular approach to realizing business processes. This article discusses the use of ECA rules for describing business processes in an executable manner. It investigates the benefits one hopes to derive from using ECA rules and presents the challenges in realizing business processes. These constitute a list of requirements for an (executable) business process description language, and we take them as a basis to investigate suitability of the concrete ECA rule language XChange in realizing a business process from the EU-Rent Case Study.

Abstract. Processes count to the most important assets of companies. Ensuring the compliance of processes to legal regulations, governance guidelines, and strategic business requirements is a sine qua non condition to controlling business behavior. Implementing business process compliance requires means for modeling and enforcing compliance measures. In this work, we motivate the need for automation in compliance management and introduce the role of policies. We then distinguish eight requirements for a compliance management framework. We also discuss different ways of conducting compliance checking. Finally, we propose a policy-based framework for business process compliance management. We eventually proceed to a discussion of the soundness and practicability of our approach, followed by an investigation of the main challenges ahead of our approach to policy-based semantic business process compliance management.

Abstract. Business Process (BP) evolution is a key aspect of BP lifecycle. There are several reasons that may cause BP modifications. Among these, particularly important are the changes of the enterprise organization and operation strategies, which can be captured by business rules (BRs). We focus here on a BP-based enterprise that, in addition to the enterprise BPs, is also regulated by a set of BRs: such BPs and BRs need to be globally consistent (and have to be maintained consistent after any changes). In this paper we present an ontological approach capable of representing BRs and BPs in a coherent way. Then, our objective is twofold: (i) clarifying the intended meaning of a BR that (when firstly formulated) may have more than one interpretation; (ii) identifying all processes in the BP repository that are (or have become) inconsistent with the BRs and thus need to be changed to reestablish the overall consistency.

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Abstract: The management of virtual enterprises needs extended and integrated approaches of business modeling. While most formal approaches to business process modeling consider only the control-flow perspective, it is essential in an inter-organizational context to link tasks with the enterprise responsible for their execution. This paper presents the concept of the transforming BPMN-conform XML representation of process models and a proprietary OMN-XML representation of organization models into a special type of object Petri nets called Reference net. The benefit of our approach is that by using Reference nets, the control-flow and the inter-organizational perspective of a business process can be integrated into a unique formalism ready to by analyzed and simulated by appropriate Petri net tools like RENEW. After introducing the transformation concept its application will be demonstrated by an example. 1

Abstract. This paper is devoted to the presentation of the key concepts on which a mathematical theory of complex (industrial) systems can be based. We especially show how this formal framework can capture the realness of modern information technologies. We also present some new modelling problems that are naturally emerging in the specific context of complex software systems.

Language for Web Applications},

The business process has gained a lot of importance for design and development of software in general and web applications in particular. Moreover, a shift from individual and separate application development to customization of pre-engineered solutions promotes significant reductions in time-to-market and maintenance effort. Applying the concept of process-based software product lines to webdevelopment promises to enable the average business user to generate ready–to–run web applications from comprehensive business process models. This case-study attempts to validate the concepts of Process Family Engineering in a concrete application domain by developing a software generator for process-based web applications for e-business.

Acknowledgements: The authors are indebted to Elaine Mauldin, two anonymous reviewers, and participants at the 2007 AAA IS Section Midyear Conference for helpful comments on an earlier version of the simulation. Note to UWCISA participants: The teaching notes with a suggested solution and Access databases with queries are available from the first author. Auditing System Development: Constructing the Meaning of “Systematic and Rational ” in the Context of Legacy Code Migration for Vendor Incentives Abstract: This simulation affords an opportunity for learning to audit system development for an accounting application. The simulation responds to the growing emphasis on controlling system development for complying with the internal control assurance requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Because of the lack of detailed accounting standards for vendor incentives, learners have to construct a working definition of “systematic and rational” allocation of incentives in order to develop audit objectives and procedures. In the simulation, learners (1) develop objectives for auditing the specific project of migration of legacy code for vendor incentives and the system development for a group of projects, (2) design audit procedures to achieve the audit objectives, (3) execute the audit procedures by querying the