Article

Optimal resource assignment in workflows for maximizing cooperation

Authors:

Minseok SongAuthors Info & Claims

BPM'13: Proceedings of the 11th international conference on Business Process Management

Pages 235 - 250

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40176-3_20

Published: 26 August 2013 Publication History

Abstract

A workflow is a team process since many actors work on various tasks to complete an instance. Resource management in such workflows deals with assignment of tasks to workers or actors. In team formation, it is necessary to ensure that members of a team are compatible with each other. When a workflow instance of, say, an insurance claim (or a surgery) process is performed, the handoffs between successive tasks are often soft as opposed to hard, and actors who perform successive tasks in this process instance must cooperate. If they cooperate well, it can improve quality and increase throughput of the instance. In general, the degree of required cooperation between a pair of tasks varies and this should be captured by a model. This paper develops a model to capture the compatibility between actors while assigning tasks in a workflow to a group of actors. The model is tested through a simulation and the results from a greedy algorithm are compared with optimal results. A technique for computing the compatibility matrix is given and used for an empirical validation from a real execution log. We argue that workflow resource models should recognize soft handoffs and provide support for them.

References

[1]

Berkenstadt, H., Haviv, Y., Tuval, A., et al.: Improving handoff communications in critical care: Utilizing simulation-based training toward process improvement in managing patient risk. CHEST 134(1), 158-162 (2008)

[2]

Garey, M. R., Johnson, D. S. (eds.): Computers and Intractability: AGuide to the Theory of NP-Completeness. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco (1979)

Digital Library

[3]

Grunow, M., Günther, H.-O., Yang, G.: Development of a decision support model for scheduling clinical studies and assigning medical personnel. Health Care Management Science 7(4), 305-317 (2004)

[4]

ILOG: Ilog CPLEX software, Version 11.010 (2008)

[5]

Jablonski, S., Bussler, C.: Workflow Management: Modeling Concepts, Architecture and Implementation. Thomson Computer Press, London (1996)

[6]

Kumar, A., van der Aalst, W. M. P., Verbeek, H. M. W.: Dynamic work distribution in workflow management systems: How to balance quality and performance. Journal of Management Information Systems 18(3), 157-193 (2002)

[7]

Kumar, A., Wang, J.: A framework for designing resource driven workflow systems. In: Rosemann, M., vom Brocke, J. (eds.) The International Handbook on Business Process Management, pp. 419-440. Springer (2010)

[8]

Leach, L., Myrtle, R., Weaver, F., Dasu, S.: Assessing the performance of surgical teams. Health Care Manage Rev. 34(1), 29-41 (2009)

[9]

Mansar, S., Reijers, H.: Best practices in business process redesign: validation of a redesign framework. Computers in Industry 56(5), 457-471 (2005)

Digital Library

[10]

Mazzocco, K., Petitti, D. B., Fong, K. T., Bonacum, D., Brookey, J., Graham, S., Lasky, R., Sexton, J., Thomas, E.: Surgical team behaviors and patient outcomes. The American Journal of Surgery 197(5), 678-685 (2009)

[11]

Reijers, H. A., Jansen-Vullers, M. H., Zur Muehlen, M., Appl, W.: Workflow management systems + swarm intelligence = dynamic task assignment for emergency management applications. In: Alonso, G., Dadam, P., Rosemann, M. (eds.) BPM 2007. LNCS, vol. 4714, pp. 125-140. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

Digital Library

[12]

Reijers, H. A., Song, M., Jeong, B.: Analysis of a collaborative workflow process with distributed actors. Information System Frontiers 11(3), 307-322 (2008)

Digital Library

[13]

Seidmann, A., Sundararajan, A.: The effects of asymmetry on business process redesign. International Journal of Production Economics 50, 117-128 (1997)

[14]

Sen, S.: Reciprocity: a foundational principle for promoting cooperative behavior among self-interested actors. In: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Multiactor Systems, pp. 322-329. AAAI Press, Menlo Park (1996)

[15]

Song, M., van der Aalst, W. M. P.: Towards comprehensive support for organizational mining. Decision Support Systems 46(1), 300-317 (2008)

Digital Library

[16]

Sun, S., Kumar, A., Yen, J.: Merging workflows: A new perspective on connecting business processes. Decision Support Systems 42(2), 844-858 (2006)

Digital Library

[17]

Tjosvold, D., Moy, J., Sasaki, S.: Co-operative teamwork for service quality in East Asia. Managing Service Quality 9(3), 209-216 (1999)

[18]

Wolf, A.: Constraint-based modeling and scheduling of clinical pathways. In: Larrosa, J., O'Sullivan, B. (eds.) CSCLP 2009. LNCS, vol. 6384, pp. 122-138. Springer, Heidelberg (2011)

Digital Library

[19]

ZurMühlen, M.: Organizational management in workflow applications - Issues and perspectives. Information Technology and Management 5(3-4), 271-291 (2004)

Digital Library

Cited By

Wang JYu DLiu C(2024)Task allocation for maximum cooperation in complex structured business processesKnowledge-Based Systems10.1016/j.knosys.2024.111989299:COnline publication date: 18-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.knosys.2024.111989
Padella AMannhardt FVinci Fde Leoni MVanderfeesten I(2024)Experience-Based Resource Allocation for Remaining Time OptimizationBusiness Process Management10.1007/978-3-031-70396-6_20(345-362)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-031-70396-6_20
Liu RKumar ALee J(2021)Multi-level Team Assignment in Social Business Processes: An Algorithm and Simulation StudyInformation Systems Frontiers10.1007/s10796-021-10211-y24:6(1949-1969)Online publication date: 31-Oct-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10796-021-10211-y
Show More Cited By

Optimal resource assignment in workflows for maximizing cooperation
1. Applied computing
  1. Enterprise computing

Recommendations

Experiences with resource provisioning for scientific workflows using Corral

The development of grid and workflow technologies has enabled complex, loosely coupled scientific applications to be executed on distributed resources. Many of these applications consist of large numbers of short-duration tasks whose runtimes are ...
Scientific Workflows: Programming, Optimization, and Synthesis with ASKALON and AWDL
Scientific Workflows: Programming, Optimization, and Synthesis with ASKALON and AWDL

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image Guide Proceedings

BPM'13: Proceedings of the 11th international conference on Business Process Management

August 2013

354 pages

ISBN:9783642401756

Editors:
Florian Daniel
Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, University of Trento, Povo, TN, Italy
,
Jianmin Wang
Institute of Information System and Engineering of School Software, Tsinghua University, Beijing, TN, China
,
Barbara Weber
Business Process Management Research Cluster, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, TN, Austria

Sponsors

IBMR: IBM Research
BIZAGI: Bizagi

Publisher

Springer-Verlag

Berlin, Heidelberg

Publication History

Published: 26 August 2013

Qualifiers

Article

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

10
Total Citations
View Citations
0
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)0
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0

Reflects downloads up to 17 Feb 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Wang JYu DLiu C(2024)Task allocation for maximum cooperation in complex structured business processesKnowledge-Based Systems10.1016/j.knosys.2024.111989299:COnline publication date: 18-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.knosys.2024.111989
Padella AMannhardt FVinci Fde Leoni MVanderfeesten I(2024)Experience-Based Resource Allocation for Remaining Time OptimizationBusiness Process Management10.1007/978-3-031-70396-6_20(345-362)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-031-70396-6_20
Liu RKumar ALee J(2021)Multi-level Team Assignment in Social Business Processes: An Algorithm and Simulation StudyInformation Systems Frontiers10.1007/s10796-021-10211-y24:6(1949-1969)Online publication date: 31-Oct-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10796-021-10211-y
Mahala GSindhgatta RDam HGhose A(2020)Designing Optimal Robotic Process Automation ArchitecturesService-Oriented Computing10.1007/978-3-030-65310-1_32(448-456)Online publication date: 14-Dec-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-030-65310-1_32
Sindhgatta Rter Hofstede AGhose A(2020)Resource-Based Adaptive Robotic Process AutomationAdvanced Information Systems Engineering10.1007/978-3-030-49435-3_28(451-466)Online publication date: 8-Jun-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-030-49435-3_28
Sikal RSbai HKjiri L(2019)Promoting resource discovery in business process variabilityProceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Networking, Information Systems & Security10.1145/3320326.3320380(1-7)Online publication date: 27-Mar-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3320326.3320380
Bidar Rter Hofstede ASindhgatta ROuyang C(2019)Preference-Based Resource and Task Allocation in Business Process AutomationOn the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems: OTM 2019 Conferences10.1007/978-3-030-33246-4_26(404-421)Online publication date: 21-Oct-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-030-33246-4_26
Pika ALeyer MWynn MFidge CHofstede AAalst W(2017)Mining Resource Profiles from Event LogsACM Transactions on Management Information Systems10.1145/30412188:1(1-30)Online publication date: 23-Mar-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3041218
Sindhgatta RGhose ADam H(2016)Context-Aware Recommendation of Task Allocations in Service SystemsService-Oriented Computing10.1007/978-3-319-46295-0_25(402-416)Online publication date: 10-Oct-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-319-46295-0_25
Gupta MJalote PBriand LHoek A(2014)Nirikshan: process mining software repositories to identify inefficiencies, imperfections, and enhance existing process capabilitiesCompanion Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/2591062.2591080(658-661)Online publication date: 31-May-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2591062.2591080

View Options

View options

Figures

Tables

Media

View Table of Conten