Currently, the OMG standardises business objects as a paradigm for encapsulating components of business functionality. This paper reviews this approach and discusses its basic requirements concerning a scaleable middleware platform with associated services. We show how higher-level workflow services can be provided and implemented using business objects as their basic building blocks. A generic architecture, language and runtime systems for distributed and decentralised workflow execution are presented. Particular emphasis is dedicated to the use of business objects and also to the integration of services such as naming, events and transactions. Especially performance aspects are becoming a decisive factor for the success of such component-based applications. Therefore, configuration management aspects and performance results of our implementation are also discussed.