Injun Choi received a PhD in Management Information System from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. He is currently a full professor in the department of industrial and management engineering at the Pohang University of Science and Technology. His research interests include workflow and business process management; knowledge management; object-oriented modeling and reasoning; and database systems.
21~34, 2007, The study described in the paper is part of efforts toward integrated process management (IPM). The goal of IPM is to integrate processes and to provide lifecycle support for process modeling and integration, process analysis and optimization, process automation and control, process-oriented integration, and process knowledge management. A process repository and an execution engine for IPM were developed.
In the context of IPM, a comprehensive framework for integrating knowledge management (KM) and business process management (BPM) was proposed.
There have been various efforts to introduce the process concept to KM or the knowledge concept to BPM in order to combine the advantages of the two paradigms. Recently, several conferences on the concept of a process-oriented knowledge management system, including a dedicated conference, have been held. Comprehensive research and development requirements along with a cogent framework, however, have not been proposed for integrating KM and BPM.
Based on a comprehensive framework that reflects lifecycle requirements of both KM and BPM, an architecture to integrate KMSs and BPMSs is proposed to combine the advantages of the two paradigms. The following observations provide the motivation for the proposed approach. First, knowledge is used by performers of business processes and new knowledge is created as results of business processes. That is, business processes are an excellent delivery medium of knowledge as well as an arena for the creation of knowledge. Second, information about a process itself and process execution results is valuable corporate knowledge.
That is, information derived from business processes can be gathered and formalized to enhance the performance of business processes, and hence the organization. These observations suggest that knowledge and business processes must be integrated and managed throughout their lifecycles to fully deliver the combined advantages. Since KM and BPM were proposed independently, separate lifecycles were proposed and adopted in existing KMSs and BPMSs. This paper tries to consolidate the two lifecycle perspectives and identify research and development issues in a unifying manner.
To propose an architecture for integrating KMSs and BPMSs, the paper first defines the concept of process knowledge and classifies it into three types: process template knowledge, process instance knowledge, and process-related knowledge.
Process knowledge is another type of knowledge that focuses on the importance of business processes as knowledge, which has been overlooked by existing KM research efforts. Then, the paper suggests how the functionalities of existing KMSs and BPMSs must be extended to support the three types of process knowledge while satisfying the lifecycle requirements of both knowledge and business processes. The architecture, which is comprehensive since it is derived from the extended requirements from the lifecycle perspective, will provide a basis for research and development of process-oriented knowledge management systems. The paper also presents a prototype system that demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed architecture.
By identifying comprehensive requirements along with a cogent framework based on KM and BPM lifecycles, the proposed architecture will provide a basis for research and development of process-oriented knowledge management systems. With well-defined knowledge types and functions required when knowledge is created, used, and evolved, process-oriented knowledge management systems can manage important corporate knowledge about business processes in a unified manner.
Specifically, process-oriented knowledge management systems are expected to provide the following advantages. First, when process designers design or redesign processes, they can use existing process templates and execution results stored in a process repository which will enable more effective and efficient process design/redesign. Second, process/activity performers can be provided with the right knowledge at the right time. Such active delivery of knowledge is possible because knowledge can be specified in the context of business processes which will explain why and when it is used by whom. It can also reduce information overload and improve efficiency of processes. Third, performers can specify their know-how used when process instances are executed.
Then, it will be analyzed and evolved as process-related knowledge. Further, this knowledge can be used by other performers who work on the same process.
