13 Mar. Conf Call followup: BP definition

[Bob Haugen <linkage@interaccess.com>]

The question came up, what do we mean by "business process"
in the context of "business process metamodel"?

There was a previous thread in this list entitled
"Definition of business process" that suggested
many (often conflicting) answers.

Here are some, culled from the thread:
1. Sending and receiving a business document,
    e.g. a purchase order.
2.  A computer process that handled the document.
3.  A process of exchange between two parties, 
    including a series of messages in a structured conversation,
     e.g. PO, acknowledgement, shipping notice,
     receipt, invoice, payment, return, etc.
4.  The workings of an internal business department, 
     like the Procurement Process.
5.  All activities involved in satisfying a customer order,
     e.g. an instance of a multi-company supply chain.
6.  A very generic definition of "Process" which could
     fit any domain, having no specific business content.

There seemed to be general agreement (but read the
thread if you want to be sure) that ebXML should focus
on external business processes (between or among
companies), and not internal business processes
(inside companies), but the line between external
and internal was generally conceded to be fuzzy.

Nobody attempted a definition of "metamodel", 
or what level of abstraction was implied by a
"business process metamodel".
0. "Thing" or "Stuff"? 8>)
1. "Entity" and "Relationship"?
2. UML diagram objects and relationships
    e.g. "Class", "Method", "Aggregation", etc.
3. "Process" and "Participant" and their relationships?
4. "Economic Resource", "Economic Event" and
    "Economic Agent" and their relationships?
5. "Procurement", "Manufacturing", "Distribution", "Retail", etc.?
6. "Purchase Order", "Acknowledgment", "Invoice", etc.?
7. "Interaction process between parties", 
    e.g. "Message, "Response", etc.?

Help?

Hopefully,
Bob Haugen