A knowledge-based approach for handling exceptions in business processes

This paper describes a novel knowledge-based methodology and toolset for helping business process designers and participants better manage exceptions (unexpected deviations from an ideal sequence of events caused by design errors, resource failures, requirement changes, etc.) that can occur during the enactment of a process. This approach is based on an on-line repository exploiting a generic and reusable body of knowledge, which describes what kinds of exceptions can occur in collaborative work processes, how these exceptions can be detected, and how they can be resolved. This work builds upon previous efforts from the MIT Process Handbook project and from research on conflict management in collaborative design.