A Three-Layer Framework for Cross-Organizational e-Contract Enactment

In an e-commerce environment, contracts are important for attaining business process interoperability and enforcing their proper enactment. An e-contract is the computerized facilitation or automation of a contract in a cross-organizational business process. We find that econtract facilitation can be divided into multiple levels and perspectives, which has not been adequately addressed before. In this paper, we present a framework for e-contract enactment with three layers, viz., business layer, structural layer, and implementation layer. In the business layer, e-contracts are defined through analyzing the contract clauses to business rules and business entities. In the structural layer, requirements for the E-contract enactment workflow are elucidated through requirement analysis to cover both static and dynamic aspects. In the implementation layer, workflows and cross-organizational interoperating interfaces are implemented using contemporary Enterprise Java Bean and Web services. In this paper, we present the methodology and process for engineering the functional aspects of e-contracts from high-level business-view down to implementation layer based on this framework, illustrated with an investment example. The framework allows an e-contract to be seamlessly defined and enacted. The framework is modeled in UML. Keyword: e-contracts, cross-organizational business process, UML, workflow management, Web services