A re ̄ective infrastructure for work ̄ow adaptability

We present a ̄exible framework that enables work ̄ow systems to adapt to changing conditions. The model is designed to reveal key aspects of the tasks involved in representing and enacting business processes. These fundamental characteristics are identi®ed as state, behaviour, distribution, coordination and enactment. By isolating such core concepts in a way that allows them to be varied, we open up the general process of task coordination and execution, allowing for extensions in a planned way. By suitable manipulation of each of these aspects, at the appropriate level, a work ̄ow system may be extensively modi®ed in a way that minimises the e€ect of such change upon other aspects of the system. Ó 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.