Representing Process Variation with a Process Family

The formalization of process definitions has been an invaluable aid in many domains. However, noticeable variations in processes start to emerge as precise details are added to process definitions. While each such variation gives rise to a different process, these processes might more usefully be considered as variants of each other, rather than completely different processes. This paper proposes that it is beneficial to regard such an appropriately close set of process variants as a process family. The paper suggests a characterization of what might comprise a process family and introduces a formal approach to defining families based upon this characterization. To illustrate this approach, we describe a case study that demonstrates the different variations we observed in processes that define how dispute resolution is performed at the U.S. National Mediation Board. We demonstrate how our approach supports the definition of this set of process variants as a process family.