An agent-based workflow management system for marketing decision support

Abstract

Workflow Management Systems (WFMS) are systems that define, create and manage the execution of workflows through the use of software, interactions with workflow participants and, where required, invocations of information technology tools and applications [1]. They are typically used in organizations to provide administrative and supervisory functions. On the other hand, software agents come along with a plentiful terminology including agent architectures, multi-agent system architectures, agent frameworks, and agent infrastructures [2]. This thesis focuses on examining the integration of these two fields, revealing the stimulation and the advantages of such a mixing. In particular, thesis’ overall goal is to clear the vague picture of the consolidation of workflow management systems and software agents and to provide a unifying framework for this intersected area. In order to better demonstrate the results of elaborating on the unifying framework, marketing was selected as the application domain. Marketing processes intrinsically fit the workflow management concept because they are far more flexible and versatile than production processes. In marketing domain [3], it is common for the process flows not to be rigidly defined, heterogeneous resources to be involved, and high customization per customer to be required. However, the regular activities required to carry out a marketing process (e.g., writing a report, extracting data from databases, organizing campaigns, schedule meetings, etc.) have good potentials to be monitored by information systems. To such a context, automation prospects are significant and the application of workflow logic has noteworthy contribution potentials. Although the focus is on the marketing field, thesis’ contributions are domain-abstract, i.e., they can be applied in general to any business domain that requires the implementation of workflow logic. […]