An integrated model of workflows, e-contracts and solution implementation

Electronic-contracts (e-contracts) are structured models of business contracts. Business transactions between enterprises can be supported by inter-workflows based on standards. However, exceptions, namely problematic situations whose solutions are not specified in the workflow design, are not well supported in the proposed models. Such exceptions need to be resolved observing e-contracts. Discussion and decision-making by participants are necessary for interpreting e-contracts and agreeing on a solution. In this paper, we propose Workflow-Contract-Solution model (WCS model) to support such e-contract oriented execution of business processes.