Business Process Support as a Basis for Computerized Knowledge Management

One of the major factors behind the less successful implementations of computerized knowledge management systems (KMS) is lack of motivation to use such a system on behalf of the end-users. To create such a motivation, i.e., achieve usability, a computerized KMS should be integrated with a business process support (BPS) system and provide three main functionalities: (1) provide a process context, (2) gather automatically experience-based knowledge, and (3) provide an active generalized knowledge base. Such an integrated KMS/BPS can be built using a state-oriented view on business processes. The paper describes a version of a system built according to this view. The system fully implements the first two functionalities, the third one being under development. The system is currently installed at a pilot site. Research work in progress includes creating a formal language for representing an active generalized knowledge base, and investigating the impact of the introduction of an integrated KMS/BPS on the pilot organization.