Management of Global Large-Scale Projects through a Federation of Multiple Web-Based Workflow Management Systems

Abstract

With globalization and the networked world of today, there is a dire need for a reliable and efficient model to manage, monitor, and control global large-scale projects (GLSPs), which contain thousands of workflows and hundreds of organizations located at different sites. Companies are faced with an increasingly competitive and hostile environment. The terms “information exchange,” “compatibility,” and “interoperability” have become ubiquitous in this environment. To survive, companies will have to constantly develop newer and better methods for managing and controlling the execution of GLSPs. Those projects cannot be managed efficiently and effectively without Web-based models that automate the business processes and extend them beyond the organization, and fill the information needs of project parties at all levels, from individual team members to high-level managers. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for a Web-based information and project management (WBIPM) model that enables the GLSP management team (1) to monitor, control, and coordinate the execution of multiple workflows operating within, across, or between organizations, and (2) to coordinate information flow from the time it is created until it is eliminated and to share this information among all project members. This proposed Web-based model builds a collaborative network that brings together any customer, supplier, or partner, and itl is especially helpful in situations where project members are located at different sites.