Process

A Process is a activity sequence of interrelated activities that transforms inputs into outputs through a series of states to achieve specific outcomes.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) follow Process Steps through state transition.
  • It can (typically) consume Process Inputs through input transformation.
  • It can (typically) produce Process Outputs through outcome generation.
  • It can (typically) maintain Process States through state management.
  • It can (typically) respond to Process Events through event handling.
  • It can (often) require Process Resources through resource utilization.
  • It can (often) generate Process Artifacts through artifact creation.
  • It can (often) encounter Process Exceptions through exception handling.
  • It can (often) provide Process Feedback through feedback loop.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Natural Process to being a Artificial Process, depending on its origin type.
  • It can range from being an Emergent Process to being a Designed Process, depending on its development mode.
  • It can range from being a Manual Process to being an Automated Process, depending on its execution mode.
  • It can range from being a Stochastic Process to being a Deterministic Process, depending on its outcome predictability.
  • It can range from being a Repeatable Process to being an Unrepeatable Process, depending on its repetition capability.
  • It can range from being an Observable Process to being an Unobservable Process, depending on its observation possibility.
  • It can range from being a Discrete-Time Process to being a Continuous-Time Process, depending on its time characteristic.
  • It can range from being a Short-Term Process to being a Long-Term Process, depending on its duration scale.
  • ...
  • It can be represented with a Process Model.
  • It can integrate with Process Management System for process control.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Natural Processes, such as:
    • Physical Processes, such as:
      • Chemical Reaction for substance transformation.
      • Heat Transfer for energy exchange.
    • Biological Processes, such as:
      • Cell Division for organism growth.
      • Photosynthesis for energy conversion.
  • Organizatioanl Processes, such as:
    • Business Processes, such as:
      • Order Fulfillment Process for customer service.
      • Manufacturing Process for product creation.
  • Designed Processes, such as:
    • Computing Processes, such as:
      • Data Processing for information transformation.
      • System Process for task execution.
      • Network Process for data communication.
      • Security Process for system protection.
  • Human Processes, such as:
    • Cognitive Processes, such as:
      • Learning Process for knowledge acquisition.
      • Decision Process for choice making.
    • Social Processes, such as:
      • Communication Process for information exchange.
      • Collaboration Process for group work.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Entity, which exists rather than occurs.
  • Event, which happens at a point rather than over time.
  • State, which describes condition rather than transformation.
  • Resource, which enables rather than executes process.
• See: Workflow, Algorithm, Operation, Activity, Task, Procedure, System, Method.

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References

2016

• (Wikipedia, 2016) ⇒ http://wikipedia.org/wiki/process Retrieved:2016-4-4.
  • A process is a set of interrelated activities that interact to achieve a result, and simply known as "program in excitation".

    Process may refer to:

2009

• (WordNet, 2009) ⇒ http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=process
  • S: (n) procedure, process (a particular course of action intended to achieve a result) "the procedure of obtaining a driver's license"; "it was a process of trial and error"
  • S: (n) process, cognitive process, mental process, operation, cognitive operation ((psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents) "the process of thinking"; "the cognitive operation of remembering"
  • S: (n) summons, process (a writ issued by authority of law; usually compels the defendant's attendance in a civil suit; failure to appear results in a default judgment against the defendant)
  • S: (n) process, unconscious process (a mental process that you are not directly aware of) "the process of denial"
  • S: (n) process, outgrowth, appendage (a natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant) "a bony process"
  • S: (n) process, physical process (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states) "events now in process"; "the process of calcification begins later for boys than for girls"
  • S: (v) process, treat (subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition) "process cheese"; "process hair"; "treat the water so it can be drunk"; "treat the lawn with chemicals" ; "treat an oil spill"
  • S: (v) process (deal with in a routine way) "I'll handle that one"; "process a loan"; "process the applicants"
  • S: (v) process (perform mathematical and logical operations on (data) according to programmed instructions in order to obtain the required information) "The results of the elections were still being processed when he gave his acceptance speech"
  • S: (v) action, sue, litigate, process (institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against) "He was warned that the district attorney would process him"; "She actioned the company for discrimination"
  • S: (v) march, process (march in a procession) "They processed into the dining room"
  • S: (v) work, work on, process (shape, form, or improve a material) "work stone into tools"; "process iron"; "work the metal"
  • S: (v) serve, process, swear out (deliver a warrant or summons to someone) "He was processed by the sheriff"
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_(philosophy)
  • In philosophy and systems theory, basic processes, are unifying principles which operate in many different systemic contexts. For example, feedback is a principle that figures prominently in the science of cybernetics. Natural and industrial processes utilize basic processes such as feedback.
  • There is a philosophical system known as process philosophy, created by Alfred North Whitehead; related to this is process theology.
• http://sigma.ontologyportal.org:4010/sigma/Browse.jsp?lang=EnglishLanguage&kb=SUMO&term=Process
  • "Intuitively, the class of things that happen and have temporal parts or stages. Examples include extended events like a football match or a race, actions like Pursuing and Reading, and biological processes. The formal definition is: anything that lasts for a time but is not an Object. Note that a Process may have participants 'inside' it which are Objects, such as the players in a football match. In a 4D ontology, a Process is something whose spatiotemporal extent is thought of as dividing into temporal stages roughly perpendicular to the time-axis."
• Philip Lief Group. (2009). “Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition.
  • a process is a set or series of actions directed to some end or a natural series of changes; a procedure is a series of actions conducted in a certain manner, an established way of doing something
• http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/batch_process
  • Noun: Any process that is not continuous, but is carried out with a discrete amount of material

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