Collaboration Task Analysis by Identifying Multi-Context and Collaborative Linkage

Abstract

Collaboration task is a complex process because it involves diversified individuals and organizations. They have different per spectives and resources while sharing a particular goal. In order to support collaboration task, capturing general workflow and states of resources is important in the initial stage of system development. Multi-Context Map (MCM) is useful for describing concurrency and contextual switches of general workflow, while clarifying both information and material flows within the task. This paper is an extended version of a paper entitled, "Collaboration Task Analysis by Identifying Multi-Context and Collaborative Linkage," which appeared in Con current Engineering in 1999. We propose Collaborative Linkage Map (CLM), which is complementary to MCM, and configuration process of CLM to integrate it with MCM.

The purpose of CLM is to specify state transitions of resources, which are transferred among the collaborators in the general workflow. Those states of CLM are defined as a combination of Personnel-State Transition Diagram (P-STD), Material-STD (M-STD), and Collabora tion-STD (C-STD). P-STD shows state transitions of personnel and M-STD represents those of materials. C-STD describes the relation ship between P-STD and M-STD.

The construction process of CLM is incremental. First, one P-STD and one M-STD are selected from a list of state transition diagrams (STDs). Next, Collaboration-State (C-S) is defined as a common state, which can be shared between P-STD and M-STD, is selected. Next, P-STD and M-STD is connected by C-S to build C-STD. Therefore, C-STD is obtained as a collection of the C-Ss. Finally, two P-STDs are selected, and one state, which can be shared between collaborators, is selected to be defined as Communication-Inventory (C-I).