Towards a Theoretical Foundation of Process Science
Peter Fettke, Wolfgang Reisig
TL;DR
The paper addresses the lack of a coherent theoretical foundation for process science and the need to clarify core concepts such as process, event, and system. It proposes an axiomatic framework with three integrated pillars—architecture, dynamics, and statics—grounded in established theories such as model theory, Petri nets, and composition calculus, and demonstrates these ideas with a multi-branch restaurant run as an illustrative example. The authors introduce an informal axiomatizing structure, including basic/derived sets and a signature, to unify objects, data, and processes and to enable modular composition of complex systems. This framework aims to make theoretical assumptions explicit and testable, thereby benefitting empirical research and digital transformation efforts like process mining and robotic process automation. Overall, the work calls for a broader, formal discussion to solidify the foundations of process science while remaining compatible with other research approaches.
Abstract
Process science is a highly interdisciplinary field of research. Despite numerous proposals, process science lacks an adequate understanding of the core concepts of the field, including notions such as process, event, and system. A more systematic framework to cope with process science is mandatory. We suggest such a framework using an example. The framework itself addresses three aspects: architecture, statics, and dynamics. Corresponding formal concepts, based on established scientific theories, together provide an integrated framework for understanding processes in the world. We argue that our foundations have positive implications not only for theoretical research, but also for empirical research, e.g., because hypothesized relationships can be explicitly tested. It is now time to start a discussion about the foundations of our field.