Advanced skill management in workflow systems

The human factor has been still playing a considerable role in the business processes most of which are handled via electronic workflows. Since the Workflow Management Systems deal with organizational models and resource allocation problems, the operations of human resources in any enterprise are also included in the design and implementation phases of workflows. Skill management is one of the application areas that is used to track the skills of human resources for the allocation of the appropriate tasks and their career planning in the organization.In this thesis, a knowledge-based system approach, e-Worter, which combines both Workflow and Skill Management disciplines, is introduced. Its own workflow model that is integrated with a skill model is described and the proposed methods regarding the definition, assignment and analysis of the skills are discussed.The model is simulated in an academic department, The Computer Engineering Department of Dokuz Eylul University, to show how such a combined system can improve the educational and decision making processes of the department, how it affect the quality of business processes and how it can meet the basic standards of accreditation of engineering education.