Patent ID: 7418306
Filing Date: 2008-08-26
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for managing a process including sequential actions, comprising: dividing the process into a sequence of stages, wherein each stage in the sequence of stages includes a plurality of sequential actions and an escalation policy specifying how to notify each dependent stage of the stage upon occurrence of a particular event in the stage, including specifying whether and when to notify each dependent stage; defining dependency among the sequence of stages, wherein a second stage is a dependent stage of a first stage if the second stage can only be executed after the first stage, and wherein a stage is an initial stage of the sequence of stages if the stage depends on no other stages in the process; customizing the stages, including specifying an owner of the stage and a stage type of the stage, each stage type being associated with a dynamic sub-object used to customize the stage; and executing the stages in sequence, wherein executing the stages includes