Patent ID: 7689435

Claim:
A method for managing a composite business process comprised of a plurality of individual business processes using a state machine, said state machine having a plurality of states, said method comprising: determining with a processor that a business object is processed by a first one of the individual business processes, wherein the business object is of a first type required by said first individual business process, and wherein the composite business process is a multi-stage process that includes a sequence of the individual business processes; determining with the processor that the business object is designated to be processed by a second one of the individual business processes that is next in the sequence of the individual business processes after the first business process, the second individual business process implementing a different type of trading mechanism than the first individual business process, determining with the processor that the business object has reached an end state of the first individual business process and that the end state has also been designated a conversion state that is applicable to business objects designated for processing by the second individual business process, the conversion state having an associated conversion transition to a start state of the second individual business process; with the processor, causing the business object to traverse the conversion transition from the conversion state to the start state of the second individual business process; and in response to the conversion transition being traversed, performing with the processor at least one action associated with the conversion transition, the at least one action including converting the business object from the first type into a second type required by the second individual business process.