Task-Structure analysis: a modularized approach for modeling knowledge intensive processes

Modular design methodologies, which decompose large and complex systems into components that are relatively easy to develop and maintain, have been widely adopted in the software industry. What appears to be lacking, though, is a framework for adopting a modularization approach at the different stages of the software engineering process or for identifying components of high value of reuse. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the application of the Task-Structure (TS) approach to identify the generic problem-solving components and their interrelationships in a knowledge intensive process. The process we focus on this study is the inherent risk assessment audit task in the auditing domain. The TS approach emphasizes the identification and formalization, during a conceptualization stage, of the various problem-solving roles played by knowledge in the application task.