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J2EE work manager ...
The idea is you create units of work (I mainly work at the moment in Glassfish previously I used Weblogic and I've included some WebSphere info at the end) . Obviously it still results in threads but they are managed / pool'ed by your container and configuration can be exposed by your container.
WorkManager
Just google it for loads of info ...
WorkManager Info
"Eagles may soar but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines" SCJP 1.6, SCWCD 1.4, SCJD 1.5,SCBCD 5