Högskolan i Skövde

This paper reports on the plenary panel discussion on “How to Build a Perfect Enterprise Modeling Method” held at the PoEM 2021 conference. The panel was charged with finding a pathway to the perfect enterprise modeling method. The panelists have a background in enterprise modeling and method engineering. So, the question is: Can method engineering help with designing a better enterprise modeling environment? The contributions in this paper should be regarded as a snapshot of our viewpoints at the time of the panel.

Organizations normally begin using Enterprise Modeling (EM) within the context of a development project of some sort, where an outside vendor and/or consultant provide the method and related IT tool usage compe- tence. If an organization uses EM sufficiently frequently it may be motivated to develop in-house EM competence and to acquire and adopt an EM method. The paper is an experience paper. It defines what it means to adopt an EM method in an organization and describes the process of adopting and institutionalizing EM as an organizational strategy to support continuous improvement and de- velopment. The process consists of three activities: deciding that an EM method should be adopted as part of the organization’s set of institutionalized methods, electing a suitable method and implementing the method. 

The field of Enterprise Modeling (EM) consists of many methods and metod development is one of the key activity areas of EM practitioners and researchers. This paper ponders on future improvements for one EM method, namely Enterprise Knowledge Development (EKD). A number of improvements ot the EKD method are identified and discussed, based on empirical observations. The improvements fall into four categories: the modeling language, the modeling process, tool support, and other improvements. The paper can be seen as a step towards a new and improved version of EKD.

Much of the success of projects using Enterprise Modeling (EM) depends more on the quality of the process of modeling rather than on the method used. One important influence on the quality of the modeling process is the competency level of the experts responsible for the EM approach. Each EM project is, however, specific depending on the purpose of modeling, such as developing the business, ensuring the quality of business operations, and using EM as a problem solving tool. The objective of this paper is to discuss the core competency needs for the EM practitioner and to relate those needs to different purposes of EM.

Enterprise Modeling (EM) has established itself as a valuable instrument for various purposes related to organizational development, such as designing or redesigning the business, eliciting requirements for information systems, capturing and reasoning about organizational knowledge. A notable characteristic of EM is its collaborative way of stakeholder involvement in modeling. Much of the success of projects using EM depends on how the EM process is organized and on the competence level of the expert responsible for the EM approach. This paper analyses what are the competence needs for the method expert and what competences are needed in the different steps in the EM process. The EM process described consists of activities for project inception and planning, conducting modeling sessions, and delivering a result that can be taken up by a subsequent implementation project. Two main competence areas are discussed in relation to the EM process - competences related to modeling and competences related to managing EM projects.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the First IFIP WG 8.1 Working Conference on the Practice of Enterprise Modeling, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden, during November 12-13, 2008. The conference aim was to establish a dedicated forum where the use of Enterprise Modeling in practice is addressed by bringing researchers, users, and practitioners together. The 17 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 34 submissons. The topics covered are Knowledge and Enterprise Architecture Modeling; Enterprise Modeling, Process Modeling; and Network and Value Modeling.

An approach to building knowledge repositories, Enterprise Knowledge Patterns (EKP), has been developed and applied throughout a number of research projects, most recently in the ELEKTRA, HyperKnowledge1 and EKLär projects. The EKP approach combines Enterprise Modelling with organisational patterns. Systematic evaluations of applying the approach have been carried out in two of the projects, while the third project is currently running. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the evaluation results and to share practical experiences from building knowledge repositories with Enterprise Modelling and organisational patterns. We discuss issues concerning the knowledge content of pattern based knowledge repositories, the language used to express knowledge in organisational patterns and technology support for storing and retrieving knowledge components. .