Guiding the development of enterprise design approaches

Abstract

Enterprise engineering (EE) is an emerging discipline that aims to address several phenomena in the evolution of an enterprise. Previous research highlighted a particular phenomenon that requires more research — i.e., the inability of the enterprise as a complex socio-technical system to adapt swiftly to rapidly-changing environments. Although there are numerous theoretical design approaches (with their own methodologies, frameworks, and modelling languages), there is little empirical evidence about their effectiveness. Furthermore, research indicates that multiple enterprise design approaches are used concurrently in industry, with each approach focusing on a sub-set of stakeholder concerns. The proliferating design approaches do not necessarily explicate their conditional use in terms of contextual prerequisites and demarcated design scope; and this also impairs their evaluation. This article provides guidance for the construction of design approaches that will enable researchers to contribute to the systematic growth of the EE knowledge base.

Keywords

• enterprise engineering