Enterprise modelling for the masses – From elitist discipline to common practice

Abstract

Enterprise modelling (EM) as a discipline has been around for several decades with a huge body of knowledge on EM in academic literature. The benefits of modelling and its contributions to organizational tasks are largely undisputed. Thus, from an inside-out perspective, EM appears to be a mature and established discipline. However, for initiating serious innovations this view is not sufficient. This position paper takes an outside-in perspective on enterprise modelling and argues that EM is far away from reaching its maximum potential. EM is typically done by a limited number of people in organizations inclined to methods and modelling. What is captured in models is only a fragment of what ought to be captured. Many people actually develop some kind of model in their local practice without thinking about it consciously. Exploiting the potential of this “grass roots modelling” could lead to groundbreaking innovations in EM. The aim is to investigate integration of the established, often systematic and formalized practices of modelling in enterprises with local practices of creating, using and communicating model-like artifacts or objects of relevance for the overall organization.