Enterprise Ontology

If one thing catches the eye in almost all literature about (re)designing or (re)engineering of enterprises, it is the lack of a well-founded theory about their construction and operation. Often even the most basic notions like "action" or "process" are not precisely defined. Next, in order to master the diversity and the complexity of contemporary enterprises, theories are needed that separate the stable essence of an enterprise from the variable way in which it is realized and implemented. Such a theory and a matching methodology, which has passed the test of practical experience, constitute the contents of this book. The enterprise ontology, as developed by Dietz, is the starting point for profoundly understanding the organization of an enterprise and subsequently for analyzing, (re)designing, and (re)engineering it. The approach covers numerous issues in an integrated way: business processes, in- and outsourcing, information systems, management control, staffing etc. Researchers and students in enterprise engineering or related fields will discover in this book a revolutionary new way of thinking about business and organization. In addition, it provides managers, business analysts, and enterprise information system designers for the first time with a solid and integrated insight into their daily work.

Enterprise ontology is one of the conceptual pillars of enterprise engineering, next to enterprise design and enterprise governance, together accomplishing the goals of intellectual manageability, organisational concinnity and social devotion. By revealing the essence of an enterprise’s organisation, enterprise ontology addresses business processes, data and rules in a fundamental and truly integrated way. In addition, it provides deep insight into and broad overview over complex organisational transformations. The book is divided into three parts. Part A is an introduction in enterprise engineering and enterprise ontology. Part B explores the theories underlying enterprise ontology, explaining the foundations of each theory, the elaborations in practical methods and techniques, and the relationships with other comparable approaches. Part C presents the practical application of the theories. It includes a comprehensive summary of the DEMO methodology and the DEMO specification language, as well as exercises and applications of DEMO in various business areas. It also features a chapter on combining DEMO with comparable approaches to modelling business processes, data and rules, to the benefit of the latter. Discussing the theoretical foundations of enterprise ontology and its practical applications in equal measure, this book is the principal textbook in courses on enterprise engineering. Since it unites elements from management science and information systems engineering, it is also relevant to students and professionals in either field.

Learn how to develop and employ an ontology, the secret weapon for successfully using artificial intelligence to create a powerful competitive advantage in your business. The AI-Powered Enterprise examines two fundamental questions: First, how will the future be different as a result of artificial intelligence? And second, what must companies do to stake their claim on that future? When the Web came along in the mid-90s, it transformed the behavior of customers and remade whole industries. Now, as part of its promise to bring revolutionary change in untold ways to human activity, artificial intelligence—AI—is about to create another complete transformation in how companies create and deliver value to customers. But despite the billions spent so far on bots and other tools, AI continues to stumble. Why can't it magically use all the data organizations generate to make them run faster and better? Because something is missing. AI works only when it understands the soul of the business. An ontology is a holistic digital model of every piece of information that matters to the business, from processes to products to people, and it's what makes the difference between the promise of AI and delivering on that promise. Business leaders who want to catch the AI wave—rather than be crushed by it—need to read The AI-Powered Enterprise. The book is the first to combine a sophisticated explanation of how AI works with a practical approach to applying AI to the problems of business, from customer experience to business operations to product development.

"This book provides an opportunity for readers to clearly understand the notion of ontology engineering and the practical aspects of this approach in the domains of two interest areas: Knowledge Management Systems and Enterprise Systems"--

The purpose of the 7th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS) was to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the advances and business applications of information systems. ICEIS focuses on real world applications, therefore authors were asked to highlight the benefits of Information Technology for industry and services. Papers included in the book are the best papers presented at the conference.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the Third Working Conference on Practice-Driven Research on Enterprise Transformation (PRET), held in Luxembourg, on September 6, 2010, as the industrial track of the 13th IEEE Conference on Commerce and Enterprise Computing (CEC 2011). The third edition of PRET marks a close collaboration between academia and practice. With the specific purpose of mutual learning and crossfertilization, top practitioners from industry were invited to submit case studies. To give them enough space for presentation, only four academic papers were accepted. These papers were submitted with a length of 25 pages to enable a more detailed coverage of the related research and to stimulate further discussions during the conference. The topics covered are Enterprise Architecture, Business and IT Alignment, and Business Process Management and Evaluation.

If one thing catches the eye in almost all literature about (re)designing or (re)engineering of enterprises, it is the lack of a well-founded theory about their construction and operation. Often even the most basic notions like 'action' or 'process' are not precisely defined. Next, in order to master the diversity and the complexity of contemporary enterprises, theories are needed that separate the stable essence of an enterprise from the variable way in which it is realized and implemented. Such a theory and a matching methodology, which has passed the test of practical experience, constitute the contents of this book. The enterprise ontology, as developed by Dietz, is the starting point for profoundly understanding the organization of an enterprise and subsequently for analyzing, (re)designing, and (re)engineering it. The approach covers numerous issues in an integrated way: business processes, in- and out-sourcing, information systems, management control, staffing etc. Researchers and students in enterprise engineering or related fields will discover in this book a revolutionary new way of thinking about business and organization. In addition, it provides managers, business analysts, and enterprise information system designers for the first time with a solid and integrated insight into their daily work.