A Conceptual Model of a Knowledge Warehouse - Enterprise Information Systems Design, Implementation and Management: Organizational Applications - page 155

Figure 2. A basic fact schema for KW

that was issued and serve in the aggregating of
knowledge processes (see 4.2).
The KW processes are different from traditional
DW processes. While DW processes aggregate
data of organizational events into a new database
(DB) with OLAP capabilities, KW processes
utilize the linkages metadata in the KW for link-
ing IS, stakeholders and business processes to
an OLAP report. These processes occur when
observing a specific report in a specialized KW
environment (see 4.3).
For each DW dimension there is a specialized
KW process, entitled KW-Process. The IS KW-
Process is implemented by services, which are
software components that serve as interfaces to
IS, for extracting the needed information. In cases
where no IS service is provided, a reference to
the IS will be presented to the decision-maker, for
self-knowledge extraction. The stakeholders and
the KW-Processes present the linkage information
to the decision-maker within the KW environ-
ment. Having such an organizational ontology
can support further development of interfaces to
other applications across the organization.

Thinking about the example above, a manager
who holds the report regarding the under-used
feature can use a service that aggregates all the
information about the specific product feature from
the CRM and present it to the manager. Since the
original OLAP report is based on specific fields,
it is reasonable that part of them will be used for
aggregating information from other IS systems as
well. For example, in the former case, the product
and the under-used feature identification numbers
are part of the OLAP report and are also the pa-
rameters according to which information will be
extracted from the CRM.
The three KW dimensions -- IS, business
processes and stakeholders -- have N:M relations
with the OLAP report facts table. For instance, in
the discussed example, the report can be linked
to the CRM as well as to the ERP system for ag-
gregating customer information. At the same time,
there is a linkage that connects the report to busi-
ness processes of a new feature development and
product bug review. In addition, the stakeholders
who relate to the report are the head of the R&D
department, the specific product manager, the head