Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
In addition to systems, a business function may include many business processes.
Each of these business processes may consist of a variety of workflows. Workflows
in turn consist of processes, which in turn consist of tasks. People manually or
mentally perform tasks either with or without the aid of technology. Technology
may perform an automated service without the intervention of a person. For exam-
ple, the accounting business function consists of business processes that include
accounts receivable, employee expense reimbursement, and statements and ledgers.
Accounts receivable workflows include inputs, trigger events for action, processing
of inputs, production of some result, and the delivery of some output; procedures
(formal representation of a process) assist with the performance of the workflow.
Within procedures are prescribed tasks assigned to personnel or are automated
tasks. A person may then perform a manual task (carry out a routine procedure) or
a cognitive task (e.g., decide upon an action). An automated service may substitute
for a person or enhance manual and cognitive tasks performed by a person.
Collectives are groups of people. Collectives may be teams, communities, work-
ing groups, departments, or other. People are the actors in the ECF and through
their actions exhibit behavior. Behavior may be conscious in support of a task or
unconscious, like the unwitting application of mental models that most of us are
unaware we even have. Behavior motivations may include social, economic, politi-
cal, moral, and many others. People will act within a business process or other
social dynamic in the context of the enterprise. People may act upon or interact
with entities (systems); entities may perform actions with other entities. The key
attributes of the ECF that represent the enterprise dynamics are
entities
,
actors
, and
actions
(see Figure 12.1).
The ECF is a decomposition of the enterprise to its essential parts in terms of
people (actors), processes (actions), and technology (entities). The ECF is a very
powerful representation and provides an enterprise context for a system, for cog-
Figure 12.1
enterprise dynamics of entities, actors, and actions.
