The purpose of using EKD

Enterprise Modelling(EM) and therefore EKD can be used for a number of purposes. The goal hierarchy above shows the common objectives that organisations have for using Enterprise Modelling. It contains two main branches. One dealing with developing the business, e.g. developing business vision, strategies, redesigning the way the business operates, developing the supporting information systems, etc. The other dealing with ensuring the quality of the business, primarily focusing on two issues:

1) sharing the knowledge about the business, its vision, the way it operates and
2) ensuring the acceptance of business decisions through committing the stakeholders to the decisions made.

Business development goals

Business development is one of the most common objectives for using EM. Business development frequently involves change management – determining how to achieve visions and objectives from the current state in organisations. Enterprise Modelling is used in this process with great success.
Business process orientation is a specific case of business development – the organisation wants to restructure/redesign its business operations.
Also, EM is commonly used in the early stages of system development. A common view among business consultants is that EM can effectively be used for gathering the business needs and high-level.
 

Quality assurance goals

Another common reason why many organisations decide to adopt EM is to ensure the quality of its operations. Two important success factors for ensuring quality, mentioned by interviewees were that stakeholders understand the business and that they accept/are committed to business decisions.
Recently, organisations have taken an increased interest in Knowledge Management, which is concerned with creating, maintaining and disseminating organisational knowledge between stakeholders in order for them to understand the business. EM has a role to play here, since its aim is to create a multifaceted view of the business. As one interviewee expressed:
To maintain and share knowledge about the business becomes extra important in the situation where two organisations are integrated or where different organisations collaborate and have different roles in carrying out a business process. One of the knowledge management perspectives is keeping the employees informed with regard to how the business is done.
If Enterprise Models are to play a role in the maintenance and dissemination of business knowledge there is a need for supporting tools.
Most modern organisations subscribe to the view that the commitment of stakeholders to carry out business decisions is a critical success factor for achieving high quality business operations. To this effect, differences in opinions about the business must be resolved; in turn requiring that communication between stakeholders is stimulated. EM, particularly using a participative way of working, is effective to obtain commitment from stakeholders.

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