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Enterprise Engineering with General Enterprise Modeling

ROY ROEBUCK ENTERPRISE ENGINEERING

This document presents a general purpose concept from which to develop competitive networked enterprises.

The enterprise reaches these competitive gains through effective utilization of information.

This concept provides a framework for integrating business, technological and cultural change towards this competitive gain. Implementation of this concept provides a method of continuous quality improvement for most types and sizes of computer-networked organizations.

Today's individual and group enterprises are generally operating at<A HREF="Why GEM"> less than their potential</A>. I propose that this is primarily because the enterprise does not manage the information flowing and forming within and around it. As a result, the enterprise focuses on non-value added elements, rather than on meeting and exceeding its requirements.

<A NAME="Why GEM">Why GEM?</A> The following questions put this situation in a contextual framework.

Do you want to decrease enterprise operating costs?

Do you want to improve operative and administrative performance?

Do you want to identify wasted resources?

Do you want to identify non-value added activities?

Do you want to identify excessive duplication?

Do you want to increase the satisfaction of your management, members, suppliers and customers?

Do you want to increase accountability?

Do you want production to adapt to requirements?

Do you want to enable responsible persons to have detailed and current awareness of their area of responsibility, and the dynamic situations within and around it?

Do you want controlled, accurate and timely enterprise information in response to queries, delivered in seconds or minutes or hours rather than days or weeks or months?

Do you want to integrate and simplify management of all enterprise activities, functions, resources and requirements?

Do you want to operate from a single secure pool of distributed information and data rather than a fragmented, insecure, and incomplete mass of separate files?

Do you want to enable every member of an enterprise to understand their role and to see its importance within the larger framework of the enterprise mission and vision?

Do you want your enterprise and team members buying-in to enterprise performance and to draw out their commitment to change and quality?

Do you want your enterprise members to achieve their higher individual potential?

Do you want your enterprise to operate with smooth and controlled motions, comparable to a trained athlete?

Do you want a management approach welcomed by management, labor, and customers alike?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, this document displays how to achieve these capabilities, in the near term.

PROLOG

Described within is a relatively quick implementation method for a networked enterprise, at a low cost per member. This technique gives the enterprise a toolkit that provides all the capabilities identified in the preceding questions, with a corresponding synergistic increase in productivity.

The ideas contained here took form over the period from 1982, beginning as a project for my Master's degree. I release this information into the public domain. You may copy and distribute this document freely, and apply as you see fit, giving me credit for the information contained herein which you use.

Write to the following address if you have questions, comments, critiques, suggestions, and most especially implementation case studies. I am available to consult on the concept, and its implementation in various technical configurations. In return for the use of this concept, I ask that you reward me in relation to the financial benefit this concept brings to your enterprise.

Roy Roebuck

700 S. Courthouse Rd, # 312

Phone: 703-892-2351

Fax/Data: 703-892-2351

Internet: roebuckr@tmn.com²

SECTION I: CONCEPT.

This document presents an integrated multidisciplinary approach to enterprise engineering, enhancing the concepts of reengineering.

My intent is to aid all enterprises in continuously improving their human and business quality. I offer to help each enterprise inform/appraise/notify/acquaint itself with itself and its environment.

This particular approach involves the integrated change of the enterprise's human and business components. It does this from a perspective of continuous quality improvement (CQI), by applying a specific technique I call general enterprise modeling (GEM).

In this regard, I view the enterprise as a single dynamical subsystem within a larger dynamical system, its environment.

The following illustrate a process focusing on the customer.

The supplier measures the customer satisfaction with a product, whether their product or a competitor's. They measure satisfaction with customer-support before product delivery, the product-delivery, the product itself, the customer-service after the delivery, and the customer-relations interactions during the entire cycle.

After measuring the satisfaction, they determine the quality and quantity of customer expectations, their requirements.

If the supplier can meet the expected product quality characteristics and quantities of the customer, they may choose to produce the product using their existing processes and structure.

If the supplier cannot meet the expected quality characteristics and quantities, they may choose to improve their product, and/or the process and structure that creates it or supports it.

The supplier then provides their product, measures the customer satisfaction, and begins the process again. Another key point in keeping a customer focus is that we all are part of a long supplier/customer chain.

No customer willingly pays for something they don't receive or don't want.

It is the supplier's responsibility to eliminate those activities from the production process that add no significant direct or indirect value for the customer. They do this by making "measurement of customer satisfaction and consideration of what the customers want/expect" as the starting of the production process.

The culture of the enterprise can either enable or disable the customer focus and its product/process/structure improvement cycles.

With a customer-focused culture, a continuous quality improvement enterprise can form.

Enterprises that focus on their products, processes, structure, and/or culture are going to be less effective at adapting and surviving in their changing world. These things are important, and must be considered. However, with any of these things as a principal enterprise focus, the enterprise's past becomes an anchor in a journey to the enterprise goals, rather than a rudder and sails. With a customer focus as rudder and sails, the enterprise can ride out the turbulent storms of change on the way to its destination.

To emphasize the spiral-life-cycle of continuous quality improvement, this expanded supplier/customer model shows the perpetual flow of improvement efforts and the importance of an enterprise culture that is open to management of change.

A critical element of an open culture and a customer focused enterprise is effective and efficient informing, involving, and coordinating methods.

As a result of continuous quality improvement, decreased time is necessary to complete a production cycle. This graphic illustrates the intent behind such improvement efforts as TQM and Business Process Reengineering.

The overall intent of the customer focus, from a supplier (operational) perspective, is to continuously reduce the cycle time of a production transaction. This allows the supplier to respond more quickly to customer demand, adapt to changes in the environment, and to save time and money in performing the mission. This corresponds to the principle of accomplishing the mission (effective operations) while conserving resources (efficient operations).

This diagram shows an example of the top level Activity of a Customer Focused enterprise. It shows a production life-cycle for a single supplied product. Use this model as the basis for Business Process Reengineering and for shifting the focus of the enterprise towards the customer.

This diagram outlines the activities of a customer focused enterprise. An IDEF0 formatted Activity Model of this outline is at enclosure 1, Node 3.

The models in this document, and those at enclosures 1 and 2, are not absolute "right answers" for the supplier enterprise, but are a start point for facilitating the engineering of the enterprise.

This diagram shows an example of an IDEF0 Activity Model top level, or Context (Node -0), diagram of the Customer Focused Enterprise model at enclosure 1.

To complete the Activity Model for the enterprise, the modelers must have some detailed information about the enterprise. Examples of such detailed information are above, below, and to the left of the Activity block labeled "FORM A CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ORGANIZATION".

The information to the right of the Activity block relates to what the enterprise seeks to achieve, their desired goal or output.

With this information, the modelers can begin to look at how to map their existing enterprise functional activities to this model. The result is an enterprise-specific Customer Focused Activity Model.

A useful context in performing Business Process Reengineering is to look at the enterprise relations to its larger environment. One way to do this is to track all enterprise inputs (left) and controls (above) to their most fundamental source. With this perspective, identify those environmental elements that effect (top, left, below) or are effected-by (right) the enterprise and consider them in the modeling efforts.

This continual flow of improvement, focused on customer satisfaction, would derive from a single dynamic representation of the enterprise, its customers, and its environment, as shown above. I call this dynamic representation of enterprise a General Enterprise Model, GEM.

From the GEM, we can generate a near infinite number of views of the enterprise, on an ad-hoc or routine basis, creating an Enterprise Information System (EIS), enhancing the informing/involving/coordination ability of the enterprise.

The preceding CQI models are examples of views derived from this model.

We create and maintain a supplier enterprise that is customer focused and continuously improving by building this EIS from the GEM, shown here and described in subsequent pages.

Just as the CQI view was derived from and supported by the GEM, other views, such as the US Department of Defense Functional Process Improvement "Enterprise Model", or corresponding "Corporate Models" from other organizations, could be derived and supported.

All of these display forms, flows, and relationship patterns of business, culture, and technology.

These symbols together represent the concept of creating and maintaining an enterprise that applies the CQI philosophy. They represent building and maintaining an enterprise specific Continous Quality Improvement enterprise, using the GEM as a startpoint and mecahnism.

An enterprise specific implementation of the GEM is called a dynamic enterprise model, DEM. A DEM serves as a networked, automated environment to manage the life cycle of all enterprise resource requirements and to track enterprise performance, among other uses.

The DEM is a tool for integrating and managing human/cultural change and business change such as Total Quality Management (TQM) or Service (TQS), process improvement, business reengineering, staffing and structuring, activity-based costing, and sustained corporate management. From a leadership perspective, the DEM allows the leaders to scan the internal and external environment and determine contextual information. They use that resultant environmental context information as input to their direction-setting activity. This, in turn, provides the defined future state and the direction to go in achieving that future state. The strategic planning process then begins managing the change of the enterprise towards that future state. The leader's direction setting activity would fit within the customer focus model, because the leader's "requirement" is for the enterprise to achieve the future state

A CQI culture functions by sensing and adapting to internal and external change, allowing the enterprise to respond to its customer requirements and its environment.

Together the CQI culture and the GEM/DEM form a dynamic management environment, analogous to a person's senses, reflexes, autonomic nervous system, and memory.

These symbols can serve as enterprise Customer Focus logos. Also consider using these logos in briefings and literature to help the supplier's internal and external customers understand their context and relations to each other.

building and maintaining an enterprise specific Continous Quality Improvement enterprise, using the GEM as a startpoint and mecahnism.

A CQI culture functions by sensing and adapting to internal and external change, allowing the enterprise to respond to its customer requirements and its environment.

Together the CQI culture and the GEM/DEM form a dynamic management environment, analogous to a person's senses, reflexes, autonomic nervous system, and memory.

As a result of building the DEM, answers to basic questions about "things" of interest to an enterprise come with speed, validity, and completeness, from a number of views. Examples of such questions are: where, who, why, what, how, with what, for what, how many, how much, how often, and/or when.

Any enterprise must be able to answer questions such as these, singly or in combination, as quickly and fully as possible, to reduce production cycle time and cost. Decisions come from the results of such questions.

Each member or distinct group within the enterprise could use the DEM to build an "interest" profile as a derivation of the DEM. With this profile, we then use various informing techniques/technologies to "explore", "mine", and "link-to" internal and external information sources for relevant information on predefined and ad-hoc schedules. The interest profile allows the members/groups to be automatically informed by the DEM.

SECTION II: SUPPORTING BELIEFS.

The diagram above shows the basic premises for this enterprise modeling method. They reflect my personal integration of scientific, social, and systems/spiritual concepts.

The guiding definition of management in this modeling technique is "Management is the resolution of complexity and diversity in science and society into a system of controlled order". (Encyclopedia of Management, 1963).

This diagram is a conceptual representation of recorded human knowledge. It illustrates that management is the task of guiding the progression and integration of perception. This progression moves from one domain of knowledge to the next (for example, philosophy as basis of mathematics, in turn as basis of physics, etc.).

Individuals and cultures without an effective management philosophy show weak correlation between science, their society, and their belief-systems (for example, theology and philosophy). Without a strong management philosophy working to find overlapping patterns and similarities in knowledge domains, the likelihood of resolving the complexity and diversity of day-to-day existence into simpler states is diminished. If an individual or culture cannot reconcile their belief-systems, science, and social patterns, then they will continually operate from dualistic and exclusionary basic assumptions, rather than unitary and inclusive basic assumptions.

With basic assumptions (i.e., a paradigm) of dualism and exclusion, their perceptions of the world are fragmented and separated. This is because their paradigm focuses on the differences between science, society, and systems/spiritual beliefs, rather than on their similarities.

With a dualistic paradigm, science, society, and system/spiritual beliefs exist as separate areas of experience with no clear relation to each other, and are in constant conflict. As a result, the beneficial synergy and synthesis from reconciling their knowledge is blocked.

From quantum physics we learn that the natural order of the world is connection or "non-locality". All objects are connected and interdependent in space and time. Everything is within a larger system, rather than separated by space and time as isolated entities

Your Identity is your "perception of connection" to the surrounding world, and it changes as the world changes.

The basis of a person's perspective is either that their world is a separate unique island of reality (duality), or that it is an integrated whole (unitary). Note that in a unitary paradigm, something can be distinct, individuated, and/or unique, and yet not separated from its environment.

Your identity is the major component of your sense of loyalty, membership, commitment, family, ownership, stewardship, love, teamwork, and responsibility. A second component of each is choice. Identity and choices empower persons, individually or collectively. Choices that expand connection/identity/unity are integrative. Choices that weaken/deny/diminish connection, thus generating a sense or thought of separation/barriers/duality, are dis-integrative.

An understanding of identity is a principal issue in the improvement of productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency of operations. Those who must work together within an organization or endeavor often have no shared organizational identity, no understanding of their connections and inter-relations. Thus, dualistic issues of feudalism, power, and separateness cross organizational lines. Hostility between organizational components threatens survival. Under these conditions it is difficult to address the unitary issues of strategic planning, vision, opportunity, action, and culture of the organization as a whole.

This general model of identity may help to create a shared organizational identity. Your perception is the basis of your identity, your connection to the surrounding world.

The world contains both order and change. You derive your identity (connection) by perceiving changes from a previous to a subsequent state of order.

From science we know there are three major components of the universe: matter, energy and information. For purpose of this discussion let us refer to all matter as "form", all energy as "flow", and all information about relationships between matter and energy as "pattern".

We perceive order in the world as continuously changing patterns of form and flow. Forms give the perception of a stable and mechanical reality, whereas flows give the perception of a changing and dynamic reality. Since all forms eventually decompose and flow into new forms (entropy), the pattern of reality is naturally flowing and dynamic.

However, people mostly focus their senses and thoughts on the forms, and the flow confuses them. This causes them to overlook or discount the overall pattern or their experience. They expect stability while experiencing only constant change. As long as the pattern change is minor, people feel comfortable, and when the pattern change is turbulent, they experience stress.

Since change is constant, your identity is never static. Rather it is flowing and continuously changing with the world around you, and your perceived connection to it.

The world and your identity are fluid and dynamic, not static and mechanical. Faster rates of changing form and flow and resultant rates of pattern change result in greater personal change in connection/identity.

What we need then is a tool that organizes the flows, forms and patterns, and enables individuals, groups, and organizations to ask and answer questions from the most unitary (highest context) perspective possible. With these answers, they gain awareness of the order of their world and the changes flowing within it. They can then dynamically adapt to those changes.

One way to acquire such a tool is through applying selected modeling techniques, creating an enterprise that manages its information resource, along with its other resources, from a unitary view of continuously improving quality, using a dynamic enterprise model.

Note that this approach does not focus on information technology. It is rather about information, and information systems whose purpose is to "inform". We humans must be informed to increase our perception. To grow mentally and in our systems/spiritual beliefs, we must find and perceive the patterns around us, and the forms and flows that make up these patterns.

Our information technology has given us orders of magnitude increase in our ability to organize and process work (forms and flows) (what, how, when, where), but has done very little to inform us about the work itself, the enterprise, and the work environment (patterns) (why).

SECTION III: CHANGE.

We use a variety of methods to implement continuous improvement of both the human and business components of our organizations.

Human change involves components of the organization culture and focus.

Business change involves components of technologies, structures, processes, and products.

Note that I occasionally refer to "human change" as qualitative change, and "business or technological change" as quantitative change.

We can think of an enterprise such as an organization as a man/machine system.

We can implement rigorous methods of system analysis, design, and management from this ergonomic or biotechnical perspective.

When dealing with large and complicated systems, such as an organization, the term Macro-Ergonomics would apply. Macro-Ergonomics focuses on the relationships between human endeavors and their environment.

For our purpose here, I define an endeavor as "the search for who we are in relation to the continuum, and how we express what we find".

Enterprise is that expression.

Knowledge is "your identity in the continuum", you are what you know/connect-to.

Identity is your cumulative experience resulting from past choices. It contributes to, but does not determine, your future. You can see yourself in a bigger pattern than before, and make choices that change your future.

In any of mankind's endeavors, we must have information. We said that there are three things in the universe: matter, energy, and their patterns. The patterns are information. We manage that information by applying various forms of technology to create informing systems.

Specific instances/events within mankind's activities create specific data values.

Mankind performs activities which result in the processing and flow of information.

Mankind's processed information has structural form, which reflects our perceived world, our knowledge.

Mankind's informing systems connect us directly with our environment, including other persons. Direct connections come through our senses. Indirect connections come through mechanisms separate from our bodies.

The informing technologies we use are products of our own bodies in a manual form, or products of our society in technology (mechanical, electrical, or computer) form.

Development of mankind's organizational forms require development of their information and informing systems.

To achieve this development of organization requires that mankind change themselves and their culture.

We then apply the appropriate technology to collect, process, structure, and disseminate our information.

An interface is a boundary between one thing and another. We must change the interface of humankind and our environment.

SECTION IV: CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT.

We can apply a broad spectrum of change methods in creating organizations whose cultures focus on the customer and continuous improvement.

When the members of such an organization share in the identity of the organization, the organization's customers are their customers, the business methods they're improving are their methods, and a sense of ownership and responsibility belongs to every member, regardless of role or position.

This diminishes the likelihood of apathy, anomie, and demoralization among the members.

We can categorize culture, focus, and improvement efforts as shown.

We can manage each component with separate programmatic approaches. Each approach would be part of an integrated effort. The intent of the effort is to create continuous quality improving and customer focusing enterprises.

We can strengthen a variety of functional management, leadership, and transition styles, while diminishing many dysfunctional styles over time.

The functional styles could lead to appropriate expressions of leadership, empowerment, and appreciation of diversity, while building every member up by managing and strengthening their common traits.

A continuous quality improvement enterprise would maintain integrated efforts in these areas.

Worker morale and worker performance would both tend to improve, yielding a reduction in process and product variation, indicating an increase in quality.

The most important aspect of creating a continuous quality improvement enterprise is to implement the human changes necessary to cause the customer focus and the continuous improvement culture to form.

We must manage this human change well and in an integrated fashion. Otherwise, our business changes such as project management, reorganizations, systems integration, process improvement, staffing and structure projects, or reengineering is going to be less effective in improving the enterprise.

Attempts at mostly quantitative or business/technical change meet tremendous human/culture barriers to implementation, thereby negating or diminishing results.

Likewise, mostly human or qualitative change has limited effect in improving the core products, processes, or structure of the organization.

Many qualitative changes made without improving the business side of the organization can disintegrate over time. This is perhaps because of frustration or resigned apathy of organization members, with business being in the "same old rut".

We require rigorous and disciplined action, an engineered approach, to cause quantitative/business changes and improvements in product, process, and structure.

In conjunction, we require similarly rigorous action to cause qualitative/human change in how suppliers and customers perceive and act toward each other.

We then have the question, "what would such an engineered approach that integrates all of these efforts look like"? I answer that question in subsequent pages.

SECTION V: ENTERPRISE MODELING

People have a tendency to build a protective shell around themselves and their possessions, much like a bureau or a chest of drawers.

This shell adds nothing to their function, tends to burden them with excess weight, and decreases their productive capacity, adaptability and responsiveness.

Soon they spend more of their resources on their shell than on personal growth and creative expression, their endeavor.

The efforts to trim off the accumulated shell, enabling them to respond more energetically to their changing environment, is a continuous challenge in maintaining the quality of mankind's endeavors.

A typical organization "bureaucratizes" itself over time, primarily because of this protection/possession tendency. Much of an organization's internal structure and rule are examples of such a shell.Considering the previous perspectives, how can we go about creating a continuous quality improvement enterprise? I begin by creating a generalized model of human enterprise. This enterprise is an expression of endeavor, and does not encompass human knowledge and identity, which are separate models. It does rely upon these models however as its foundation.

I used a structured analysis and design technique in creating the general enterprise model. The GEM provides a framework within the enterprise for process improvement, resource life cycle management, customer focus, and statistical process control.

I designed the GEM for extension by each specific enterprise. You achieve this extension by building a DEM, representing your "AS-IS" enterprise and serving as the basis for moving towards your "TO-BE" enterprise.

A DEM supports preparation for, and conduct of, process improvement efforts such as Activity Modeling and Data Modeling (IDEF0/IDEF1X), Functional Economic Analysis (FEA), and Activity Based Costing (ABC). It supports the increased effectiveness, efficiency, and speed of these efforts, easing the integration of previously separate efforts.

As an example, before Activity Modeling, the question "Who performs this activity and where are they?" must be asked. Without this preparatory information, process improvement efforts may not bring proper stakeholders and knowledge workers into the modeling efforts.

This could result in incomplete or distorted models, requiring repetition. The lack of proper stakeholder involvement blocks future efforts at model integration. The DEM provides the necessary preparatory information to improve involvement.

The enterprise then feeds the results of IDEF0/IDEF1X, FEA, and ABC back into the DEM to refine it, as a form of feedback. As a result, the DEM becomes a tool used to derive and implement the evolutionary steps towards the desired "TO-BE" enterprise profile, while refining and strengthening the "AS-IS" elements that work well..

These seven categories of enterprise objects have fixed relationships to each other. Every descendant object of these top level entities carries the same relationships as their parent objects. In building a DEM, we refine the specific relationships between descendant objects.

We can probably assign every "thing" (i.e., object) which interests an enterprise into one of these object classes. The DEM holds a record of these objects and the specific relationships between them. The DEM provides answers to the basic questions about each object.

The enterprise acts on objects according to the basic relationships. We identify specific actions (transactions) on an object in the Activity (.05.) object class.

The general enterprise model implements and encompasses the functionality of the ANSI X3 Three Schema Model and the Three Architecture Enterprise Model.

It enables us to manage the object classes, their specific object instances, and the relationships between them within a single normalized data environment. It maintains the specific object instances, and their composition and distribution context, within the enterprise as a whole.

It provides for shared data, created and maintained by source data entry, using a shared software unit repository for processing all routine transactions.

By creating a dynamic enterprise model in the above manageable phases, we identify and reduce much redundancy and duplication of effort within the enterprise. This displays associated administrative and operational overhead. Trimming these gains us permanent responsiveness/efficiency/effectiveness.

All the data, information, and knowledge necessary to create the model currently exist within and around each enterprise. It would not function otherwise. However, it is does not usually have useful patterns of form and flow. It is often confusing and unwieldy, with unconstrained variation. It therefore contains too much non-informing data, which is noise/overhead, a waste of resources. The most likely object classes to contain or generate excessive overhead is the organization and function object classes, primarily because their composition is usually a subjective decision by the enterprise executives, rather than objectively engineered.

Building the DEM resolves/organizes this data, information, and knowledge into a simple ordered structure, which we then use for simultaneous analysis and transaction processing, and for change management. It also provides the capability to view the enterprise in many forms, all variations on a common theme.

By building and maintaining a system that displays the dynamic relationships between these object classes, the DEM delivers significant useful information to the enterprise at each phase of informing/involving/coordinating system implementation, for all stage of supplier activities.

A logical implementation of the DEM catalog function would look something like this. It would require a database management system that could perform relational self-joins.

With this catalog, users could query the object classes as deeply as they were disaggregated/categorized.

The software unit controlling an object's transactions would be accessible through the catalog, as would the detailed attributes of each enterprise object (either shared data or object-specific data).

The DEM Catalog would serve as a Table of Contents to the enterprise management environment.

The DEM uses each software unit, an object, to process a specific transaction within an activity. This reduces the need for complex, multilevel menus for functional processes, work centers, and tasks. The DEM Catalog guides the user to the transaction. The DEM allows standardized and shared software units among activities. Thus, transaction modeling and development of software are simpler. The reliance on large software design projects would diminish. We can apply object-oriented programming techniques to software units, modularizing down to the transaction level.

A logical view of the Cross Index function would look something like this. To create associations, we select a base object from the Catalog.

Then we use the Catalog to select those objects directly associated with the base object. Thus, a position incumbent or a planner defines an object's composition and distribution by picking from the Catalog. The users could then ask the basic questions about them or combinations of them. We could establish electronic conferencing and other forms of involving and coordinating based on these associations.

The detail attributes that describe the association would be accessible through the Cross-Index, as would the standard software unit for associated Activity objects. Using an object-oriented programming method, each software unit would also be an object in the DEM Catalog and Cross-Index.

We can dynamically adjust the data elements associated with software systems, databases and tables, forms, publications, reports, spreadsheets, graphics, etc., from one data dictionary/glossary. We would know in advance those items effected by a change, to their degree of inclusion in the enterprise model.

We could send phased queries to various levels within the organization and production units. These queries would ask them to identify objects associated with them, and which they control. For the resource object class, this is equivalent to asking "what products do you use as a customer, and produce as a supplier?".

This sample shows the types of objects contained within a typical DEM. The respondents select the type of objects from the DEM Catalog and provide specific identifiers of these objects. This refines the DEM baseline model and facilitates the identification of stakeholder positions coordinated with when managing the object classes (for example, Activity and Data Modeling).

One automated method of implementing these Catalog- based questionnaires is from a Local Area Network logon routine, as a subroutine of LAN user profile maintenance.

Seen from the perspective of forming a continuous quality improvement organization, accomplishing the creation of a dynamic enterprise model takes three phases.

Phase I would build the DEM baseline (AS-IS).

Phase II would use the DEM to transform the organization into one operating with an integrated corporate management environment, providing a single pool of data.

Phase III would result when the organization uses the DEM for continuous quality improvement in satisfying the full life cycle of a customer requirement (TO-BE).

A DEM could serve as the underlying database/repository for informing systems. Examples of such capabilities are: integrated project management, modeling, geographic/spatial information, computer aided design, network management, visualization, simulation, and command and control. This integrated visualization of change would serve as a dynamic enterprise information system.

SECTION VI: BUILDING THE DYNAMIC ENTERPRISE MODEL.

The first phase of building the DEM is to define the baseline objects of the enterprise and their associations to each other. This diagram highlights the major tasks of that phase. See Node 1 of Enclosure 1.

The principal workload in building and maintaining the baseline inventory is collecting, organizing, and maintaining the object instance attributes, relationships, and data values.

However, this workload already exists in all enterprise management efforts. The DEM approach can decrease the amount of that workload, while making the workload's products more useful and accessible.

The difference with the DEM approach is its unitary perspective, process, and control. Other approaches from a more fragmented perspective will have greater resultant overhead for processing, collection, dissemination, synchronization, validation, storage, transport, security, and presentation of the data.

We create an important and usable product with each implementation task and its integration with preceding task results. I describe this in subsequent charts.

Performing task 1.1 creates a networked location/organization/position/function directory. I refer to this as a Structural Model. It displays the locations, organizations (and their missions), production units (and their capabilities and support requirements), and functions of interest to the enterprise, and the relationships between them. See Node 1.1 of Enclosure 1. Another term for this structural model is the "Concept of Operations" (CONOPS).

Useful network products derived from the structural model are:

LOCATOR (displaying location [nation / state / county-city / town / district / building / room / wall / outlet / contact pin, along with

geographic/spatial coordinates] related to organization, position, and/or function),

CONOPS (coordination/stakeholder/collaboration system displaying unit, position, organization, and location involvement in each

function),

TELEPHONE AND NETWORK DIRECTORY (displaying all the above with added unit position telephone/fax/email numbers and position incumbent's name).

Performing task 1.2 creates a networked activity directory. This adds to the functionality of the previous structural model. This combination is an Enterprise Directory. It displays the same information as the structural model, plus it allows display of activities performed by each position, within their assigned functions, in relation to the structural model. See Node 1.2 of Enclosure 1.

A distribution listing for each activity across the enterprise is a useful network product derived from the Enterprise Directory. It organizes supported function(s); units/positions performing the activity (and their phone/fax numbers and network address); organizations responsible for producing the activity's outputs; and the locations (down to building and room number +) performing the activity.

The Enterprise Directory is an appropriate start point for business change efforts such as Total Quality Management, Business Reengineering, Process Improvement, and Activity Modeling. The ED allows the decision makers and planners to see who the appropriate stakeholders and functional and activity experts are and their location, and facilitates subsequent coordination and integration of efforts in business change, adding robustness and completeness to the change results.

Building an Enterprise Directory is a logical preparatory phase for integrated business change such as Functional Process Improvement, and increases the likelihood of successful change.

Performing task 1.3 creates a catalog of standard and non-standard resources, and adds to the functionality of the Enterprise Directory. This forms the Process Improvement Model. It displays the same information as the Enterprise Directory and allows those involved in improving business products, processes, and structure to identify the specific resource categories (both standard and non-standard) the activities use and produce. As a result, an analyst/planner could identify the flow of work products or resources by tracking the time sequences of activity production, thus viewing/simulating the flow of activity outputs (as supplier) and subsequent activity inputs (as customer). Additionally, activity modelers could use the directory of resources as a catalog to select specific predefined resources as Inputs, Controls, Outputs, or Mechanisms (ICOM) in their modeling efforts. If the resource was not predefined, they would add proposed new or derived ICOMs to the catalog. See Node 1.3 of Enclosure 1.

A useful network product derived from the process improvement model would be an integrated data dictionary, with each data element within the dictionary mapped to the activity transactions (form, table, database, report, publication, procedure, policy) which use that data element as an ICOM. The data dictionary then becomes an integral part of the data modeling process, with pre-defined data elements being brought into each data modeling effort in the form of a catalog. We add newly discovered/derived data elements resulting from data modeling into it. Besides serving as a data dictionary for data modeling, the process improvement model could serve as a catalog for other resources besides data. Examples would be dictionaries/directories for personnel, persons, funds, facilities, information technology, materiel, services, etc.

The dictionary/directories for each resource category display: activities using the resource (as inputs, controls, or mechanisms) or producing the resource (as output products or by-products); functions performing those activities; units/positions accomplishing those functions (with phone, networking, and mailing information); organizations owning the units/positions; and locations of the organizations. This supports Activity Based Costing. From the process improvement model, planners identify a resource as a composite, composed of two or more component resources managed by the enterprise, or as singular, with no managed components.

Performing task 1.4 adds a networked directory of activity customers to the functionality of the Process Improvement Model. This forms a Supplier/Customer or Resource Flow Model. It displays the same information as the Process Improvement Model, and identifies the customers of each product category, broken down by activity transaction, function, production unit/position, organization, and location. See Node 1.4 of Enclosure 1.

A useful network product derived from the Supplier/Customer Model would be a comprehensive directory of customers by location, etc.

This would be useful in assessing customer requirements, desired product quality characteristics, and satisfaction, and in performing to meet the customer's expectations. This information would enable more integrated efforts towards development of quality products, process improvement and optimizing, and structural alignment/distribution and optimization. It would facilitate market research, strategic planning, and responsiveness to customer requirements.

Performing task 1.5 defines and adds a networked directory of supplier/customer relationships to the Supplier/Customer Model. This is a Workflow Model. It displays the same information as the Supplier/Customer Model, and refines the relationships between customers and suppliers. See Node 1.5 of Enclosure 1.

Useful network products derive from the Workflow Model. Examples are: the capability to run simulations of functions and activities; and automated performance of large numbers of transactions and tasks by means such as electronic data interchange (EDI), providing Electronic Commerce (EC). This phase identifies those transactions and coordinations that need or benefit from automation.

Once we reach this phase of building the baseline Dynamic Enterprise Model, the application of information technology becomes more productive. This is because the computer network can now conduct a significant number of routine modeled transactions without human intervention. This allows the people within the enterprise to focus more on improving and creating products, processes and structure to meet customer requirements.

At this point in development of the baseline DEM, the network can inform the user of the status of the transactions under their responsibility and authority.

Performing task 1.6 creates a shared-data, generalized, life cycle management system for all enterprise resource requirements that adds to the functionality of the previous phases. This life cycle management system manages requirements from initial conception, through resourcing and development, through operation and maintenance, to revalidation. See Node 1.6 of Enclosure 1.

This phase then allows enterprise executives and functional decision makers to assess the enterprise as a whole for purposes of strategic, control, and operational planning and overall enterprise management. This phase completes the development of an enterprise management environment, the baseline DEM.

SECTION VII: USING AND MAINTAINING THE DEM.

The matrix shown here would result from building the baseline DEM. It would serve as a model showing the composition and required distribution for any object of interest to the enterprise.

As a result of building the DEM baseline, any person within the organization could view direct and indirect functions, activities, resources and requirements associated with their position. The model limits their network access to those objects which authorities associate with the person or position. Object authorities give individuals and groups permanent or ad-hoc access to their objects based on an approved requirement.

In this sense, the Cross-Index would serve as the "interest profile" of the entire aggregated membership of the enterprise. The hierarchical catalog format arranges the objects of interest. The Cross Index would then serve as the framework for informing, involving, and coordinating the members when objects of interest, whether internal or external to the enterprise are going through some change/transaction.

This informing/involving/coordinating action of the Cross Index operates across location, organization and function boundaries, supporting all appropriate stakeholders in that object change/transaction, regardless of the concept of operation. The control point is in determining the appropriateness of involvement and coordination. A useful guideline is: maximal informing, feasible involving, and practicable coordinating.

Location, work unit, activity, resource and requirement life-cycle quality and quantity, and not technical limitations, then determine the principal basis of informing, involving, and coordinating.

See Enclosure 2.Creating and maintaining the Catalog uses the database transactions shown here. Developers can program these transactions in almost any programming language or other tool enabling manipulation of the relational database management system underlying the DEM.

The cross-index can then serve as the "Table of Contents" to the organization's automated and manual information systems and its resources.

It would provide a single entry point into shared software and data. Note that this entry point is highly secure, because the individual "interest profile" of each DEM user, contained within the Cross Index, would be the basis for access permissions.

This diagram shows the database transactions used to create and maintain the Cross Index. The developer builds these transaction software units from almost any programming language or other tools that enables manipulation of the relational database management system underlying the DEM.

We create an "interest profile" for a group or individual by selecting a base object (e.g., the individual position/person's object record) from the Catalog, and then selecting associated location, organization, work unit, function, activity, resource, and requirement objects, also from the Catalog. The Cross Index would then optimize this list of base object associations by organizing the relationships between indirect associations into a chain of direct associations. From this, the distribution and composition of individual objects within the Cross Index can be displayed.

A logical view of the DEM would look something like this. The enterprise makes it as dynamic and as detailed as it requires and can afford.

A physical view of the DEM tables would look like this. Example data tables supporting this view are at Enclosure 2.

SECTION VIII: REQUIREMENT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT.

The DEM has several significant benefits. It provides Supplier personnel and their Customers with a single entry point for managing the life cycle of a customer's requirement. It provides a single, comprehensive, shared source of information about the requirement. It tracks the initial concept formulation, request building from a catalog of products, requesting approval, gaining authorization, resource allocation, and final assignment, all in a coordinated, involved, and informed manner. See Node 3. of Enclosure 1.

The entire DEM then serves as the start point for subsequent resource requests, and the system capturing information generated at each stage of a requirement's life cycle. An enterprise can build a resource management and accounting system from the customer focus of managing the life cycle of satisfying the customer's requirement.

SECTION IX: SUMMARY.

I have presented in this document a systematic method by which an organization may achieve continous quality improvement using a method called general enterprise modeling. The first phase, building the baseline model, would provide an organization with a dynamic enterprise model that could serve as the basis for major improvements in organization culture, products, processes, and structure. It provides the basis for comprehensive management and focused efforts on exceeding customer expectations.

With the refined baseline model in place and being used as the core of corporate management, the organization can begin to optimize its products, processes, and structure to meet the quality characteristics that satisfy its customers.

This would be a time of realignment and reorganization. It would also be a time of great opportunity and benefit. The increasing member experience of interdependence within the enterprise and with the environment would strengthen the shared identity of the members. Using the enterprise model continually reinforces their awareness.

The final phase of building would be to continue to operate in the new environment, always focusing on shared identity of members, on customers, and on continuous quality improvement.In summary, I've presented a generalized enterprise model, along with a vision of evolving enterprise capability and a notional plan of implementation. The transition of an existing organization to a customer focused continuous quality improvement organization is practical, feasible, and affordable, using the ideas presented here.

Productivity gains, human-potential increase, and cost decrease from implementing this corporate management method, warrant immediate examination by those who see its implications.

Benefits in strategic, managerial, administrative, and operational performance are possible in a relatively short time.

EPILOG

Why would an enterprise build a Dynamic Enterprise Model (DEM), using the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) and General Enterprise Model (GEM) paradigms?

The DEM can reduce enterprise annual operating cost, personnel, and other resource requirements, and increase the

productivity/output/responsiveness of all modeled components. With it, we can answer queries in seconds/minutes/hours, what now takes days/weeks/months, or never.

The DEM organizes enterprise critical information, giving it a dynamic structure and order, decreasing the workload in preparing, maintaining, and using that information. It is a Corporate Information Repository containing both shared data and shared software units.

The DEM starts from a Top-Level model (GEM). However, by building in phases from the bottom up, it accommodates resource constraints and shifting priorities and criticality.

The DEM complies with, integrates, and improves upon several concepts. They are the CIM concepts of Functional Process Improvement: Functional Economic Analysis, Activity Based Costing, Activity Modeling and Data Modeling; Data Administration; Information Infrastructure; and Business Reengineering. It adds the functionality of Configuration Management, Life Cycle Management, and Total Quality Management.

The DEM provides increasingly more useful products at stage of its development, using existing enterprise network resources, current personnel, and existing information.

Stage 1 provides a shared-use networked "Structural Model" combining the functionality of a Locator system (where), a Concept of Operations model as a subject-based coordination system (who/why, which functions, which positions), and a Telecommunications Directory (phone/fax/email numbers, incumbent's name). It provides a useful database for geographic information system displays of thematic maps.

Stage 2 provides the above, with an added directory of activities performed by each function/position. This displays the distribution of functions and activities across the enterprise to the position level, as well as the activities comprising each function, which is a useful start point for Activity Modeling.

Stage 3 provides all the above, with an added directory of standard categories of resources such as information technology and data elements. This would provide an appropriate start point for both Data Modeling and Activity Based Costing. Considering "persons" as resources, it provides the mechanism for creating a directory of experience / interest / skills / knowledge / ability profiles of all enterprise members, suppliers, and customers.

Stage 4 adds a directory of enterprise customers to the above. These customers are positions, activities, or resources that require input from some supplier position/activity/resource. This facilitates managing customer requirements and satisfying them. Stage 5 adds refinement to the customer directory by modeling workflow throughout the supplier/customer chain for internal and external customers/suppliers. This is a startpoint for Workflow Automation and Electronic Data Interchange.

Stage 6 adds a shared-data generalized life cycle system for enterprise resource requirements, from initial conception, through resourcing and development, through operations and maintenance, to revalidation of the requirement.

The DEM will reduce the learning curve for incoming personnel in their job and work site. The DEM will aid the standardization process and in decreasing process variation.

The DEM's data structure design is inherently stable in its normalization. We can implement the DEM using many forms of computers, networks, databases, and operating systems.

The DEM provides benefits analogous to common currency, language, history, and customs within a culture.

USES OF THE DEM

Strategic/Control/Operational Planning

Staff/Workgroup Coordination

Operations (Command/Control/Communications and Intelligence - C3I)

Process/Task Simulations

Demographic/Cartographic/Thematic/Geographic Visualization

Intelligence Collection/Fusion/Analysis

ICASE/CAD/GIS/EIS/Visualization Repository

Realignment/Reorganization

Contingency Organization

Information Resource Management

Private/Corporate/Governmen/National/Global Information Locator

Corporate Directory/Locator/Encyclopedia/Dictionary/Inventory/Cross-Index

Requirement Life Cycle Management

Corporate Accounting

Financial Management

Manpower/Position Management

Training Management

Supply/Equipment Management

Materiel Management

Functional Management

Program/Project Management

Site Inventory

Facility Management

Network Management

Resource Leveling and Distribution

Configuration Management

Integrated Culture/Technology Change

OnLine Documentation/Education/Training/Mentoring

Knowledge/Skills/Ability/Experience/Education/Training Inventory

Interest Networking/ConferencingOrganizational Development

Total Quality Management

Customer Support/Service

Performance Measurement

Internal Management Control

Risk Assessment

Policy Analysis

Operations Research/Systems Analysis

Research and Development

Research Documentation

Business Reengineering

Preparation for Activity Modeling and Data Modeling (e.g., IDEF)

Preparation for Business Process Improvements

Activity Based Costing

Economic Analysis

Marketing

National/Regional/Local Modeling of:

Production/Distribution/Consumption/Disposal of Products and By-Products

Job Base vs. Education/Vocation/Skill Training Base