Vincent Pijpers

Using conceptual models to explore business-ICT alignment in networked value constellations

In this paper, we introduce e3alignment for inter-organizational business-ICT alignment. With the e3alignment framework, we create alignment between organizations operating in an agile networked value constellation—which is a set of organizations who jointly satisfy a customer need—by (1) focusing on the interaction between the organizations in the constellation, (2) considering interaction from four different perspectives, and (3) utilizing conceptual modeling techniques to analyze and create alignment within and between the perspectives. By creating inter-organizational business-ICT alignment between the actors in the constellation, e3alignment ultimately contributes to a sustainable and profitable constellation. To actually create alignment, e3alignment iteratively takes three specific steps: (1) identification of alignment issues, (2) solution design, and (3) impact analysis. We illustrate our approach with cases from the Dutch aviation industry, Spanish electricity industry, and Dutch telecom industry.

Bridging Business Value Models and Process Models in Aviation Value Webs via Possession Rights

While exploring value Webs - cooperating enterprises - it is common to view such Webs from multiple perspectives: (1) the business value perspective, (2) the business process perspective, and (3) the information system perspective. The value perspective explains why a Web can exist from a commercial perspective, whereas the process perspective shows the interacting processes of enterprises and the IT perspectives shows the supporting IT architecture. These perspectives each take a different view on the same phenomenon: the value Web. Because the phenomenon is for each viewpoint the same the perspectives need to be consistent. This paper introduces an approach to arrive at a business process model of a value Web that is consistent with a business value model of the same value Web. We propose a step-wise approach that starts with considering the independent transfer of ownership right of a value object and the actual object itself, and finally considers time ordering of these transfers. We illustrate our approach using an industrial strength case study in the aviation sector

Business strategy-IT alignment in a multi-actor setting: a mobile e-service case

In this paper we present a framework and methodology for aligning the business strategy and IT/IS for an organization offering an e-service in a multi-organizational setting. We explore three perspectives on the e-service to be offered: 1) The business strategy perspective, in terms of the organizations strategic position; 2) The value creation perspective, in terms of a networked value constellation enabling value creation; 3) The IT/IS perspective, in terms of an IT architecture enabling the provision of the e-service. We explore these three perspectives and modify them, until we find a situation in which 1) the designed IT architecture enables the provision of the e-service and can be implemented in a profitable way by the networked value constellation, and 2) the enterprise under study is positioned in the networked value constellation such that the enterprise can execute its business strategy. We have tested our approach on a starting enterprise offering a mobile e-service.

Value-Driven Coordination Process Design Using Physical Delivery Models

Current e-business technology enables the execution of increasingly complex coordination processes that link IT services of different companies. Successful design of cross-organizational coordination processes requires the mutual alignment of the coordination process with a commercial business case. There is however a large conceptual gap between a commercial business case and a coordination process. The business case is stated in terms of commercial transactions, but the coordination process consists of sequences, choices and iterations of actions of people and machines that are absent from a business case model; also, the cardinality of the connections and the frequency and duration of activities are different in both models. This paper proposes a coordination process design method that focusses on the the shared physical world underlying the business case and coordination process. In this physical world, physical deliveries take place that realize commercial transactions and that must be coordinated by a coordination process. Physical delivery models allow us to identify the relevant cardinality, frequency and duration properties so that we can design the coordination process to respect these properties. In the case studies we have done so far, a physical delivery model is the greatest common denominator that we needed to verify consistency between a business case and a coordination process model.

e-Services in a Networked World: From Semantics to Pragmatics

Todays economy is a service economy, and an increasing number of services is electronic, i.e. can be ordered and provisioned online. Examples include Internet access, email and Voice over IP. Typically, e-services are offered as bundles consisting of more elementary services, offered by different suppliers, forming a network. This allows for best-of-breed solutions, in which the customer selects the best services from different suppliers to satisfy his need, and in which the supplier can focus on his core-competences. The research question is then how to compose such a multi-supplier service bundle. In this paper, we argue that first understanding of the context of the service is important. We propose a framework of ontologies, called e 3 family , which can be used to reason about the contextual socio-economical aspects of e-services. This framework can be used to elicit customers need, to compose service bundles satisfying such a need, and to reason about profitability of the found service provisioning network. We illustrate e 3 family by presenting two of its core-ontologies: e 3 value and e 3 service .

Aligning Information System Design and Business strategy - A Starting Internet Company

In this paper we aim to align an organization’s information system with its strategic environment. We propose an alignment framework which takes four perspectives into account: Strategy, Value, Processes, IT/IS. This alignment framework is 1) intended for the exploration phase of information system design, 2) considers the complex environment in which an organization - and its IS - operates, and 3) uses conceptual modeling techniques (IS architectures and e 3 forces) and provides clear steps to analyzes and align the perspectives. We have tested our approach in a real life case setting, where we assisted in aligning an enterprise’s IS and business strategy.

e 3 alignment : Exploring inter-organizational alignment in value webs

In this paper we introduce the e3 alignment approach for inter-organizational alignment. With e3 alignment we create alignment between organizations operating in a value web - which is a set of organizations who jointly satisfy a customer need - by (1) focusing on the interaction between the organizations in the value web, (2) considering interaction from four different perspectives, and (3) utilizing conceptual modeling techniques for each perspective. By creating inter-organizational alignment between the actors in a value web e3 alignment ultimately contributes to a sustainable and profitable value web. To actually create alignment, e3 alignment iteratively takes three specific steps: (1) identification of alignment issues, (2) solution design, and (3) impact analysis. We tested e3 alignment on an industrial strength case study in the Spanish electricity industry.