Reference Modeling and Method Construction A Design Science Perspective Robert Winter
Joachim Schelp
University of St. Gallen Müller-Friedberg-Str. 8 CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland +41 71 224 29 34
University of St. Gallen Müller-Friedberg-Str. 8 CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland +41 71 224 33 50
[email protected] ABSTRACT
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Due to its importance for the development and the implementation of standard software applications in organizations, reference modeling has gained intensive coverage by IS researchers as well as by practitioners. Method engineering is covered less, in particular by IS practice. There is evidence that the basic construction and application principles for reference models and methods are similar. The goal of this paper is to analyze reuse potentials. As a conceptual basis, the state-of-theart of reference modeling and reference model application as well as the state-of-the-art of method engineering and method application are presented. Reuse potentials are systematically analyzed, and future research directions in this area are outlined.
models and methods to be the most important results of the design science approach in information systems research (ISR). ‘Models’ in this classification comprise specific models as well as reference process models, reference information models and other reference models. Methods as a category of ISR design results have been conceptually covered by many authors (e.g. [8, 12, 13, 20, 22, 23, 30, 33]). But only few approaches ([14, 26, 31, 32, 35]) address the systematic extension and configuration of generic method artifacts, thus implicitly or explicitly differentiating between generic ‘reference’ methods on the one hand and methods that are adapted to specific application situations on the other. An application of such a ‘reference method’ configuration for the problem domain of transformation management has recently been elaborated by BAUMÖL [2].
Categories and Subject Descriptors
2. REFERENCE MODELS
D.2.10 [Design]: Methodologies
Although the discussion of reference models mostly is focused on process models, reference models can cover other fields like data structures, functions, even metamodels (e.g. [29]; see [16] for a survey and classification on the application of reference models). Application domains for reference models can be industry related (e.g. for manufacturing [36], retail [11], public administration [4]) or management function oriented—with a focus on business (e.g. [21]) or on IT (e.g. [29]). Across all domains, different views (structure, behavior, functions) and languages (ERM, function trees, EPC, and object-oriented approaches) were used. Hence a first definition of reference models needs to be quite general: Reference models are generic conceptual models [3, 34] which can be utilized as model blueprints in a certain domain. Reference models allow for re-use of knowledge (cf. [10, 29]), cost savings in specification processes, and / or access to an industry’s best practices (e.g. [1, 25, 36]). Usage and applicability of reference models have been extended by some recent proposals. Multiperspective process modeling aspects have been introduced (e.g. [7]). To enable multiple perspectives and avoid redundancies within the models, configurative process modeling has been proposed [7, 9, 15]. By configuring reference models (e.g. [9]), the comparability of the results of repeated application of the same reference models within a context can be enhanced, thereby satisfying central requirements of the Total Quality Management. Another extension of reference modeling addresses the modification of generated models during their “development phase” (cf. [5]) or during their “usage phase” (cf. [28]) without modifying the underlying reference models. Related approaches in this direction are listed in [19]. To make reference models configurable, specific capabilities have to be incorporated in reference modeling. BECKER ET AL. propose a method framework
General Terms Design, Modeling.
Keywords Organizational Engineering, Method Engineering, Reference Modeling
1. INTRODUCTION Reference process models serve as a foundation for the implementation of standardized software in organizations [34, 35]. They have consequently gained importance as a research subject in recent academic conferences and journals. The ‘reference’ character of reference process models may be normative or descriptive. If not processes, but information objects or applications are subject of (deductive or inductive) reference modeling, reference information models and reference application models are created, respectively. All reference models are generic by nature and need to be extended and / or configured in order to be adapted to any specific application situation [8, 35]. HEVNER ET AL. [24] classify information systems instantiations, constructs, Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. SAC’06, April, 23-27, 2006, Dijon, France. Copyright 2006 ACM 1-59593-108-2/06/0004…$5.00.
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those outlined for method construction and method application, although their focus is different. For reference modeling, the focus is on languages that support process model specification and configuration (cf. [7, 38]). For method engineering, the focus is on configuration procedures that make generic methods (or method fragments) applicable to a certain usage scenario with specific situational factors. By a combination of reference model configuration considerations and meta-methods for situational method construction, some improvements can be expected. First of all, methods should be designated as ‘generic methods’ (or even ‘reference methods’) in order to clarify their character. Relating to the reference modeling process phases illustrated in figure 1, a construction phase and an application phase should also be differentiated for generic methods. For the construction phase of generic methods, transparency and quality control can be enhanced by adopting generic modeling guidelines (e.g. [40]). For the application phase of generic methods (i.e. for the derivation of situational methods from generic methods), BECKER ET AL.’s configuration framework (e.g. [6, 7]) could serve as a foundation to define enhanced generation and other configuration mechanisms. Furthermore, the epistemological and especially ontological foundations that have been identified for reference modeling may be considered for review and adoption by method engineering. In the other direction, the identification of situational factors, scenario classifications and ‘fragment’ assembly mechanisms may be useful for the enhancement of reference model configuration techniques. Reference model construction and application processes could be specified as meta-methods, and the generic nature of method engineering could lead to an understanding of reference modeling that is not focused too narrowly on processes.
that supports the construction of configurable reference models [6, 7]. A further extension of the reference modeling state-of-theart are concepts and approaches focusing on the process of reference model usage, e.g. the guidelines of modeling by SCHÜTTE AND ROTTHOWE [37]. Reference modeling has reached a state where it is considered to be applicable by a large number of practitioners and its construction and application processes to be increasingly understood by researchers. Concerning method engineering, it is to question which results of the reference modeling discussion can be applied to method engineering on the one hand, and which aspects have to be discussed separately for method engineering on the other. In order to analyze this, the state-of-the-art of method engineering [ME] is summarized in the following section.
3. METHODS GUTZWILLER derived generic constituents of methods from a product perspective in [25]. According to GUTZWILLER, a method is specified by activities, roles, specification documents, techniques and a metamodel. This set of constituent elements has been validated from a product perspective by a recent literature review [13]. Tools can be used to support the application of one or more techniques. The meta model specifies the information model of the results, thereby guaranteeing the consistency of the entire method. From a process perspective, methods are comprised of phases, phases are comprised of design steps, and design steps are comprised of design sub-steps. To every design step or sub-step, certain product-oriented method constituents (e.g. techniques, procedures) can be assigned [35]. Even early work on ME acknowledges the fact that methods always are more or less generic and have to be extended and / or configured in order to be applicable to a specific development problem. BRINKKEMPER consequently designates his artifacts as ‘situational methods’ [14]. Engineering a situational method requires standardized building blocks (‘method fragments’ [15]) and guidelines for their assembly. Such guidelines are provided by so-called ‘metamethods’. Furthermore, a configuration process should be set up that guides the assembly of these building blocks into a situational method. It should be differentiated between a generic method (i.e. a method comprising generic/alternative activities, a generic procedure model, alternative/generic techniques, alternative/generic document specifications, alternative/generic roles, and a comprehensive metamodel) on the one hand, and a meta-method (i.e. a method that guides the extension and configuration process that derives a situational method from a generic method) on the other hand. When analyzing approaches for specifying meta-methods, is becomes evident that they focus on method selection depending on project types or other situational factors (e.g. [28, 29, 35, 36]). Works on configuring methods (or method combinations, cf. [34]) introduce some formalization on method selection and structuring. For large-scale organizational transformations, BAUMÖL [2] has proposed a comprehensive ME approach that does not only describe how to identify situational factors, but also to select appropriate techniques (thereby instantiating the generic procedure model) and to assemble situational methods from common and situationspecific techniques.
5. CONCLUSION AND FURTHER RESEARCH Based on a summary of the state-of-the-art of reference modeling and method engineering, methodology reuse potentials have been outlined in the preceding chapter. Future work should address the following issues: (a) Converge the widely distinct terminologies for reference modeling and method engineering into a common terminological foundation for the construction of generic artifacts and—based on these—the situational generation of specific artifacts (both models and methods). (b) Integrate product / structural views on reference models and generic methods on the one hand and process views on the construction of generic artifacts and their application on the other. (c) Generalize situational factors, application scenarios, and generation mechanisms so that these can be utilized for reference model configuration as well as for method engineering. (d) Integrate specification languages and artifact manipulation mechanisms from reference modeling and method engineering into a common framework as widely as possible and meaningful. (e) Analyze and systemize requirements for tool support—both for the construction of generic artifacts and for the situational generation of specific artifacts. (f) Integrate modeling guidelines and epistemological insights from reference modeling and method engineering into a common meta-method as widely as possible and meaningful.
4. REUSE POTENTIALS
6. REFERENCES
The basic ideas for the construction of reference models and the (configurative) application of reference models are similar to
Due to space limitations for short papers the literature references are available on request (see authors’ addresses above).
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