Expanding Conceptual Modeling to Help Manage Changes in the Business

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Conceptual modeling has been defined as "the activity of formally describing some aspects of the physical and social world around us for purposes of understanding and communication". The outcome of conceptual modeling is usually some kind of a diagram or conceptual model. Conceptual modeling has been used mainly as a means for systems analysts to gather requirements from organizational workers so that information systems (IS) can be developed. In order to better capture requirements for developing IS, I have been extending conceptual models to include more of the business context (e.g., mission of the organization). When communicating these conceptual models to managers, we found that they discovered previously unknown information, and utilized the conceptual models to support their problem solving. We, therefore, hypothesize that the use of such extended models can provide dual benefits. First, it can lead to better understanding of IS requirements, and hence to better outcomes of IS projects. Second, such conceptual models can help manage changes in the business, which is a new use of conceptual models. Such changes often occur when the business evolves and adjusts over time, due to growth, downsizing, and new generations of consumers, and when IS applications are introduced into the business (which can lead to radical changes in how the business is conducted). The overall objective of this research is to identify and test conceptual modeling approaches that can support this dual role. The novelty of our proposed approach is to view the business as consisting of organizational actors, who each represent an organizational role; have a goal and certain capabilities; engage in reasoning and learning to accomplish the goal; and interact with other roles. To accomplish the objective of supporting managers, we must provide constructs for conceptual modeling that are not biased toward an IS background and thinking. Therefore, the conceptual models will require constructs that employ management and organizational concepts that are meaningful to stakeholders.