Economic Models - Convex Optimization

Enterprise Modeling and Integration 129
layers, communication layers, goal-contribution layers, geographically
based activities and so forth.
The sole purpose for having such functional-oriented constructs is to
decompose the enterprise into smaller, more specific, and more manageable
parts. The contribution of each entity to the enterprise objectives is thus
readily identified and narrowed down in scope, horizontally or vertically.
It is only through the use of one or more dimensions that the entities are
re-combined in an enterprise-wide integration model.
Enterprise constituents or constituent groups refer to the human factor
which is ultimately responsible for setting out, applying and achieving EI.
The most prevalent constituent groups are the following:
• Stakeholders
• Decision-makers
• Employees
which are internal to the enterprise, and
• Suppliers and
• Clients
which are external to the enterprise.
Some of the main pitfalls in EI lie at the constituents’ level. This is
because the constituents are, in one way or another, autonomous or semiautonomous
agents acting primarily in their own interest, which is defined
mainly by their position in enterprise coordinates terms. We consider the
following fundamental dimensions as the main enterprise coordinates for
positioning the constituents:
• level of authority and
• immediacy of contribution to goals (from strategic to operational, abstract
to specific)
which can also be inverted to
• level of responsibility and
• level of activity (from strategic to operational, or abstract to specific)
The higher the level of authority, the more strategic or abstract are the
actions that the constituents take in enterprise terms. At this level, constituents
have a bird’s-eye view of the enterprise and find it easier to match
organizational outcomes to personal interest i.e., the bird’s-eye view makes
it easier to view the enterprise as a single entity. On the other hand, the