Hans Mulder

University of Antwerp Management School, Enterprise IT Architecture, Faculty Member

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Hans Mulder is CEO of Venture Informatisering Adviesgroep NV, co-founder of Meetingwizard. He is regularly engaged as an IT expert when conflicts between companies need to be resolved in or out of court. He is frequently involved in matters of dispute settlement, such as participating in arbitration, mediation and expert reports. Hans is Standish European research director and executive professor at the Antwerp Management School. In addition, Hans is lecturer at the Police Academy of the Netherlands. He received his Phd. at Delft University of Technology (Information Systems department), his Master of Science in Business Administration (MScBA) at Nijenrode Business Universiteit in 1994 and his Bachelor of Science in ICT at The Hague University of Professional Education (Informatics) in 1993.http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Mulder_(scientist)
Address: Patrijsweg 14
2289 EX Rijswijk
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The DEMO Methodology

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

In this chapter DEMO (Design and Engineering Methodology for Organisations) is presented, in orde... more In this chapter DEMO (Design and Engineering Methodology for Organisations) is presented, in order to produce the essential model of an enterprise, or in general of a Scope of Interest (which may cover a part of one enterprise or of a network of enterprises). Like every proper methodology, DEMO comprises a Way of Thinking (WoT), a Way of Modelling (WoM), and a Way of Working (WoW). The WoT consists of the theories that are discussed in part B of this book. The WoM consists of an integrated whole of four aspect models: the Cooperation model (CM), the Action Model (AM), the Process Model (PM), and the Fact Model (FM). The CM of a Scope of Interest (SoI) is the ontological model of its construction, thus of the identified transactor roles and the coordination structures among them. Three structures are distinguished: the interaction structure, the interimpediment structure and the interstriction structure. The AM of an SoI is the ontological model of its operation. For every internal actor role, it provides the rules that guide the role fillers in doing their work. The guidelines for responding to coordination events are called action rules (similar to business rules), the ones for performing production acts are called work instructions. The PM of an SoI is the ontological model of the state space and the transition space of its coordination world. It contains the existence laws and occurrence laws for all internal and border transactor roles. The PM connects the CM and the AM of an SoI as far as coordination is concerned. The FM of an SoI is the ontological model of the state space and the transition space of its production world. It contains the existence laws and occurrence laws for all identified entity types, value types, property types, attribute types, and event types. The PM connects the CM and the AM of an SoI as far as production is concerned. All four sub-models are expressed in the DEMO Specification Language (DEMOSL), which comprises diagrams, tables, and formal textual descriptions. For producing essential models of enterprises, the WoW of DEMO offers the OER method (Organisational Essence Revealing). It consists of a number of steps in which the four aspect models are produced, preferably in a spiral way.

The MU Theory: Understanding Models and Modelling

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The MU theory or EE model theory is a theory of models and modelling in general, and of conceptua... more The MU theory or EE model theory is a theory of models and modelling in general, and of conceptual modelling in particular. The foundations part starts with this definition of model: any subject using a system A to obtain knowledge of a system B is using A as a model of B. It conveys clearly the basic understanding of the concept of model as a role notion. Next, the model triangle is introduced, based on the semiotic triangle from the FI theory. It clarifies how complexes (systems and aggregates) of three major sorts (concrete, conceptual, and symbolic) can be used as models of each other. By adding two levels of abstraction (namely the schema level and the meta level), the General Conceptual Modelling Framework emerges. It clarifies the notions of conceptual complex, conceptual schema, and meta schema for any Universe of Discourse or system’s world. It is also made clear that these notions are logical constructs, and that consequently any expression of them (in a suitable language) is directly transformable to first-order logic. The elaborations part comprises the presentation and discussion of the General Ontology Specification Language (GOSL). GOSL is a universal language for specifying conceptual complexes, conceptual schemas, and meta schemas. The syntax of the language consists of graphical as well as textual symbols and constructs. The latter constitute an English-like formal language. The split between the two is a pragmatic one. Compared to common graphical languages for conceptual modelling, GOSL might be called minimal: it covers only the basic concepts and constructs. More complicated logical formulas can often be better expressed in textual constructs. The discussions part starts with a comparison of the GCMF with two other frameworks. Next, the influence of O-O thinking on conceptual modelling is discussed. It appears that O-O thinking causes the blurring of two crucial things in conceptual modelling: the type–instance relationship and the subtype–supertype relationship.

A History of Organisation and ICT

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The OMEGA Theory: Understanding the Construction of Organisations

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The OMEGA theory, also called organisational construction theory, is a theory about the modular s... more The OMEGA theory, also called organisational construction theory, is a theory about the modular structures that can be distinguished in organisations. Based on the organisational building block (the transactor role) from the PSI theory, three kinds of coordination structures are identified and discussed: interaction structure, interstriction structure, and interimpediment structure. The interaction structure of an organisation consists of tree structures, composed of the initiator links between transactor roles. An interaction structure determines a business process kind. The interstriction structure of an organisation consists of the access links between transactor roles. Through access links, actors have reading access to the facts in transaction banks. A distinction is made between the interprocess and the intraprocess interstriction structure. The interimpediment structure of an organisation is composed of the wait links between transactor roles. A distinction is made between the interprocess and the intraprocess interimpediment structure. Three topics are elaborated in-depth. The first one is the notion of responsibility range of a transactor role, as an extension of the responsibility area from the PSI theory (cf. Chap. 8). The second subject is a comprehensive way of modelling business processes, which allows for all the details that are needed, but that is still very concise. The third subject concerns general patterns in process structures, called reference models. To conclude, the structural way of thinking about business processes is compared with the current dominant flow thinking.

Governance Practices and Critical Success Factors Suitable for Business Information Security

Information Security (IS) is increasingly becoming an integrated business practice instead of jus... more Information Security (IS) is increasingly becoming an integrated business practice instead of just IT. Security breaches are a challenge to organizations. They run the risk of losing revenue, trust and reputation and in extreme cases they might even go under. IS literature emphasizes the necessity to govern Information Security at the level of the Board of Directors (BoD) and to execute (i.e. plan, build, run and monitor) it at management level. This paper describes explorative research into IS-relevant Governance and Executive management practices. Answering the main research question: "Which practices at the level of Governance are relevant for Business Information Security Maturity" The initial phase of this research consists of a review of academic and practice-oriented literature on these relevant practices. This list of practices is then examined and validated through expert panel research using a Group Support System (GSS). The paper ultimately identifies a list of 22 core principles. This list can function as frame of reference for Boards of Directors and Management Teams in order to increase their level of Business Information Security (BIS) Maturity.

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Introduction to Enterprise Ontology

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The notion of Enterprise Ontology as adopted in this book comprises both system ontology (dynamic... more The notion of Enterprise Ontology as adopted in this book comprises both system ontology (dynamics) and world ontology (statics). By applying the notion, one acquires an understanding of the essence of an enterprise that is comprehensive, coherent, consistent, and concise, thus allowing one to achieve intellectual manageability, which is one of the general goals of Enterprise Engineering. The philosophical background in which Enterprise Ontology is positioned, is characterised by being both constructivist and interpretive. In addition to the importance of the Enterprise Ontology for all participants in modern social and economic life, the urgency of adopting and spreading it is substantiated. The only prerequisite to achieve this is an open mind.

The ALPHA Theory: Understanding the Essence of Organisations

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The ALPHA theory, or organisational essence theory, is a theory about the distinction of layers o... more The ALPHA theory, or organisational essence theory, is a theory about the distinction of layers of transactor roles in an organisation, based on the sort of production that transactors bring about: original, informational, or documental. Original production comprises all production acts that result in original new facts. Examples are devising things, deciding and judging, as well as manufacturing, transporting, and observing things. Informational production acts comprise remembering, computing and deriving facts, and sharing (remembered or derived) facts. Documental production acts comprise saving, providing, and transforming documents or data (containing facts), as well as storing, retrieving, copying, transmitting, and destroying files. Accordingly, the organisation of an enterprise can be partitioned into three partial organisations: the O-organisation (O from original), the I-organisation (I from informational), and the D-organisation (D from documental). The I-organisation supports the O-organisation by means of informational services (remembering and sharing facts), and the D-organisation supports the I-organisation by means of documental services (saving and providing data or documents). Because original acts are the only acts that change the state of the ‘business’ world of an enterprise (i.e. the production world of its O-organisation), they must be performed by human actors. For informational and documental acts, it holds that they can be taken over by artefacts, notably ICT systems, including AI-artefacts (like logistic control systems and robots). However, as pointed out in the PSI theory, human actors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the acts of these artefacts. The ontological model of an enterprise’s O-organisation is called its essential model. Like every ontological model, it is abstracted from implementation, but it is also abstracted from realisation, that is, from the supporting I- and D-organisation. Yet it contains everything that is needed to understand the essence of an enterprise’s operation. In terms of size, that is, the amount of diagrams, text, etc., the essential model is less than 5% of a ‘normal’ complete model of an enterprise. So, the ALPHA theory contributes to the generic enterprise engineering goal of intellectual manageability by an unprecedented reduction of complexity. The ALPHA theory also clarifies that every enterprise information system (EIS) is nothing more or less than a part of I- and the D-organisation that support the O-organisation, only implemented by using ICT. Thus, the (functional) requirements for an EIS are contained in the essential model of the organisation.

Enterprise Ontology

Springer eBooks, 2020

and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requi... more and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

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The Enterprise Engineering Theories

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The foundations of the discipline of enterprise engineering (EE), as envisioned by the Ciao Netwo... more The foundations of the discipline of enterprise engineering (EE), as envisioned by the Ciao Network, consist of the CIAO Paradigm and a number of theories. After the discussion of the paradigm, which has its origins in the communication-centric view on information systems engineering which emerged around 2000, the role of the EE theories and their relationships with the EE methods and the practice of EE is explained. After having been arranged in a suitable classification scheme, each of the following theories is briefly discussed: the EE information theory, the EE model theory, the EE function-construction theory, the EE organisational operation theory, the EE system theory, the EE organisational construction theory, the EE organisational essence theory, the EE organisational design theory, the EE organisational implementation theory, the EE normalisation theory, and the EE governance and management theory.

Exercise: Case PoliGyn

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The case PoliGyn is an exercise in producing the essential model of an enterprise that offers cre... more The case PoliGyn is an exercise in producing the essential model of an enterprise that offers creation of (tangible and intangible) things: producing diagnoses, and performing clinical and sonographic examinations. The CM, PM, and FM are (partially) presented and discussed. Three, basically general, topics are elaborated, because they have a typical role in PoliGyn. The first topic has to do with the identification and formulation of product kinds. The second one is the order in which enclosed transactions are carried out, and the third one is the delegation of tasks.

DEMO Enhanced Method Engineering

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

In this chapter, a number of contributions are presented wherein DEMO is used in combination with... more In this chapter, a number of contributions are presented wherein DEMO is used in combination with an existing and well-accepted approach or activity in the broad field of enterprise engineering, all resulting in improving the quality of the other approach or activity. The selected contributions are: (1) DEMO enhanced Agile Software Development, (2) DEMO enhanced Lean Six Sigma (3) DEMO enhanced BPMN, (4) DEMO enhanced software testing, and (5) DEMO enhanced mining.

Introduction to Enterprise Engineering

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Enterprise Engineering is an emerging discipline that takes an engineering perspective on enterpr... more Enterprise Engineering is an emerging discipline that takes an engineering perspective on enterprises. It aims to address the problems in organisations that cannot be solved by the traditional organisational sciences. Organisational changes are conceived as situations of (re)design and (re)implementation. The conceptual pillars are Enterprise Ontology, Enterprise Design, and Enterprise Governance. By applying Enterprise Engineering three goals are attained: intellectual manageability, organisational concinnity, and social devotion.

Exercise: Case GloLog

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The case GloLog is an exercise in producing the essential model of an enterprise that offers the ... more The case GloLog is an exercise in producing the essential model of an enterprise that offers the transporting and storing of tangible things: goods, containers, ships. The CM, PM, and FM of the GloLog organisation are presented and discussed. Emphasis is put on four topics. The first is the unavoidable need to conceive notions that are not present in the narrative description, but that are nevertheless ontologically crucial: the container content and the ship content. The second is the necessary existence of four distinct, only ‘loosely coupled’, business processes. The necessity stems from the incompatibility of the case cycles in these processes: sale, purchase, container content, and ship content. The third topic is the distribution of responsibilities: the ontologically necessary ones, as represented in particular by the CM, cannot easily be traced back to the narrative description of the case. The fourth topic is the current implementation of the essential model. Without the help of the essential model, it is almost impossible to clarify the role of the many parties involved and the many document kinds used (respectively to point at their redundancy).

Exercise: Case Pizzeria

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The case Pizzeria is an exercise in understanding and applying the full potential of abstracting ... more The case Pizzeria is an exercise in understanding and applying the full potential of abstracting from realisation and implementation, and thus focusing on the O-organisation of an enterprise. In the course of its existence, the pizzeria passes through three phases. The transition from the first to the second phase leads to a change in the essential model. The change appears to have interesting consequences for the allocation of authority. Despite the huge differences between the second and the third phase in terms of implementation, their ontological models do not differ.

Exercise: Case Library

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The case Library is an exercise in producing the essential model of an enterprise that offers the... more The case Library is an exercise in producing the essential model of an enterprise that offers the obtaining of usufruct of tangible things (borrowing books) and the creating of intangible things (starting and ending memberships). By applying the OER method to the narrative case description, the information is achieved on the basis of which the essential model is produced. The essential model is a stable beacon when discussing the impacts of alternative ways of implementing it. Far-reaching changes in the operational activities appear to have no or little impact on the essential model because they mainly regard implementation matters. Special attention is given to showing how revocations can be indicated in the process structure diagram.

Organisational transformation requires constructional knowledge of business systems

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Group Support Systems Research in the Field of Business Information Security: A Practitioner's View

This paper describes the application of Group Support Systems (GSS) in the field of Business Info... more This paper describes the application of Group Support Systems (GSS) in the field of Business Information Security Governance (BISG). The focus is on longitudinal small team collaboration-for instance within Boards of Directors (BoD) and groups of experts-with large amounts of items. Apart from this focus on small groups, there is an operational link to the Information Security Management cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act i.e. ISO27000 norms). This link results for expert and management teams in collaboration on lots of items (e.g. 133 controls or in this case 228 best practices). This paper presents the findings of an initial research phase and presents a comprehensive, thoroughly selected core set of BISG practices to be used by practitioners. It shows how GSS can play a facilitating role in small team collaboration with large amounts of data. It concludes with suggestions for further empirical research into the BISG topic.

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Enterprise Ontology: A Human-Centric Approach to Understanding the Essence of Organisation

This chapter sketches a history of the Organisational Sciences along with a history of the ICT Sc... more This chapter sketches a history of the Organisational Sciences along with a history of the ICT Sciences (comprising Computer Science, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, etc.). The first one starts with the famous publication by Frederick Taylor in 1911. The history of the ICT Sciences begins in the late fifties of the last century, with the first use of computers in organisations. The two histories converge at the time that communication is (also) understood as action, around the year 2000. This insight paves the way to the development of the discipline of Enterprise Engineering, which includes Enterprise Ontology. The test of a healthy business is not the beauty, clarity or perfection of its organisational structure, it is the performance of people. (Peter Drucker) As expressed by its subtitle, this book is about a human-centric approach to understanding the essence of organisation. Adding such a subtitle begs the question what the authors understand by human-centric, and by essence, and by organisation. As will become clear in the remainder of the book, these notions are tightly interrelated, and they are all also related to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). And because organisation will turn out to be the key notion, let us start with a sketch of its history, supplemented later on by the history of ICT, which has, over the years, increasingly become intertwined with organisation. Instead of “the history”, we speak more humbly of “a history”, since it is our specific view on the history of organisation and ICT. In 1911, Frederic Taylor published his paper “The Principles of Scientific Management” [1], which is widely considered as the first scientific study into the notion of organisation. At the time, people were the principal resources for doing the work Information and Communication Technology commonly refers to the digital electronic, optical, etc., means to process, store, and transmit data. Regarding the term ‘technology’ we prefer to stick to the original meaning of the word, which stems from its Greek origin: technè (meaning making) and logos (meaning knowing). So, by technology we primarily understand knowing how to make, and only secondarily the means (devices, etc.) mentioned above. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 J. L. G. Dietz, J. B. F. Mulder, Enterprise Ontology, The Enterprise Engineering Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38854-6_1 3 that had to be done, in all kinds of organisations, so in manufacturing, in financial, and in governmental organisations. Taylor’s focus was to improve the efficiency with which the work was done, in order to minimise the time a piece of work would take, as well as to minimise material usage, including waste. Typical characteristics of the scientific management approach are the minute division of labour in simple, repetitive tasks, and the clear separation between thinking and doing. Workers are instrumentally viewed as parts of the enterprise ‘machine’. According to Taylor, a man fit to do the manual work is unfit to understand the organising of the work, like the coordination of all work and workers. Consequently, Taylor was convinced that managerial control is indispensable. In [2], we have reflected on Taylor’s contribution to the organisational sciences and on the criticism that fell upon him later. Basically, two kinds of criticisms can be identified. The first one concerns ethical considerations regarding the deployment of ‘human resources’. Various researchers have argued that the principles of scientific management lead to worker deprivation and alienation, and to destroying the meaning of work itself [3, 4]. These phenomena were already visible a few years after Taylor published his paper, when his principles were practised in Ford’s car manufacturing: workers’ jobs were depleted of skill, autonomy, and control, leading to extreme worker turnover rates [5]. Considerations concerning the effectiveness and efficiency of enterprises constitute the second kind of criticism. Essentially, the critique boils down to two aspects. First, the notion that proper attention to employees as a social group can significantly enhance enterprise effectiveness and efficiency, as for example, evidenced by the classical Hawthorne studies [6]. Noteworthy within this perspective is the sociotechnical approach [7] that argues the mutual relationship between the social and technological ‘system’ of an enterprise. Hence, these systems must be jointly designed since they can mutually support each other to enhance enterprise effectiveness and efficiency. Second, it is argued that the mere instrumental view on employees—workers as labour resources—undervalues human cognitive and social capacities. This shift in focus is evidenced by landmark publications like [8–10]. The new focus considers employees, and their involvement and participation, as the critical core for enterprise success. Around 1970, a revolution took place in the way…

Sterkere concurrentiekracht met gedegen IT risk management

The PSI Theory: Understanding the Operation of Organisations

The PSI theory is a theory about the operation of organisations. PSI stands for Performing in Soc... more The PSI theory is a theory about the operation of organisations. PSI stands for Performing in Social Interaction. Based on the CIAO (Communication, Information, Action, and Organisation) paradigm, a communication-centric view is taken on the cooperation of people in enterprises, as manifested in business processes. The fundamental notion in understanding the operation of organisations is the coordination act. It consists of a performer, an addressee, an intention, and a product. The performer and the addressee are actors, that is, subjects filling an actor role. Actor roles are the units of authority and responsibility. Coordination acts can be performed verbally, non-verbally, and tacitly. They are the key elements in (business) conversations, which are the constituting parts of (business) transactions. A transaction is carried out by actors in two roles: the initiator and the executor. The executor brings about the product of the transaction to the benefit of the initiator. The pr...

The DEMO Methodology

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The MU Theory: Understanding Models and Modelling

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

A History of Organisation and ICT

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The OMEGA Theory: Understanding the Construction of Organisations

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Governance Practices and Critical Success Factors Suitable for Business Information Security

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Introduction to Enterprise Ontology

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

The ALPHA Theory: Understanding the Essence of Organisations

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Enterprise Ontology

Springer eBooks, 2020

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The Enterprise Engineering Theories

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Exercise: Case PoliGyn

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

DEMO Enhanced Method Engineering

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Introduction to Enterprise Engineering

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Exercise: Case GloLog

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Exercise: Case Pizzeria

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Exercise: Case Library

The enterprise engineering series, 2020

Organisational transformation requires constructional knowledge of business systems

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Group Support Systems Research in the Field of Business Information Security: A Practitioner's View

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Enterprise Ontology: A Human-Centric Approach to Understanding the Essence of Organisation

Sterkere concurrentiekracht met gedegen IT risk management

The PSI Theory: Understanding the Operation of Organisations

The Evolution of DEMO

The Evolution of DEMO, 2020

Since its inception in the nineties of the 20th century, the Design and Engineering Methodology f... more Since its inception in the nineties of the 20th century, the Design and Engineering Methodology for Organisations (DEMO) has evolved in four phases, simply denoted as DEMO-1, DEMO-2, DEMO-3 and DEMO-4. The changes in every phase are based on the various discussions and evaluations, both in practice and in the academic communities. In this paper, we present and discuss the major improvements of DEMO-4, announced in 2020, in comparison with the previous versions. DEMO-4 is considered quite full-fledged: it is theoretically mature as well as based on over 25 years of practical experience. The paper discussed several critiques that were published in the course of time. Two of them are written after the publication of the DEMO-4. It also contains a section in which the online discussion of the theoretical importance and the practical impact of DEMO-4 during the EEWC 2020 (Enterprise Engineering Working Conference) is summarised.

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Blockchain is van levensbelang

Blockchain is van levensbelang, 2020

Dit boek vertrekt van de strategische vraag waarom het blockchainverhaal in het buitenland, en in... more Dit boek vertrekt van de strategische vraag waarom het blockchainverhaal in het buitenland, en in het bijzonder in Nederland, op meer bijval kan rekenen bij de overheden terwijl de Belgische overheden schijnbaar minder warm lopen voor het onderwerp. Het blikt terug om vervolgens vooruit te gaan.

Dit boek is meer dan een inspirerende zoektocht naar een antwoord op die cruciale vraag. De auteurs pleiten vanuit hun eigen domein en directe ervaring voor een zinvolle hernieuwing van de blockchainambities opdat de Belgische overheden ten volle de opportuniteit aangrijpen van een duurzaam digitaal verhaal waarbij ze zelf mee aan het stuur zitten. Ondertussen haken buitenlandse overheden en private ondernemingen hun wagentje vast aan het blockchainverhaal, overtuigd als ze zijn dat dit het traject voor de toekomst is. De kracht en de uitdagingen van blockchain en gelijkaardige technologieën heeft een dermate potentieel dat het meteen ook een bedreiging kan vormen voor bestaande processen.

Dit boek wil een oriëntatieinstrument zijn voor wie op zoek is naar een kompas in deze bijzonder omvattende digitale (r)evolutie.

Hans Mulder

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