The Enterprise Engineering Theories

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.