Enterprise Modeling and Simulation Within Enterprise Engineering

Abstract

One of the strengths of simulation as a method of inquiry and tool of study is its ability to provide a platform for breakthrough ideas in emerging interdisciplinary fields. In this article, the author defines enterprise engineering as an interdisciplinary field and discusses the role of modeling and simulation and its potential in enterprise engineering. In particular, the author discusses an innovative method for enterprise modeling and simulation and the underling theory. Because complexity is a growing challenge in modern enterprises, in the proposed method the author also demonstrates how to reduce complexity of models by capturing only the essential enterprise business processes and excluding from the model's scope nonessential processes and implementation concerns. The theoretical underpinning and worldview of the proposed method is that enterprises are essentially social systems whose elements are human actors.