On Supporting Collaborative Problem Solving in Enterprise Architecture Creation

Abstract

Creating enterprise architecture can be perceived as a creative problem solving task, since it involves managing organizational complexity and inflexibility by devising a synergic solution from all organizational units. Creative (or collaborative) problem solving in several fields has been supported by supplementing domain specific techniques with functionalities of a Group Support System (GSS). This paper aims to demonstrate how GSSs can also be used to support collaborative problem solving in enterprise architecture creation. Using the Design Science research methodology, a method was designed to support collaborative problem solving during architecture creation. This method draws from enterprise architecture approaches that are used in practice, and collaborative problem solving theories in academia. It has been evaluated using an experiment and two real life cases. This paper presents findings from this evaluation. The findings were used to refine the method, and they indicate that the effectiveness of academia-based artifacts in addressing problems encountered in practice, can only be achieved through continuous and diverse evaluation of these artifacts in practice.

Definition and Validation of Requirements for Collaborative Decision-Making in Enterprise Architecture Creation

“…37 An example is the nature of collaborative problem solving and decision making that is required during enterprise architecture creation -it varies across organizations and yet involves various types of meeting processes. 58 Hence, the need for flexible facilitation. Flexible facilitation support can be offered by EMSs (e.g.…”

“…Criteria 1-3 were earlier reported in Ref. 58, and criterion 4 has been added to assess whether the CEADA method achieves its ultimate purpose. In assessing effectiveness, the goal is to find out whether CEADA really supports the following:…”

“…Indicators 1-3 were earlier reported in Ref. 58, and indicator 4 has been specified to measure CEADA's performance under criterion 4 above:…”

A Collaborative Curriculum Review: Applicability to Higher Education Institutions

“…A collaboration pattern (CP) is a means to determining how a group moves through meeting activities (phases) to attain an agreed upon goal [13], [17]. To create a CP, "a team leader/facilitator needs to give instructions so that the team members can follow a logical sequence of actions to share and process information using certain tools" [21].…”

“…Action research also enables testing artifacts by applying them in real-life settings [2], [15], [22]; hence the ColCuRP was tested in four HEIs environments. Action research has also been successfully used in other similar CE studies [1], [12], [16], [17].…”