Towards a Human Capabilities Conscious Enterprise Architecture

Abstract

This conceptual paper argues that enterprise architecture (EA) should move towards a conscious human-centered conception of the enterprise. Employing the conceptual methodological approach of theory synthesis and drawing on the extant literature in enterprise architecture as well as pertinent social and organizational theories, we suggested foundational propositions that could holistically serve as a theoretical lens for (re)viewing the foundations of EA within a progressive conscious enterprise agenda. The novel contribution of the paper is the introduction of human capabilities approach (HCA) as a method theory, to supplement systems and stakeholder theories, for design and evaluation of enterprise architecture in the modern enterprise. The paper concludes by showing the implications of the propositions for practitioners and researchers.

Creating Meaningful Intelligence for Decision-Making by Modelling Complexities of Human Influence: Review and Position

“…Yet, there is nowadays a prevailing feeling that technology provides better decisions than humans (called 'automation bias') [58]. Ultimately, the use of the same tools and techniques for SDM, which is an eminently creative process, may lead to a lack of diversity that impairs innovation and loss of the richness of human and social heterogeneities in favour of a monolithic, uniformised society managed by algorithms and scripted procedures [1].…”

“…The nature of enterprises has evolved, and so has our understanding of it. Whereas at some point enterprises were seen just as a vehicle for benefiting shareholders (by means of profits), nowadays they are understood as more complex organisations with an ethical and social role [1], [2]. The centrepieces of these complex organisations are the people that work in them, interact or consume their produce [3].…”

“…Consequently, companies evolved from being product-centric, to being customer-centric and are now seen as being human-or stakeholder-centric. These last two concepts are complementary among themselves: a 'stakeholder-centric organisation' focuses its activities on being beneficial to all its stakeholders [1], i.e., "those with whom the business interacts in pursuit of achieving its goals" [4], following an increasing concern with corporate social responsibility, corporate reputation, and responsible governance [5], while a 'human-centric organisation' is one that is designed in face of an understanding of human traits and preferences [6], [7].…”