Representing instances: the case for reengineering conceptual modelling grammars

Lukyanenko, Roman; Parsons, Jeffrey; Samuel, Binny M.

doi:10.1080/0960085x.2018.1488567

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…Every process execution involves specific settings, events and resources (Antunes and Mourão, 2011;Ploesser et al, 2010). Therefore, individual cases have been of interest to the research community (Lukyanenko et al, 2019).…”

Section: Ontology Of Process Conceptualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We use the term "instance" to refer to a specific "thing" belonging to a class in a domain (Parsons and Wand, 2000). In the world of processes, instance models play a central role in explaining the specifics of process execution, which do not conform to prior generalizations (Lukyanenko et al, 2019). This conceptualization adopts the ex post existential property because models represent completed process executions.…”

Section: Ontology Of Process Conceptualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Business process conceptualizations and the flexibility-support tradeoff

Antunes

Tate

2022

BPMJ

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PurposeMany organizations struggle to achieve their desired levels of business process flexibility and support. However, these two capabilities conflict with each other and different tradeoffs have to be made. In this paper, the authors analyze different process conceptualizations and discuss their implications. The authors argue that the conceptualizations people adopt to think (conceptualize) about business processes affect the way they model them, which in turn result in different flexibility-support tradeoffs.Design/methodology/approachA set of properties is proposed to compare process conceptualizations: dominant concept, contract, and existential and representational properties. Using these properties, several process conceptualizations are analyzed and integrated in a comparison chart, which highlights different flexibility-support tradeoffs. The storytelling method is adopted to support the analytic process.FindingsThe authors show how different process conceptualizations result in different flexibility-support tradeoffs. The authors suggest that we need to intervene on a set of properties of process conceptualizations to achieve different flexibility-support tradeoffs.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes to understanding the relationships between process conceptualizations, process modeling, and the flexibility-support tradeoff. A comparison chart helps organizations analyze their desired levels of flexibility and support using a set of properties.Originality/valueThe extent of covered viewpoints makes this study unique in the process management field. Such effort provides a contribution towards a more multidisciplinary discussion of process models, which integrates different process conceptualizations.

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Section: Ontology Of Process Conceptualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ontology Of Process Conceptualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business process conceptualizations and the flexibility-support tradeoff

Antunes

Tate

2022

BPMJ

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“…Class-based modelling typically assumes class definitions that include comprehensive attribute structures expected to be stable over time (Lukyanenko, Parsons, & Samuel, 2019), what Eriksson, Johannesson, and Bergholtz (2019) call an attribute-oriented view of classes. This view of classes is standard in conceptual modelling practice in software engineering and has theoretical support by the BWW ontology.…”

Section: Implications For Class Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speaking things into existence: Ontological foundations of identity representation and management

Eriksson

Ågerfalk

2021

Information Systems Journal

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Conceptual models capture knowledge about domains of reality. Therefore, conceptual models and their modelling constructs should be based on theories about the worldthat is, they should be grounded in ontology. Identity is fundamental to ontology and conceptual modelling because it addresses the very existence of objects and conceptual systems in general. Classification involves grouping objects that share similarities and delineating them from objects that fall under other concepts (qualitative identity). However, among objects that fall under the same concept, we must also distinguish between individual objects (individual identity). In this paper, we analyze the ontological question of identity, focusing specifically on institutional identity, which is the identity of socially constructed institutional objects. An institutional entity is a language construct that is 'spoken into existence'.We elaborate on how institutional identity changes how we understand conceptual modelling and the models produced.We show that different models result if we base modelling on a property-based conception of identity compared to an institutional one. We use the Bunge-Wand-Weber principles, which embrace a property-based view of identity, as an anchor to the existing literature to point out how this type of ontology sidesteps identity in general and institutional In memory of Professor Bo Sundgren (1946, a pioneer in conceptual modelling and an invaluable source of inspiration and support.

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“…We claim only that it is faithful to instance-based principles. Lukyanenko et al (2019a) address the issue of whether an instancebased modelling grammar is needed and what requirements it should satisfy. Moreover, Eriksson et al (2019) suggest the value of alternative representations that accommodate both instances and classes.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By instancebased representation, we mean that data are modelled or represented visually as individuals bundled with their attributes and are not pre-classified into tables (Parsons & Wand, 2000). Such instance-based representations have been argued to be more amenable to using data in ways other than those anticipated when the data were collected (Lukyanenko, Parsons, Samuel et al, 2019a). Using an instance-based representation, classification can be done on demand, depending on the purpose for which the data are being used.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skipping class: improving human-driven data exploration and querying through instances

Saghafi

Wand

Parsons

2021

European Journal of Information Systems

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With the growing focus on business analytics and data-driven decision-making, there is a greater need for humans to interact effectively with data. We propose that presenting data to human users in terms of instances and attributes provides a more flexible and usable structure for querying, exploring, and analysing data. Compared to a traditional representation, an instance-based representation does not impose any predefined classification schema over the data when it is presented to users. This paper examines the potential utility of instancebased data through two laboratory experiments -the first focusing on exploration of data for pattern discovery (open-ended tasks) and the second on retrieval of information (closed-ended tasks). In both cases, participants were able to achieve better results in tasks using instancebased data than using class-based representations. Given the growing need for self-service analytics, as well as using information for purposes not anticipated when it was collected, we show that instance-based representations can be an effective way to satisfy the emerging needs of information users.

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Representing instances: the case for reengineering conceptual modelling grammars

Cited by 19 publications

References 122 publications

Business process conceptualizations and the flexibility-support tradeoff

Business process conceptualizations and the flexibility-support tradeoff

Speaking things into existence: Ontological foundations of identity representation and management

Skipping class: improving human-driven data exploration and querying through instances

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