Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study addresses the question of whether there is a need for an expanded conceptual scanning framework that could benefit present-day business organisations. It addresses this question through the conceptualisation of such a framework, based on findings from the literature review executed during the secondary research phase of the study. Through the primary research phase, an attempt is made to reach conclusions pertaining to the research question. The extent to which businesses perform scanning and related activities as per the findings of the literature review is investigated by means of a Likert scale questionnaire presented to a sample of respondents. The study acknowledges that the imperative of environmental scanning for business organisations also holds true for non-business organisations, but focuses on business organisations that specifically drive sustainable competitiveness and increased business success. The study involves the conceptualisation of an expanded scanning framework through combining aspects and components of the ontological and epistemological dimensions prevalent in scanning and its derived activities. These derived activities include information gathering, scenario planning and strategy selection, and their impact on business performance. Furthermore, the conceptualisation of an expanded framework involves the application of a systems thinking approach in executing business environmental scanning. The inclusion of the ontological and epistemological dimensions are proposed as part of the a-priori design of an expanded conceptual scanning framework, offering the opportunity to present-day scanners to deal with matters of environmental dynamism more effectively through increased levels of understanding of the environment. The study aims to move beyond the empiricist mode of scanning and merely levels of knowledge that scanners have about the environment, to how they should approach, view, understand and manage it. The study expands on current conceptual scanning frameworks, methodologies and approaches applied by business organisations when scanning the business environment. It proposes an expanded conceptual scanning framework, which could increase the depth and width of current conceptual scanning frameworks. The aim is to provide a tool with which business organisations can increase the compound whole of information gleaned from the environment, and its integrity. The expanded framework includes a conceptualisation of the construct content of an emerging newness between two or more systems in the scanned environment. It is based on the analysis of the inter-relatedness, inter-dependence and relation between the co-contributing systems of the emerging newness and the interplay of the co-contributing systems’ aspects, characteristics, dimensions and qualities. This conceptualised inclusion of emergent newness is based on the methodological analysis of system complexities through the application of a systems thinking approach to create the expanded conceptual scanning framework. Strategy, as the juncture between environmental scanning and an organisation’s capacity, has an environment-strategy interface and an organisation-strategy interface. The proposed expanded conceptual scanning framework incorporates both the ontological environment-strategy interface and the epistemological organisation-strategy interface, which concerns a particular worldview. This worldview underpins their approach when business organisations scan the environment. The expanded conceptual scanning framework aims to enhance the understanding of environmental complexity in order to enhance the management thereof. In this regard, it deviates from the notion that enhanced management of the environment would depend on a more accurate prediction of future environmental changes. Rather, it highlights the notion of increasing the understanding of the environment, in order to manage the opportunities and threats embedded in the environment and its future dynamism better. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie ondersoek die vraag of daar ‘n behoefte is aan ‘n breër konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk wat hedendaagse besigheidsorganisasies kan bevoordeel. Dit hanteer hierdie vraag deur middel van die konseptualisasie van so ‘n raamwerk, gegrond op die bevindings van die literatuuroorsig wat gedurende die sekondêre navorsingsfase van die studie uitgevoer is. Gedurende die primêre navorsingsfase word gepoog om gevolgtrekkings rakende die navorsingsvraag te maak. Die mate waarin besighede skandering en verwante bedrywighede onderneem, volgens die bevindings uit die literatuuroorsig, word ondersoek by wyse van ‘n Likert-skaal-vraelys wat aan ‘n steekproef van respondente voorgelê is. Die studie aanvaar dat die imperatief van omgewingskandering by besigheidsorganisasies ook vir nie-besigheidsorganisasies belangrik is, maar is spesifiek toegespits op besigheidsorganisasies wat handhaafbare mededingendheid en verhoogde besigheidsukses as dryfkragte het. Die studie behels die konseptualisasie van ‘n verbreede konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk deur die saamvoeging van aspekte en komponente van die ontologiese en epistemologiese dimensies wat by skandering en die daaruit voortvloeiende bedrywighede belangrik is. Hierdie voortspruitende bedrywighede sluit in inligtingsversameling, scenario-beplanning en strategieseleksie; en die impak daarvan op besigheidsprestasie. Verder behels die konseptualisasie van ‘n verbreede konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk dat ‘n stelselsdenke-benadering by die skandering van die besigheidsomgewing toegepas word. Die insluiting van die ontologiese en epistemologiese dimensies word voorgestel as deel van ‘n a-priori-ontwerp van ‘n verbreede konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk, wat die geleentheid bied aan hedendaagse skandeerders om meer doeltreffend te werk met aangeleenthede van omgewingsdinamika deur middel van hoër vlakke van insig in die omgewing. Die studie poog om wyer as slegs die empiriese skanderingsmodus en kennisvlakke, gegrond op wat skandeerders van die omgewing weet, te beweeg, na die wyse waarop hulle dit behoort te benader, te aanskou, te verstaan en te bestuur. Die studie verbreed huidige konseptuele skanderingsraamwerke – metodologieë en benaderings – soos toegepas deur besigheidsorganisasies in hul skandering van die besigheidsomgewing. ‘n Verbreede konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk word voorgestel, wat die diepte en breedte van huidige konseptuele skanderingsraamwerke sou kon verhoog. Sodoende is hierdie studie gerig op die bydrae tot ‘n werktuig waarmee besigheidsorganisasies die saamgestelde geheel van inligting wat uit die omgewing verkry is, en die integriteit daarvan, kan verhoog. Die verbreede konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk sluit in ‘n konseptualisasie van die konstruk-inhoud van ‘n ontluikende nuutheid tussen twee of meer stelsels in die geskandeerde omgewing. Dit is gebaseer op ‘n ontleding van die interverwantheid, interafhanklikheid en verwantskap tussen die mee-bydraende stelsels van hierdie ontluikende nuutheid en die tussenspel van die stelsels se aspekte, kenmerke, dimensies en eienskappe. Hierdie gekonseptualiseerde invoeging van ‘n ontluikende nuutheid is gegrond op die metodologiese ontleding van stelselkompleksiteite deur middel van die gebruik van stelselsdenke by die toepassing van die verbreede konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk. Strategie, as die kruispunt waar omgewingskandering en ‘n organisasie se kapasiteit ontmoet, het ‘n omgewing-strategie-koppelvlak en ‘n organisasie-strategie-koppelvlak. Die voorgestelde verbreede konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk behels beide die ontologiese omgewing-strategie-koppelvlak en die epistemologiese organisasie-strategie-koppelvlak, soos dit ‘n spesifieke wêreldbeskouing mag raak. Dit onderskraag die benadering waarmee besigheidsorganisasies die omgewing skandeer. Die verbreede konseptuele skanderingsraamwerk is gerig op die verstewiging van die begrip van omgewingskompleksiteit met die doel om die bestuur daarvan te verbeter. In hierdie sin verskil dit van die siening dat die verbeterde bestuur van die omgewing afhanklik is van ‘n meer akkurate voorspelling van toekomstige omgewingsveranderings. Dit plaas die kollig op die siening dat ‘n verhoogde begrip van die omgewing dit makliker maak om die geleenthede en bedreigings wat deel is van die omgewing, en die toekomstige dinamika daarvan, beter te bestuur.

Context: Organizations strive to improve their business processes, and adaptive business processes have recently attracted much attention in that context. However, much research in that area has a narrow focus and does not consider a comprehensive view of the organization and its goals. In addition, Business Intelligence-based monitoring methods are useful for business process improvement but they often present information in a format that is not entirely suited for decision making. Objectives: The main objectives of this thesis are to provide: • A framework to model goals, processes, performance, situations, and improvement patterns using one modeling notation, in an iterative and incremental manner; • A method for the modeling and analysis of cause-effect relationships between indicators used to measure goal satisfaction; and • A technique allowing the detection of undesirable, sub-optimal conditions and the application of improvement patterns to the context Method: We develop an iterative framework based on the User Requirements Notation (URN) for modeling, monitoring and improving business organizations and their business processes. In addition, we introduce a formula-based evaluation algorithm allowing better analysis of the relationships between the business performance model elements (namely indicators). Furthermore, we use a profiled version of the Aspect-oriented URN (AoURN) with extensions (Business Process Pattern profile), for detecting undesirable conditions and for business process adaptation. We validate the novelty and feasibility of our approach by performing a systematic literature review, by assessing it against Zellner’ mandatory elements of a method, by developing tool support, by performing a pilot experiment and by using real-life examples from different sectors (healthcare and retail). Results: The two examples show that through the framework’s iterative approach, organizations at different levels of maturity in their business improvement journey can benefit from the framework. Furthermore, our systematic literature review shows that although there are existing works that enable our vision, most of them have a narrow focus and do not cover the three organization views that are of interest in this research. AoURN allows analysts to find repeated patterns in a context and bundle goal, performance and process models as a self-contained unit. AoURN hence enables the modeling of complex circumstances together with analysis techniques for what-if analysis and process adaptation, all using a unified and integrated modeling language. Finally, the pilot experiment suggests that, with some level of documentation and training, users who are already familiar with URN can use the profiled AoURN provided in this thesis as well as the discussed improvement patterns.

Context: Organizations strive to improve their business processes, and adaptive business processes have recently attracted much attention in that context. However, much research in that area has a narrow focus and does not consider a comprehensive view of the organization and its goals. In addition, Business Intelligence-based monitoring methods are useful for business process improvement but they often present information in a format that is not entirely suited for decision making. Objectives: The main objectives of this thesis are to provide: • A framework to model goals, processes, performance, situations, and improvement patterns using one modeling notation, in an iterative and incremental manner; • A method for the modeling and analysis of cause-effect relationships between indicators used to measure goal satisfaction; and • A technique allowing the detection of undesirable, sub-optimal conditions and the application of improvement patterns to the context Method: We develop an iterative framework based on the User Requirements Notation (URN) for modeling, monitoring and improving business organizations and their business processes. In addition, we introduce a formula-based evaluation algorithm allowing better analysis of the relationships between the business performance model elements (namely indicators). Furthermore, we use a profiled version of the Aspect-oriented URN (AoURN) with extensions (Business Process Pattern profile), for detecting undesirable conditions and for business process adaptation. We validate the novelty and feasibility of our approach by performing a systematic literature review, by assessing it against Zellner’ mandatory elements of a method, by developing tool support, by performing a pilot experiment and by using real-life examples from different sectors (healthcare and retail). Results: The two examples show that through the framework’s iterative approach, organizations at different levels of maturity in their business improvement journey can benefit from the framework. Furthermore, our systematic literature review shows that although there are existing works that enable our vision, most of them have a narrow focus and do not cover the three organization views that are of interest in this research. AoURN allows analysts to find repeated patterns in a context and bundle goal, performance and process models as a self-contained unit. AoURN hence enables the modeling of complex circumstances together with analysis techniques for what-if analysis and process adaptation, all using a unified and integrated modeling language. Finally, the pilot experiment suggests that, with some level of documentation and training, users who are already familiar with URN can use the profiled AoURN provided in this thesis as well as the discussed improvement patterns.