This thesis looks at <I>business models </I>used for decision-making purposes in the context of Outsourcing evaluation and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). Many techniques used in such a context have their roots in <I>software engineering. </I>This makes their use in the above context problematical, as they either do not integrate information systems with the organisation, or derive an ideal information systems structure from the organisational one rather than integrating the existing structures. In the first part of this thesis, trends in Information Technology as well as phenomena such as Outsourcing and BPR are examined. In the second part, business models are defined, a set of criteria for their evaluation is developed and justified, and existing approaches are measured against these criteria. Following this, an alternative approach, called the Open Business Model (OBM), is developed and specified in detail. The description includes the <I>elements </I>used in the technique, the <I>meta-model </I>(which defines these elements and their relationships with each other), the <I>action model </I>(describing how to apply the method), and a list of recommendations on how to analyse the results of any analysis on which the method is applied to find potential areas for improvement. In the third part, a practical application of the OBM is conducted. The results of a large case study, done in co-operation with the DVLA in Swansea, are presented. The findings show that the OBM is suitable for its application target, and that its unique features, most notably the possibility to add and change the elements used and aspects covered in the light of new requirements, make it an appropriate approach to practical business modelling problems. Some ideas for further research are also outlined.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:639375 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Wegener, J. |
| Publisher | Swansea University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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