Lessons Learned From Evaluating an Enterprise Modeling Methodology

Many of the challenges that the society faces today are enterprise problems. Enterprise systems consist of technological, organizational, and social elements where there is no locus of control. Due to the complex nature of enterprise systems, they are particularly difficult to model and analyze in support of policy analysis. There is a need for accessible methods and approaches to aid those tasked with modeling enterprise problems. To that end, we considered an enterprise modeling methodology that emphasizes a layered view of an enterprise system and evaluated it by applying it to a case study on the intrusion of counterfeit parts in a supply chain. We conclude that the utility of the methodology does not lie in making specific predictions as there are many ways to accomplish that. Rather, the methodology shows promise for two applications: First, integrating diverse expert knowledge and data and communicating that to stakeholders and, second, searching for counter-intuitive results or unintended consequences of a policy option.