Toward Understanding Enterprise Architecture Management’s Role in Strategic Change: Antecedents, Processes, Outcomes

As organizations face accelerated economic dynamics, it isincreasingly important to improve the capability of reacting agileto changes in the marketplace. This requires implementing andadapting internal structures in a timely manner and ensuringbusiness-IT coordination throughout the process. Enterprisearchitecture management (EAM) is frequently proposed as a meanto arrive at organizational forms that allow for timelyreconfiguration and to guide strategy-aligned change. Thisexplorative study seeks to contribute to an overall understandingof EAM’s application in strategic change processes. It is based onan in-depth content analysis of existing research in the field.Specifically, it identifies common EAM practices that have beensuggested for application throughout the planning andimplementation of strategic change. Furthermore, it revealsantecedents and outcomes of this application. The articlediscusses these findings in detail and summarizes the results in apreliminary process model of applying EAM for agile strategicchange

Overcoming digitalization-driven challenges in banks : An exploration of theory and practice towards improving Enterprise Architecture Management’s ability to support rapid change

Banks increasingly need the ability to implement rapid change to react to changes in technology, user demands, and regulations that are difficult to foresee. The complex information systems (IS) and process landscape of incumbent banks impede this ability. Enterprise architecture management (EAM), as a function that aims to oversee the coherent development of the IS and IT landscape in alignment with the business, is argued to have the capability to support this ability. However, the speed and uncertainty of changes, as well as a focus of banks to implement Agile project methodolo-gies and de-centralize decision-making, challenges EAM to effectively fulfill this role. A Theoretical Base model is constructed from the literature and promising approaches to increase the effectiveness are identified. An exploratory case study of three large banks that are affected by digitalization to different extents, is conducted on the basis of this model. The findings indicate non-technical issues to be the most challenging factors for EAM today, which need to be addressed to allow EAM to valuably support banks’ ability to accommodate rapid change by providing transparency, guidance for projects regarding processes and technology, as well as steering for the long-term evolution of the IT landscape. EAM can help banks most effectively by supporting cross-team communication and facilitating reduced complexity in the long-run

Another Look at Enterprise Architecture Framework

Although there were many comparison literatures of EA frameworks, these literature use qualitative criteria based on intuitive practitioner’s experience. The paper first defines 36 concrete features of EA frameworks using six categories and six interrogatives. Then we concretely compare typical EA frameworks based on the key features. The result shows the easiness and concreteness of the proposed EA comparison framework

Business Capability Maps: Current Practices and Use Cases for Enterprise Architecture Management

This paper provides a state-of-the-art report on the usage of business capability maps in enterprise architecture management. We conducted expert interviews with 25 organizations to reveal the benefits and challenges of capability-based enterprise architecture management and evaluated 14 use cases on the feasibility and benefit of using business capability maps in practice. The results reveal increasing interest and acceptance of the approach in practice and among support organizations

Institutional perspective on introducing enterprise architecture : The case of the Norwegian hospital sector

Paper I, II, and III are not available as a part of the dissertation due to the copyright.The findings from this thesis point to the incongruence between the characteristics of EA and the healthcare domain as specific tensions among the EA logic and different professional logics as a source of deviation. The incongruence comes from the long-term plan-driven EA approach versus healthcare traditions and needs for ad-hoc initiatives. Other themes stem from the EA logic of process standardisation, which poses challenges in gaining acceptance and trust that the processes dinscribe appropriate clinical knowledge and provide support for local variations. Moreover, the EA vision of data integration across organisational units and across IS has implications for concerns about privacy and protection of sensitive data, but this can collide with the healthcare view on patient safety and the need for mission-critical data. This dissertation makes several contributions to research and practice. First, it augments the EA research stream by offering rich insights and specific implications related to challenges of EA institutionalisation in healthcare. A description of the enterprise architects’ logics and the EA logic supplements the EA knowledge base. Likewise, it presents a model of a predicted evolution of the EA initiatives through the phases of optimism, resistance, decline and finally, reconsolidation of the most persistent ones, unless firm mandates are established from the start. Furthermore, the study provides a model that illustrates how coexisting institutional logics maintain their distinct character while allowing compromises that shape EA operationalisation. The model shows a set of scenarios for settling tensions in project decisions. In these scenarios, EA is foregrounded, blended with other available institutional logics or suppressed. Second, this dissertation contributes to an enhanced theoretical and empirical understanding of EA institutionalisation, where regulative, normative and culturalcognitive elements create and maintain EA as an institution, and unsurprisingly, the organisational response impedes the institutionalisation process. The organisational response can be explained by selective activated institutional logics among the actors. However, with targeted institutional work from the actors that want EA to be institutionalised, the process can be reinforced. This thesis also offers some practical suggestions at the national policy level. First, financial arrangements should be assessed to encourage broader involvement from the sub-organisations. Second, through active ownership, they can address the need for enhanced EA understanding and should secure the education of the actors, not the least at the executive level, together with the targeted hires. Furthermore, the need for organisational changes related to EA is under-communicated. The thesis also makes practical suggestions to deal with the challenges, the incongruence and the consequent tensions, mainly by finding solutions that balance between the institutional logics of EA and of healthcare.publishedVersio

Enterprise Architecture Implementation Is a Bumpy Ride: A Case Study in the Norwegian Public Sector

Enterprise architecture (EA) is a widespread approach for the development of new digital solutions in a planned and controlled way for large and complex organisations. EA is also viewed as a prerequisite for the digitalisation of the public sector. However, public sector organisations struggle to implement EA programmes, and research has demonstrated that organisational and managerial issues are critical obstacles to EA implementation. This study aims to increase our understanding of EA implementation in the public sector by investigating the central challenges for EA initiatives and to trace the progress of current EA initiatives in the Norwegian public sector. An additional goal is to disclose some ways to improve the situation. We conducted three interpretive case studies in the hospital, higher education, and labour and welfare sectors. We have identified 28 challenges to the EA initiatives. We find that organisational and technical complexities, as well as a limited understanding of EA and lack of formal EA governance mechanisms, are significant obstacles. Among others, the lack of understanding of EA and its methodology will lead to problems with anchoring the EA approach in the organisation and facilitating the necessary EA arrangements to induce the promised benefits of EA, which are necessary requirements to establish the EA initiative’s legitimacy and foster the organisation’s willingness to implement change. Our study provides four lessons learned for planning and implementing EA initiatives, as follows: #1. It is advisable to take small steps. #2. The use of external consultants should be carefully considered. #3. Formal architectural governance mechanisms are important for legitimacy and enforced use. #4. Executive commitment and understanding of EA are crucial for achieving a sustainable EA initiative. Finally, we find a common evolution of the EA initiatives through the phases of optimism, resistance, decline and finally, reconsolidation of the most persistent ones.publishedVersio

Maintenance of Enterprise Architecture Models

Enterprise architecture (EA) models are tools of analysis, communication, and support towards enterprise transformation. These models need a suitable maintenance process to support comprehensive knowledge of the enterprise’s structure and dynamics. This study aims to identify and discuss the existing approaches to EA model maintenance published in the scientific literature. A systematic literature review was employed as the research method. A keyword-based search in six databases identified a total of 4495 papers in which 31 primary studies were included. A total of nine categories of EA model maintenance approaches were identified from both information systems and enterprise engineering fields of research. The increasing amount of research in EA model maintenance suggests that the topic still presents opportunities for research contributions. This study also proposes future lines of research according to the results identified in the theoretical corpus

From Enterprise Architecture Management to Organizational Agility: The Mediating Role of IT Capabilities

Enterprise architecture (EA) has claimed to provide several benefits for organizations including improving organizational agility. Becoming more agile is an essential capability for organizations and a necessity to respond to the rapidly changing environment. The way these EA benefits are established is seen as complex and involves interconnections of multiple organizational facets. However, currently, there is a lack of empirical studies on EA and how it contributes to benefit realization. Moreover, empirically validated work on EA processes is even more scarce. This research addresses this gap and investigates the effect of an EA management approach on organizational agility. A conceptual model was developed proposing a mediation effect of IT capabilities on the relationship between enterprise architecture management and agility. A survey was performed among key EA stakeholders. Based on a sample of 110 responses, a partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was performed to test the mediation model. The results indicate that the effect of enterprise architecture management on organizational agility is indeed mediated by IT capabilities. Finally, the present study discusses the implications of this research and provides suggestions for future research