Enterprise Architecture Resources, Dynamic Capabilities, and their Pathways to Operational Value

The strategic role of Enterprise Architecture (EA) in deploying and managing information technology (IT) and business resources has a longstanding research tradition. In this particular domain falls the literature on EA-based capabilities and their contribution to organizational benefits. This study conceptualizes and defines EA-based capabilities, following the dynamic capabilities view (DCV), and proposes a research model that tries to explain how dynamic enterprise architecture capabilities enable operational capabilities within firms. Data is collected from 299 CIO’s and IT managers to test hypotheses associated with the research model. The findings show that dynamic enterprise architecture capabilities enhance operational capabilities and the firms’ EA resources are essential in the development of dynamic enterprise architecture capabilities. This study advances our understanding of how to efficaciously delineate dynamic enterprise architecture capabilities in enabling operational capabilities, and thus, the firm’s living in the present, as a foundation to enhance competitive firm performance

Everyone’s Going to be an Architect: Design Principles for Architectural Thinking in Agile Organizations

Organizational agility is a prominent aim for companies to thrive in today’s volatile business environments. One common building block of agility are (semi-) autonomous teams for continuously fulfilling and surpassing customers’ needs. However, these teams still need to see the enterprise’s ‘big picture’ of strategic objectives, business processes, and IT landscape to prevent organizational inertia or technical debt. This requires architectural thinking to inform these ‘non’-architects’ decision-making. To aid companies towards achieving sustainable agility, we propose six design principles as underlying logic on how to realize architectural thinking in agile organizations. The results are based on insights from interviews with sixteen employees and consultants with expertise on architecture management and organizational agility across several industries. Our work closes a gap in the agility literature, which so far mainly focused on non-generalizable blueprints for agile setups without showing their underlying logics, or approaches and role set-ups for enterprise-level architecture management

A Generalized Method for Predictive Simulation-Based Lower Limb Prosthesis Design

Lower limb prostheses are designed to replace the functions and form of the missing biological anatomy. These functions are hypothesized to improve user outcome measures which are negatively affected by receiving an amputation – such as metabolic cost of transport, preferred walking speed, and perceived discomfort during walking. However, the effect of these design functions on the targeted outcome measures is highly variable, suggesting that these relationships are not fully understood. Biomechanics simulation and modeling tools are increasingly capable of analyzing the effects of a design on the resulting user gait. In this work, prothesis-aided gait is optimized in simulation to reduce both muscle effort and peak loads on the residual limb using a generalized prosthesis model. Compared to a traditional revolute powered ankle joint model, a two degree-of freedom generalized model reduced muscle activations by 50% and peak loads by 15%. Simulated prosthesis behaviors corresponding to the optimal gait patterns were translated into a two degree-of-freedom ankle-foot prosthesis design with powered bidirectional linear translation and plantarflexion. The prototype is capable of delivering up to 171 N-m of plantarflexion torque and 499 N of translation force, with 15° dorsi-/35° plantarflexion and 10 cm translation range of motion. The mass and height of the ankle-foot are 2.29 kg and 19.5 cm, respectively. The mass of the entire system including the wearable offboard system is 8.58 kg. This platform is designed to emulate the behavior of the simulated prosthesis, as well as be configurable to emulate alternate behaviors obtained from simulations with different optimization objectives. The prototype is controlled to replicate simulated walking patterns using a high level finite state controller, mid-level stiffness controller, and low level load controller. Closed loop load control has bandwidth of 15 Hz in translation and 7.2 Hz in flexion. Load tracking during walking with a single able-bodied human subject ranges from 93 to 159 N in translation and 4.6 to 21.3 N-m in flexion. The contribution of this work is to provide a framework for predictive simulation-based prosthesis design, evidence of its practical implementation, and the experimental tools to validate future predictive simulation studies

Method support for enterprise architecture management capabilities

"What can our EA organization do and/or what should it be capable of?". In order to answer this questions, a capability-based method is developed, which assists in the identification, structuring and management of capabilities. The approach is embedded in a process comprising four building blocks providing appropriated procedures, concepts and supporting tools evolved from theory and practical use cases. The guide represents a flexible method for capability newcomers and experienced audiences to optimize enterprises’ economic impacts of EAM supporting the alignment of business and IT.„Was muss unser UAM leisten können?“ Als Grundlage für die Beantwortung dieser Frage sollen Konzepte aus dem Fähigkeitenmanagement genutzt werden. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird eine fähigkeitenbasierte Methode entwickelt, welche Unternehmen bei der Identifikation, Strukturierung und Verwaltung von UAM-Fähigkeiten unterstützt. Der Ansatz ist in einen Prozess eingegliedert, welcher vier Hauptbestandteile beinhaltet und die für die Durchführung notwendigen Vorgehen, Konzepte und Hilfsmittel beschreibt, welche wiederrum in Kooperationen mit der Praxis getestet wurden