The EE Research Network is the continuation of the older CIAO! network and EE network.eu research networks, involving different research groups that are active in enterprise engineering related research.
The aim of the EE Research Network is to develop a holistic and general systems-theory-based understanding on how to (re)design and run enterprises effectively. The ambition is to develop a consistent and coherent set of theories, models and associated methods that: enable enterprises to reflect, in a systematic way, on how to realise improvements; and assist them, in practice, in achieving their aspirations.
In doing so, sound empirical and scientific foundations should underlie all efforts and all organisational aspects that are relevant should be considered, while combining already existing knowledge from the scientific fields of information systems, software engineering, management, as well as philosophy, semiotics and sociology, among others. In other words, the (re)design of an enterprise and the subsequent implementation of changes should be the consequence of rationalised decisions that: take into account the nature and reality of the enterprise and its environment; and respect relevant empirical and scientific principles.
Enterprises are taken to be systems whose reality has a dual nature by being simultaneously, on the one hand, centrally and purposefully (re)designed; and, on the other hand, emergent in a distributed way, given the fact that, its main agents, the humans that are the ‘pearls’ of the organisation, act with free will, in a creative and in a responsible (or sometimes not) way.
At the same time, we embrace the fact that, in practice, the development of enterprises is not always a purely rational/evidence-based process. As such, we believe the field of EE aims to provide evidence-based insights into the design and evolution of enterprises and the consequences of different choices irrespective of the way decisions are made.