Definitions
- Actor
- An actor is an independent economic (and often legal) entity. By carrying out value activities, an actor makes a profit or increases its utility. In a sound, viable, business model, each actor should be capable of making a profit. [1]
- An active entity (stakeholder or other) that has intentions and carries out actions to achieve its goals by exercising its know-how. [2]
- A system, situated in some environment, that is capable of flexible autonomous action in order to meet its design objectives. [3]
- Asset
- A business object (physical or virtual) with the potential to create value in the future. [AM]
- Business Case
- A decision-making-, support-, and planning instrument that plans for the likely consequences of a business action. [4]
- Business Model
- A description of the customer value proposition, the profit formula for the supplier, the key resources and processes necessary for delivery of the value proposition. [5]
- Composite actor
- For providing a particular service, several actors might decide to work together and to offer objects of value jointly by using one value interface to their environment. We call such a partnership a composite actor. [1]
- Function
- A subdivision of an organisation that is specialised in fulfilling a specific type of work, and is responsible for specific end results. [4]
- Market Segment
- A market segment is a concept that breaks a market (consisting of actors) into segments that share common properties. … [A] set of actors that for one or more of their value interfaces, value objects equally. [1]
- Module
- A unit that is a component part of a larger systemand yet possessed of its own structure and/or functional identity. [6] quoted in [7]
- Procedure
- A specified way to carry out an activity or a process. [4]
- Process
- A structured set of activities designed to accomplish a defined objective. [4]
- A sequence of events that describes how things change over time. [8]
- Risk
- Uncertain outcome, or in other words, a positive opportunity or a negative threat. [4]
- Service
- A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes the customer wants to achieve without the ownership of specific costs or risks. [4]
- Service Models
- A description of how service assets interact with customer assets and create value for a given portfolio of contracts. [4]
- Service Portfolio
- A representation of the opportunities and readiness of a service provider to serve the customer and the market. [4]
- System
- A group of interacting, interrelating, or interdependent components that form a unified whole, operating together for a common purpose. [4]
- Value Activity
- An actor performs a value activity for profit or to increase its utility. The value activity is included in the ontology to discuss and design the assignment of value activities to actors. As such, we are interested in collecting activities that can be assigned as a whole to actors. Consequently, such an activity should be profitable or increase utility. [1]
- Value Exchange
- A value exchange connects two value ports with each other. It represents one or more potential trades of value objects between value ports. [1]
- Value Interface
- Actors have one or more value interfaces, grouping individual value ports. A value interface shows the value object an actor is willing to exchange in return for another value object through its ports. The exchange of value objects is atomic at the level of the value interface. [1]
- Value Network
- A web of relationships that generates tangible and intangible value through complex and dynamic exchanges through two or more organisations. [4]
- Value Object
- Actors exchange value objects, which are services, products, money, or even consumer experiences. A value object is valuable to one or more actors. [1]
- Value Offering
- A value offering is a set of value exchanges that shows which value objects are exchanged via value exchanges in return for other value objects. A value offering should obey the semantics of the connected value interfaces: Values are exchanged through a value interface on all its ports or on no ports at all. [1]
- Value Port
- An actor uses a value port to show that it wants to provide or request value objects. The concept of port enables us to abstract away from the internal business processes and focus only on how external actors and other components of the e-business model can be plugged in. [1]
- Work Instructions
- Defines how one or more activities in a procedure should be carried out in detail, using technology or other resources. [4]
References
1. Gordijn, J. & Akkermans, H. 2001, 'Designing and evaluating e-business models', IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 11-17.
2. International Standards Organization, 2008, ISO Z.151 User Requirments Notation (URN).
3. Jennings, N.R., Sycara, K. & Woolridge, M. 1998, 'A roadmap of agent research and development', Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, vol. 1, pp. 7-38.
4. van Bon, J., de Jong, A., Kolthof, A., Peieper, M., Tjassing, R., van der Veen, A. & Verheijen, T. 2008, Service Strategy based on ITIL v3 - A Management Guide, Van Haren.
5. Johnson, M.W., Christensen, C.M. & Kagermann, H. 2008, 'Reinventing your business model', Harvard Business Review.
6. Moss L. 2001. 'Deconstructing the gene and reconstructing molecular developmental systems'. In Oyama S., Griffiths P. E. & Gray R. D. (eds.) Cycles of Contingency: Developmental Systems and Evolution, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
7. Callebaut, W. & Rasskin-Gutman, D. (eds) 2005, Modularity: Understanding the Development and Evolution of Natural Complex Systems, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
8. Pettigrew, A.M. 1997, 'What is a processual analysis?', Scandinavian Journal of Management, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 337-348.