| Principles and conditions | |
|---|---|
| Context | Expertise Management Methodology |
| Decompositie type | IOR |
Principles and conditions are two kind of Intentional Elements (IE) with which circumstances are described for performing activities. These include beliefs, boundary-conditions such as laws, and convictions. The difference between a principle and a condition is that a condition can be changed within the system itself, whereas a principle cannot be changed and should be considered as a constant factor.
There are many ways to use conditions in a EMont model. In our experience, the modeling construct depicted in the figure provides a concise way of modeling with conditions. Note that activity B is facilitated by activity A. The quality of the facilitation is captured in condition A. The definition of condition A should read as something like the amount of ..., or the quality of ..., i.e., a quantifiable expression. Goal A is related with the contributes-relation to the condition. Therefore, the condition qualifies the extent in which goal A is achieved. Since we are using the contributes-relation, a goal may have a positive effect on the condition, but it is perfectly possible that the achievement of a goal has a negative influence on a condition. The same holds for activity B. Activity B may depend on the condition, that is, if the condition is not (partially) fulfilled, then activity B cannot proceed. Or less strongly, the amount of facilitation can be described by a contributes-relation between the condition and the activity to be facilitated.
Some additional remarks are in order here. We make a sharp distinction between the outcome of an activity, the way an activity contributes to a goal, and the way the achievement of goal contributes to a condition. An activity always produces a result, but the result may have a positive effect, a negative effect, or no effect at all on the associated goal. Also, it is possible that an activity contributes in some way to more than one goal. By the same line of reasoning, a condition may be influenced by more than one activity. Thus, an activity may have a positive effect on a condition, whereas another activity may actually undermine the condition.
In EMont, we make deliberately no clear distinction between the activity and the outcome of the activity. They can both be regarded as patterns. The former describes sequences, the latter describes concepts. However, for practical purposes, it is useful to have a construct for modeling the outcome of an activity explicitly. This is done with the outcome intentional element. The outcome element is also used as a synchronization mechanism between activities (see figure). An activity that consumes an outcome cannot proceed until that outcome is actually produced by another activity.
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| Produceert | |
|---|---|
| Consumeeert | |
| Onderdeel van | EMont tutorial |
| Instantie van | |
| Betreft |
Connectie.
| Connectie type | seq |
|---|---|
| Connecteert naar | Contexts and practices |
| Conditie | |
| Opmerkingen |
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| Komt van | Type | Connectie type | Conditie | Waarde | Opmerkingen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control-Transformation-Facilitation (CTF) building blocks | Connects | seq |
