Business Engineering: Dynanic Modeling Instruments for a Dynamic World

In this article, Business Engineering (BE) is defined as the integral design of both organizational structures and information systems. A literature review shows that despite the numerous success stories, BE has so far achieved little theoretical and methodological support. A 4-year, action research project was started to overcome this problem. Dynamic modeling, a structured problem-solving approach for real-life problems using simulation, was taken as the initial intervention technique. Two BE case studies were carried out within the Amsterdam Municipal Police Force. Dynamic modeling together with practical experiences from the case studies and theoretical findings from fields such as system science, mathematical statistics, and socio-technical design were merged into a design approach, a design theory, and a set of automated tools for supporting, structuring, and guiding future BE efforts. The results of this project give outlook to a new and promising interdisciplinary research domain.

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