Rick-
Since this topic is about two of my favorite subjects (OO and LO) -- I
couldn't resist responding.
Object-oriented business engineering has evolved far beyond the
concepts layed out by David Taylor. Object-oriented modeling has now
moved into modeling human and business systems that do not have to
have a relation to software.
There is a methodology called _Object-Oriented Change and Learning_
(OOCL) that is now being used at several Fortune 500 companies over
the last year to build a common business blueprint and information
repository to be shared by System Dynamics Analysts, Business Process
Analysts, Strategic Planners, and the traditional Software Analysts.
The idea behind OOCL is to create a maximally agile organization by
creating an agile infrastructure based on object-oriented modeling and
other agile practices.
OOCL is a blend of organizational learning principles, Pathways to
Performance by Arthur D. Little, a rich object-oriented modeling
language, and contributions from Innovation Associates, BPR
specialists within Arthur D. Little, and clients.
OOCL incorporates many of the ideas expressed in Nonoka's book _The
Knowledge Creating Company_, 1995, but adds a roadmap to actually
transform an organization toward this type of vision.
There are several software tools that support OOCL:
Paradigm Plus 3.0 by Platinum -- Modeler and an enterprise information
repository
ICL's ProcessWise Workbench -- Business Process Simulator SECA's
Process Manager
I use OOCL to model and manage organizational change and learning
environments with the idea to build an agile infrastructure based on
accelerated knowledge creation and learning.
If you would like more information, I would be happy to send material
on the matter.
Ed Swanstrom
Object Technology Practice leader
Arthur D. Little
swanstrom.e@adlittle.com
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>