An actor dependency model of organizational work: with application to business process reengineering

In developing information systems for use in an organization, one often needs to understand the reasons that underlie established work patterns and practices. Because organizational actors depend on each other for goals to be achieved, tasks to be performed, and resources to be furnished, reasons for work patterns can be revealed by examining the dependencies among actors. We present a model which characterizes a work organization in terms of the network of dependencies among organizational actors. Actor dependencies are taken to be intentional – they expand or restrict an actor’s ability to pursue goals. The network of actor dependencies constitutes the intentional structure of the organization. We use examples from business process reengineering to motivate and illustrate the model.