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Add a new Element type 'Directive' to the Motivation Aspect

I suggest a new Element type, called “Directive”, could be introduced into the Motivation Aspect. Directive could be defined as “A recognized internal instruction, regulation or rule. Something that serves to direct or guide a person taking an action or impel a person towards taking an action or achieving a goal.”

Directives are another form of Means in the Business Motivation Model, and they impact the form and function of the Enterprise Architecture considerably.

The topic of Governance, which figures prominently in EA, is currently poorly served in the ArchiMate modelling language. There are at least 2 important governance ideas which can’t be expressed accurately in ArchiMate:

  • Policy: Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational, consistent outcomes. Policy is a set of actionable rules, formal or informal, governing an area of enterprise activity. Formal Policy is a statement of intent, set by the executive as a form risk control. Policy may make reference to Standards and Principles. Policy is realized in the Operating Model as a set of Business Rules, procedures, measures and protocols (see Issue #92). It is important to recognize such links for traceability purposes. For example: Employee Expense Reimbursement, Material Recycling, Sickness Policy.
  • Internal Standards or Codes: this is an internally agreed upon ‘best way’ of dealing with a common recurring enterprise topic. Examples include Risk Management, Software Development and of course Enterprise Architecture. Standards are usually based on an external Standard and/or a Code of Practice/Code of Conduct and may reference Principles.

Both of these ideas could be expressed using the new Directive type. The new type would sit alongside Course of Action (moved to Motivation from the Strategy Layer – see Issue #98), with which it could be associated. It would have the same set of relationships with other Element types as Course of Action.

The existing Principle, Requirement and Constraint types could all be specializations of Directive.