Lnbip 105 Design of Enterprise Information Systems: Roots, Nature and New Approaches

Business Aspects 
When a contract forms the basis of a design effort, it is supposed to include relevant 
aspects of how the final design will create business value. However, in many design 

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Design of Enterprise Information Systems: Roots, Nature and New Approaches 
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efforts uncertainties require that the business value be defined gradually during the 
design process. In this way, business aspects become an integral part of designing, 
and not something that is given at the outset. 
The literature on business strategy represents an extensive set of principles, models 
and methods. An excellent overview of different schools of thought is offered by 
Mintzberg et al. [27]. 
In recent years, the notion of business models has emerged, cf. [28]. Although in 
its infancy, it signifies an acknowledgement that business value no longer may be 
created only by launching a new product. Rather, after-sales service, logistics, 
distribution channels (e.g. via internet) offer new ways of successfully doing business. 
Dell is a prominent example of being innovative in its sales channels. We have also 
seen that new businesses have been established resting on a close cooperation 
between companies with different specialties, in this way forming a business network, 
e.g. [29]. 
In conclusion, design appears as an amalgamation of a number of scientific 
contributions. Several thinkers of the root of design offer inspiration for modern 
systems design, for example to seek to the basics of a problem in order to formulate 
the “right” problem, to be aware of counter-intuitive effects of complex systems, to 
adopt a broad view of systems design, and to take note of organizational and 
managerial issues.
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The Nature of Design 
With the different ways of applying design with approaches and methods suited to the 
designers’ specific situation, it is difficult to point to a generally accepted set of 
methods. However, it is useful, and necessary, if one wants to maintain design as a 
scientific and professional discipline, to seek a common understanding of the nature 
of design. The following is an attempt to do so, with the hope that it may be 
considered as a contribution to a constructive discussion that eventually my lead to a 
better understanding of the nature of design.