The purely homeostatic organism views
any external data it receives, (i.e. that
which impinges upon its consciousness) not as an opportunity for expansion, but as
an immediate threat to its survival, which must be dealt with as efficiently as
possible, so that it can return to its secure and comfortable slumber of contentment.
Homeostasis as it relates to cybernetics
is thus a process of self-preservation. The
organism makes every attempt to remove or remedy the disturbance in the habit
patterns of survival which are the basis of its life caused by the experience of new
information. The horse brushes away the annoying fly, the human removes sensory
inputs to maintain his contentment or concentration.
An organization's business processes are
sequences of homeostatic activities.
Some are intended to create value for customers; others prevent abuse; still others
set strategic targets. This paper presents a modelling approach for these three
aspects, based on use cases for desired processes and misuse cases to describe
hostile processes. The modelling approach is rooted in General Systems Thinking
(GST) and Cybernetics, explaining business processes as a regulatory
mechanism. Organisations are treated as organisms which homeostatically
maintain their internal states and their relationships with their stakeholders in the
presence of disturbances from their environment. Business processes both define
the desired states and provide the means to reach them.
