Information Envelope and its Information Integrity Implications: For a complex, changing environment, modeling a generic business process as an integral to a closed loop information and control system characterized by uncertainty

摘要

Physical and informational works are strongly interrelated in a business process. This paper facilitates a control's interpretation of model of business process as an integral part of a closed loop information and control system. Various uncertainties (due to 5Cs) affect this model and raise the Information Integrity issue for the same. This complex information and control system delivers a flexible information decision to control business process in a changing environment. The paper argues that a more useful view of information decision is as a process of information gathering and processing rather than the conventional view of decision as 'choice between various alternatives'. This flexible decision process should have the stages viz. Operable goal setting, Definition of complexity criteria, Construction of opportunity and constraint spaces, Development of information structure dynamics model, Customized planning and design of alternatives and, finally, the Choice of alternative. The conclave of information bases for these information gathering and processing stages characterized by their respective contexts is normally not considered for business process IS modeling. It is this conclave that the paper defines as 'Information Envelope', and shows it to be central to the information and control system to which the business process is integral. And more importantly, the paper shows that it is each of these information bases that is affected by further uncertainty of the type not encountered earlier; thereby resulting in further loss of Information Integrity for a business process operating in a complex and changing environment.