Modeling organization structures in UML

摘要

Organization structures are expressed by organizational diagrams which are so valuable and basic a tool as to exist at almost every level within the organizations. However, many organizational diagrams fail to properly support the organizations at strategic level. What has been missing is a formalized and unified language to model the structures so that decision makers can understand all different diagrams correctly, communicate organization structures with stakeholders effectively, and make strategic moves accordingly. This paper proposes an extended UML, Unified Modeling Language, to be applied. UML is a well-accepted standard visual language that can be used throughout the development process from early requirements to implementation. In this paper, we also provide a case study to illustrate the applications of UML in organizational diagrams. We believe that the resourceful UML and its ready-made tools can enhance organizational diagrams to another level that all strategic stakeholders can work on efficiently and collaboratively.