In the Dragon1 modeling language, we define organizations, units, actors, roles, and responsibilities as different entity classes next to functions, processes, activities, and tasks.
So architects can design processes and IT support for processes or even digitize processes in a controlled way, using concepts, principles, and standards.
- Actor: An actor is an entity that is a participant in a process and/or a user of a system. Example: A person, animal, plant, robot, application, organization, or system are examples of actors.
- Role: A role is a position that an actor has in a process. According to their role, actors are expected to perform certain tasks (their responsibilities). Example: Shopper is a common process role in the process of buying items on a webshop. The Actor, in this case, is f.i. the anonymous website visitor or identified target client group member.
- Responsibility: A responsibility is the set of tasks, activities, or actions an actor is expected to perform or allowed to do, according to the role. Example: The responsibility of an Elderly Woman (Actor) as a Shopper (Role) on a webshop (System) is to Register for the Webshop (Task), Add Items to A Cart (Task), and To Pay For the Items (Task)
These entities are related in the metamodel below:
This visualization shows the Roles package of the Dragon1 Meta Model. The Dragon1 Meta Model consists of layers, and layers consist of packages (or sections). The Dragon1 Meta Model has a core and extensions. The core and extensions are groups of sections of layers.
In Dragon1, the responsibility definition is defined so one can create groups of activities and tasks as identifiable responsibilities for certain roles.
Suppose we have a department in a company with a manager and teams, and every team has a developer, analyst, and tester. These people all use an online Design Management System (DMS). Every team has a team leader based on the person with the most experience. Manager, team, developer, analyst, and tester are organizational functions we call actors for the DMS.
Team leader and team member are roles in the department.
Suppose we have a process of design with six activities that iterate in cycles: Define Problem, Collect Information, Brainstorm and Analyze Ideas, Develop Solutions and Build a Model, Present your Ideas to others for Feedback, Improve your Design.
In every activity of this process, people are expected to carry out certain tasks based on the position they have in the process. That is what we call 'responsibility'.
Examples of tasks carried out in the department are:
- Entering a new problem in the online Design Management System
- Releasing funding for building a model
- Creating a presentation
The manager's responsibility is to release funding for building a model that goes with a developed solution (on paper).
It is the responsibility of the team leader to create a presentation for a design.
Each team is responsible for creating one design per month.
Modeling Actors, Roles and Responsibilities
Below is a model that shows a relationship between actors, roles, and responsibilities:
With these responsibilities made clear, as associated tasks in the process, we can apply principles and standards. Then, we can make sure or report that all responsibilities comply (or not) with the principles and standards.
For example, if principle team members are not budget holders, but senior managers are, to optimize spending, then this example model is compliant with that principle.