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Organization

Short Description​

An Organization is a party that is capable of setting objectives and making sure these are realized by actors that it has onboarded and/or by (vetted) parties that are committed to contribute to these objectives.

Enterprises and governments are the canonical examples. However, parts of enterprises (e.g. divisions, departments, business units) also qualify, as do governmental bodies.

Purpose​

The purpose of documenting this term is to provide additional clarity w.r.t. definitions given in english dictionaries. Also, we need this notion as it is used in the eSSIF-Lab Parties, Actors and Actions pattern.

Criteria​

A party that is associated with a (non-empty) group of onboarded actors and/or (vetted) parties that work to realize its (non-empty set of) objectives. The actors may be owned by that party, or otherwise onboarded. The parties will be vetted, and have an agreement with the organization regarding the rights and duties involved in making their contributions.

Examples​

  • Enterprises and governments are the prototypical examples.
  • Parts of enterprises (e.g. divisions, departments, business units) and governmental bodies also qualify.
  • An individual person satisfies the criteria and hence qualifies (but see the Notes below).

Notes​

One may question whether or not a single person can be a 'group of people' (who would obviously work to realize its personal objectives) and hence qualify as an organization. We do not answer this question as it is irrelevant within our context, because we reason with the concept party rather than the concepts 'organization' and/or 'person'.