The Adequacy of Office Models

An office model is an abstraction of the office with the mechanism for representing it. Models have two aspects: the domain being modeled, and the representation mechanisms used to express them. In their evolution, several generations of office models can be distinguished. They can be classified as forms/data/information, procedures/activities/tasks, functions/policies/goals, agents/roles, communications, decisions/problems/exceptions, applications, and finally integrative approaches. Several representative models have been reviewed. The measure of completeness of a model is provided by the concepts of domain adequacy and representational adequacy. Domain adequacy captures the extent to which a model is faithful to reality while representational adequacy is concerned with architectural completeness. A model is considered representationally adequate if it provides features for all three levels of the three schema architectures in database theory. The adequacy of office models is evaluated along these dimensions with the help of several tables. The research also references the NIST models for software environments. The survey identifies the need for integrated models, the need for models to provide better conceptual and external level features, and the need for empirical studies of offices. Further progress in office modeling requires more detailed definitions of the conceptual level for all domains, supported by field research. ACM Categories and Subject Descriptors: D.2.1 [Software Engineering]: Requirements/Specifications; E. I. [Data Structures];H.2.1 [Database Management]: Logical Design-data models; schema and subschema; H.4.1 [Office Automation]; 1.2.1 [Artificial Intelligence]: Applications and Expert Systems; 1.2.4 [Artificial Intelligence]: Knowledge Representation Formalisms and Methods; General Terms: Office models, office procedures. Additional Key Words and Phrases: Conceptual office models, evaluation of office models, review of office models, classification of office models, evolution of office models, integrated office models, directions for office models.