A method to develop business capabilities of a firm

Abstract

The ever-present need for business transformations, be it digital, market changes and agility has compelled organisations to analyse and elect their optimal business capabilities. Business capabilities provide the link between the business strategy and implementation. In addition, business capability has been a topic of discussion because of its role in uncovering the sources of the firm’s competitiveness. However, a clear and agreed upon definition of business capability does not exist. Claims made by The Open Group Architecture Framework of delivering business capabilities lacks empirical evidence. Delivering business capabilities is not a trivial activity to perform, due to the nature of their characteristics and context surrounding their applicability. Enterprise Architecture practitioners mandated to design and create business capabilities struggle, due to the lack of comprehensive tools to assist with these tasks. This study creates a technique that aims to solve the challenge of designing and developing business capability. Design Science Research is applied for this study to critically explain the problem and the solution. The technique is evaluated with industry practitioners for feedback on its effectiveness and utility purposes. In addition, the study provides with basic conceptual elements that constitute a business capability as further work.