Enterprise Modelling Can Be Used as a Research Method: An Application to Sustainability Reporting Research

Enterprise modelling (EM) refers to eliciting and documenting knowledge about an organisation from several interrelated perspectives. Often EM is industrially applied and scientifically researched within the fields of enterprise and information systems (IS) engineering. In this paper, we put forward that EM constitutes a sound and valid research method that could be used outside these disciplines. Its systematic elicitation and modelling techniques lend themselves to rigorous empirical investigations. We report on our experience in applying an EM method as a research method in a project exploring the relationships between sustainability reporting and strategic management practices. The results were rich in high-quality, detailed research data, that allowed drawing strong evidence-based conclusions. If EM were known in other scientific fields interested in phenomena taking place inside or around enterprises, these research communities would benefit from a structured and rigorous approach to investigate aspects related to the organisational structure, processes, communications and information, motivations, and relationships among these, which are core constructs in EM methods.