From Visual Language to Ontology Representation: Using OWL for Transitivity Analysis in 4EM

Usually, enterprise models consider different aspects and include different abstraction levels of enterprises. The application of ontologies as conceptual bases that can clarify relations within and between these abstraction levels is believed to be helpful. This paper investigates the use of ontologies for formalizing enterprise modelling languages and enriching their semantics. The aim is to transform enterprise models into ontologies based on a mapping of the enterprise models’ meta-model into a semantically corresponding ontology. The ontology representation then is used to check logical consistency and to infer new facts regarding the implications of the model beyond what would be possible with a visual modelling language. In order to check feasibility and pertinence of our approach, we selected the goal modelling part of the 4EM method. This paper provides (1) a formal OWL representation of the 4EM goals meta-model; (2) a systematization of transitive goal properties; (3) a set of SWRL rules expressing these transitivity; and (4) an analysis of exemplary goals model instances.