64 Int. J. Internet and Enterprise Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2011 Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Towards a G.O.D. theory for Organisational Engineering: modelling the (re)Generation, Operation and Discontinuation of the enterprise David Aveiro* Exact Sciences and Engineering Centre, University of Madeira, Caminho da Penteada 9000-390 Funchal, Portugal E-mail: daveiro@uma.pt *Corresponding author A. Rito Silva and José Tribolet Department of Information Systems and Computer Science, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal E-mail: rito.silva@ist.utl.pt E-mail: jose.tribolet@ist.utl.pt Abstract: Much time is lost, in organisations, in handling unknown exceptions because organisational models are not current or coherent with reality, and there is a lack of concepts and methods in Organisational Engineering (OE) for a continuous and timely update of models of organisational reality. To address these problems, a renowned methodology for OE – Design and Engineering Methodology for Organisations (DEMO) – is extended, enabling a precise and integrated modelling of three aspects that we consider to be part of the function perspective of an organisation: • viability – norms of operation that ensure the viability of the organisation, dysfunctions and exceptions causing the dysfunctions • change – OE processes responsible for generation, operation and discontinuation of Organisational Artefacts (OAs) – e.g., business rules or organisational actors – to solve dysfunctions • architecture – design rules that guide the referred engineering processes, restricting the ‘shape’ of their end result – OAs. Keywords: organisational engineering; organisational change; organisational self-awareness; function; exception; architecture. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Aveiro, D., Silva, A.R. and Tribolet, J. (2011) ‘Towards a G.O.D. theory for Organisational Engineering: modelling the (re)Generation, Operation and Discontinuation of the enterprise’, Int. J. Internet and Enterprise Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp.64–83. Biographical notes: David Aveiro is an Invited Assistant Professor at the Exact Sciences and Engineering Centre of the University of Madeira in Portugal. His research interests include organisational engineering and organisational change. His teaching interests include database management