The ongoing digital transformation of modern society results in dynamic environments that present changes, opportunities and threats for modern organizations. This is a driving force for constant organizational change and evolution, a situation that is associated with change in organizational capabilities. Capability design and analysis can be supported by Information Systems, whose design can be facilitated by Enterprise Modeling, and in particular, capability modeling. Several approaches exist for modeling capabilities; however, there can be improvements regarding capability change by modeling the necessary elements for depicting not only organizational capabilities in motion, but also the motivation for change.

The objective of this thesis is to set the basis for the provision of methodological and tool support for organizations whose capabilities are undergoing or need to undergo changes.

This thesis project follows the Design Science Research paradigm to proceed with the development of a method artifact. Initially, during the problem explication step, a literature review was performed that was followed by an analysis of the capability meta-models that exist in the literature, based on the introduction of a classification framework that facilitated the mapping of meta-model concepts to specific change functions. This activity resulted in the development of function-specific concept sets that were visualized and presented as concept maps. In addition, information for capability change was derived from the literature review, along with insight on the dimensions of capability and change, which was introduced as a new capability typology, structured and presented in a StateMachine diagram.

This information was used in the second step of the process, which concerns the elicitation of requirements for a meta-model, which is the main component of the method artifact, an activity that combined information from a case study conducted in a Swedish public healthcare organization, whose capabilities are undergoing changes. The combined sources resulted in a goal model, depicting the artifact goals.

Finally, moving to the artifact development step, a meta-model for capability change was developed. The thesis contributes by establishing the foundations for the development of a method with the purpose of setting the basis for the development of a method and tool for supporting changing organizations.

The environments within which modern organizations are operating are characterized by constantly increasing volatility and diversity, which act as a driving force that continuously presents opportunities and threats to the organizations. The result of this situation is that these environments have become so dynamic that the phenomenon of organizational change is slowly becoming the new constant, rather than being an exception as in earlier years. The challenges arising from the need to handle constant change and evolution naturally lead to changing organizational capabilities. Information systems, as one aspect of an organization, can provide efficient support for the design and analysis of capabilities, and enterprise modeling can facilitate the development of specialized methods for this task. Hitherto, a plethora of capability modeling methods exist, providing a wide spectrum of perspectives.

However, the support provided for managing the phenomenon of changing organizational capabilities remains limited, since existing methods have omitted to capture the elements necessary to depict organizational capabilities in motion and the motivations triggering such transitions. In addition, managing change requires more structured approaches, which should be methodologically supported and conceptualized.

The goal of this PhD thesis is to develop a capability modeling method, called KYKLOS, that can support organizational change by modeling the changing capabilities of organizations and all the relevant aspects of this phenomenon. This work followed the Design Science Research framework, and started by explicating the problem via a literature review of existing capability meta-models; this was followed by the elicitation of method requirements, drawn from both the existing literature and a case study conducted in the domain of public healthcare in Sweden. Based on these requirements, an initial meta-model was developed, which was then demonstrated using the same case study and evaluated by experts through interviews. This activity resulted in an extension to the initial version of the meta-model, which was then instantiated via a case study conducted in the domain of public arts and culture in Greece. In parallel, the compatibility of other modeling approaches was explored. An extended version of the meta-model was then converted to its final version, which was suitable for the implementation of the modeling language in a tool, using the ADOxx meta-modeling platform. Simultaneously with the development of the tool, the syntax, semantics and procedure of the modeling method were created. The complete method was demonstrated through a case study at a company providing ERP solutions and consulting in Sweden, and the results were used to evaluate the method by two groups representing the stakeholder roles.

The thesis contributes towards an improved management of change in organizations through the development of a method and complementary supporting tool, with the capability perspective as the focal point for the design and analysis of organizational change.