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University of California, Davis

Application Development Methodology

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Development Technique Concepts

Function

The highest, most aggregated level of business activities that together completely support one aspect of the enterprise's mission considered in analysis.

A function may consist of other functions or processes, both being business activities.

Examples of Possible Functions

* PURCHASING

* DISTRIBUTION

* SALES

* PERSONNEL

* RESEARCH

Component Activities Necessary to Ensure Stock is Available

A function called STORING has as its purpose to ensure that stock is available for delivery to customers. In order to do this, it must perform several of the following activities.

* Receive Deliveries from Suppliers

* Store Books

* Issue Books for Delivery to Customers

* Monitor Stock Levels

* Request Publishing of Replacement Stock

Characteristics of the Component Activities

For each of the component activities above, questions of the following type may be asked:

* How often does it take place?

* What are the inputs and outputs for each occurrence of the activity?

* How long does an occurrence of the activity take?

Difference Between Function and Process

Applying the same questions to STORING as a whole is, however, meaningless. It is meaningless to think of an occurrence or execution of STORING, although this can be done for one of its components. This is what distinguishes functions from processes.

Difference Between Function and Organizational Unit

At first sight, functions may seem like organizational units, and there may, in some organizations, be a close correspondence. Although this correspondence is not coincidental, a function is not an organizational unit. A function is independent of present or future organizational structures, because it represents the "what" of the business as opposed to the organizational unit's "how."

Functions Found During the ISP

Identification of functions is a principal goal of Information Strategy Planning (ISP). A group of these functions forms part of the definition of the scope for the Business Area Analysis project. The project is not normally expected to look for new functions unless better information suggests that improvements should be made to the function decomposition.