Accepted by: Giancarlo Guizzardi Ontology-driven conceptual modeling (ODCM) is still a relatively new research domain in the field of information systems and there is still much discussion on how the research in ODCM should be performed and what the

After observing various inexperienced modelers constructing a business process model based on the same textual case description, it was noted that great differences existed in the quality of the produced models. The impression arose that certain quality issues originated from cognitive failures during the modeling process. Therefore, we developed an explanatory theory that describes the cognitive mechanisms that affect effectiveness and efficiency of process model construction: the Structured Process Modeling Theory (SPMT). This theory states that modeling accuracy and speed are higher when the modeler adopts an (i) individually fitting (ii) structured (iii) serialized process modeling approach. The SPMT is evaluated against six theory quality criteria.

Recent Resource, Event, Agent (REA) research has focused on defining and theoretically justifying the ontology's contents. Here, we elaborate on more practical issues related to REA. First, we classify REA and its applications using ontology classification schemes and application frameworks. This analysis clarifies REA's application potential but also reveals weaknesses that may impede its operationalization. Next, we propose a new REA ontology specification that uses a Unified Modeling Language (UML) profile for graphically representing ontologies. This new specification is more complete and precise than previously available specifications, without compromising understandability. It can easily be transformed into a machine-readable representation for automatic processing, which is a prerequisite for the successful application of REA in business modeling, software engineering, knowledge representation, and interoperability creation. The paper ends with a proof of concept application in which a formal Ontology Web Language (OWL) specification of REA is fed into the Prote´ge´ knowledge representation tool and subsequently used for the development of an enterprise schema.