Rationales are part of the Strategic Response Model and articulate the reasoning behind strategic decisions made in response to triggers. See: Strategic Response Model
A rationale describes the strategic reasoning behind a proposed initiative or business response. It provides a traceable link between a business decision and the motivation behind it—such as addressing a performance issue, fulfilling stakeholder expectations, responding to regulatory changes, or seizing market opportunities. Rationales help ensure that every action taken by the organisation is grounded in strategic intent.
In the Orthogramic Metamodel, rationales serve to:
Justify why an initiative, policy, or change exists.
Link strategic drivers to responses in a structured way.
Support transparency and traceability from high-level drivers to operational change.
Rationales may be connected to multiple elements across the business architecture, including:
Initiatives and Strategies that require justification.
Policies, Capabilities, and Value Streams being introduced or adjusted.
Performance goals or KPIs in the Performance domain.
Each rationale is categorised by a Driver Type, which is derived from the Strategic Response Model. This provides a consistent basis for understanding and classifying business responses across the organisation.
The Strategic Response Model defines the following categories of drivers:
Driver Type | Description | Common Triggers | Example Rationales | Related Domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Regulatory change | Changes in legal or regulatory requirements | New legislation, audits | Align with safety standards; address compliance risks | Policy, Initiatives, Capabilities, Performance |
Customer demand shift | Shifting customer expectations or behaviours | Feedback, usage patterns | Improve onboarding; redesign mobile services | Strategy, ValueStream, Capabilities, Stakeholders |
Operational risk | Threats to continuity or operational efficiency | System failure, safety incidents | Enhance cyber resilience; strengthen recovery plans | Capabilities, Performance, Information, Organisation |
Technology obsolescence | Legacy or unsupported systems impacting operations | End-of-life systems, innovation lag | Modernise tech stack; enable data interoperability | Information, Capabilities, Initiatives |
Cost pressure | Financial constraints requiring efficiency or cost optimisation | Budget cuts, benchmarking | Consolidate platforms; automate manual processes | Performance, Capabilities, Initiatives, Organisation |
Workforce change | Evolving workforce dynamics | Hybrid work, attrition | Reskill staff; adapt HR policies | Organisation, Policy, Capabilities |
Stakeholder expectation | Pressure or concern from internal or external stakeholders | Board expectations, ESG concerns | Increase transparency; implement ethical compliance | Stakeholders, Policy, Performance |
Market opportunity | New market trends or emerging business opportunities | Competitor gap, new segment demand | Launch services; localise products | Strategy, ValueStream, Capabilities, Initiatives |
Classification: Each rationale must include a driver type. Multiple drivers may be selected if appropriate.
Traceability: Rationales should link to the relevant strategy, initiative, or performance goal.
Consistency: Use the Strategic Response Model trigger catalogue to guide classification.
Rationales are formed by analysing the implications of a specific trigger—whether external (e.g. regulatory change, market shift) or internal (e.g. performance trend, operational failure)—and articulating the reasoning behind a proposed strategic response. Each rationale provides the logical and contextual justification for why a response is appropriate, necessary, or valuable. This step bridges the gap between situational awareness (the trigger) and deliberate action (the response), ensuring decisions are traceable, defensible, and aligned with organisational goals.
By linking a rationale to its originating trigger, organisations can ensure transparency in decision-making, assess the consistency of responses over time, and identify patterns that inform future strategic planning. Rationales also provide auditability for governance, especially when responses involve major investments or policy changes.
This example illustrates a compliance-driven rationale responding to a legislative trigger. The rationale is linked to strategic, capability, and policy domains—indicating both what must change and where within the enterprise architecture that change is applied.
{ "rationaleTitle": "Adapt operations to AI regulatory update", "description": "In response to new cross-sector legislation regulating high-risk AI systems, this rationale supports the immediate review and adjustment of internal AI-powered analytics capabilities.", "trigger": { "triggerID": "TRIG-2025-0917", "title": "AI Regulation Act Passed", "description": "The national AI Regulation Act imposes new compliance standards on predictive algorithms used in public-facing services.", "triggerType": "Regulatory", "dateDetected": "2025-04-01" }, "classification": "Compliance", "linkedDomains": [ "Strategy", "Capabilities", "Policy" ], "dateCreated": "2025-04-17", "author": "Strategic Governance Office", "orgUnitTitle": "AI Risk & Compliance Team"}
{ "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#", "title": "Rationale Schema", "description": "Schema for a Rationale object used in the Strategic Response Model to explain the reasoning behind strategic responses", "type": "object", "properties": { "rationaleTitle": { "type": "string", "description": "Title or summary of the rationale" }, "description": { "type": "string", "description": "A detailed explanation of the rationale supporting a strategic response" }, "trigger": { "$ref": "https://orthogramic.com/schemas/trigger.schema.json ", "description": "Trigger object that prompted this rationale, defined according to the Trigger schema" }, "linkedDomains": { "type": "array", "description": "List of business architecture domains influenced or justified by this rationale", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "Strategy", "Capabilities", "Initiatives", "Policy", "Information", "Performance", "Products", "Services", "Stakeholder", "Value Stream" ] } }, "classification": { "type": "string", "description": "Optional category for the rationale (e.g. risk mitigation, compliance, opportunity, mandate)", "enum": [ "Risk", "Compliance", "Opportunity", "Mandate", "Performance Insight", "Stakeholder Need", "Other" ] }, "dateCreated": { "type": "string", "format": "date", "description": "The date the rationale was first recorded" }, "author": { "type": "string", "description": "The person or team who documented the rationale" }, "orgUnitTitle": { "type": "string", "description": "The organisational unit that owns or authored the rationale" } }, "required": [ "rationaleTitle", "description", "trigger" ]}