Triggers initiate the Strategic Response Model by representing a change in context, observation, or external condition that warrants attention. Each Trigger may lead to one or more Rationales, each providing a specific justification for change. Triggers ensure that organisational decisions are not made in a vacuum, but are grounded in evidence or obligation.See: https://orthogramic.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/OM/pages/286228485
A trigger is defined as a catalyst event—internal or external—that compels an organisation to adapt. It is not a standalone structural element but a contextual stimulus that prompts changes to strategy, activates capabilities, or demands cross-functional coordination. Triggers may include legislative changes, customer demands, or performance breaches.
A Trigger is not a standalone structural element of an organisation but an external or internal event, condition, or hypothesis that causes the organisation to:
Mobilise capabilities,
Evaluate policies,
Adjust strategies,
Initiate new initiatives,
Coordinate across services and information flows.
In the Orthogramic Metamodel:
Trigger is a supporting artifact, not a domain.
It is only relevant in the context of a strategicResponseModel.
Triggers are classified using the Trigger Catalogue, which defines accepted types of triggers.
The trigger catalogue provides a curated and expanding set of predefined triggers that can be used to initiate strategic responses. Each trigger is tagged to relevant business architecture domains, enabling efficient strategic response planning and alignment across organisational activities.
Each strategic response triggered using this catalogue links back to relevant Orthogramic Metamodel domains—such as capabilities, services, initiatives, and stakeholders—to produce a dynamic view of organisational readiness and response.
Common Trigger Catalogue types include:
Regulatory: New or updated legislation or compliance obligations.
Performance Insight: Metrics indicating deviation from expected outcomes.
Risk: Identified operational, financial, or strategic risks.
Opportunity: Market, partnership, or innovation opportunities.
Mandate: Governmental or internal directives.
Stakeholder Need: Explicit demand from a stakeholder or stakeholder group.
Each trigger includes:
triggerID: Unique identifier
title: Human-readable label
description: Detailed summary
triggerType: From the Trigger Catalogue
dateDetected: Date the trigger was recognised
Triggers can lead to multiple Rationales. Each Rationale references the originating trigger and justifies a different response path. This many-to-one structure allows a single trigger to influence several domains.
See https://orthogramic.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/OM/pages/291242002 for reference cases.
Triggers in the Orthogramic Metamodel follow a standardized classification system that enables consistent categorization, improved searchability, and enhanced analytics. Each trigger is classified according to:
Primary Category: The main classification of the trigger (e.g., Regulatory, Technological, Strategic)
Subcategory: A more specific classification within the primary category
Origin: Whether the trigger is internal or external to the organization
Time Horizon: The temporal nature of the trigger (immediate, short-term, long-term)
Impact Level: The potential significance of the trigger (low, medium, high, critical)
This taxonomy provides a framework for organizing triggers consistently, allowing organizations to:
Track patterns in strategic responses across similar trigger types
Analyze the distribution of triggers by source, timeframe, and impact
Identify which categories of triggers most frequently drive strategic changes
Maintain a trigger registry that can be referenced across multiple strategic response models
The standardized taxonomy also supports governance and auditability by ensuring that triggers are documented according to consistent criteria, making it easier to trace decision-making patterns over time.
See: https://github.com/Orthogramic/Orthogramic_Metamodel
Field | Type | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
rationaleID | string (uuid) | Yes | Unique identifier for the rationale | "RAT-STR-005" |
rationaleTitle | string | Yes | Title or summary of the rationale | "Ensure Regulatory Compliance" |
description | string | Yes | A detailed explanation of the rationale supporting a strategic response | "To meet new safety regulations and avoid penalties" |
triggerReference | string (uuid) | Yes | Reference to the trigger that prompted this rationale | "TRG-EXT-2025-01" |
linkedDomains | array of string (enum) | No | List of business architecture domains influenced or justified by this rationale | ["Policy", "Capabilities"] |
primaryDriver | string (enum) | Yes | Primary category for the rationale | "Compliance_Requirement" |
reasoningPattern | string (enum) | No | The logical structure of the rationale | "Normative" |
evidenceBase | string (enum) | No | The foundation for the rationale | "Regulatory_Requirement" |
strategicAlignment | string (enum) | No | How the rationale connects to organizational strategy | "Risk_Mitigation" |
businessValueType | string (enum) | No | The nature of value creation or preservation | "Regulatory_Compliance" |
dateCreated | string (date) | No | The date the rationale was first recorded | "2025-04-20" |
author | string | No | The person or team who documented the rationale | "Regulatory Affairs Team" |
orgUnitTitle | string | No | The organizational unit that owns or authored the rationale | "Regulatory Affairs Unit" |
relatedRationales | array of string (uuid) | No | References to other related rationales | ["RAT-STR-006"] |
These updated schema properties tables provide a clear overview of the enhanced Trigger and Rationale schemas, including field types, requirement status, descriptions, and example values. The tables reflect the expanded taxonomy features that enable better categorization, analytics, and auditability within the Orthogramic Metamodel.This schema allows organizations to systematically capture and manage triggers that necessitate strategic responses, ensuring traceability and alignment across the enterprise architecture.