When people come together to achieve something they must organise themselves, agree about what they are going to do, and decide how they are going to do it: the proverbial who?/what?/how? of most management consultancy discourse. This approach is innate and ubiquitous but once it is formalised into a detailed methodology that can be consistently applied, much greater efficiency and certainty of success can be assured.
A useful methodology should provide processes and rules, i.e. methods, for taking the raw materials (information and physical constituents) and turning them into consumable products and outcomes. Furthermore, in order to apply a methodology consistently and effectively a classification system must be stipulated so that the constituent elements and processes can be described, measured, and utilised in designs.
It is this organisation, classification framework, and methodology which constitutes the foundation of any enterprise (the who?/what?/how? that defines the enterprise). The application of this thinking to the enterprise itself will define an enterprise architecture that can be used to build and manage it more effectively.