The legal, strategic, or ownership structure aside, if a company does not operate and manage itself as an enterprise then techniques such as enterprise architecture do not have the same ability to create results as they do in a company that does manage and operate as an enterprise. That is the losely coupled organization you mention above.

I created the post because of an observation that often IT organizations try to make a company an enterprise when its not. Hence the IT point of view.

Most of these enterprise conditions are not IT specific *customers/markets/finance/strategic intent” so while the post is on a technology blog and technology is often trying to make an enterprise where there is not one, the point is a business point not just IT.

In practical terms, the debate comes down to: to what extent an Enterprise Architecture, Strategy or IT development can be applied across geographies, business operations or to a Group of companies? It is about the scope of the development.
The confusion started with Java Enterprise Edition (JavaEE), Enterprise Applications Integration (EAI) … then the Enterprise portal…

Legally an Enterprise Group has an identity and a single governance. It is up to the management to define the Group Operating Model: unification… An operating model is the degree of integration and standardisation of various companies within a group. Some companies are part of the financial group but otherwise are left to their own devices. Loosely coupled, I would say, by design.

In the absence of an Operating Model (most cases), from an IT perspective, it is up to an IT group to negotiate with their stakeholders and peers the scope of the Enterprise for the development. It depends upon the organisational remit of the IT department, culture, individuals…

The scope of the Enterprise, in the proposed definition, is seen from an IT team point of view. As such, it may vary with every IT development. Nobody establishes the Enterpise boundary upfront based on the listed conditions.

But legally and financially the Enterprise is still the Group.