Cross-Domain Relationships

Cross-domain relationships define how entities from different Orthogramic domains connect, influence, and depend on one another. Unlike inter-unit relationships (which focus on organizational unit interactions), cross-domain relationships capture the semantic connections between domain types—such as how Finance funds Initiatives, or how Capabilities enable Value Streams.

Schema Version: 2.1
Schema Location: /schemas/extensions/cross-relationships/cross-domain.schema.json
Specification: JSON Schema Draft-07

Overview

Why Cross-Domain Relationships Matter

Organizations don't operate in isolated functional silos. Strategies depend on capabilities, initiatives consume resources, value streams require information, and policies constrain activities across multiple domains. Cross-domain relationships make these connections explicit, enabling:

Impact analysis — Understand how changes in one domain ripple across others
Dependency mapping — Trace what enables, constrains, or blocks progress
Governance alignment — Ensure policies and controls reach the right domains
Strategic coherence — Connect high-level strategy to operational execution

Relationship Categories

Cross-domain relationships are organized into seven categories, each capturing a distinct type of interaction between domains.

Financial Relationships

Financial relationships describe how economic resources flow between domains and how financial performance is measured.

Relationship	Description	Example
`funds`	Provides financial resources to support	Finance domain funds an Initiative
`measures`	Evaluates financial performance of	Finance domain measures a Capability's ROI
`reports`	Generates financial reporting for	Finance domain reports on Value Stream profitability
`forecasts`	Projects future financial state of	Finance domain forecasts Initiative costs

{
  "crossDomainRelationship": {
    "id": "cdr-001",
    "sourceDomain": "finance",
    "sourceEntity": "operating-budget-2024",
    "targetDomain": "initiatives",
    "targetEntity": "digital-transformation-program",
    "relationshipType": "funds",
    "strength": "strong",
    "description": "2024 operating budget allocation for digital transformation",
    "metadata": {
      "allocationAmount": 2500000,
      "currency": "AUD",
      "fiscalYear": "FY2024"
    }
  }
}

Operational Relationships

Operational relationships capture how domains enable, constrain, or depend on each other during day-to-day execution.

Relationship	Description	Example
`depends`	Requires for successful operation	Initiative depends on Capability
`constrains`	Limits or restricts operation of	Policy constrains Value Stream
`enables`	Makes possible or facilitates	Technology enables Capability
`mitigates`	Reduces risk or impact on	Capability mitigates Risk
`consumes`	Uses resources or outputs from	Value Stream consumes Information
`delivers`	Produces outputs for	Value Stream delivers to Customer
`optimizes`	Improves efficiency or performance of	Initiative optimizes Capability
`maintains`	Sustains ongoing operation of	Technology maintains Information

{
  "crossDomainRelationship": {
    "id": "cdr-002",
    "sourceDomain": "capabilities",
    "sourceEntity": "customer-data-management",
    "targetDomain": "value-streams",
    "targetEntity": "customer-onboarding",
    "relationshipType": "enables",
    "strength": "critical",
    "description": "Customer data management capability enables the onboarding value stream"
  }
}

Governance Relationships

Governance relationships define oversight, accountability, and control mechanisms across domains.

Relationship	Description	Example
`monitors`	Observes and tracks performance of	Performance domain monitors Value Stream
`governs`	Exercises authority and control over	Policy governs Capability
`audits`	Formally examines and evaluates	Risk Management audits Process
`certifies`	Provides formal approval to	Policy certifies Technology
`escalates`	Raises issues or decisions to	Initiative escalates to Strategy
`accountableFor`	Bears ultimate responsibility for	Stakeholder accountableFor Initiative
`responsibleFor`	Executes or delivers	Organization unit responsibleFor Capability

{
  "crossDomainRelationship": {
    "id": "cdr-003",
    "sourceDomain": "policy",
    "sourceEntity": "data-privacy-policy",
    "targetDomain": "capabilities",
    "targetEntity": "customer-data-collection",
    "relationshipType": "governs",
    "strength": "mandatory",
    "complianceRequirement": true,
    "regulatorySource": "Privacy Act 1988"
  }
}

Information and Knowledge Relationships

These relationships describe how knowledge, data, and insights flow between domains.

Relationship	Description	Example
`informs`	Provides information that shapes decisions	Information informs Strategy
`validates`	Confirms or verifies outputs from	Performance validates Initiative
`enriches`	Enhances data quality or completeness of	Information enriches Customer domain
`learns`	Acquires knowledge or patterns from	Intelligence learns from Performance
`teaches`	Transfers knowledge to	Capability teaches People
`benchmarks`	Compares performance against	Performance benchmarks Market

{
  "crossDomainRelationship": {
    "id": "cdr-004",
    "sourceDomain": "intelligence",
    "sourceEntity": "market-analysis-system",
    "targetDomain": "strategy",
    "targetEntity": "market-expansion-strategy",
    "relationshipType": "informs",
    "strength": "strong",
    "informationType": "competitive-intelligence",
    "refreshFrequency": "quarterly"
  }
}

Innovation and Transformation Relationships

These relationships capture how change and innovation propagate across the enterprise.

Relationship	Description	Example
`innovates`	Drives innovation or new developments in	Innovation innovates Capability
`evolves`	Causes evolutionary changes in	Initiative evolves Technology
`transforms`	Drives transformational change in	Initiative transforms Value Stream
`designs`	Creates or architects	Innovation designs Products
`implements`	Puts into operation	Initiative implements Technology

{
  "crossDomainRelationship": {
    "id": "cdr-005",
    "sourceDomain": "initiatives",
    "sourceEntity": "ai-enablement-program",
    "targetDomain": "capabilities",
    "targetEntity": "customer-service",
    "relationshipType": "transforms",
    "strength": "critical",
    "transformationType": "automation",
    "targetState": "AI-assisted customer service by Q4 2025"
  }
}

Coordination and Integration Relationships

These relationships describe how domains are synchronized and integrated for coherent operation.

Relationship	Description	Example
`orchestrates`	Coordinates activities of	Strategy orchestrates Initiatives
`integrates`	Brings together outputs from	Technology integrates Information
`synchronizes`	Ensures timing alignment with	Value Stream synchronizes with Supply Chain
`aligns`	Ensures consistency with	Initiative aligns with Strategy
`prioritizes`	Determines relative importance of	Strategy prioritizes Initiatives

{
  "crossDomainRelationship": {
    "id": "cdr-006",
    "sourceDomain": "strategy",
    "sourceEntity": "growth-strategy-2025",
    "targetDomain": "initiatives",
    "targetEntity": "new-market-entry",
    "relationshipType": "prioritizes",
    "priority": 1,
    "alignmentScore": 0.95,
    "strategicTheme": "market-expansion"
  }
}

Market and Demand Relationships

These relationships capture how market forces and demand patterns influence domains.

Relationship	Description	Example
`drives`	Creates demand or requirement for	Market drives Product development
`responds`	Reacts to changes in	Value Stream responds to Customer

{
  "crossDomainRelationship": {
    "id": "cdr-007",
    "sourceDomain": "market",
    "sourceEntity": "enterprise-segment",
    "targetDomain": "products",
    "targetEntity": "enterprise-platform",
    "relationshipType": "drives",
    "demandSignal": "strong",
    "marketTrend": "digital-transformation"
  }
}

Complete Relationship Reference

The full set of 37 cross-domain relationship types:

Category	Relationships
Financial	`funds`, `measures`, `reports`, `forecasts`
Operational	`depends`, `constrains`, `enables`, `mitigates`, `consumes`, `delivers`, `optimizes`, `maintains`
Governance	`monitors`, `governs`, `audits`, `certifies`, `escalates`, `accountableFor`, `responsibleFor`
Information	`informs`, `validates`, `enriches`, `learns`, `teaches`, `benchmarks`
Innovation	`innovates`, `evolves`, `transforms`, `designs`, `implements`
Coordination	`orchestrates`, `integrates`, `synchronizes`, `aligns`, `prioritizes`
Market	`drives`, `responds`

Relationship Strength

All cross-domain relationships include a strength property indicating the criticality of the connection:

Strength	Description
`critical`	Failure would severely impact the target domain
`strong`	Significant dependency with material impact
`moderate`	Notable connection but alternatives exist
`weak`	Minimal or optional connection
`mandatory`	Required by policy, regulation, or contract

Schema Definition

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "$id": "https://orthogramic.com/schemas/extensions/cross-relationships/cross-domain.schema.json",
  "title": "Cross-Domain Relationship",
  "type": "object",
  "required": ["id", "sourceDomain", "sourceEntity", "targetDomain", "targetEntity", "relationshipType"],
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Unique identifier for the relationship"
    },
    "sourceDomain": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The domain type of the source entity"
    },
    "sourceEntity": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Identifier of the source entity"
    },
    "targetDomain": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The domain type of the target entity"
    },
    "targetEntity": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Identifier of the target entity"
    },
    "relationshipType": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "funds", "measures", "reports", "forecasts",
        "depends", "constrains", "enables", "mitigates", "consumes", "delivers", "optimizes", "maintains",
        "monitors", "governs", "audits", "certifies", "escalates", "accountableFor", "responsibleFor",
        "informs", "validates", "enriches", "learns", "teaches", "benchmarks",
        "innovates", "evolves", "transforms", "designs", "implements",
        "orchestrates", "integrates", "synchronizes", "aligns", "prioritizes",
        "drives", "responds"
      ]
    },
    "strength": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["critical", "strong", "moderate", "weak", "mandatory"]
    },
    "description": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "metadata": {
      "type": "object",
      "additionalProperties": true
    }
  }
}

Usage Guidelines

When to Use Cross-Domain Relationships

Strategic planning — Map how strategic objectives cascade to capabilities and initiatives
Impact assessment — Before changing a domain entity, trace its relationships
Compliance mapping — Connect policies to the domains they govern
Investment decisions — Understand what capabilities depend on proposed changes

Modeling Best Practices

Be specific — Use the most precise relationship type available
Document the "why" — Include descriptions explaining the relationship's purpose
Assess strength consistently — Apply the same criteria across the organization
Review periodically — Relationships change as the organization evolves
Start with critical paths — Model the most important relationships first

For Data Engineers

Cross-domain relationships map well to lineage and dependency tracking in data catalogs. When integrating with OpenMetadata, these relationships can populate the lineage graph, enabling impact analysis across business and technical domains.

Inter-Unit Relationships — Relationships between organizational units
Relationship Directionality — Understanding relationship direction conventions
Strategic Response Model — How triggers and responses use relationships

Overview​

Why Cross-Domain Relationships Matter​

Relationship Categories​

Financial Relationships​

Operational Relationships​

Governance Relationships​

Information and Knowledge Relationships​

Innovation and Transformation Relationships​

Coordination and Integration Relationships​

Market and Demand Relationships​

Complete Relationship Reference​

Relationship Strength​

Schema Definition​

Usage Guidelines​

When to Use Cross-Domain Relationships​

Modeling Best Practices​

Related Documentation​