Wikidata:WikiProject Organizations/Ontology

This page is about the ontology of organizations.

Many discussions show that the ontology of organizations in Wikidata is messy and unclear.

Back to 2014, a discussion suggest that nobody is able to explain the difference between business (Q4830453), enterprise (Q6881511) and company (Q783794).^[1] During Data Modelling Days 2023, there have been some discussions during the simplification of the ontology. This discussion is still ongoing.^[2]

A radical proposal would be to use only organization (Q43229) for all kind of organizations (exactly like the choice of human (Q5) for all humans. This would suppose to find good solutions to discriminate between businesses, NGOs, non profits organizations, public agencies using other properties.

At the opposite, the status quo would be to let the entropy create a wide variety of values for P31.

An intermediate proposal would be to define a finite number of recommended values for P31.

Before taking any radical decision, this page documents all existing issues about ontology of organizations.

At this stage, it is recommended to use general categories for P31 and avoid very narrow categories.

Properties to describe organization items

Title	ID	Data type	Description	Examples	Inverse
instance of	P31	Item	instance of: that class of which this subject is a particular example and member; different from P279 (subclass of); for example: K2 is an instance of mountain; volcano is a subclass of mountain (and an instance of volcanic landform)	Konzert Theater Bern <instance of> organization	-
country	P17	Item	country: sovereign state that this item is in (not to be used for human beings)	National Arts Centre <country> Canada	-
official name	P1448	Monolingual text	official name: official name of the subject in its official language(s)	Edmonton Jazz Society <official name> "THE EDMONTON JAZZ SOCIETY (1973)"	-
has subsidiary	P355	Item	subsidiary: subsidiary of a company or organization; generally a fully owned separate corporation. Compare with "business division" (P199). Opposite of parent organization (P749).	The Walt Disney Company <has subsidiary> Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios	parent organization
parent organization	P749	Item	parent company: parent organization of an organization, opposite of subsidiaries (P355)	Landeshauptstadt München <parent organization> Munich Kammerspiele	has subsidiary
business division	P199	Item	division: organizational divisions of this organization (which are not independent legal entities)	National Arts Centre <business division> NAC Indigenous Theatre	-
part of	P361	Item	part: object of which the subject is a part (if this subject is already part of object A which is a part of object B, then please only make the subject part of object A), inverse property of "has part" (P527, see also "has parts of the class" (P2670))	NAC Indigenous Theatre <part of> National Arts Centre	has part(s)
has part(s)	P527	Item	has part, consist of and meronymy: part of this subject; inverse property of "part of" (P361). See also "has parts of the class" (P2670).	Konzert Theater Bern <has part(s)> Bern Symphony Orchestra	part of
legal form	P1454	Item	legal form: legal form of an entity	Konzert Theater Bern <legal form> foundation	-
field of work	P101	Item	field of work: specialization of a person or organization; see P106 for the occupation	Konzert Theater Bern <field of work> performing arts	-
inception	P571	Point in time	date of establishment: time when an entity begins to exist; for date of official opening use P1619	Konzert Theater Bern <inception> 2011	-
dissolved, abolished or demolished date	P576	Point in time	date of dissolution, abolition or demolition: point in time at which the subject (organisation, building) ceased to exist; see "date of official closure" (P3999) for closing a facility, "service retirement" (P730) for retiring equipment, "discontinued date" (P2669) for stopping a product	Team Bath F.C. <dissolved, abolished or demolished date> 2009	-
founded by	P112	Item	organizational founder: founder or co-founder of this organization, religion, place or entity	Théâtre de l'Œil <founded by> André Laliberté	-
item operated	P121	Item	operator: equipment, installation or service operated by the subject	Palais Montcalm - Maison de la musique <item operated> Palais Montcalm	operator
headquarters location	P159	Item	headquarters, siège social, seat, episcopal see and titular see: city or town, where an organization's headquarters is or has been situated. Use P276 qualifier for specific building	Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries <headquarters location> Vienna	-
industry	P452	Item	industry and economic sector: specific industry of company or organization	Red Hat <industry> software industry	-

Notes

The two top level classes for instance of (P31) are organization (Q43229) and organizational subdivision (Q9261468) (which is said to be the same as division (Q334453)).
legal form (P1454) is recommended as an alternative to instance of (P31) for documenting subclasses of organization (Q43229) (such as company (Q783794), business (Q4830453) or enterprise (Q6881511)).
official name (P1448) can be used to state the legal name of an organization. Legal name statements should be referenced. Business registers or charities directorates are good references for legal name and other legal information.
There are different ways of stating parent-child relationships between organizations and sub-organizations:
- parent organization (P749) (and has subsidiary (P355)) should be used when the child organization exists as a distinct juridical person from the parent organization.
- business division (P199) should be used when the child organization is not incorporated or registered as a distinct juridical person.
- In doubt, it is also possible to use has part(s) (P527) / part of (P361).
In the Identifiers section, it is a good practice to state the national business or enterprise number for the organization (for example, New Zealand Business Number (P5687), Swiss Enterprise Identification Number (P4829) or Canada Business Number (P8860), SIREN number (P1616) for France (Q142)).
industry (P452) is also widely used for organizations. However, neither Wikidata ontology nor the usage offer clarity as to what constitutes a proper value for P452.
- See International Standard Industrial Classification (Q1666934) and its country-specific implementations for suitable values.

Overly specific values of instance of (P31)

As of usage in 2024

Values pertaining to legal form (P1454)

Values pertaining to industry (P452) (or field of work (P101))

Values describing organizational goals

Properties using organization items

Propriétés dont la valeur peut être, ou devrait être, une organisation

Properties which value can be, or should be, an organization

Title	ID	Data type	Description	Examples	Inverse
author	P50	Item	author, writer and creator: main creator(s) of a written work (use on works, not humans); use P2093 (author name string) when Wikidata item is unknown or does not exist	Pride and Prejudice <author> Jane Austen	-
employer	P108	Item	employer: person or organization for which the subject works or worked	Albert Verlinde <employer> Stage Entertainment Germany	-
owned by	P127	Item	proprietor, property and owned by: owner of the subject	Choupette <owned by> Karl Lagerfeld	owner of
operator	P137	Item	operator: person, profession, or organization that operates the equipment, facility, or service	Yamanote Line <operator> East Japan Railway Company	item operated
has subsidiary	P355	Item	subsidiary: subsidiary of a company or organization; generally a fully owned separate corporation. Compare with "business division" (P199). Opposite of parent organization (P749).	The Walt Disney Company <has subsidiary> Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios	parent organization
parent organization	P749	Item	parent company: parent organization of an organization, opposite of subsidiaries (P355)	Airbus <parent organization> Airbus Group	has subsidiary
organization directed by the office or position	P2389	Item	organization: organization which is directed by this office	Chief Justice of the United States <organization directed by the office or position> Supreme Court of the United States	office held by head of the organization

Not organizations

Ce qui ne doit pas être confondu avec une organisation

What should not be confused with an organization

Buildings - building (Q41176), architectural structure (Q811979), mill building (Q56822897), police station (Q861951) ...
Facilities - museum (Q33506), hotel (Q27686), factory (Q83405), shop (Q213441), railway station (Q55488), sports venue (Q1076486), educational facility (Q20860083), hospital (Q16917) ...
Brands - brand (Q431289), retail chain (Q507619), restaurant chain (Q18534542), ...
Products and works - newspaper (Q11032), website (Q35127), television channel (Q2001305), magazine (Q41298), transport network (Q924286), software (Q7397), online service (Q19967801), music festival (Q868557) ...
Geographic entities - administrative territorial entity (Q56061), municipality (Q15284), country (Q6256), ...

Références

[1] ttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Talk:Q4830453#Company

[2] Wikidata_talk:WikiProject_Organizations#Implementing_the_W3C_Organization_Ontology_in_Wikidata

[1]

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