A systematic review of Green Business Process Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dries Couckuyt ◽  
Amy Van Looy
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Green Business ◽  
Similar Development

Purpose Green Business Process Management (BPM) focusses on the ecological impact of business processes. Although it is an emerging field, different attitudes exist towards the discipline’s name, the objectives and the approaches to realise them. By means of a systematic literature review, the purpose of this paper is to arrive at a common understanding of the discipline for successful development. Design/methodology/approach The review methodology relies on a hermeneutic framework which integrates the search, analysis and interpretation of the literature. The sample is used in a text analysis to find an appropriate definition (RQ1), a bibliometric analysis to give insights in current Green BPM contributions (RQ2) and a content analysis to present differences with conventional BPM (RQ3). Findings Green BPM follows a similar development as conventional BPM, namely from a more technical perspective to also including the managerial perspective. More research is required that goes beyond the traditional business process lifecycle. Originality/value The research questions generated a comprehensive overview about application domains and research topics, which in turn can deliver benefits for both research and practitioner-related communities. Researchers identify future research avenues, while practitioners find appropriate Green BPM techniques for their domain.

Big data integration with business processes: a literature review

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Fosso Wamba ◽  
Deepa Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the integration of business process management (BPM), business process re-engineering (BPR) and business process innovation (BPI) with big data. It focusses on synthesizing research published in the period 2006-2016 to establish both what the authors know and do not know about this topic, identifying areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a review of 49 published papers on big data, BPM, BPR and BPI in the top journals in the field 2006-2016. Findings In this paper, the authors have identified the most influential works based on citations and PageRank methods. Through network analysis the authors identify four major clusters that provide potential opportunities for future investigation. Practical implications It is important for practitioners to be aware of the benefits of big data, BPM, BPR and BPI integration. This paper provides valuable insights for practitioners. Originality/value This paper is based on a comprehensive literature review, which gives big data researchers the opportunity to understand business processes in depth. In addition, highlighting many gaps in the current literature and developing an agenda for future research, will save time and effort for readers looking to research topics within big data and business processes.

A theory of contingent business process management

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1291-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Zelt ◽  
Jan Recker ◽  
Theresa Schmiedel ◽  
Jan vom Brocke
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Process Performance ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Many researchers and practitioners suggest a contingent instead of a “one size fits all” approach in business process management (BPM). The purpose of this paper is to offer a contingency theory of BPM, which proposes contingency factors relevant to the successful management of business processes and that explains how and why these contingencies impact the relationships between process management and performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop the theory by drawing on organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and applying an information processing (IP) perspective to the process level. Findings The premise of the model is that the process management mechanisms such as documentation, standardization or monitoring must compensate for the uncertainty and equivocality of the nature of the process that has to be managed. In turn, managing through successful adaptation is a prerequisite for process performance. Research limitations/implications The theory provides a set of testable propositions that specify the relationship between process management mechanisms and process performance. The authors also discuss implications of the new theory for further theorizing and outline empirical research strategies that can be followed to enact, evaluate and extend the theory. Practical implications The theory developed in this paper allows an alternative way to describe organizational processes and supports the derivation of context-sensitive management approaches for process documentation, standardization, monitoring, execution and coordination. Originality/value The theoretical model is novel in that it provides a contextualized view on BPM that acknowledges different types of processes and suggests different mechanisms for managing these. The authors hope the paper serves as inspiration both for further theory development as well as to empirical studies that test, refute, support or otherwise augment the arguments.

Social business process management

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-211
Author(s):  
Patricia Bazan ◽  
Elsa Estevez
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Implicit Knowledge ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Social Business ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the state of the art of social business process management (Social BPM), explaining applied approaches, existing tools and challenges and to propose a research agenda for encouraging further development of the area. Design/methodology/approach The methodology comprises a qualitative analysis using secondary data. The approach relies on searches of scientific papers conducted in well-known databases, identifying research work related to Social BPM solutions and those contributing with social characteristics to BPM. Based on the identified papers, the authors selected the most relevant and the latest publications, and categorized their contributions and findings based on open and selective coding. In total, the analysis is based on 51 papers that were selected and analyzed in depth. Findings Main results show that there are several studies investigating modeling approaches for socializing process activities and for capturing implicit knowledge possessed and used by process actors, enabling to add some kind of flexibility to business processes. However, despite the proven interest in the area, there are not yet adequate tools providing effective solutions for Social BPM. Based on our findings, the authors propose a research agenda comprising three main lines: contributions of social software (SS) to Social BPM, Social BPM as a mechanism for adding flexibility to and for discovering new business processes and Social BPM for enhancing business processes with the use of new technologies. The authors also identify relevant problems for each line. Practical implications Some SS tools, like wikis, enable managing social aspects in executing business processes and can be used to coordinate simple business processes. Despite they are commonly used, they are not yet mature tools supporting Social BPM and more efficient tools are yet to appear. The lack of tools preclude organizations from benefitting from implicit knowledge owned by and shared among business process actors, which could contribute to better-informed decisions related to organizational processes. In addition, more research is needed for considering Social BPM as an approach for organizations to benefit from the adoption of new technologies in their business processes. Originality/value The paper assesses the state of the art in Social BPM, an incipient area in research and practice. The area can be defined as the intersection of two bigger areas highly relevant for organizations; on the one hand, the management and execution of business processes; and on the other hand, the use of social software, including social media tools, for leveraging on implicit knowledge shared by business process actors to improving efficiency of business processes.

scholarly journals Exploring potentials of digital nudging for business processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1329-1347
Author(s):  
Sandra Bammert ◽  
Ulrich Matthias König ◽  
Maximilian Roeglinger ◽  
Tabitha Wruck
Keyword(s):  
Process Improvement ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Process Improvements ◽  
Business Environments ◽  
Digital Nudging ◽  
Agile Process

PurposeBusiness process improvement is vital for organizations as business environments are becoming ever more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Process improvement methods help organizations sustain competitiveness. Many existing methods, however, do not fit emerging business environments as they entail initiatives with long implementation times, high investments and limited involvement of process participants. What is needed are agile process improvement approaches. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of digital nudging – a concept offering tools that lead individuals to better decisions – to improve business processes.Design/methodology/approachUsing process deviance as theoretical lens, an online experiment with 473 participants is conducted. Within the experiment, business processes and digital nudges are implemented to examine whether digital nudging can mitigate the weaknesses of existing process improvement methods.FindingsDigital nudging can influence the decisions of process participants and entail positive process deviance that leads to process improvement opportunities. Further, the research gives a first hint on the effectiveness of different digital nudges and lays the foundation for future research.Research limitations/implicationsSince exploring a completely new field of research and conducting the experiment in a synthetic environment, the paper serves as a first step toward the combination of digital nudging, business process improvements and positive process deviance.Originality/valueThe major achievement reported in this paper is the exploration of a new field of research. Thus, digital nudging shapes up as a promising foundation for agile process improvement, a discovery calling for future research at the intersection of digital nudging and business process management.

scholarly journals Nexus between business process management (BPM) and accounting

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 745-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahangama Withanage Janitha Chandimali Abeygunasekera ◽  
Wasana Bandara ◽  
Moe Wynn ◽  
Ogan Yigitbasioglu
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Structured Literature Review

Purpose Multidisciplinary business process management (BPM) research can reap significant impact. We can particularly benefit from incorporating accounting concepts to address some of the key BPM challenges, such as value-creation and return on investment of BPM activities. However, research which addresses a relationship between BPM and accounting is scarce. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed synthesis of the current literature that has integrated accounting aspects with BPM. The authors profile and thematically describe existing research, and derive evidence-based directions to guide future research. Design/methodology/approach A multi-staged structured literature review approach to search for the two broad themes, accounting and BPM, supported by NVivo (to manage the papers and the coding and analysis processes) was designed and followed. Findings The paper confirms the dearth of work that ties the two disciplines, despite the synergetic multidisciplinary results that can be attained. Available literature is mostly from the management accounting perspective and relates to describing how performance management, in particular performance measurement, can be applicable to process improvement initiatives together with tools such as activity-based costing and the balanced scorecard. There is a lack of research that examines BPM in relation to any financial accounting perspectives (such as external reporting). Future research directions are proposed together with implications for practitioners with the findings of this structured literature review. Research limitations/implications The paper provides a detailed synthesis of the existing literature on the nexus between accounting and BPM. It summarizes the implications for practitioners and provides directions for future research by identifying key gaps and opportunities with a sound contextual basis for extension and new work. Originality/value Effective literature reviews create strong foundations for future research and accumulate the otherwise scattered knowledge into a single place. This is the first structured literature review that provides a detailed synthesis of the research that ties together the accounting and BPM disciplines, providing a basis for future research directions together with implications for practitioners.

Dynamic product line for Business Process Management

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1224-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto dos Santos Rocha ◽  
Marcelo Fantinato ◽  
Lucinéia Heloisa Thom ◽  
Marcelo Medeiros Eler
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Design Science ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dynamic Techniques

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the proposal of a Product Line (PL)-based approach for Business Process Management (BPM) projects that cover the entire BPM lifecycle and proposes integrating it with dynamic techniques still not used together. Design/methodology/approach – The authors carried out this work using the design science research methodology. The authors assessed the proposed approach using a classification procedure created through a series of specific attributes, which enables a comparison of the proposed integrated approach with related works selected from a systematic literature review. Findings – The comparative assessment has shown that the proposed approach presents the most comprehensive solution than any other similar one suggested for the same purpose, mainly in terms of the coverage of the entire BPM lifecycle and dynamic techniques. Research limitations/implications – Due to the high-level conceptual nature of the proposed approach, the authors could not evaluate it also in terms of some controlled experiment or a case study. Originality/value – The proposed approach aims at improving the management of business processes in organizations in a systematic way using concepts and techniques that exist in other areas, but not widely used together yet, such as BPM, service-oriented computing, and Software PL.

Business Process Management in the Classroom

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-28
Author(s):  
Ashwini Sarvepalli ◽  
Joy Godin
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
College Graduates ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Simulation Game ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Post Test

Organizations are increasingly adopting Business Process Management (BPM) approaches growing the need for BPM expertise in the industry (Bandara et al., 2010). This has resulted in growing demand for college graduates who have a thorough knowledge of business processes (Lee, 2008). Hadidi (2014) pointed out that development of courses and programs in BPM area has received huge consideration in academia during recent times. This paper presents a classroom activities for teaching Business Process Management using a paper-based simulation game conducted as part of an undergraduate IS course. The paper discusses various class activities involved such as execution of the simulation game, creation of graphical representations of processes followed in the game, and creation of Business Process models using Microsoft Visio software. A post-test survey was conducted to evaluate the understanding of BPM concepts learned and analyze the effectiveness of the simulation game. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

Industry 4.0 and business process management: state of the art and new challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Bazan ◽  
Elsa Estevez
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Event Processing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Software Ecosystems

PurposeThe objective of the work is to analyze the impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) concepts and associated technologies in the framework of organizations and the management of their processes and how event orientation, as well as the structure of said business processes, can play an important role in this new organizational model. The main contribution of this work is to present a conceptualization of the research, identify approaches and challenges that require further study, and as a result, a proposal for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology comprises a qualitative analysis using secondary data. The approach relies on searches of scientific papers conducted in well-known databases, identifying research work around the IoT and Industry 4.0 applied to business process management. Based on the identified papers, the authors selected the most relevant and the latest publications, and categorized their contributions and findings based on open and selective coding. In total, the analysis is based on 95 papers that were selected and analyzed in depth.FindingsThe results of this research allow analyzing and ordering the existing contributions around Industry 4.0 and its impact on current organizations. The proposed conceptualization was derived from the analysis of the state of the research and identifies four categories: (1) improvements caused by Industry 4.0 and its impact on inter-organizational relations, (2) new architectural models and infrastructure of remote resources, their movement from the cloud to the edge and its effect on business processes, (3) context-aware concepts brought to business process management (BPM) linked to unstructured business processes and (4) complex event processing as a possible means for business processes sensitive to IoT signals.Practical implicationsThe construction of current software ecosystems is strongly affected by the variety of information sources that feed them, as well as their volume. In addition, business processes represent organizations internally and are challenged to transcend the limits of companies due to the mentioned changes in software ecosystems. Industry 4.0 in conjunction with BPM re-defines the business process management paradigm and leads them to acquire the dynamism and sensitivity to the context that they usually did not have, as well as force them to move toward distributed platforms.Originality/valueThis paper assesses the state of the art in Industry 4.0 and business process management. The area can be defined as the intersection of two bigger areas highly relevant for organizations; on the one hand, the management and execution of business processes; and on the other hand, new conceptual, technological and methodological challenges to information systems that have to become more sensitive to event processing and also have to consume a large volume of data permanently and ubiquitously.

An exploration of green business process maturity based on ecolabels

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dries Couckuyt ◽  
Amy Van Looy
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Process Maturity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Green Business ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
Business Process Maturity

PurposeThe discipline of business process management (BPM) is challenged by investigating how work is performed in organizations while simultaneously recognizing preeminent environmental issues. Although organizations have become more open to the ecological impact of business processes through Green BPM, research in this field and guidance for practitioners remains relatively limited. Therefore, this study aims to extend and translate the conventional perspective on business process maturity towards green business process maturity levels.Design/methodology/approachThe authors bridged product-focussed and process-focussed environmental management practices by surveying ecolabels against theoretical capability areas for business process maturity. Since ecolabels are instruments to develop environmental-friendly products and services, the authors looked at the underlying processes to produce such green outcomes. By surveying 89 ecolabel organizations, the authors had indirectly access to an international set of companies, operating in distinct industries and producing a wide variety of green products and services.FindingsThe authors statistically uncovered a classification of four groups of ecolabels based on the process capabilities, each representing a distinct green business process maturity level. The four levels are “Green BP immaturity”, “Green BPL maturity”, “Green BPM maturity” and “Green BPO maturity” and align with well-established concepts in the business process literature and profession.Originality/valueScholars are encouraged to elaborate on the identified maturity levels in order to build and test a green business process maturity model, whereas practitioner-related advice is provided based on possible green business process maturity journeys towards excellence.

Enterprise systems, business process management and UK-management accounting practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameh Ammar
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Business Process Management ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Management Accounting ◽  
Enterprise Systems ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to address the extant and arguable role of enterprise systems (ES) in relation to management accounting practices (MAPs) through an inclusion relative neglect account of business process management (BPM). This is also extended to draw out an analytical framework to advance our understanding of how BPM mediate ES-MAPs interplay. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional case study was adopted as a research strategy with which to collect data about the ES-BPM-MAPs interplay as a unit of analysis. The latter, in the first stage, was examined across (89) mini-case studies operating in the UK context through reports and documentations collected from cases’ websites, vendors and consultants of information systems. Drawn insights from cross-sectional analysis and contributions made by prior studies are blended together to inform the second stage that outlines an analytical framework for ES-BPM-MAPs interplay. Findings Different ES are mobilised to address different orientations of BPMs and being used for different managerial functions and purposes. Different patterns of ES-BPM-MAPs interplay are identified across (89) UK-case studies and the BPM is a fulcrum understanding. These patterns are centred around three key BPM including customer, logistics and control processes and all oriented by a continuum of an organisation intention focus on control, understanding and strategising. Both processes and orientations explain ES development and MAPs evolution processes. Standardisation, integration and intelligence are key characteristics sought through ES mobilisations. By complementary, information provision, analytics and simulation are three sophisticated ways of using MA information facilitated by ES characteristics. Research limitations/implications Dynamic processes of MAPs change over time and are beyond the reach of this study. Such approach requires full access to case studies. BPM is fulcrum understanding of MAPs change and/or stability in relation to ES implementation including other components. Practical implications Findings and analytical framework could be used as a base for establishing the best approach in adopting ES to fully exploit the potential of future ES applications as well as to avoid organisations pitfalls of implementations. Organisations are advised to understand their existing business processes, characteristics of MA information would be achieved first upon which decision of ES components selection and implementation could be outlined. Originality/value The indirect interplay between ES and MAPs through business processes is rarely examined. By the inclusion of BPM and using cross-sectional case studies, this research contributes to the existing shortcomings of ES-MAPs interplay by broadening the picture and proposing an analytical framework. The latter advances our understanding by focusing on attributes of ES-BPM-MAPs upon which informal changes in-the use of MAPs are recognised.

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