Business Process Standardization of Multinational Enterprises: Two Distinctive Organizational Models

Business process standardization practice was studied in the context of integration and adaptation. 31 Japanese and non-Japanese MNE were interviewed to find a practice of standardizing business process globally. 4 distinctive types of standardization were identified. Two top down approaches were consistent with organizational characteristics such as clear job specification, in contrasting on those using Kaizen-like approaches, with general characteristic employment as membership, which can be called T-type and J-type, respectively. Both top-down and Kaizen-like approach uses replication strategy to have globally integration but remains flexible when executed at different geographic location to have adaptation needed.

Deriving a Multi-Theoretical Framework for BPS Research

When it comes to developing theoretical foundations for such complex things as business process standardization or business process management researchers agree that no single theory is capable of explaining all phenomena that occur. The authors agree with that perspective and propose a multi-theoretical framework for BPS research by combining the Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm with Dynamic Capabilities (DC) theory and some selected dynamic capabilities to conceptualize the specific requirements of BPS. Hence, the goal of this chapter is to lay out solid theoretical foundations for research on BPS. In a first step, the authors define the research context. Then several established theoretical lenses are presented, and finally, they are combined into a multi-theoretical framework for BPS research.

Introduction

The goal of this chapter is to give an overview of the work at hand: it introduces Business Process Standardization (BPS), explains the motivation of the research topic, and formulates research questions to be answered. Then, it explains the methodology used, provides a definition of key terms, and gives an overview of the structure of the book. Finally, it summarizes the main findings of the book.

Deriving a Multi-Theoretical Framework for BPS Research

When it comes to developing theoretical foundations for such complex things as business process standardization or business process management researchers agree that no single theory is capable of explaining all phenomena that occur. The authors agree with that perspective and propose a multi-theoretical framework for BPS research by combining the Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm with Dynamic Capabilities (DC) theory and some selected dynamic capabilities to conceptualize the specific requirements of BPS. Hence, the goal of this chapter is to lay out solid theoretical foundations for research on BPS. In a first step, the authors define the research context. Then several established theoretical lenses are presented, and finally, they are combined into a multi-theoretical framework for BPS research.