Jan vom Brocke | University of Liechtenstein (original) (raw)

Papers by Jan vom Brocke

Information & Management, 2019

Business process management (BPM) research conceptualizes BPM culture as a type of organizational... more Business process management (BPM) research conceptualizes BPM culture as a type of organizational culture that supports BPM. No quantitative fieldwork has so far examined how such a supporting role manifests itself. We study the relationship between BPM culture, BPM methods, and process performance empirically. Our analysis of multiple survey data sets from

Business Process Management Journal, 2018

PurposeMany researchers and practitioners suggest a contingent instead of a “one size fits all” a... more PurposeMany 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/approachThe authors develop the theory by drawing on organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and applying an information processing (IP) perspective to the process level.FindingsThe 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/implicationsThe theory provi...

To date, typical process modeling approaches put a strong emphasis on describing behavioral aspec... more To date, typical process modeling approaches put a strong emphasis on describing behavioral aspects of business operations. However, they often neglect value-related information. Yet, such information is of key importance to strategic decisionmaking, for instance in the context of process improvement or business engineering. In this paper we propose a valueoriented approach to business process modeling based on key concepts and metrics from operations and financial management. A simple case study suggests that ...

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Bibliografische Information Der Deutschen Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Pu... more Bibliografische Information Der Deutschen Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet çber <http://dnb.ddb.de> abrufbar. SAP ¾ und SAP BW ¾ sind eingetragene Warenzeichen der SAP Aktiengesellschaft Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung, Neurottstraûe 16, 69190 Walldorf. Dieses Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschçtzt. Die dadurch begrçndeten Rechte, insbesondere die der Ûbersetzung, des Nachdrucks, des Vortrags, der Entnahme von Abbildungen und Tabellen, der Funksendung, der Mikroverfilmung oder der Vervielfåltigung auf anderen Wegen und der Speicherung in Datenverarbeitungsanlagen, bleiben, auch bei nur auszugsweiser Verwertung, vorbehalten. Eine Vervielfåltigung dieses Werkes oder von Teilen dieses Werkes ist auch im Einzelfall nur in den Grenzen der gesetzlichen Bestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vom 9. September 1965 in der jeweils geltenden Fassung zulåssig. Sie ist grundsåtzlich vergçtungspflichtig. Zuwiderhandlungen unterliegen den Strafbestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes. springer.de°D ie Wiedergabe von Gebrauchsnamen, Handelsnamen, Warenbezeichnungen usw. in diesem Werk berechtigt auch ohne besondere Kennzeichnung nicht zu der Annahme, dass solche Namen im Sinne der Warenzeichen-und Markenschutz-Gesetzgebung als frei zu betrachten wåren und daher von jedermann benutzt werden dçrften.

Business Process Management Journal, Jul 1, 2014

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to foster a common understanding of business process managem... more Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to foster a common understanding of business process management (BPM) by proposing a set of ten principles that characterize BPM as a research domain and guide its successful use in organizational practice. Design/methodology/approach-The identification and discussion of the principles reflects our viewpoint, which was informed by extant literature and focus groups, including 20 BPM experts from academia and practice. Findings-We identify ten principles which represent a set of capabilities essential for mastering contemporary and future challenges in BPM. Their antonyms signify potential roadblocks and bad practices in BPM. We also identify a set of open research questions that can guide future BPM research. Research limitation/implication-Our findings suggest several areas of research regarding each of the identified principles of good BPM. Also, the principles themselves should be systematically and empirically examined in future studies. Practical implications-Our findings allow practitioners to comprehensively scope their BPM initiatives and provide a general guidance for BPM implementation. Moreover, the principles may also serve to tackle contemporary issues in other management areas. Originality/value-This is the first paper that distills principles of BPM in the sense of both good and bad practice recommendations. The value of the principles lies in providing normative advice to practitioners as well as in identifying open research areas for academia, thereby extending the reach and richness of BPM beyond its traditional frontiers.

Science & Engineering Faculty, Oct 1, 2014

The question concerning what makes for good BPM is often raised. A recent call from Paul Harmon o... more The question concerning what makes for good BPM is often raised. A recent call from Paul Harmon on the BPTrends Discussion LinkedIN Group for key issues in BPM received 189 answers within two months, with additional answers still appearing. I have teamed up with a number of BPM researchers and practitioners to bring together our joint experience in a BPM workshop at the University in Liechtenstein in 2013, where we developed ten principles of good BPM, later published in Business Process Management Journal (vom Brocke et al., 2014). The paper, which has received considerable attention in academia, was ranked the journal’s most downloaded paper the month it was published. Slides on Slideshare that provide a brief summary of the paper have been accessed more than 3,000 times since they were first put online in March 2014. Given the importance of the topic–what makes for good BPM–and the positive response to the ten principles, I wrote this note with the co-authors of the original BPMJ paper to outline the ten principles and illustrate how to use them in practice. We invite all readers to engage in this discussion via any channel they find appropriate.

The question concerning what makes for good BPM is often raised. A recent call from Paul Harmon o... more The question concerning what makes for good BPM is often raised. A recent call from Paul Harmon on the BPTrends Discussion LinkedIN Group for key issues in BPM received 189 answers within two months, with additional answers still appearing. I have teamed up with a number of BPM researchers and practitioners to bring together our joint experience in a BPM workshop at the University in Liechtenstein in 2013, where we developed ten principles of good BPM, later published in Business Process Management Journal (vom Brocke et al., 2014). The paper, which has received considerable attention in academia, was ranked the journal’s most downloaded paper the month it was published. Slides on Slideshare that provide a brief summary of the paper have been accessed more than 3,000 times since they were first put online in March 2014. Given the importance of the topic–what makes for good BPM–and the positive response to the ten principles, I wrote this note with the co-authors of the original BPMJ paper to outline the ten principles and illustrate how to use them in practice. We invite all readers to engage in this discussion via any channel they find appropriate.nrpages: 11status: publishe

arXiv (Cornell University), Apr 12, 2017

Mendling, J. et al Blockchain technology offers a sizable promise to rethink the way inter-organi... more Mendling, J. et al Blockchain technology offers a sizable promise to rethink the way inter-organizational business processes are managed because of its potential to realize execution without a central party serving as a single point of trust (and failure). To stimulate research on this promise and the limits thereof, in this paper we outline the challenges and opportunities of blockchain for Business Process Management (BPM). We first reflect how blockchains could be used in the context of the established BPM lifecycle and second how they might become relevant beyond. We conclude our discourse with a summary of seven research directions for investigating the application of blockchain technology in the context of BPM. CCS Concepts: • Information systems → Enterprise information systems; Middleware business process managers; • Applied computing → Business process management; • Software and its engineering → Software development process management; • Computing methodologies → Modeling and simulation;

Context awareness is essential for successful business process management (BPM). So far, research... more Context awareness is essential for successful business process management (BPM). So far, research has covered relevant BPM context factors and context-aware process design, but little is known about how to assess and select BPM methods in a context-aware manner. As BPM methods are involved in all stages of the BPM lifecycle, it is key to apply appropriate methods to efficiently use organizational resources. Following the design science paradigm, the study at hand addresses this gap by developing and evaluating the Context-Aware BPM Method Assessment and Selection (CAMAS) Method. This method assists method engineers in assessing in which contexts their BPM methods can be applied and method users in selecting appropriate BPM methods for given contexts. The findings of this study call for more context awareness in BPM method design and for a stronger focus on explorative BPM. They also provide insights into the status quo of existing BPM methods

Business & Information Systems Engineering, 2021

Explorative business process management (BPM) is attracting increasing interest in the literature... more Explorative business process management (BPM) is attracting increasing interest in the literature and professional practice. Organizations have recognized that a focus on operational efficiency is no longer sufficient when disruptive forces can make the value proposition of entire processes obsolete. So far, however, research on how to create entirely new processes has remained largely conceptual, leaving it open how explorative BPM can be put into practice. Following the design science research paradigm and situational method engineering, we address this research gap by proposing a method called the Five Diamond Method. This method guides explorative BPM activities by supporting organizations in identifying opportunities from business and technology trends and integrating them into business processes with novel value propositions. The method is evaluated against literature-backed design objectives and competing artifacts, qualitative data gathered from BPM practitioners, as well as...

Business Process Management (BPM) is a matured management discipline, that has proven largely suc... more Business Process Management (BPM) is a matured management discipline, that has proven largely successful in supporting both efficiency and effectiveness of business processes (van der Aalst, ter Hofstede, & Weske, 2003; vom Brocke et al., 2014a; vom Brocke et al., 2014b). However, the adoption of BPM in practice has shown to be a challenge for many companies, and one of the reasons is the lack of comprehensively scoping BPM (Rosemann & vom Brocke 2015). Many organizations are applying only single components of BPM, such as process modeling and workflow management systems, while managerial components, such as strategic alignment, governance, people and culture, are neglected (vom Brocke et al., 2014b).

Agility is a term that is widely discussed among researchers and practice. Agility is associated ... more Agility is a term that is widely discussed among researchers and practice. Agility is associated with an organization’s ability to be adaptive to change and to anticipate new business opportunities. A quick look through previous issues of BPTrends and other BPM-related outlets shows that the concept of agility has been slowly attracting interest in the BPM community. This column is based on two main ideas. First, we emphasize that BPM should be responsive to what is happening around the organization, and we argue that agility can be an important means to achieve this. Second, we reveal first findings of our latest research where we develop an integrative framework for agile BPM. Based on this framework, we will offer some suggestions for how practitioners can integrate agility in their BPM activities.

WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, 2014

BPM comprises activities such as the identification, definition and modeling of business processe... more BPM comprises activities such as the identification, definition and modeling of business processes, their implementation and execution, monitoring, mining and controlling as well as continuous and disruptive process improvements. Enterprise-wide, it requires corporate capabilities such as governance, methods, information technology, culture, people, and strategic alignment. As such, BPM is considered an integrated management approach, which is characterized by a process-focused view of the organization, mainly focusing on the dynamics of value creation by people using technology in business tasks.

Business & Information Systems Engineering, 2021

Context awareness is essential for successful business process management (BPM). So far, research... more Context awareness is essential for successful business process management (BPM). So far, research has covered relevant BPM context factors and context-aware process design, but little is known about how to assess and select BPM methods in a context-aware manner. As BPM methods are involved in all stages of the BPM lifecycle, it is key to apply appropriate methods to efficiently use organizational resources. Following the design science paradigm, the study at hand addresses this gap by developing and evaluating the Context-Aware BPM Method Assessment and Selection (CAMAS) Method. This method assists method engineers in assessing in which contexts their BPM methods can be applied and method users in selecting appropriate BPM methods for given contexts. The findings of this study call for more context awareness in BPM method design and for a stronger focus on explorative BPM. They also provide insights into the status quo of existing BPM methods.

Business Process Management Journal, 2021

PurposeProcess redesign refers to the intentional change of business processes. While process red... more PurposeProcess redesign refers to the intentional change of business processes. While process redesign methods provide structure to redesign projects, they provide limited support during the actual creation of to-be processes. More specifically, existing approaches hardly develop an ontological perspective on what can be changed from a process design point of view, and they provide limited procedural guidance on how to derive possible process design alternatives. This paper aims to provide structured guidance during the to-be process creation.Design/methodology/approachUsing design space exploration as a theoretical lens, the authors develop a conceptual model of the design space for business processes, which facilitates the systematic exploration of design alternatives along different dimensions. The authors utilized an established method for taxonomy development for constructing the conceptual model. First, the authors derived design dimensions for business processes and underlyin...

Business Process Management (BPM) has evolved into an important field in Information Systems Rese... more Business Process Management (BPM) has evolved into an important field in Information Systems Research (ISR). While Information Technology (IT) has proven to be a strong driver for business process excellence and innovation, the successful implementation of BPM initiatives essentially depends on soft factors, such as culture in particular. In many cases, cultural aspects are in fact decisive to the success or failure of IT-driven transformation projects. However, culture is still a fairly under-researched construct in our discipline. The BPM-Culture-Model, presented recently in the Business Process Management Journal (BPMJ), intends to prove a first conceptualisation of culture in BPM. While the model is based on a structured literature review, it has not been evaluated yet. In this paper, we apply parts of this model to analyse the case of a large scale BPM transformation project at the Hilti corporation in order to evaluate the explanatory power of the model. Our approach confirms that the model helps to better understand the role of culture in this context. In addition, we indicate directions for future research.

Handbook on Business Process Management 2, 2014

There is consensus among practitioners and academics that culture is a critical factor that is ab... more There is consensus among practitioners and academics that culture is a critical factor that is able to determine success or failure of BPM initiatives. Yet, culture is a topic that seems difficult to grasp and manage. This may be the reason for the overall lack of guidance on how to address this topic in practice. We have conducted in-depth research for more than three years to examine why and how culture is relevant to BPM. In this chapter, we introduce a framework that explains the role of culture in BPM. We also present the relevant cultural values that compose a BPM culture, and we introduce a tool to examine the supportiveness of organizational cultures for BPM. Our research results provide the basis for further empirical analyses on the topic and support practitioners in the management of culture as an important factor in BPM initiatives.

Handbook on Business Process Management 1, 2010

The previous chapters gave an insightful introduction into the various facets of Business Process... more The previous chapters gave an insightful introduction into the various facets of Business Process Management. We now share a rich understanding of the essential ideas behind designing and managing processes for organizational purposes. We have also learned about the various streams of research and development that have influenced contemporary BPM. As a matter of fact, BPM has become a holistic management discipline. As such, it requires that a plethora of facets needs to be addressed for its successful und sustainable application. This chapter provides a framework that consolidates and structures the essential factors that constitute BPM as a whole. Drawing from research in the field of maturity models, we suggest six core elements of BPM: strategic alignment, governance, methods, information technology, people, and culture. These six elements serve as the structure for this BPM Handbook. 1 Why Looking for BPM Core Elements? A recent global study by Gartner confirmed the significance of BPM with the top issue for CIOs identified for the sixth year in a row being the improvement of business processes (Gartner 2010). While such an interest in BPM is beneficial for professionals in this field, it also increases the expectations and the pressure to deliver on the promises of the process-centered organization. This context demands a sound understanding of how to approach BPM and a framework that decomposes the complexity of a holistic approach such as Business Process Management. A framework highlighting essential building blocks of BPM can particularly serve the following purposes:

Information & Management, 2019

Business process management (BPM) research conceptualizes BPM culture as a type of organizational... more Business process management (BPM) research conceptualizes BPM culture as a type of organizational culture that supports BPM. No quantitative fieldwork has so far examined how such a supporting role manifests itself. We study the relationship between BPM culture, BPM methods, and process performance empirically. Our analysis of multiple survey data sets from

Business Process Management Journal, 2018

PurposeMany researchers and practitioners suggest a contingent instead of a “one size fits all” a... more PurposeMany 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/approachThe authors develop the theory by drawing on organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and applying an information processing (IP) perspective to the process level.FindingsThe 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/implicationsThe theory provi...

To date, typical process modeling approaches put a strong emphasis on describing behavioral aspec... more To date, typical process modeling approaches put a strong emphasis on describing behavioral aspects of business operations. However, they often neglect value-related information. Yet, such information is of key importance to strategic decisionmaking, for instance in the context of process improvement or business engineering. In this paper we propose a valueoriented approach to business process modeling based on key concepts and metrics from operations and financial management. A simple case study suggests that ...

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Bibliografische Information Der Deutschen Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Pu... more Bibliografische Information Der Deutschen Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet çber <http://dnb.ddb.de> abrufbar. SAP ¾ und SAP BW ¾ sind eingetragene Warenzeichen der SAP Aktiengesellschaft Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung, Neurottstraûe 16, 69190 Walldorf. Dieses Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschçtzt. Die dadurch begrçndeten Rechte, insbesondere die der Ûbersetzung, des Nachdrucks, des Vortrags, der Entnahme von Abbildungen und Tabellen, der Funksendung, der Mikroverfilmung oder der Vervielfåltigung auf anderen Wegen und der Speicherung in Datenverarbeitungsanlagen, bleiben, auch bei nur auszugsweiser Verwertung, vorbehalten. Eine Vervielfåltigung dieses Werkes oder von Teilen dieses Werkes ist auch im Einzelfall nur in den Grenzen der gesetzlichen Bestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vom 9. September 1965 in der jeweils geltenden Fassung zulåssig. Sie ist grundsåtzlich vergçtungspflichtig. Zuwiderhandlungen unterliegen den Strafbestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes. springer.de°D ie Wiedergabe von Gebrauchsnamen, Handelsnamen, Warenbezeichnungen usw. in diesem Werk berechtigt auch ohne besondere Kennzeichnung nicht zu der Annahme, dass solche Namen im Sinne der Warenzeichen-und Markenschutz-Gesetzgebung als frei zu betrachten wåren und daher von jedermann benutzt werden dçrften.

Business Process Management Journal, Jul 1, 2014

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to foster a common understanding of business process managem... more Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to foster a common understanding of business process management (BPM) by proposing a set of ten principles that characterize BPM as a research domain and guide its successful use in organizational practice. Design/methodology/approach-The identification and discussion of the principles reflects our viewpoint, which was informed by extant literature and focus groups, including 20 BPM experts from academia and practice. Findings-We identify ten principles which represent a set of capabilities essential for mastering contemporary and future challenges in BPM. Their antonyms signify potential roadblocks and bad practices in BPM. We also identify a set of open research questions that can guide future BPM research. Research limitation/implication-Our findings suggest several areas of research regarding each of the identified principles of good BPM. Also, the principles themselves should be systematically and empirically examined in future studies. Practical implications-Our findings allow practitioners to comprehensively scope their BPM initiatives and provide a general guidance for BPM implementation. Moreover, the principles may also serve to tackle contemporary issues in other management areas. Originality/value-This is the first paper that distills principles of BPM in the sense of both good and bad practice recommendations. The value of the principles lies in providing normative advice to practitioners as well as in identifying open research areas for academia, thereby extending the reach and richness of BPM beyond its traditional frontiers.

Science & Engineering Faculty, Oct 1, 2014

The question concerning what makes for good BPM is often raised. A recent call from Paul Harmon o... more The question concerning what makes for good BPM is often raised. A recent call from Paul Harmon on the BPTrends Discussion LinkedIN Group for key issues in BPM received 189 answers within two months, with additional answers still appearing. I have teamed up with a number of BPM researchers and practitioners to bring together our joint experience in a BPM workshop at the University in Liechtenstein in 2013, where we developed ten principles of good BPM, later published in Business Process Management Journal (vom Brocke et al., 2014). The paper, which has received considerable attention in academia, was ranked the journal’s most downloaded paper the month it was published. Slides on Slideshare that provide a brief summary of the paper have been accessed more than 3,000 times since they were first put online in March 2014. Given the importance of the topic–what makes for good BPM–and the positive response to the ten principles, I wrote this note with the co-authors of the original BPMJ paper to outline the ten principles and illustrate how to use them in practice. We invite all readers to engage in this discussion via any channel they find appropriate.

The question concerning what makes for good BPM is often raised. A recent call from Paul Harmon o... more The question concerning what makes for good BPM is often raised. A recent call from Paul Harmon on the BPTrends Discussion LinkedIN Group for key issues in BPM received 189 answers within two months, with additional answers still appearing. I have teamed up with a number of BPM researchers and practitioners to bring together our joint experience in a BPM workshop at the University in Liechtenstein in 2013, where we developed ten principles of good BPM, later published in Business Process Management Journal (vom Brocke et al., 2014). The paper, which has received considerable attention in academia, was ranked the journal’s most downloaded paper the month it was published. Slides on Slideshare that provide a brief summary of the paper have been accessed more than 3,000 times since they were first put online in March 2014. Given the importance of the topic–what makes for good BPM–and the positive response to the ten principles, I wrote this note with the co-authors of the original BPMJ paper to outline the ten principles and illustrate how to use them in practice. We invite all readers to engage in this discussion via any channel they find appropriate.nrpages: 11status: publishe

arXiv (Cornell University), Apr 12, 2017

Mendling, J. et al Blockchain technology offers a sizable promise to rethink the way inter-organi... more Mendling, J. et al Blockchain technology offers a sizable promise to rethink the way inter-organizational business processes are managed because of its potential to realize execution without a central party serving as a single point of trust (and failure). To stimulate research on this promise and the limits thereof, in this paper we outline the challenges and opportunities of blockchain for Business Process Management (BPM). We first reflect how blockchains could be used in the context of the established BPM lifecycle and second how they might become relevant beyond. We conclude our discourse with a summary of seven research directions for investigating the application of blockchain technology in the context of BPM. CCS Concepts: • Information systems → Enterprise information systems; Middleware business process managers; • Applied computing → Business process management; • Software and its engineering → Software development process management; • Computing methodologies → Modeling and simulation;

Context awareness is essential for successful business process management (BPM). So far, research... more Context awareness is essential for successful business process management (BPM). So far, research has covered relevant BPM context factors and context-aware process design, but little is known about how to assess and select BPM methods in a context-aware manner. As BPM methods are involved in all stages of the BPM lifecycle, it is key to apply appropriate methods to efficiently use organizational resources. Following the design science paradigm, the study at hand addresses this gap by developing and evaluating the Context-Aware BPM Method Assessment and Selection (CAMAS) Method. This method assists method engineers in assessing in which contexts their BPM methods can be applied and method users in selecting appropriate BPM methods for given contexts. The findings of this study call for more context awareness in BPM method design and for a stronger focus on explorative BPM. They also provide insights into the status quo of existing BPM methods

Business & Information Systems Engineering, 2021

Explorative business process management (BPM) is attracting increasing interest in the literature... more Explorative business process management (BPM) is attracting increasing interest in the literature and professional practice. Organizations have recognized that a focus on operational efficiency is no longer sufficient when disruptive forces can make the value proposition of entire processes obsolete. So far, however, research on how to create entirely new processes has remained largely conceptual, leaving it open how explorative BPM can be put into practice. Following the design science research paradigm and situational method engineering, we address this research gap by proposing a method called the Five Diamond Method. This method guides explorative BPM activities by supporting organizations in identifying opportunities from business and technology trends and integrating them into business processes with novel value propositions. The method is evaluated against literature-backed design objectives and competing artifacts, qualitative data gathered from BPM practitioners, as well as...

Business Process Management (BPM) is a matured management discipline, that has proven largely suc... more Business Process Management (BPM) is a matured management discipline, that has proven largely successful in supporting both efficiency and effectiveness of business processes (van der Aalst, ter Hofstede, & Weske, 2003; vom Brocke et al., 2014a; vom Brocke et al., 2014b). However, the adoption of BPM in practice has shown to be a challenge for many companies, and one of the reasons is the lack of comprehensively scoping BPM (Rosemann & vom Brocke 2015). Many organizations are applying only single components of BPM, such as process modeling and workflow management systems, while managerial components, such as strategic alignment, governance, people and culture, are neglected (vom Brocke et al., 2014b).

Agility is a term that is widely discussed among researchers and practice. Agility is associated ... more Agility is a term that is widely discussed among researchers and practice. Agility is associated with an organization’s ability to be adaptive to change and to anticipate new business opportunities. A quick look through previous issues of BPTrends and other BPM-related outlets shows that the concept of agility has been slowly attracting interest in the BPM community. This column is based on two main ideas. First, we emphasize that BPM should be responsive to what is happening around the organization, and we argue that agility can be an important means to achieve this. Second, we reveal first findings of our latest research where we develop an integrative framework for agile BPM. Based on this framework, we will offer some suggestions for how practitioners can integrate agility in their BPM activities.

WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, 2014

BPM comprises activities such as the identification, definition and modeling of business processe... more BPM comprises activities such as the identification, definition and modeling of business processes, their implementation and execution, monitoring, mining and controlling as well as continuous and disruptive process improvements. Enterprise-wide, it requires corporate capabilities such as governance, methods, information technology, culture, people, and strategic alignment. As such, BPM is considered an integrated management approach, which is characterized by a process-focused view of the organization, mainly focusing on the dynamics of value creation by people using technology in business tasks.

Business & Information Systems Engineering, 2021

Context awareness is essential for successful business process management (BPM). So far, research... more Context awareness is essential for successful business process management (BPM). So far, research has covered relevant BPM context factors and context-aware process design, but little is known about how to assess and select BPM methods in a context-aware manner. As BPM methods are involved in all stages of the BPM lifecycle, it is key to apply appropriate methods to efficiently use organizational resources. Following the design science paradigm, the study at hand addresses this gap by developing and evaluating the Context-Aware BPM Method Assessment and Selection (CAMAS) Method. This method assists method engineers in assessing in which contexts their BPM methods can be applied and method users in selecting appropriate BPM methods for given contexts. The findings of this study call for more context awareness in BPM method design and for a stronger focus on explorative BPM. They also provide insights into the status quo of existing BPM methods.

Business Process Management Journal, 2021

PurposeProcess redesign refers to the intentional change of business processes. While process red... more PurposeProcess redesign refers to the intentional change of business processes. While process redesign methods provide structure to redesign projects, they provide limited support during the actual creation of to-be processes. More specifically, existing approaches hardly develop an ontological perspective on what can be changed from a process design point of view, and they provide limited procedural guidance on how to derive possible process design alternatives. This paper aims to provide structured guidance during the to-be process creation.Design/methodology/approachUsing design space exploration as a theoretical lens, the authors develop a conceptual model of the design space for business processes, which facilitates the systematic exploration of design alternatives along different dimensions. The authors utilized an established method for taxonomy development for constructing the conceptual model. First, the authors derived design dimensions for business processes and underlyin...

Business Process Management (BPM) has evolved into an important field in Information Systems Rese... more Business Process Management (BPM) has evolved into an important field in Information Systems Research (ISR). While Information Technology (IT) has proven to be a strong driver for business process excellence and innovation, the successful implementation of BPM initiatives essentially depends on soft factors, such as culture in particular. In many cases, cultural aspects are in fact decisive to the success or failure of IT-driven transformation projects. However, culture is still a fairly under-researched construct in our discipline. The BPM-Culture-Model, presented recently in the Business Process Management Journal (BPMJ), intends to prove a first conceptualisation of culture in BPM. While the model is based on a structured literature review, it has not been evaluated yet. In this paper, we apply parts of this model to analyse the case of a large scale BPM transformation project at the Hilti corporation in order to evaluate the explanatory power of the model. Our approach confirms that the model helps to better understand the role of culture in this context. In addition, we indicate directions for future research.

Handbook on Business Process Management 2, 2014

There is consensus among practitioners and academics that culture is a critical factor that is ab... more There is consensus among practitioners and academics that culture is a critical factor that is able to determine success or failure of BPM initiatives. Yet, culture is a topic that seems difficult to grasp and manage. This may be the reason for the overall lack of guidance on how to address this topic in practice. We have conducted in-depth research for more than three years to examine why and how culture is relevant to BPM. In this chapter, we introduce a framework that explains the role of culture in BPM. We also present the relevant cultural values that compose a BPM culture, and we introduce a tool to examine the supportiveness of organizational cultures for BPM. Our research results provide the basis for further empirical analyses on the topic and support practitioners in the management of culture as an important factor in BPM initiatives.

Handbook on Business Process Management 1, 2010

The previous chapters gave an insightful introduction into the various facets of Business Process... more The previous chapters gave an insightful introduction into the various facets of Business Process Management. We now share a rich understanding of the essential ideas behind designing and managing processes for organizational purposes. We have also learned about the various streams of research and development that have influenced contemporary BPM. As a matter of fact, BPM has become a holistic management discipline. As such, it requires that a plethora of facets needs to be addressed for its successful und sustainable application. This chapter provides a framework that consolidates and structures the essential factors that constitute BPM as a whole. Drawing from research in the field of maturity models, we suggest six core elements of BPM: strategic alignment, governance, methods, information technology, people, and culture. These six elements serve as the structure for this BPM Handbook. 1 Why Looking for BPM Core Elements? A recent global study by Gartner confirmed the significance of BPM with the top issue for CIOs identified for the sixth year in a row being the improvement of business processes (Gartner 2010). While such an interest in BPM is beneficial for professionals in this field, it also increases the expectations and the pressure to deliver on the promises of the process-centered organization. This context demands a sound understanding of how to approach BPM and a framework that decomposes the complexity of a holistic approach such as Business Process Management. A framework highlighting essential building blocks of BPM can particularly serve the following purposes:

This is the original version of the book Reference Modeling (in German language).