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On the role of context in business process management

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  • Brocke, Jan vom
  • Zelt, Sarah
  • Schmiedel, Theresa

Abstract

Business Process Management (BPM) has proven successful to help organizations improve and innovate, and its application has grown in scope and context. One essential problem related to this development is that the BPM body of knowledge does not account for a broader variety of business contexts. On the contrary, most approaches, methods, or models in BPM suggest one way forward, and we recognize that BPM projects following a one-size-fits-all approach are prone to fail, since they do not sufficiently consider situational requirements. In this viewpoint article, we argue that BPM needs to be contextual in order for projects to be most efficient and effective. We observe a lack of research on how to identify and characterize business contexts relevant for tailoring the right BPM approach. Therefore, we examine contextual factors that influence BPM and propose a framework to identify the context in which BPM is applied. We define context in BPM as situational factors related to goal-, process-, organization-, and environment-dimensions. Our viewpoint article not only creates awareness for contextual BPM, it also intends to stimulate research on the role of context in BPM and to help practitioners better understand the specific business context in which BPM initiatives are applied.

Suggested Citation

  • Brocke, Jan vom & Zelt, Sarah & Schmiedel, Theresa, 2016. "On the role of context in business process management," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 486-495.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ininma:v:36:y:2016:i:3:p:486-495
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.10.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Alicia Martin-Navarro & Maria Paula Lechuga Sancho & Jose Aurelio Medina-Garrido, 2023. "BPMS for management: a systematic literature review," Papers 2312.00442, arXiv.org.
    3. Gupta, Manjul & George, Joey F. & Xia, Weidong, 2019. "Relationships between IT department culture and agile software development practices: An empirical investigation," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 13-24.
    4. Amy Van Looy & Peter Trkman & Els Clarysse, 2022. "A Configuration Taxonomy of Business Process Orientation," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 64(2), pages 133-147, April.
    5. Nigel Adams & Adriano Augusto & Michael Davern & Marcello La Rosa, 2023. "Five guidelines to improve context-aware process selection: an Australian banking perspective," Papers 2304.05033, arXiv.org.
    6. Dejan Križaj, 2020. "Integration of Quality, Continuous Improvement, and Innovation in Tourism: The QCII Model," Academica Turistica - Tourism and Innovation Journal, University of Primorska Press, vol. 13(1), pages 97-110.

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