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The aim of the paper is to test the Heterogeneity Construct as a second‐order construct determined by dimensions expressing the resource utilization process carried out by firms, and to test the different impacts of Heterogeneity sub‐dimensions on firm's performance.

After collecting data on the machine tools industry, two models are tested by Lisrel. The first model is a second order confirmatory model. The second one is a structural model testing the causal relations between Heterogeneity components and Performance.

It is found that Heterogeneity is a second order construct, whose dimensions differently contribute to firm performance: two of them positively and a third dimension negatively.

Limitations of the study refer to single industry used, limited sample size, and single respondents. Even if the sample size is low, it allows to run the model and to estimates results. The single respondent bias is mitigated by interviewing managers involved in the resource utilization process. Future research could improve our comprehension of the heterogeneity construct by testing the model in other industries.

By discovering the different effect of the Heterogeneity dimensions on firm performance, we provide some useful implications for managers involved in the resource utilization process. To reach a competitive advantage, firms should orient their decisions to leverage on “contextuality” and “complexity”, while mitigating the effect of “intertwinedness”.

Studies in the strategic management field of study measure Heterogeneity by using single variables. This paper fills in this gap by providing a measure of the Heterogeneity construct on a multidimensional basis, showing the different role played by each dimension on firm performance.

This paper investigates the criteria for a selective integration, in the multidisciplinary business process management (BPM) areas, between information technologies tools and the company's internal control systems (ICSs) aimed at directing organizational behaviours. Adopting a process-based perspective, the authors propose a formal methodology to increase ICSs aims, related to the segregation of duties (SoDs) models, efficiently and effectively.

The authors examine the applicability of formal verifications to validate a banking process of providing investment services, which is mapped through the workflow management system. To mitigate the state explosion problem of formal methods, the authors propose an efficient methodology that has been proved on the SoDs models in the bank ICSs, as a case study.

The authors’ investigations suggest that in the BPM domain, the banking ICSs aims can benefit from the aforesaid methodologies, originating from the formal methods area, to increase the reliability and correctness in the design, modelling and implementation of the SoDs models.

The proposed methodology is quite general and can be efficiently applied to large-scale systems in different business contexts or areas of the BPM. Its application to the bank's SoD prevents or detects significant weaknesses, operational risks, excessive risk appetite and other undesirable behaviours in the investment services provision processes. This guarantees that the investment ordered/offered is “suitable and appropriate” with the client's risk profile, especially non-professional, required by the MiFID II Directive.