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Article
Publication date: 1 July 2014

Ana Sofia Antunes, Paulo Rupino da Cunha and João Barata

The purpose of this paper is to present a lightweight approach to help diagnose and eliminate issues in existing business processes, which cause participants to resist following…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a lightweight approach to help diagnose and eliminate issues in existing business processes, which cause participants to resist following them as modelled. The analysis is made accessible by the use of drillable graphical dashboards.

Design/methodology/approach

Two action research cycles in two distinct industries were used to test and refine the approach, while also solving the specific organizational issues.

Findings

The approach was considered simple to use and proved capable of identifying pain points causing friction in the smooth operation of business processes. Various longer-term positive effects were reported by one of the organizations that is ISO 9001-certified.

Research limitations/implications

This type of research benefits from experiments in new cases with different contexts that can challenge it. In particular, it would be interesting to evaluate the approach in an organization with a more ad hoc view of processes, as opposed to the more standards-based cases of this paper.

Practical implications

Using the proposed approach to tune the processes, so that participants are more willing to follow them, removes some inconsistency of operations and potential non-conformities in audits.

Social implications

The proposed approach is aimed at the “social sustainability” of the business processes, as it seeks to eliminate people grievances with those processes and make them sustainable in the long term.

Originality/value

Although there is a lot written about process improvement, the literature is scarce in lightweight, pragmatic approaches to identify and resolve the social aspects that cause participants to deviate from the processes, or see them as a burden instead of valuable help for their everyday tasks.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 September 2009

Ryan K.L. Ko, Stephen S.G. Lee and Eng Wah Lee

In the last two decades, a proliferation of business process management (BPM) modeling languages, standards and software systems has given rise to much confusion and obstacles to…

15990

Abstract

Purpose

In the last two decades, a proliferation of business process management (BPM) modeling languages, standards and software systems has given rise to much confusion and obstacles to adoption. Since new BPM languages and notation terminologies were not well defined, duplicate features are common. This paper seeks to make sense of the myriad BPM standards, organising them in a classification framework, and to identify key industry trends.

Design/methodology/approach

An extensive literature review is conducted and relevant BPM notations, languages and standards are referenced against the proposed BPM Standards Classification Framework, which lists each standard's distinct features, strengths and weaknesses.

Findings

The paper is unaware of any classification of BPM languages. An attempt is made to classify BPM languages, standards and notations into four main groups: execution, interchange, graphical, and diagnosis standards. At the present time, there is a lack of established diagnosis standards. It is hoped that such a classification facilitates the meaningful adoption of BPM languages, standards and notations.

Practical implications

The paper differentiates BPM standards, thereby resolving common misconceptions; establishes the need for diagnosis standards; identifies the strengths and limitations of current standards; and highlights current knowledge gaps and future trends. Researchers and practitioners may wish to position their work around this review.

Originality/value

Currently, to the best of one's knowledge, such an overview and such an analysis of BPM standards have not so far been undertaken.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 15 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2014

Arijit Sikdar and Jayashree Payyazhi

Business process implementation has been primarily seen as a redesign of the workflow with the consequent organizational change assumed to be taking place automatically or through…

9959

Abstract

Purpose

Business process implementation has been primarily seen as a redesign of the workflow with the consequent organizational change assumed to be taking place automatically or through a process of “muddling through”. Although evidence suggests that 70 per cent of business process reengineering programmes have failed due to lack of alignment with corporate change strategy, the question of alignment of workflow redesign with the organizational change process has not received adequate attention. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for managing organizational change in a structured manner during workflow redesign, a perspective missing in the literature on business process management (BPM) implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper attempts to integrate the 8-S dimensions of Higgins model across the different phases of workflow redesign to develop a process framework of managing organizational change during BPM workflow redesign. As an exploratory study the paper draws on existing literature on BPM and change alignment to conceptualize an alignment framework of associated managerial activities involved during different phases of BPM workflow redesign. The framework is evaluated against two case studies of business process implementation to substantiate how lack of alignment leads to failure in BPM implementation.

Findings

The paper provides a conceptual framework of how organizational change should be managed during BPM implementation. The model suggests the sequence of alignment of the 8-S dimensions (Higgins, 2005) with the different phases of the workflow redesign and identifies the role of the managerial levels in the organization in managing the alignment of the 8-S dimensions during business process change.

Practical implications

This framework would provide managers with an execution template of how to achieve alignment of the workflow redesign with the 8-S dimensions thus facilitating effective organizational change during business process implementation.

Originality/value

This paper proposes a process model of how organizational elements should be aligned with the workflow redesign during business process change implementation. No such model is available in BPM literature proposing alignment between hard and soft factors.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 20 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 November 2011

Elena Gospodarevskaya and Leonid Churilov

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the regulator's attempt at redesigning the patient care process (PCP) – a core business process in public hospitals – by introducing…

1623

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the regulator's attempt at redesigning the patient care process (PCP) – a core business process in public hospitals – by introducing dichotomous process performance indicators as an innovative management tool intended to align the State health care policy with the everyday management of operations at a hospital ward.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents an ethnographic case study of redesigning the PCP according to the strategy originating outside the organization. The study employs competing theories that represent alternative epistemological and ontological views of the world in order to produce a tentative explanation of why the intended redesign of the PCP has not fully eventuated. Observational data and opportunistic interviewing are used to answer the research question of whether and how the information and operational flows on the ward were affected by introduction of process performance indicators. A business process redesign framework was employed for data analysis since it better reflects the objectives of the State‐wide initiative and offers a convenient tool in dealing with data complexity.

Findings

Introduction of the process performance indicators did not result in redesigning of the PCP as intended by health care authorities. Out of four process performance indicators, only one was consistently implemented, which merely produced a duplication of the previously collected information, therefore adding no value to the PCP. On a theoretical level, the results indicate that the emergent theory rather than the rational agent theory demonstrated a greater fidelity to the empirical observations.

Originality/value

The paper assessed the feasibility of using innovative dichotomous process performance indicators as a tool for redesigning the business process at the ward level, in order to achieve macro‐level policy objectives. The failure to successfully implement a top‐down universal approach to redesigning business processes in health care is likely to reflect a lack of appreciation of emergent rationality that characterizes essential aspects of the PCP.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 17 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2020

Abel Duarte Alonso, Seng Kiat Kok, Seamus O'Brien and Michelle O'Shea

The purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of inclusive and grassroots innovations operationalised by a social enterprise and the impact of these activities on urban…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the dimensions of inclusive and grassroots innovations operationalised by a social enterprise and the impact of these activities on urban regeneration. To this end, the case of Homebaked in Liverpool, UK, is presented and discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

Face-to-face interviews with members of Homebaked’s management, staff and volunteers were conducted; the interviews were complemented with on-site observations and review of archival information of the social enterprise.

Findings

The data gathered revealed the organisation’s involvement in both types of innovation as a means to achieve long-term urban regeneration related goals. For instance, innovative, strategic and human dimensions, together with the human dimension emerged as key ways of innovating. The impacts of innovative practices comprised encouraging inclusiveness among residents and non-residents, with approaches including hands-on training workshops, job and volunteering opportunities being predominant.

Originality/value

First, the study advances the theoretical and applied understanding of grassroots and inclusive innovation in the context of a social enterprise. For instance, an innovative/strategic and human dimension emerged as predominant ways in which grassroots and inclusive innovation elements were manifested. These dimensions were based on technology uptake, implementation of new product/service concepts or harnessing the skills of local and non-local individuals. Similarly, four dimensions associated with the impacts of these types of innovation were revealed. Second, the study addresses acknowledged gaps in the literature, particularly regarding the limited contributions illuminating processes and determinants of innovation among social enterprises.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2020

Parijat Upadhyay and Amit Kundu

The purpose of this study is to report the apparent linkage between knowledge management (KM) practices in a semi-structured sector and business sustainability. Micro, small and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to report the apparent linkage between knowledge management (KM) practices in a semi-structured sector and business sustainability. Micro, small and medium scale enterprises in developing economies are constrained by accessibility to resources and have not been able to reap the benefits of structured KM practices to fine-tune their business processes. Insights derived from business operations of such enterprises can be formalized into relevant knowledge creation. An effective KM can help in revival strategies for many traditional organizations like handloom that operate as a co-operative. Such business has come under immense challenges from new-age organizations in that particular sector. This study reports the brand revival and business sustainability journey of a handloom co-operative through effective knowledge assimilation and dissemination.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors have assessed the governance of small co-operative units in handloom and their supervision, which pose serious challenges for business sustainability. Their business data pertaining to productivity, sales and income for the period from 1997-1998 to 2015-2016 have been analyzed for business sustainability. A time-series analysis has been done on the above data set to track business sustainability of the handloom co-operative. The findings have been analyzed through a case-based study approach.

Findings

Over a period of one and half-decade, the handloom co-operative has been able to improve its product offering, which, in turn, led to the revival of the brand. Such transformation has resulted in revival of decades old brand through effective knowledge sharing, which is mainly tacit in nature. This case study based paper showcases that despite their inherent constraints, micro, small and medium enterprise organizations (many of which are semi-structured or unstructured in nature) can reap huge benefits by making efforts to put in place an effective KM mechanism.

Originality/value

There are very few reported studies, which have explored the linkage between tacit KM practices and business sustainability. Studies in context to a semi-structured small- and medium-scale enterprises are not available in published literature.

Details

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, vol. 50 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5891

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 17 August 2012

157

Abstract

Details

Strategic Direction, vol. 28 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0258-0543

Article
Publication date: 15 July 2014

Thomas H. Davenport

The author, an internationally known IT expert, aims to explain how big data is being used by leading corporations to promote better decision making, especially about innovation…

9929

Abstract

Purpose

The author, an internationally known IT expert, aims to explain how big data is being used by leading corporations to promote better decision making, especially about innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

Big data is the collection and interpretation of massive data sets, made possible by vast computing power that monitors a variety of digital streams – such as sensors, marketplace interactions and social information exchanges – and analyses them using “smart” algorithms. It offers a promising new way to discover new opportunities to offer customers high-value products and services.

Findings

Big data […] resembles not so much a pool of statistics as an ongoing, fast-flowing stream of information about customer choices. Therefore, a more continuous approach to sampling, analyzing and acting on data is necessary.

Practical implications

A number of major financial services firms are using “customer journeys” through the tangle of websites, call centers, tellers and other branch personnel to better understand the paths that customers follow through the organization, and how those paths affect attrition or the purchase of particular financial services.

Originality/value

The desired outcome of data discovery is an idea – a notion of a new product, service, or feature, or a hypothesis – with supporting evidence – that an existing model can be improved. Increasingly, corporate strategists are recognizing that big data architecture and management should be designed so that discovery and analysis is the first order of business.

Details

Strategy & Leadership, vol. 42 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1087-8572

Keywords

Case study
Publication date: 1 May 2011

Igor V. Gladkikh, Sergei A. Starov, Edward Desmarais and Gavriel Meirovich

The case describes the popular Russian children's animated TV series named the Smeshariki, its parent company (Marmelad), the domestic animation industry, and the principal…

Abstract

The case describes the popular Russian children's animated TV series named the Smeshariki, its parent company (Marmelad), the domestic animation industry, and the principal international rivals and their respective animated products and/or services. The series' success led to the organic growth of vertically and horizontally related business units. Marmelad's business units' scope included producing more than 200, six and one-half minute episodes of the Smeshariki, branded children's products (e.g. educational games), granting licenses to manufacturers, establishing a network of kindergartens, and licensing the Smeshariki animated series to exhibitors in international markets. Key issues the company faces include: brand management for the Smeshariki and Marmelad, domestic and international competition in the Russian animation industry, and the need for professional management. The case provides instructors with a range of options including a holistic marketing case, or one that concentrates on focused marketing issues (i.e. all or parts of the marketing mix, brand architecture, brand equity and brand management).

Details

The CASE Journal, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Case Study
ISSN: 1544-9106

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2001

John J. Lawrence and Michael A. McCollough

The lessons of quality management apply to services as well as tangible goods. Awareness also has been increasing that services, like tangible goods, can be guaranteed as a means…

1975

Abstract

The lessons of quality management apply to services as well as tangible goods. Awareness also has been increasing that services, like tangible goods, can be guaranteed as a means of implementing a total quality management (TQM) orientation in the organization. While higher education has been exploring some of the tenents of TQM, it has been slow to embrace the power of service guarantees. In this conceptual article we present a system of service guarantees designed to foster a TQM orientation in higher education. We propose that institutions consider a system of guarantees aimed at three primary constituent groups – students, faculty, and employers – over the short, medium and long term. The rationale and implications of the guarantee system are explored, and possible impediments are discussed.

Details

Quality Assurance in Education, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-4883

Keywords

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