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The purpose of this paper is to use translation theory to develop a framework (called FTRA) that explains how companies adopt agile methods in a discourse of fragmentation and articulation.

A qualitative multiple case study of six firms using the Scrum agile methodology. Data were collected using mixed methods and analyzed using three progressive coding cycles and analytic induction.

In practice, people translate agile methods for local settings by choosing fragments of the method and continuously re-articulating them according to the exact needs of the time and place. The authors coded the fragments as technological rules that share relationships within a framework spanning two dimensions: static-dynamic and actor-artifact.

For consistency, the six cases intentionally represent one instance of agile methodology (Scrum). This limits the confidence that the framework is suitable for other kinds of methodologies.

The FTRA framework and the technological rules are promising for use in practice as a prescriptive or even normative frame for governing methodology adaptation.

Framing agile adaption with translation theory surfaces how the discourse between translocal (global) and local practice yields the social construction of agile methods. This result contrasts the more functionalist engineering perspective and privileges changeability over performance.

The use of translation theory and the FTRA framework to explain how agile adaptation (in particular Scrum) emerges continuously in a process where method fragments are articulated and re-articulated to momentarily suit the local setting. Complete agility that rapidly and elegantly changes its own environment must, as a concomitant, rapidly and elegantly change itself. This understanding also elaborates translation theory by explaining how the articulation and re-articulation of ideas embody the means by which ideas travel in practice.

This paper aims to introduce this special issue of ITP on systems for human benefit (S4HB), to develop and promote the idea of S4HB, and advocate that more research be conducted on the design and diffusion of S4HB.

This conceptual paper argues that S4HB are systemically under‐researched based on a historical perspective on IS research and proposes an agenda for research on the design and diffusion of S4HB.

The paper identifies extant areas of S4HB, such as health and education, but also advocates that new areas of S4HB be identified and new kinds of S4HB be designed. It further discusses how diffusion is a key issue to the realisation of human benefits and contrasts diffusion of S4HB with more commercial business systems as a motivator for further research. Finally it sets out a brief agenda for research in S4HB, including: development of a vision for research on S4HB that emphasises design for solving human problems; research on diffusion of S4HB; revision of the way impact is assessed by journals to include assessment of the significance of the problem and the achievement of human benefit; and promotion of a research culture, policies, and funding that emphasises S4HB.

This is the first paper to pull together a common perspective on the disparate areas of S4HB. The paper identifies what S4HB are, what their goals are, what areas are concerned, and sets out an agenda for what research is needed to realise them and their benefits in society.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that translating a design theory (DT) into practice (e.g. creating an instance design artifact (IDA)) is hardly straight-forward and requires substantial creativity. Specifically the authors suggest that adopting a DT embodies a creativity passdown effect in which the creative thinking of a team of design theorist(s) inherent in DT invokes a creative mind of a team of artifact instance designer(s) in creating an IDA. In this study, the authors empirically investigate the creativity passdown effect through an action case in which a DT (DT nexus) was applied in creating an IDA (multi-outsourcing decision-making tool).

The case methodology applied here is described as an action case. An action case is a hybrid research approach that combines action research and interpretive case approaches. It combines intervention and interpretation in order to achieve both change and understanding. It is a form of soft field experiment with less emphasis on iteration and learning and more on trial and making. The approach is holistic in philosophy, and prediction is not emphasized. The intervention in the case was that of an instance designer team introducing a previously published DT as a basis for creating an IDA.

The experience in the action case suggests that using a DT in creating an IDA may encourage design thinking, and in certain way increase its power and practical relevance by fostering the creative mind of instance designers. Indeed, DTs provide a scientific basis for dealing with an instance problem, and this evokes the creativity mind of instance designers. Without such a scientific basis, it is a lot more challenging for instance artifact designers to deal with instance problems.

This study contributes to the literature concerning design science research, as it challenges the notion that adopting scientific design knowledge limits creativity inherent in creating IDA by illustrating creative elements involved in adopting DT as a basis for creating IDAs.

This study offers implications to practice, as it provides new insights regarding how DT can be used in instance design activities.

A report of this research previously appeared as a conference paper. However, the attached journal version has been completely rewritten to additionally contribute to the literature concerning design science research beyond the conference version. More specifically, in this version, the authors conceptualize adopting a DT to build an IDA as a theoretical basis, and the authors challenge the notion that adopting scientific design knowledge limits creativity inherent in creating IDA by illustrating creative elements involved in executing DT as a basis for creating IDAs.

The paper extends the discussion on the merit of using a net promoter score (NPS) to enhance the service design of organisations and to facilitate quality monitoring and improvement. NPS is a basic measure to assess the likelihood of a customer recommending an organisation to somebody else. This paper aims to show that this metric can be effective in monitoring and improving the quality of workplace training.

Investigating the merit of using NPS to improve organisational training involved a longitudinal study of training provided by IBM. Data is analysed using panel regression and partial correlation methods. Workplace training delivery is the unit of analysis in which an NPS and conventional customer satisfaction score evaluations were conducted at the end of the delivery. The efficacy of these measures to improve quality are compared and insights derived from analysing NPS are investigated.

The findings indicate that, although NPS is not necessarily related to the results or success of a business, from a corporate perspective it can provide a solid basis from which to make business decisions that benefit a company. The authors found that NPS was associated with improved satisfaction with training, although significant regional variations were observed. Building on the data, a service business model is proposed advocating NPS as a tool for continuous improvement.

The contribution to practice includes a clearer understanding of NPS as a quality and service improvement indicator and also as a driver for a service business design. In addition, it is indicated that enterprises operating in multiple regions should consider regional variations in NPS.

By analysis of IBM’s training data, the authors gain an understanding of an industry in which quality and the use of NPS has not been extensively studied. The data also offers a rich dimension in the examination of the factors that should be considered to effectively implement an NPS service improvement plan.

This paper has chosen a participatory action design (PAD) to approach the construction of KPIs in a novel way. A PAD will assist the researcher to encourage involvement, engagement of multiple stakeholders in the KPIs construction process.

A workshop series based on participatory action design was developed together with the researcher and stakeholders at the innovation department of a large international organization. PAD facilitated interaction between the researcher, stakeholders, and KPIs under construction.

The findings show that the PAD workshops created interlevel collaboration and group dynamics in constructing the KPI. The knowledge that was shared during the PAD workshops enabled an understanding of the process of constructing a KPI in innovation, where stakeholders design and implement simultaneously. In the end, it was a challenge to construct a KPI using the PAD, as certain conditions seemed not to be.

This paper enhances our empirical understanding of applying PAD to construct KPIs in innovation. This study adds to the growing interest in literature to implement novel methods such as PAD to construct a KPI in innovation.

Practically, the findings of this study will inform managers in innovation (projects) to use a method such as PAD to construct KPIs in innovation. This study shows the implication of using a PAD for a KPI and what opportunities and challenges it can bring.

This paper is one of the few papers that address using the participatory action design methodology for the construction of KPIs in innovation. To date, PAD is rarely used to construct KPIs in innovation.

Many 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.

The authors develop the theory by drawing on organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and applying an information processing (IP) perspective to the process level.

The 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.

The theory provides a set of testable propositions that specify the relationship between process management mechanisms and process performance. The authors also discuss implications of the new theory for further theorizing and outline empirical research strategies that can be followed to enact, evaluate and extend the theory.

The theory developed in this paper allows an alternative way to describe organizational processes and supports the derivation of context-sensitive management approaches for process documentation, standardization, monitoring, execution and coordination.

The theoretical model is novel in that it provides a contextualized view on BPM that acknowledges different types of processes and suggests different mechanisms for managing these. The authors hope the paper serves as inspiration both for further theory development as well as to empirical studies that test, refute, support or otherwise augment the arguments.

Process 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.

Using 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 underlying characteristics through a literature review. Second, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with professional process experts. Third, the authors evaluated their artifact through three real-world applications.

The authors identified 19 business process design dimensions that are grouped into different layers and specified by underlying characteristics. Guiding questions and illustrative real-world examples help to deploy these design dimensions in practice. Taken together, the design dimensions form the “Business Process Design Space” (BPD-Space).

Practitioners can use the BPD-Space to explore, question and rethink business processes in various respects.

The BPD-Space complements existing approaches by explicating process design dimensions. It abstracts from specific process flows and representations of processes and supports an unconstrained exploration of various alternative process designs.

While researchers and practitioners agree on the importance to adapt business process management (BPM) practices to the nature of processes, the authors observe a lack of research on how to most meaningfully distinguish processes in order to apply context-specific BPM practices that increase process efficiency and effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to systematically analyze the nature of processes as one contextual factor for BPM.

Based on a literature review, the authors systematically derive process dimensions that describe the nature of processes and apply an information-processing perspective to the process level as a theoretical lens through which to analyze and structure these process dimensions.

The authors identified 36 dimensions used to describe process differences that can be consolidated into five generic dimensions based on an information-processing perspective: interdependence of process participants, differentiation of process participants, process analyzability, variability, and importance.

The paper derives process dimensions from the literature and links them to extant theories as a foundation for context-sensitive BPM. The findings serve as a basis for further conceptualizing BPM and for explaining seemingly contradicting findings about whether management practices increase or decrease organizational performance.

While the paper focuses on understanding and explaining process differences, the authors also demonstrate how these dimensions can be used to make strategic management decisions in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of processes.

The authors systematically conceptualize process differences as a foundation for contingent process management. In addition, the authors demonstrate that organizational processes provide a new field of application for information-processing theory.