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1 – 8 of 8Steven Gross, Katharina Stelzl, Thomas Grisold, Jan Mendling, Maximilian Röglinger and Jan vom Brocke
Process redesign refers to the intentional change of business processes. While process redesign methods provide structure to redesign projects, they provide limited support during…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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).
Research limitations/implications
Practitioners can use the BPD-Space to explore, question and rethink business processes in various respects.
Originality/value
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.
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Astrid Heidemann Lassen and Bjørge Timenes Laugen
The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of internal and external collaboration on the degree of newness (incremental/radical) in innovation projects. This adds to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of internal and external collaboration on the degree of newness (incremental/radical) in innovation projects. This adds to the understanding of the particular patterns of open innovation (OI) and what characterizes the innovation emerging through this approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Tests are performed on the effect of internal and external collaboration on the degree of newness (incremental/radical) in innovation projects. This adds to the understanding of the particular patterns of OI and what characterizes the innovation emerging through this approach. The empirical analysis is based on a data set including responses from 512 Danish engineers.
Findings
The results show that external collaboration has significantly different effects on the degree of newness depending on the type of external partners involved, and they also show that radical innovation output is positively related to involving the R&D department (internal) and universities (external involvement) and negatively related to involving suppliers.
Originality/value
The results provide a more detailed understanding of how different OI patterns affect the development of incremental vs radical innovation in existing organizations. In particular, three findings add new insights into how OI affects innovation to reach the highest degree of newness: high importance of collaboration with external partners with distinct interests and skills; low reliance on existing customers and suppliers for the development of radical innovation; and narrow and focused internal involvement rather than broad internal involvement.
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Kaisa Tsupari, Altti Lagstedt and Raine Kauppinen
This study explores the consequences of digitalization in the field of education, particularly in relation to teachers’ course processes in higher education institutions. It…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the consequences of digitalization in the field of education, particularly in relation to teachers’ course processes in higher education institutions. It emphasizes the importance of understanding how information systems (IS) support not only individual tasks but also processes as a whole. The results reveal that process practices have not been considered comprehensively and even core processes may be unseen.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted to explore the extent to which teachers’ processes are discussed in the literature. A qualitative case study was then conducted at a Finnish higher education institution to identify course processes and their relationships to IS.
Findings
Teachers’ processes have scarcely been discussed in the literature, and the process support provided by ISs is remarkably limited. It seems that course processes, which are core to education, are a blind spot in education digitalization. To support evaluating the level of support by IS, novel course process indicators were introduced.
Practical implications
Developing core processes, teachers’ course processes and thesis processes in education field, supports improving service quality. In all industries, organizations should consider whether processes are properly recognized and whether IS support not only individual tasks but also processes as a whole. We recommend recognizing and applying business process management practices to better support teachers’ work and to improve overall efficiency in education.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first education sector study that attends to teacher’s work as a comprehensive process.
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Bart Lameijer, Elizabeth S.L. de Vries, Jiju Antony, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes and Michael Sony
Many organizations currently transition towards digitalized process design, execution, control, assurance and improvement, and the purpose of this research is to empirically…
Abstract
Purpose
Many organizations currently transition towards digitalized process design, execution, control, assurance and improvement, and the purpose of this research is to empirically demonstrate how data-based operational excellence techniques are useful in digitalized environments by means of the optimization of a robotic process automation deployment.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive mixed-method case study approach comprising both secondary Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project data together with participant-as-observer archival observations is applied. A case report, comprising per DMAIC phase (1) the objectives, (2) the main deliverables, (3) the results and (4) the key actions leading to achieving the presented results is presented.
Findings
Key findings comprise (1) the importance of understanding how to acquire and prepare large system generated data and (2) the need for better large system-generated database validation mechanisms. Finally (3) the importance of process contextual understanding of the LSS project lead is emphasized, together with (4) the need for LSS foundational curriculum developments in order to be effective in digitalized environments.
Originality/value
This study provides a rich prescriptive demonstration of LSS methodology implementation for RPA deployment improvement, and is one of the few empirical demonstrations of LSS based problem solving methodology in industry 4.0 contexts.
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Aleš Zebec and Mojca Indihar Štemberger
Although businesses continue to take up artificial intelligence (AI), concerns remain that companies are not realising the full value of their investments. The study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Although businesses continue to take up artificial intelligence (AI), concerns remain that companies are not realising the full value of their investments. The study aims to provide insights into how AI creates business value by investigating the mediating role of Business Process Management (BPM) capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
The integrative model of IT Business Value was contextualised, and structural equation modelling was applied to validate the proposed serial multiple mediation model using a sample of 448 organisations based in the EU.
Findings
The results validate the proposed serial multiple mediation model according to which AI adoption increases organisational performance through decision-making and business process performance. Process automation, organisational learning and process innovation are significant complementary partial mediators, thereby shedding light on how AI creates business value.
Research limitations/implications
In pursuing a complex nomological framework, multiple perspectives on realising business value from AI investments were incorporated. Several moderators presenting complementary organisational resources (e.g. culture, digital maturity, BPM maturity) could be included to identify behaviour in more complex relationships. The ethical and moral issues surrounding AI and its use could also be examined.
Practical implications
The provided insights can help guide organisations towards the most promising AI activities of process automation with AI-enabled decision-making, organisational learning and process innovation to yield business value.
Originality/value
While previous research assumed a moderated relationship, this study extends the growing literature on AI business value by empirically investigating a comprehensive nomological network that links AI adoption to organisational performance in a BPM setting.
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Ibrahim Yitmen, Amjad Al-Musaed and Fikri Yücelgazi
Decisions taken during the early design of adaptive façades involving kinetic, active and responsive envelope for complex commercial buildings have a substantial effect on…
Abstract
Purpose
Decisions taken during the early design of adaptive façades involving kinetic, active and responsive envelope for complex commercial buildings have a substantial effect on inclusive building functioning and the comfort level of inhabitants. This study aims to present the application of an analytic network process (ANP) model indicating the order of priority for high performance criteria that must be taken into account in the assessment of the performance of adaptive façade systems for complex commercial buildings.
Design/methodology/approach
The nominal group technique (NGT) stimulating and refining group judgments are used to find and categorize relevant high performance attributes of the adaptive façade systems and their relative pair-wise significance scores. An ANP model is applied to prioritize these high performance objectives and criteria for the adaptive façade systems.
Findings
Embodied energy and CO2 emission, sustainability, energy saving, daylight and operation maintenance were as the most likely and crucial high performance criteria. The criteria and the weights presented in this study could be used as guidelines for evaluating the performance of adaptive façade systems for commercial buildings in planning and design phases.
Practical implications
This research primarily provides the required actions and evaluations for design managers in accomplishing a high performance adaptive façade system, with the support of an ANP method. Before beginning the adaptive façade system of a building design process, the design manager must determine the significance of each of these attributes as high performance primacies will affect the results all through the entire design process.
Originality/value
In this research, a relatively innovative, systematic and practical approach is proposed to sustain the decision-making procedure for evaluation of the high performance criteria of adaptive façade systems in complex commercial buildings.
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This multi-method paper investigates the impact factors of process responsiveness, operationalized as process duration, in the bread-and-butter business of German banks, i.e. the…
Abstract
Purpose
This multi-method paper investigates the impact factors of process responsiveness, operationalized as process duration, in the bread-and-butter business of German banks, i.e. the private mortgage loan application evaluation process. The tested predictors refer to process design, process execution, business process management (BPM)'s relevance and information technology (IT) support.
Design/methodology/approach
In a sequential research design, a total of 296 useable responses of 1,228 contacted German banks are collected using a questionnaire built from both industry insights gained through 43 expert interviews and theoretical knowledge. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is used to determine the relevant impact factors and moderation effects, and a theoretical framework is proposed.
Findings
Proper process documentation moderated by bank size is most influential for process speed, and smaller banks benefit more from it. Automation appears to have a prolonging effect on the process. Although surprising, this finding may be explained through correlation analysis of the data and studies on the Solow’ paradox in the literature.
Research limitations/implications
The models only partially explain process responsiveness. A moderate adjusted R² and several interaction effects indicate the complexity of the presented research question. Still, several hypotheses can be confirmed, leading back to the roots of process improvement and the long-lasting question of the binary impact nature of automation.
Originality/value
Valuable insights for both researchers in service operations and bank practitioners are outlined, shedding light onto responsiveness as still empirically under-researched operational capability. Thereby, the authors also contribute to the superior question of strategic fit.
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Emmanuel Eze, Rob Gleasure and Ciara Heavin
The implementation of mobile health (mHealth) in developing countries seems to be stuck in a pattern of successive pilot studies that struggle for mainstream implementation. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The implementation of mobile health (mHealth) in developing countries seems to be stuck in a pattern of successive pilot studies that struggle for mainstream implementation. This study addresses the research question: what existing health-related structures, properties and practices are presented by rural areas of developing countries that might inhibit the implementation of mHealth initiatives?
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted using a socio-material approach, based on an exploratory case study in West Africa. Interviews and participant observation were used to gather data. A thematic analysis identified important social and material agencies, practices and imbrications which may limit the effectiveness of mHealth apps in the region.
Findings
Findings show that, while urban healthcare is highly structured, best practice-led, rural healthcare relies on peer-based knowledge sharing, and community support. This has implications for the enacted materiality of mobile technologies. While urban actors see mHealth as a tool for automation and the enforcement of responsible healthcare best practice, rural actors see mHealth as a tool for greater interconnectivity and independent, decentralised care.
Research limitations/implications
This study has two significant limitations. First, the study focussed on a region where technology-enabled guideline-driven treatment is the main mHealth concern. Second, consistent with the exploratory nature of this study, the qualitative methodology and the single-case design, the study makes no claim to statistical generalisability.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to adopt a socio-material view that considers existing structures and practices that may influence the widespread adoption and assimilation of a new mHealth app. This helps identify contextual challenges that are limiting the potential of mHealth to improve outcomes in rural areas of developing countries.
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