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The purpose of this paper is to develop a supplier risk framework. The framework provides the information about the risk level in which a supplier is classified. This study is part of the company’s one- department-one-improvement policy. This policy encourages all departments to look for way to improve process management. For this study, the Purchasing Department attempts to extend its supplier management practices by integrating the risk consideration.

This work is considered as a case study. The study integrates the benchmarking and classification concepts for this extension. The involvement from the company’s purchasing department is critical. There are several steps that have been undertaken. Included are the selection of the supplies to be considered (i.e. packaging), the analysis of the formal complaints by the ratio-format indicator, the four criteria used for the classification, the risk level identification, and the next steps for improving supplier management. The results are verified by the use of cluster analysis. The data are from departmental staffs and manager.

Based on the results, with the four agreed criteria (e.g. regional location, ownership type, joint venture, and registered capital and size), there are altogether four risk levels which are high, medium, low, and minimal.. For the packaging materials, most suppliers belong to the low and minimal risk levels (or 19 out of 27 suppliers). Future activities are then developed and added into the company’s ISO 9001: 2008 manual.

The suppliers’ risk levels with corresponding future actions represent positive contributions to the purchasing department. Integrating supplier risk is based on the applications of benchmarking (i.e. the use of the ratio-format indicators) and classification (i.e. the need to understand the nature of the risk level) frameworks. Future actions to mitigate the risk are also proposed and incorporated into the purchasing department’s procedure.

The project underlines the roles and importance of benchmarking in strengthening the supplier management processes. It also highlights the practicality and benefits of benchmarking when linking with the classification concept for addressing today business problems.

Multichannel (MC) service providers have been adopting a wide diversity of front-office service delivery models, i.e. different ways of employing channels to support the delivery of the service activities that involve customer interaction. Despite this, we are still faced with a paucity of concepts to understand the myriad of possible choices. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework and basic design architectures to provide a structured understanding of the diversity of operational design choices for MC front-office service delivery models, their efficacy implications, and how they fit with the provider’s service strategy.

The study employs the analytical conceptual approach. The authors logically develop the architectures based on the operations management theory and provide corresponding empirical illustrations based on secondary sources, direct observation, and case studies.

The authors propose two theoretically meaningful dimensions to characterize and distinguish between delivery models (channel redundancy and channel span) and put forward four anchor architectures for such models: generalist, parallel, constricted, and centralized. The authors identify the operational efficacy implications (effectiveness and efficiency) of the different architectures, and develop a set of propositions and design principles for selecting appropriate architectures.

Future research should develop empirical measures for the dimensions underlying the architectures.

The study extends existing service process classifications by capturing the MC traits of front-office processes. The authors offer design principles to assist firms in selecting architectures that are aligned with their service strategy. The framework and architectures provide seminal concepts to support a wealth of future empirical studies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore commonalities and differences between projects and processes, and between project management (PjM) and process management (PcM), with a view to challenge this dichotomic typology, clarify the gray areas in between and propose better ways to classify and manage different endeavors.

The research compares different tools and techniques used in both fields, explores the respective literatures and uses various examples to bring out similarities and differences.

The current paradigms engender a number of organizational endeavors, which are actually complex processes being managed as projects, using the PjM body of knowledge. Because each instantiation takes a somewhat different form, it is treated as a one-of-a-kind undertaking; whereby many of the opportunities for learning and continuous improvement associated with PcM are lost. A reframing and typology is proposed to clarify the central notions involved.

The proposed model has not been tested empirically and the authors could not agree on all aspects of the paper, though existing differences are more about degrees, nuances and wording than about the basic findings of the paper.

The research makes the case that two research and practice communities that are evolving independently have much to gain by adopting a unified model and integrating their respective bodies of knowledge. Practitioners would thus access resources that are better adapted to the management challenges they are facing and gain a sustainable source of strategic advantage.

The paper challenges long-established paradigms between two distinct research streams. A new typology and classification criteria are proposed.

The purpose of this paper is to present a process capability assessment tool to identify process maturity levels in the “built environment management” disciplines in various industries.

The researchers investigated and evaluated current FM/RE management models and analysis tools and developed an assessment tool to measure Facility Management (FM) capability of an organization. The “Built Environment Management Model” (BEM2) is a process framework for FM/RE, which is extended into the “Built Environment Management Maturity Model” (BEM3) to measure FM/RE maturity. Using the tool, the research team analyzed the FM capability of more than 50 organizations with major real estate portfolios in the USA and Europe (primarily Austria).

BEM2 and BEM3 provide a simple, yet comprehensive tool set for the FM/RE industries. The resulting capability profiles provide a high‐level overview of current practices in FM. Further, the capability profiles allow organizations to benchmark their FM capability against peer groups and industry leaders.

The two models are currently limited to a description of processes and are as such explaining the sequence and maturity of FM/RE business processes. The do not yet address the skill sets and capabilities required to effectively perform these functions. The integration with existing models in organisational and project management can also be further explored.

The capability profiles allow organizations to benchmark their FM capability against peer groups and industry leaders. The findings will help to further professionalize FM functions to raise the efficiency of organizational processes.

The proposed contributes to the discussion on standardization and taxonomy development in the FM/RE discipline. It draws principles from related management models and applies them successfully in FM and real estate management.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a model for semantically annotating business process models stored in a repository. The purpose of the model is to facilitate the searching of process models, to support navigating the process model repository and to enhance the understandability of process models.

The annotation model has been developed by following a design science research approach. By analysing existing works the authors have identified the requirements for such an annotation model. Following these requirements the authors have designed a context‐based process semantic annotation model. As a proof of concept, the annotation model has been implemented in a repository prototype and its applicability demonstrated. Finally, the annotation model has been evaluated in two controlled experimental studies.

The proposed annotation model can be used to positively affect searching, navigation and understandability of process models.

Application of the annotation model and clearly defined concepts in the process model repository is expected to improve the process of finding relevant process models in the repository for reuse.

The contribution of the paper is both theoretical and practical. It provides a clear‐cut context‐based process semantic annotation model that can be implemented easily in any process model repository.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the current state of the research field of business process architecture (BPA) and its design methodologies.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted using meta- and content-based perspectives.

From over 6,000 candidate studies, 89 were selected. A fifth of these primary works corresponded to BPA design methodologies. Though the BPA research field remains in an early stage of development, it bears promising growth potential. Regarding BPA design methodologies, the following aspects susceptible for further research were detected: identification and modeling of business process relationships; specification of inputs; standardization of models, notations and tool support; consideration of managerial concerns; integration of knowledge from other areas; and validation of methodological and product quality aspects.

The main limitation of the work lies in not being fully reproducible due to the fixed number of data sources and their digital nature, together with subjective decisions in work selection, data extraction and data analysis.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge no study has yet analyzed the BPA research field by means of an SLR. This study will benefit practitioners and research groups working on this topic by allowing them to get a rigorous overview of the BPA research field with an emphasis on available BPA design methodologies, and become aware of research gaps within the BPA field to position further research.

The study aimed to focus on how well information technology (IT) was supporting business processes in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

The study collected data using a questionnaire that incorporated the 12 processes of the American Productivity and Quality Center's (APQC) process classification framework. Structured interviews were conducted with managers in 66 SMEs.

The data indicated the importance of each process and how well IT supported each process. The following two core business processes were identified as strategically most important: deliver products and services, and manage customer service. Although the evidence indicated that the most important business processes were supported at an acceptable level, IT support was found to be low for many business processes. IT support also varied considerably across the sample, indicating that some firms have much higher IT support for business processes than others.

A limitation of the study is that it used a new instrument. Also, all the firms were SMEs in one part of one country. The study created an instrument that can be used by managers as a diagnostic tool to help SMEs identify areas for business improvement.

The study indicates that the business process view provides a useful lens for studying IT support. There seems to be much potential for SMEs to improve their IT support for some business processes.

The focus on IT support for business processes is original, especially by examining support for the broad range of processes of the APQC's model.

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.

The purpose of this paper is the development of a reference model contributing to the identification of the retail supply chain activities that can be improved by the implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) initiatives, following DMAIC steps and using proposed tools, based on contemporary technologies and best practices.

The reference model was developed combining the existing literature knowledge about the areas of supply chain that LSS can improve and the data collected by two big retailers in Greece about their supply chain operation. The integration of two sources of information led to the modeling of the retail supply chain processes and the proposal of appropriate LSS initiatives for their improvement.

This paper aimed to detect the pain points of a retail supply chain, which can be achieved by following the steps of DMAIC and applying specific LSS initiatives as described in the reference model, to introduce the trends of the sector in terms of logistics and supply chain.

The reference model of this paper can be used as a comprehensive guide of LSS implementation in the retail supply chain and help the companies of such a significant sector for the economy.

The literature review revealed that there is a lack of publications concerning LSS implementation in retail supply chain and in the retail sector in general. The development of this model contributes to the filling of this gap by providing a complete reference model, which strives to overcome the barriers of LSS adoption in retail supply chain.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze two process standardization theoretical conceptual constructs: process variants unification; and distinction between standard, routine and non-routine processes.

The authors analyze two conceptual constructs based on a single case study representing a general hospital’s (GH) process standardization, approach and results. The authors research whether process standardization implemented in a GH conforms to the process variants unification concept approach and its assumed benefits and whether implemented process standardization enables process management improvement based on distinguishing standard, routine and non-routine processes.

In accordance with the process variants unification conceptual construct, the hospital task force determined a uniform basic patient comprehensive treatment process at the hospital level, which allows synergy among departments. Uniform process activities reflect the differences between standard, routine and non-routine processes.

Process standardization through unification improves performance by establishing a common framework enabling shared experience based on improved process understanding. Distinguishing standard, routine and non-routine processes is useful for analyzing process management. This distinction provides guidelines for process implementation and measurement improvement. The paper also shows that increased routinization and standardization represent levers for process improvement.

The authors analyze theoretical constructs based on a single case study and confirm that theoretical conceptual construct application can provide better process management, which is important for practitioners.