Understanding the Need for New Perspectives on BPM in the Digital Age: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

The emergence of digital technology is substantially changing the way we communicate and collaborate. In recent years, groundbreaking business model innovations have disrupted industries by the dozen, shifting previously unchallenged global players out of the market within shortest time. Although business process management (BPM) is often identified as a main driver for organizational efficiency in this context, there is little understanding of how its methods and tools can successfully navigate organizations through the uncertainty brought by today’s highly dynamic market environments. However, we see more and more contributions emerging that question the timeliness of BPM due to its lack of context sensitivity. In this context, the inflexibility and over-functionalization of hierarchical management structures is often referred to as the primary reason why organizations fail to achieve the flexibility, agility, and responsiveness needed to address today’s entrepreneurial challenges. In this research paper, we question whether the contemporary BPM body of knowledge is still sufficient to equip organizations with the competitive advantages and operational excellence that have long yielded sustainable growth and business success. In fact, our empirical observations indicate that the vertical management of functional units inherent to current BPM is increasingly being replaced by adaptive and context-sensitive management approaches drawing on agile methodologies and modular process improvements. From a total of 17 interviews, we derive five criteria that the respondents consider as essential to strengthen the position of BPM in the digital age.