Business Process Management Maturity and Digital Transformation: Evidence From a Financial Institution in an Emerging Economy

Abstract

This study examines how business process management (BPM) maturity shapes digital transformation in a large financial institution operating in a highly regulated, emerging-economy context. Drawing on a qualitative single case study, the research applies Rosemann and De Bruin's BPM Maturity Model to analyse how different maturity dimensions evolve and interact during transformation initiatives. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with senior managers and process specialists, complemented by internal documents and project artefacts. The findings reveal an asymmetric BPM maturity profile: technical-structural dimensions—strategic alignment, governance and information technology—reached the defined level (Level 3), while socio-organisational dimensions—methods, people and culture—remained at the repeatable level (Level 2), indicating a relative delay in the development of behavioural and methodological capabilities compared to formal governance and IT structures. Transformation initiatives reinforce governance and IT capabilities but simultaneously expose weaknesses in process understanding, methodological consistency and cross-functional collaboration. To explain this pattern, the study introduces the concept of perceptive dissonance, defined as divergent interpretive frames between process-oriented and execution-oriented units regarding the role of BPM in organisational transformation. This interpretive misalignment constrains the development of socio-organisational BPM capabilities and limits the emergence of a virtuous BPM-digital transformation cycle. The study contributes to BPM and knowledge-oriented process research by offering a factor-level qualitative analysis of BPM maturity and by identifying a cognitive mechanism that helps explain persistent maturity asymmetries during transformation. Practical implications are discussed for organisations seeking to align process governance, digital initiatives and organisational understanding.