A theory of contingent business process management

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Authors
Zelt, Sarah
Recker, Jan
vom Brocke, Jan
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
2018
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Business Process Management Journal
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Link
Series
Series number
Volume
25
Issue / Number
6
Pages / Duration
1291-1316
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Emerald
Place of publication / Event location
Bingley
Edition
Version
Programming language
Assignee
Practice partner / Client
Abstract
Purpose - 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. Design/methodology/approach - The authors develop the theory by drawing on organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and applying an information processing (IP) perspective to the process level. Findings - 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. Research limitations/implications - 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. Practical implications - 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. Originality/value - 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.
Keywords
Contingency theory
Subject (DDC)
330 - Wirtschaft
Project
Event
Exhibition start date
Exhibition end date
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Conference end date
Date of the last check
ISBN
ISSN
1463-7154
1758-4116
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Closed
License
Citation
ZELT, Sarah, Jan RECKER, Theresa SCHMIEDEL und Jan VOM BROCKE, 2018. A theory of contingent business process management. Business Process Management Journal. 2018. Bd. 25, Nr. 6, S. 1291–1316. DOI 10.1108/BPMJ-05-2018-0129. Verfügbar unter: https://doi.org/10.26041/fhnw-6493