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This book is designed to introduce doctoral and other higher-degree research students to the process of scientific research in the fields of Information Systems as well as fields of Information Technology, Business Process Management and other related disciplines within the social sciences. It guides research students in their process of learning the life of a researcher. In doing so, it provides an understanding of the essential elements, concepts and challenges of the journey into research studies. It also provides a gateway for the student to inquire deeper about each element coveredai. Com

PurposeThe business process modeling notation (BPMN) is an increasingly important standard for process modeling and has enjoyed high levels of attention in business practice. In this paper, experiences are shared from several research projects investigating the uptake and user acceptance of BPMN by analysts world‐wide. This personal viewpoint aims to offer a number of implications for business process management (BPM) practice and seeks to stimulate and guide further research and other developments in this area.Design/methodology/approachThis paper offers a personal viewpoint based on the experiences and findings gathered from survey research and interviews on the use of BPMN. While details on research execution are mostly omitted, references are provided to guide the interested reader to the methodology used in the original studies.FindingsFirst, statistics are provided on the usage of BPMN by process modelers world‐wide. Amongst others, it is shown that the high interest in BPMN has created a massive demand for BPM education and training. Second, a number of usage problems related to the practice of process modeling with BPMN are described and suggestions are provided as to how organizations have developed workarounds for these problems. Third, it is suggested that BPMN is over‐engineered and more insights into practical usage are needed for future development.Research limitations/implicationsWhile being based on empirical research, a limitation of this paper is the lack of detail about research execution; however, references are provided. The paper offers a personal viewpoint on the state of current and future practice of process modeling and discusses a range of implications for future research.Practical implicationsThe paper describes a number of commonly encountered pitfalls when modeling processes with BPMN. It also provides directions for the organizational implementation and future development of process modeling as well as implications for various BPMN stakeholders.Originality/valueThis viewpoint is derived from some of very few empirical studies on the usage of BPMN specifically and BPM standards generally.

I am sure you've heard it too: Green is the new Black. While this was true back in the days when Henry Ford introduced process standardization with his assembly line for the Ford Model T (over 15 million of these were sold!), Green is also the color of choice for many business organizations, private and public. I am not talking about the actual color of their business shirts or their logo 2.0.; I am referring to the eco-aware movement that has pushed sustainability into the top ten list of business buzz-words. What used to be a boutique market for tourism and political activists has become the biggest business revolution since the e-commerce boom. Public and private organizations alike push towards ``sustainable'' solutions and practices. That push is partly triggered by the immense reputational gains associated with branding your organization as ``green'', and partly by emerging societal, legal and constitutional regulations that force organizations to become more ecologically aware and sustainable. But the boom goes beyond organizational reality. Even in academia, sustainability has become a research ``fashion wave'' (see 1 if you are interested in research fashion waves) similar to the hype around Neuroscience that our colleagues in the natural sciences are witnessing these days. Mind you, I{'}m a fan. A big fan in fact. As academics, we are constantly searching for problem areas that are characterized by an opportunity to do rigorous research (studies that are executed to perfection) on relevant topics (studies that have applied practical value and provide impact to the community). What would be a better playground than exploring the options that Business Process Management provides for creating a sustainable, green future? I{'}m getting excited just writing about this! So, join me in exploring some of the current thoughts around how BPM can contribute to the sustainability fashion parade and let me introduce you to some of the works that scholars have produced recently in their attempts to identify solutions.

Through a field experiment, we analyze how the work practice of paper printing is influenced through the availability of two types of information systems that support environmental sensemaking, an email reporting system that allows for reflective disclosure and an online discussion forum for information democratization. We implemented both systems in an ongoing sustainability initiative in a large university. Our results show that the engagement with both types of sensemaking systems leads to a significant reduction of paper consumption. We also uncovered an interesting interaction effect, which suggests a substitution effect between the two system types. Our findings suggest that IS-enabled sensemaking can be a powerful resource in the design and implementation of sustainability initiatives in organizations, which offers recommendations for Green IS to further enhance the understanding of environmental sensemaking and sustainable work practices.

Research on process flexibility has traditionally explored alternative ways of considering flexibility during the design of a business process. The focus typically has been on ways of how the demand for process flexibility can be satisfied by advanced process modeling techniques, i.e., issues intrinsic to the process. This paper proposes to extent current research by studying the extrinsic drivers for flexibility. These drivers can be found in the context of the process, which may include among others time, location, legislation, culture, performance requirements etc. Exemplary scenarios for such extrinsic flexibility drivers will be discussed and preliminary thoughts on context-aware process design approaches will be shared. The paper ends with a proposed research agenda in this area.

Process models expressed in BPMN typically rely on a small subset of all available symbols. In our 2008 study, we examined the composition of these subsets, and found that the distribution of BPMN symbols in practice closely resembles the frequency distribution of words in natural language. We offered some suggestions based on our findings, how to make the use of BPMN more manageable and also outlined ideas for further development of BPMN. Since this paper was published it has provoked spirited debate in the BPM practitioner community, prompted the definition of a modeling standard in US government, and helped shape the next generation of the BPMN standard.

PurposeProcess modeling is a complex organizational task that requires many iterations and communication between the business analysts and the domain specialists. The challenge of process modeling is exacerbated, when the process of modeling has to be performed in a cross‐organizational, distributed environment. This paper aims to suggest a three‐dimensional (3D) environment for collaborative process modeling, using virtual world technology.Design/methodology/approachThe paper suggests a new collaborative process modeling approach based on virtual world technology. It describes the design of an innovative prototype collaborative process modeling approach, implemented as a 3D Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) modeling environment in Second Life. We use a case study to evaluate the suggested approach.FindingsBased on a case study application, the paper shows that our approach increases user empowerment and adds significantly to the collaboration and consensual development of process models even when the relevant stakeholders are geographically dispersed.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper presents design work and a case study. More research is needed to more thoroughly evaluate the presented approach in a variety of real‐life process modeling settings.Practical implicationsThe research outcomes as design artifacts are directly available and applicable by business process management professionals and can be used by business, system and process analysts in real‐world practice.Originality/valueThis research is the first reported attempt to develop a process modeling approach on the basis of virtual world technology. It describes a novel and innovative 3D BPMN modeling environment in Second Life.

Green Business Process Management - Towards the Sustainable Enterprise" consolidates the global state-of-the-art knowledge about how business processes can be managed and improved in light of sustainability objectives. Business organizations, a dominant part of our society, have always been a major contributor to the degradation of our natural environment, through the resource consumption, greenhouse emissions, and wastage production associated with their business processes. In order to lessen their impact on the natural environment, organizations must design and implement environmentally sustainable business processes. Finding solutions to this organizational design problem is the key challenge of Green Business Process Management. This book discusses the emerging challenges of designing "green" business processes, presents tools and methods that organizations can use in order to design and implement environmentally sustainable processes, and provides insights from cases where organizations successfully engaged in more sustainable business practices. The book is of relevance to both practitioners and academics who are interested in understanding, designing, and implementing "green" business processes. It also constitutes a valuable resource for students and lecturers in the fields of information systems, management, and sustainable development

For decades, entrepreneurship and strategy research has been dominated by agent-centric and inward-looking theoretical perspectives. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the limits of this stance, as its influence on business has been both enormous and palpable. For the most part, the effects of the pandemic are no doubt negative. Business research—and presumably business practice—typically address such influence in terms of failure, resilience, and crisis management among existing businesses. Contrasting this prevalent discourse, we focus instead on positive influence of the pandemic for some emerging and new ventures. We analyze the many possible positive effects on entrepreneurship practice and highlight also positive effects on entrepreneurship research. We illustrate both positives by applying the External Enabler framework. JEL CLASSIFICATION: L26, M13, O3, R11

PurposeBusiness process management (BPM) requires a holistic perspective that includes managing the culture of an organization to achieve objectives of efficient and effective business processes. Still, the specifics of a BPM‐supportive organizational culture have not been examined so far. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of a cultural setting supportive of BPM objectives.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the constituent values of a BPM‐supportive cultural setting through a global Delphi study with BPM experts from academia and practice and explore these values in a cultural value framework.FindingsThe paper empirically identifies and defines four key cultural values supporting BPM, viz., customer orientation, excellence, responsibility, and teamwork. The paper discusses the relationships between these values and identifies a particular challenge in managing these seemingly competing values.Research limitations/implicationsThe identification and definition of these values represents a first step towards the operationalization (and empirical analysis) of what has been identified as the concept of BPM culture, i.e. a culture supportive of achieving BPM objectives.Practical implicationsIdentifying these cultural values provides the basis for developing an instrument that can measure how far an existing cultural context is supportive of BPM. This, in turn, is fundamental for identifying measures towards achieving a BPM culture as a necessary, yet not sufficient means to obtain BPM success.Originality/valueThe paper examines which cultural values create an environment receptive for BPM and, thus, specifies the important theoretical construct BPM culture. In addition, the paper raises awareness for realizing these values in a BPM context.

PurposeFinancial information about costs and return on investments are of key importance to strategic decision making but also in the context of process improvement or business engineering. The purpose of this paper is to propose a value‐oriented approach to business process modeling based on key concepts and metrics from operations and financial management, to aid decision making in process re‐design projects on the basis of process models.Design/methodology/approachThe paper suggests a theoretically founded extension to current process modeling approaches, and delineates a framework as well as methodical support to incorporate financial information into process re‐design. The paper uses two case studies to evaluate the suggested approach.FindingsBased on two case studies, the paper shows that the value‐oriented process modeling approach facilitates and improves managerial decision making in the context of process re‐design.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper presents design work and two case studies. More research is needed to more thoroughly evaluate the presented approach in a variety of real‐life process modeling settings.Practical implicationsThe paper shows how the approach enables decision makers to make investment decisions in process re‐design projects, and also how other decisions, for instance in the context of enterprise architecture design, can be facilitated.Originality/valueThis paper reports on an attempt to integrate financial considerations into the act of process modeling, in order to provide more comprehensive decision‐making support in process re‐design projects.

Flexibility has emerged as an important requirement in the design of business processes. Research on process flexibility, however, has traditionally been focused on the intrinsic capability of a process to adapt to a new environment (e.g. workflow escalation, ad hoc modelling). This paper proposes to extend the existing body of research by studying the extrinsic drivers for process flexibility, that is, the root causes that actually drive the demand for flexible business processes. The drivers for flexibility can be found in the context of a process and may include among others time, location, weather, legislation or performance requirements. We argue for a stronger and more explicit consideration of these contextual factors in the design of business processes in order to make processes more adaptive. This paper discusses why context matters and how context can be conceptualised, classified and integrated with existing approaches to business process modelling. We use a goal-oriented process modelling approach to be able to identify relevant context elements and propose a framework and a meta model for classifying relevant context. These extensions are an essential foundation for the definition and implementation of truly agile processes, and as such of high practical and theoretical value.

In searching for conceptualizations that offer an alternative perspective to ``entrepreneurial opportunities'', the notion of external enablers has recently been suggested for capturing the influence on entrepreneurial action and outcomes exerted by external conditions like new technologies, regulatory or demographic shifts, and changes to the socio-cultural, economic, political, or natural environments. We take the external enabler perspective several steps further. We develop a new framework that conceptualizes external enablers in terms of their characteristics, roles, and mechanisms and detail their implications for entrepreneurial action and outcomes. We argue that this framework provides a more productive perspective for theorizing about the influence of external, actor-independent factors on venture creation processes than Discovery Theory's notion of objective, pre-existing opportunities. At the same time, it is compatible with the dynamic-agentic view of new venture creation proposed by varieties of Creation Theory. For researchers who are interested in instances of societal change from a sociological or historical vantage point, the framework facilitates theorizing across such instances and about the microfoundations of aggregate-level changes. Additional domains that can benefit from our new framework include design- and strategy-oriented research and practice.