Alignment Of Business Processes Research Articles

Investigating the entrepreneurial orientation of circular-social hybrid start-ups by assessing their path toward sustainability: Evidence from 20 European cases

Circular-social hybrid start-ups have a remarkable potential to create environmental, social, and economic value. Despite their relevance for the sustainability transition, there is a dearth of literature analysing their entrepreneurial orientation and how they create environmental and social value in their business models. Therefore, the present study, framed in the theory of entrepreneurial orientation, empirically assesses the dynamics of creating positive sustainable value by aligning the initial orientation with the sustainability activities and performance. The research is conducted through semi-structured interviews with the founders of twenty European start-ups. The study shows that circular-social hybrid start-ups have a strong sustainability orientation, but some display difficulties in achieving their initial mission. This entrepreneurial path from mission to reality is identified by uncovering business model dynamics and leverage points: scale-up and growth, use of digital solutions, improvement of working conditions, research and development, and alignment of business processes. These leverage points influence the potential mission drift of the start-up, i.e. its deviation from the path to sustainability. Entrepreneurs can use this study to identify leverage points to support their path toward sustainability.

Methodological approaches to the evaluation of innovative projects in the agribusiness

The main goal of the development of the Russian agribusiness at the present stage is to ensure the competitiveness of products, which, in the context of the rapid development of technology, can be ensured by the modernization of agricultural production based on the latest scientific achievements. At the same time, global and national priorities are changing, and the need to align business processes with the principles of sustainable development is becoming more acute. These processes lead to the need to develop methods for evaluating innovative projects, taking into account these changes. To solve specific problems and achieve development goals in Russia, project management is used, in which projects are selected and financed within the framework of state programs. When evaluating projects in the Russian agribusiness, the expert and scoring evaluation method is mainly used. The methods of selection of innovative projects used in the world practice are studied. New criteria for evaluating innovative projects have been proposed.

Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the Strategic Alignment of Business Processes in the Logistics Industry in Europe

The logistics industry in Europe is under constant scrutiny due to the impact of digitalizing business processes and the globalization of competing markets, especially China and the USA. Therefore, the constant optimization of corporate legacy processes and, subsequently, the reduction of logistics costs play a crucial role. The constant development of innovative solutions keeps the technological edge to stay ahead of the global competition. 3D printing technology, or additive manufacturing, represents a possibility for creating innovative complex geometries, which cannot be realized with conventional subtractive manufacturing processes. Furthermore, additive manufacturing contributes to process optimization and lower logistics costs. With the appropriate strategy, the application of additive manufacturing increases customer satisfaction with new opportunities for expansion into leading business areas with higher margins. The research of the paper examines expert statements in two balanced scorecard strategies, which include (1) corresponding key performance indicators for measurement of target achievement, (2) measurement of the realization of the defined targets, and (3) possible customer applications for 3D printing technologies. These suggestions serve as a point of reference for various organizations in the logistics industry. In addition, additive manufacturing coincides with the advances in Industry 4.0 to achieve optimal results. As the industry continues to develop further, the European logistics industry has all prerequisites to prevail in a competitive global market.

IT Process Alignment in Business Strategy: Examining the Role of Transactional Leadership and Organization Culture

Information technology (IT) is a competitive path and offers the entrepreneurial opportunity of accumulating business knowledge in capturing consumer behavior. This study employed a conceptual framework to investigate the information processing facet of IT–business alignment under the impact mechanism of transactional leadership in the manufacturing sector of Yunnan Province, China. Specifically, organization culture is taken as a moderating factor extracted from situational theory and has been highlighted as important in previous organizational research. This study aimed at investigating the impact of transactional leadership on IT–business process alignment and studying the moderating effect of organizational culture on the relationship between transactional leadership and IT–business process alignment. The empirical findings reveal that contingent reward and management by exception behaviors of entrepreneurs are significant drivers of IT–business process alignment. Furthermore, market culture had a moderating effect on the relationship between entrepreneurs’ transactional behaviors and IT–business process alignment. Similarly, hierarchy culture exerts a moderating effect on the path between contingent rewarding behavior and IT–business process alignment. Here, it exerts an insignificant moderating effect on the management by exception behavior and IT–business process alignment path. The study findings mainly reveal the association of transactional leadership with IT–business process alignment, along with the moderating role of organizational culture. This study contributes to the literature on business knowledge by showcasing empirical evidence—how information processing aids entrepreneurial behavior to capture market opportunities and consumer behavior.

Complex Network Controllability Analysis on Business Architecture Optimization

Currently, the business process elements in the design of organizational business architecture are becoming increasingly complex, showing trends of networking and flattening. The control of complex business processes is a key factor for business architecture design. This paper considers a complex network generation method with business process and organization structure data and analyzes complex network controllability to examine the alignment of business processes and the organization structure. The uncontrollable nodes of the complex network can be identified, which act as the input for organization structure adjustment and business architecture optimization design.

Introducing Gamification in the AR-Enhanced Order Picking Process: A Proposed Approach

In the last decade, the Industry 4.0 concept has introduced automation and cyber-physical systems as the core elements of future logistics, supported by an array of technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) providing the necessary support for the digital transformation of manufacturing and logistics and the smartification and digital refinement of traditional pre-Industry 4.0 processes. This paper studies the influence and the potential of gamification techniques in supporting innovative Industry 4.0-enhanced processes in the contemporary warehouse work ecosystem. Gamification in the workplace aims to motivate the employees and increase their involvement in an activity, while at the same time creating a sense of an everyday different experience rather than a set of repetitive and monotonous tasks. Since the design of such a system is a complex process, the most widespread design frameworks are studied, and the emphasis is on the principal game elements and their connection to mobilization mechanisms. Finally, an initial proposal of a gamification framework to support the AR-enhanced order picking process in contemporary logistics centers is provided with an emphasis on the mechanics of a fair and functional reward system. The proposed approach aims to showcase the potential alignment of business processes to human motivation, respecting the differences between tasks and the workers’ cognitive workload.

A Framework to Align Business Processes: Identification of the Main Features

A Framework to Align Business Processes: Identification of the Main Features

Total Quality Management Practices on Customer Satisfaction at Safaricom Public Limited Company, Kenya

The research aimed at establishing the influence of total quality management practices on customer satisfaction of Safaricom Public Limited Company (Public Limited Company). The study was guided by the following specific objectives; to establish the influence of process management on customer satisfaction of Safaricom Public Limited Company, to establish the influence of strategic quality planning on customer satisfaction of Safaricom Public Limited Company and to explore the influence of customer focus on customer satisfaction of Safaricom Public Limited Company. The research employed a descriptive study design. The research focused on 70 respondents within the customer experience department. A census was used in this study since the population was small. Primary data was collected by use of structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were self-administered. The reliability and validity of the instrument was then be determined. The quantitative data gathered in the actual study was analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. The results were presented in form of tables, frequencies, and percentages. Results show that that Safaricom Public Limited Company had put in place various measures that encouraged process management, the Safaricom Public Limited Company allocates budget to quality management and control, employees attend quality management workshops to become acquainted with the latest strategy. Customer complaints at the company were addressed within stipulated timelines, the company ensures quality communication with its customers, customer satisfaction was always accorded the priority. This study concludes that process management, and quality planning and customer focus had a positive significant effect on customer satisfaction of Safaricom public limited company. Safaricom Public Limited Company should continue aligning business processes to fit organizational strategic goals. This can be actualized through implementation of process and metrics that align with Safaricom Public Limited Company strategic goals, as well as educating all managers. Safaricom should remain committed towards discovering customer needs. It must also embrace customer positioning measures, and try to fill the customer need gap through quality planning. Safaricom Public Limited Company should make the efforts to follow-up on all customers, use clear language while communicating with its customers, appreciate negative critiques from customers, anticipate hidden customer needs and embrace pre-emptive acknowledgement.

A framework to evaluate the interoperability of information systems – Measuring the maturity of the business process alignment

In the current socio-economic environment, to face challenges such as the emergence of new technologies, globalisation and increasing demands from their clients it is inevitable that enterprises will collaborate with others and progressively shift their boundaries. In this context, interoperability has become a prerequisite in the jigsaw of such collaboration. By definition, it is entities’ ability to work together as an organisation. This ability spans a wide range of aspects, embracing both technical and business issues. Over the past decade, both the concept and the context of interoperability have been extended from a largely IT-focused domain to a business-focused domain and the evaluation of interoperability has become a rising concern. An increasing number of studies have concentrated on not just digital but business aspects of human behaviour in the social environment. In general, the wider application domain is the assessment of the interoperability of information systems and processes in any organisation (especially medium and large) that needs multiple processes to interact effectively.To deal with such concerns and pave the way to achievement of more effective collaborative goals in business, the concept of interoperability has been adopted to measure the efficiency and productivity of information systems’ integration. More than twenty approaches have so far been adopted to evaluate this interoperability, however most are unable to assess it at the higher levels, such as at the pragmatic, process and social levels. Hence, we have conducted a three-phase study. Phase 1 reviewed existing interoperability evaluation approaches. To prove the concept, phase 2 proposed the concept of semiotic interoperability and its application to healthcare information systems. This article reports on the third phase of the study, a proposed framework with a group of metrics to measure interoperability from a new perspective – a semiotics perspective. The framework is named the Semiotic Interoperability Evaluation Framework (the SIEF) and has the ability to analyse, measure and assess the interoperability among business processes. The metrics derive from a feasibility study to investigate several interoperability barriers at a hospital. Next, the SIEF was applied in a case study and a detailed interoperability evaluation was conducted.

BITA*: Business-IT alignment framework of multiple collaborating organisations

Context Businesses today must collaborate in a coordinated fashion. To collaborate, they must align their business processes and IT by complying to a common reference architecture. The common reference architecture that addresses their specific collaboration requirements is generally an adaptation of an existing generic reference architecture. However, a design framework for adapting reference architectures is lacking. Objective In this paper we propose a design framework for aligning business processes and IT across diverse collaborating organisations in order to derive a more specific reference architecture from a generic one. Method We developed the design framework using the guidelines of ISO/IEC/IEEE standard for modelling design viewpoints and validated it in a real-life business case study. Results We developed an architectural design framework which we call BITA* that is composed of three coherent architectural design viewpoints. The BP2BP alignment viewpoint provides alignment modelling abstractions for business analysts to be used to align business collaboration processes. The IT2IT alignment viewpoint provides alignment modelling abstractions for software architects to be used to align distributed IT systems. The BP2IT alignment viewpoint provides alignment modelling abstractions for interdisciplinary teams of business and IT specialists for aligning the mapping of business collaboration processes and the underlying distributed IT. The modelling abstractions are applied in a case study to derive a reference architecture for meat supply chain transparency systems. Conclusion A key challenge in developing the design framework is the difficulty of comparing models of business processes and IT that come from diverse organisations. Our main contribution is the set of modelling abstractions, which enabled us to represent business processes and IT in a uniform and comparable manner, and the systematic approach for applying the modelling abstractions. The framework is applied in the agri-food sector and needs to be evaluated further in multiple case studies from various application domains.

The Alignment of Business Process In Event Organizer And Enterprise Architecture Using TOGAF

Event organizer is a company which engaged in event organizing, PR, and advertising. A suitable information systems that fit company's business needs are required so the company can adapt themselves in this globalization era. Information systems had an important role in order to support the company’s business process and its performance. An example of applied information systems that have been widely used by companies is enterprise architecture. Currently, enterprise architecture has been used by many enterprises to be able connect between the planning and the technology implementation to the current business in the company. Enterprise Architecture Planning (EAP) is a method in enterprise architecture which can provides alignment between business and information technology by defining company’s needs. Main components of EAP are data architecture, applications, and technology. The framework that will be used to develop EAP on this research is TOGAF ADM with phases starting from preliminary phase, requirements management, architecture vision, business architecture, information systems architectures, technology architecture, opportunities & solutions, and migration planning. A result on this research will be a blueprint of enterprise architecture model that an event organizer can use in supporting its business. The blueprint contains the current used information systems and the ideal information systems planned by the authors.

Aligning Business Processes With the Services Layer Using a Semantic Approach

Organizations require their business processes goals and the underlying information technology (IT) to be in synchronization with each other, but the continual changes in business processes makes this difficult. To accomplish this synchronization, there needs to be an alignment between the business processes and the IT. Business processes are currently defined using such well-known notations as BPMN, and the IT is made available by different services. Hence, the alignment process can be defined as one between the organization’s BPMNs and the services provided by its IT. In practice, however, this process is a complex task which is carried out by hand and hence is error prone. The present communication analyzes the conditions, relations, and incompatibilities between BPMNs and the service descriptions. The incompatibilities are formalized mathematically in order to facilitate their identification and resolution. Then, an alignment process is defined taking into account these incompatibilities and their solutions. The wrapper code needed to resolve each incompatibility identified during the alignment process is generated automatically. Finally, a case study is presented to validate and illustrate the use of the proposed alignment process. The results provided by the semiautomatic alignment process were similar to those obtained manually by a group of experts.

Goal-oriented dependency analysis for service identification

Highly mature service-oriented architecture systems have great flexibility and reusability, and can align business processes and information technologies with high quality. Service identification plays a key role in this respect. Further, of the different methods employed, the most popular and preferred is process-oriented service identification. However, the absence of dependency analysis in the business process management domain remains a challenge for the quality of future systems. In this paper, we propose a goal-oriented dependency analysis for service identification via business process modeling. In our analysis solution, we apply a dependency tree featuring the relationships among requirements. The dependency relations are analyzed to create business processes via scenarios comprising requirements and process fragments.

Aligning business process maturity level with SMEs growth in Indonesian fashion industry

PurposeThis study aims to develop a business process maturity model, especially on operation processes, based on the characteristics of each organisational growth stage, to increase small and medium enterprises (SMEs) growth. With this information, SMEs can identify their needs and priorities for business process improvement based on the characteristics that are inherent in the organisation.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed model was developed by reviewing the literature on previous studies related to the organisational life cycle and its characteristics, as well as a business process maturity model. Furthermore, historical case studies were conducted to validate the proposed model. Case study objects in this research were fashion industry companies that have grown from an SME scale to national level.FindingsThe results of this research indicate that the characteristics of each growth stage are different, which led to increased complexity and maturity of business processes run. Therefore, SMEs should pay attention to their growth stages, as a basis to improve their business process maturity, especially on the critical processes, which are evaluate products performance, design products and services and monitor sales. Through this model, SMEs can determine the business’ current growth stage and use the proposed model as guidance for business process improvement to accelerate organisational growth.Research limitations/implicationsValidation of the proposed model was done by conducting a historical case study. To generalise the model, it is recommended to survey similar industry and test quantitatively using statistical methods. However, further research can be used in other industries that might yield different results. Besides, this research can also be developed in the supporting process categories.Practical implicationsThis study provides a practical guide for SMEs to identify their current growth stage, and implement the measurement of business process maturity level. Maturity level standard at every growth stage can be used in determining the priority of business process improvement to drive organisational growth.Originality/valueThrough this research, the BPMM method was developed to enable SMEs to implement a self-evaluation process without seeking external assistance and assess their needs through a clear and understandable scale allowing for further development of the business. By using this method, SMEs can manage their business processes maturity level to encourage its growth.

Assessment of Business Process Alignment to IT Business Objectives

Manufacturing company is a company engaged in the manufacture of household appliances such as plastic houseware, bushels food, rice bucket, and so forth. the company has implemented an application in running the business process of goods sales and goods (inventory). However, there is a problem in the application that is used to support the activity in the business process that is the discrepancy with the needs of users of the application and will be an assessment of the business process. Therefore, the authors take this topic. The purpose of this study is to determine the deficiencies that occur in the company, so the author can provide recommendations to the company about what should be improved. The research method used in this research is qualitative research and data obtained from the interview. In this study, the assessment of the business process Manufacturing company using COBIT 4.1 and Balanced Scorecard (BSC). This research focuses on PO3 (Determine Technological Direction) domains, PO4 (Communications Management Aims and Direction), PO8 (Manage Quality), and AI4 (Enable Operation and Use). From the research that has been done, the results show that this company has not reached the expected maturity level.

Implementation of enterprise resource planning systems: a user perspective

The purpose of this study is to evaluate critical success factors (CSFs) for the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from a user perspective. Users play a vital role when implementing an ERP system, but their perspective has been neglected in the literature. A better understanding of their perspective promises to contribute to the design of more effective ERP systems, its implementation, and management. In order to identify the user perspective, a survey was conducted within three Pakistani companies that recently have implemented a new ERP system. The questionnaire was developed based on thirteen CSFs deduced from literature. Based on each CSF’s level of importance, they are ranked in order of importance and divided into three groups: most important, important and not important. Findings reveal that users believe that management should prioritize the following four CSFs when implementing an ERP system: education and training, strategic decision-making, communication, and business process alignment.

Perencanaan Infrastruktur Teknologi Informasi pada Bank dengan Framework TOGAF

Implementation of information technology is intended to achieve business process alignment, especially in the field of banking. Some of the obstacles faced by banks include system of services transaction processing and data access. Lack of awareness in infrastructure planning results in company losses and inappropriately targeted use. The aim of the research is is to plan the information technology infrastructure and simplify the existing system in Bank, with case study at one of national private bank. The research use the organization's information technology architecture planning methodology based on the concept of information technology solutions that have been mapped and implementing the TOGAF framework, The proposed system to support the development of implementation strategies as a foundation for information technology architecture. The results of gap analysis show that there are several applications that must be developed to connect the management and customers and to manage transaction data and customer data. It also needs to develop mobile banking to maximize the 24-hour service. From this planning is expected to improve the performance of bank service and implement the right information technology system to support the smoothness of business process.

The BPM lifecycle

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that incorporates factors external to the organization into the business process management (BPM) lifecycle through dynamic capabilities (DCs), beginning with strategy and persisting through the business process transformation.Design/methodology/approachThe study comprised four distinct phases. First, a literature review was conducted to identify validated theoretical models related to the topic. Then, a systematic review of the literature was conducted by accessing the EBSCOhost, ISI/Web of Science and Scopus databases, for the purpose of understanding how the relationship between BPM and DCs has been addressed. The third step was the identification of the meta-capabilities involved in the relationship between DC and BPM, the fourth step was the construction of a framework that integrated an external view into BPM through DC, and the final step evaluated these framework through a case study.FindingsTen texts were selected after a systematic literature review. The following main points of convergence were identified: DC contributes to the conceptualization and understanding of BPM, DC assists in the process of organizational change by promoting the adaptation of the company to the environment, and DC enhances BPM performance. A framework was developed and presented.Practical implicationsThe proposed framework, which incorporates an external perspective into the BPM lifecycle through DCs, can be used by managers and researchers interested in the promotion of BPM.Originality/valueThe study shows how the sensing, seizing and transforming meta-capabilities can act to evaluate the outside-in perspective, serve as a benchmark for the alignment of business processes and enable the operationalization of emerging demands through the dynamic adaptation of processes.

Challenges and Success Factors of ERP Systems in Australian SMEs

Today, great potential is envisaged for ERP systems in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and software vendors have been repackaging their ERP systems for SMEs with a recent focus on cloud-based systems. While cloud ERP offers the best solution for SMEs without the overheads of the huge investment and management costs that are associated with traditional ERP systems, the SME sector faces many challenges in their adoption. Traditional ERP studies have predominantly focused on large organizations, and gaps in the literature indicate that both vendor and consumer perspectives require more understanding with new technology offerings for SMEs. This paper describes some of the common challenges, such as cost effectiveness, alignment between software and business processes, customized governance and training, which form the major SME constraints for ERP system adoption. Due to the dynamic nature of SME businesses, best practice guidelines for an SME’s ERP implementation could be arrived at through closer investigation of its business requirements in order to avoid misfits. This forms the main objective of the study. We identify key success factors of ERP implementation in an Australian SME as a case study. These target success factors are then compared to the actual outcomes achieved. Factors such as business process alignment with the ERP system, meeting customer and stakeholder needs and reducing recurring and maintenance costs were key to the success of ERP implementation for the Australian SME. In particular, the IT and business strategy alignment with a customer focus and flexible reporting features of ERP systems has resulted in business agility.

Designing Conceptual Framework for Aligning Service Oriented Architecture with Business Process

A problem in most of the organizations is to find the best way to mature their business processes. Process maturity can make the organizations more profitable and competent for other competitors. The problem can be solved by aligning service oriented architecture (using web services) with business processes within the organization. The purpose of this paper is to design a conceptual framework for aligning business processes with the Service Oriented Architecture and then prove the framework’s validity using simulation. An organization is working in education sector and wants to integrate its multiple web applications to allow data flow from one system to another. The framework will help the organization to align business process of service oriented architecture and to easily mold their business process according to business needs. The framework’s validity will be proved by simulating the entire process using Yet Another Workflow Language (YAWL).