University BPM Report: Business Process Management and Culture

This report analyzes an academic paper exploring the critical relationship between Business Process Management (BPM) and organizational culture. The chosen article investigates how cultural values impact BPM success, examining the methodology, findings, and limitations of the research. The authors introduce a framework to guide companies in integrating culture into their BPM strategies, emphasizing the importance of BPM culture, cultural context, and cultural fit. The study utilizes literature reviews and develops tools to assess and measure the impact of cultural dimensions on BPM implementation. The report highlights the key concepts, including customer orientation, performance excellence, commitment to objectives, and teamwork, while acknowledging the limitations, such as the focus on a specific group culture. The conclusion underscores the benefits of integrating culture into BPM processes for achieving adaptive and lasting success, providing valuable insights for business executives and researchers.

Running head: BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT AND CULTURE
Business Process Management and Culture
Name of Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:
1.

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1. Introduction:
It is usually a great responsibility for business executives to be able to efficiently manage
the various different processes of businesses (Rosenmann & vom Brocke, 2015). Business
process management (BPM) is the process through which a company is able to create, edit
and analyse the various processes which make the core of what goes on in the organization. It
is necessary for business executives to know that importance of effective BPM because if the
company is left unorganized and without a proper working system, it becomes increasingly
susceptible to experiencing mayhem in the workplace (Rahimi, Moller & Hvam, 2016).
When there is chaos in the work place, it can cause the business to waste precious time that
could have been used for the betterment of the company which will now be required to get
the “house” in order so that there is a system. Along with that, it will also lead to a overall
demoralization if the employees at the company because there will be increased frustration at
the work place and everyone will be looking for someone to blame.
The chosen article for this paper analyses the importance of culture in BPM, and whether
the presence of culture can be a determining factor for the success or failure of the various
BPM initiatives taken by the organization. The purpose of the report is to examine the extent
to which the chosen article was able to present the real importance of the presence of culture
in order for the company to experience positive BPM (Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker,
2015). The paper will closely analyse the methodology used by the authors for this specific
article, and whether they left any room for error. Afterwards, the results from the methods
used will be examined to see whether the results can be made sense of and applied into the
purpose of this paper. Finally, the conclusion and limitations given by the authors will be
discussed in order to get a perspective as to what the authors opinion is about the results that
they achieved through their extensive study.

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2. Discussion
In the chosen article, the authors acknowledge the gap in the literature that exists
connecting the importance of culture to the success of BPM at organizations, and this article
aims at bridging that gap. The authors believed that the existing literature was not able to
provide the executives and researchers the proper guidance on how to examine a
methodology to ensure that culture was being implemented efficiently into the BPM of
organizations. However, the authors do acknowledge that literature has to some extent been
able to prove the contribution of culture to the success of BPM initiatives, and that forms the
basis of this research that is conducted.
The study for this article was done over the period of three years and through the results,
the authors have been able to introduce a framework that will help companies realize the role
of culture in BPM, in order for them to be able to realize how important it will be for them to
implement the same in their company (Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker, 2015).
Additionally, the authors are also able to develop a tool which will support their findings and
help prove to be an asset for business executives to be able to implement culture acceptance
into their organization. Along with this, the authors also provide extensive information on the
relevant cultural values that is relevant to composing an effective BPM culture at an
organization. This framework, tool and research findings prove to be a integral in order for
the formation of the base of further research to be conducted on the matter.
The research findings mentioned earlier was done through the help of various existing
literature review on the matter so that the true scope of the research can be identified.
Compiling information from the literatures found, the authors were able to identify the three
concepts which effect the interdependence between culture and BPM.
 BPM Culture: ensuring that the corporate culture is one that is able to accept
culture into their business operations strategies and policies.

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 Cultural Context: executives need to make sure that they are aware of the
existing culture that is surrounding their business in the environment that they are
in.
 Cultural Fit: the extent to which business executives will be able to distinguish
between the BPM culture and the subsequent cultural context that it presents itself
in (Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker, 2015).
Secondly, the framework built by the authors helps readers who may be researchers
along with business executives to realize the true concept of BPM culture. This framework
incorporates the opinions gotten from experts in their field, so the reliability of the results are
not in question. The Delphi study that the authors used to formulate this framework addressed
mainly the question of which organizational values have proven to be helpful in an
organization being able to achieve efficient business processes. From the results of this
framework, the authors were able to formulate the core concepts behind developing a
successful BPM culture –
 Customer Orientation
 Excellence in Performance
 Commitment to Objectives
 Teamwork
It is interesting to note that even though this framework is one of its kind in the field of
related literature that exists, the authors are able to judge it objectively and find out the slight
flaw in this mode. The flaw seems to be that even though well structured, the concepts
presented in the framework are proving to be competing with one another, making it more
difficult for executives to realise if there is a BPM culture in practice or not.
The third goal of this paper was that the authors wanted to build a successful tool which
will be able to measure the different dimensions that are consisted in the effective
implementation of BPM culture in an organization. The first step to formulating this tool, an
online survey was conducted in order to assist the authors in being able understand the extent

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to which the survey-takers are accepting of the concept of culture being intertwined into BPM
practices (Schmiedel, vom Brocke & Recker, 2015). Since the survey is being taken by
individuals working at a certain company, this tool can be used by those companies in order
to get the first look into the minds of their employees and the extent to which they will
support the integration of culture into their business processes. The implication of the
findings from this tool proposed by the authors is that for the dimensions that an organization
may have scored low for, but is considered to be important, can then make the necessary
changes to ensure that the situation can be reversed to the benefit of the company.
Looking at all the three models that the authors have formulated, the implication of the
same lines up closely with the aim of the research. The three models all prove beneficial and
provide a platform for future research to be conducted, and future data sets to be collected
with organizations implementing the tool and frameworks provided by the authors in the
chosen article. The guidelines that have been developed through the help of collective
knowledge from existing literature can all serve as a base for companies to help them achieve
an effective and lasting BPM culture in their workplace. Along with this, the proposed
models also prove to be beneficial in terms of helping executives realize the range of cultural
aspects that contributing to constructing an effective BPM practice at the respective
organizations.
The authors have also mentioned the limitations that exist with the research that they have
undertaken, and this gives the readers a more wholesome view on what step they should take
next. The authors state that the results are only based on one specific group culture that they
were exposed to, and this may have constituted to the focus of the research being narrow in
terms of evaluating culture and its contribution to success BPM practices. Secondly, the
authors also mention the fact that since they were mainly focusing or aware of the culture that
they were surrounded by, this has in turn resulted in the findings of the report to be

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influenced by only one certain cultural background - the one of the authors (Schmiedel, vom
Brocke & Recker, 2015). It is important to note all cultures cannot be characterised under a
blanket term, so the extent to which the results can be understood and implemented in all
scenarios should be taken with caution.
3. Conclusion:
The main aim of the study conducted by these authors was to prove the fact that the
integration of culture into organizations’ BPM processes will be beneficial. The results from
the research, three models, have proves that if the executives at a company are able to
recognise the different aspects and principles of culture, then it can be subsequently
implemented in order for the company to experience success that is adaptive, and long
lasting.

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References:
Rahimi, F., Møller, C., & Hvam, L. (2016). Business process management and IT
management: The missing integration. International Journal of Information
Management, 36(1), 142-154.
Rosemann, M., & vom Brocke, J. (2015). The six core elements of business process
management. In Handbook on business process management 1 (pp. 105-122).
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Schmiedel, T., vom Brocke, J., & Recker, J. (2015). Culture in business process management:
how cultural values determine BPM success. In Handbook on Business Process
Management 2 (pp. 649-663). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.