Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assist organizations in the assessment of both information technology (IT) and human factors required to support their business processes (BPs) by taking into account the interdependence and alignment of these factors, rather than considering them independently. Design/methodology/approach A design science research methodology was followed to build a maturity model (MM) enabling this assessment. The proposed design process is composed of four steps: problem identification, comparison of 19 existing MMs in business process management (BPM), iterative model development, and model evaluation. The last two steps were specifically based on three research methods: literature analysis, case studies, and expert panels. Findings This paper presents a MM that assigns a maturity level to an organization’s BPs in two assessment steps. The first step evaluates the level of sophistication and integration of the IT systems supporting each BP, while the second step assesses the alignment of human factors with the technological efforts. Research limitations/implications The research was conducted with SMEs, leading to results that may be specific to this type of organization. Practical implications Practitioners can use the proposed model throughout their journey toward process excellence. The application of this model leads to two main process improvement scenarios: upgrading the sophistication and integration of the software technologies in support of the processes, and improving the cohesion of the resources the organization already owns (human and IT resources). Originality/value The proposed MM constitutes a first step in the assessment of the interdependence between the factors influencing BPM.
International audienceInformation systems (IS) are now more and more based on 'off-the-shelf products' such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. These offer a generic solution apart from the company in which they will be set up. Thus, an essential success factor of this set up is a consistent alignment with the company. The methods suggested to support this alignment, which are described and analysed in this paper, especially insist on the modelling techniques to use without sticking to the characterisation of the various alignment and misalignment situations. Therefore, an algorithm to identify them is proposed. It formalised those situations and associate decisions to be taken in order to mitigate the misalignment risks
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems offer standard functionnality that have to be configured and customized by a specific company depending on its own requirements. A consistent alignment is therefore an essential success factor of ERP projects. For this purpose, we propose an operational "Risk Factor Driven" approach that allows for the mitigation and monitoring of what we call the "Misalignment Risk". This risk corresponds to the probability of the occurrence of misalignment, associated with the loss due to misalignment if it occurs. The mitigation aims to identify and treat the "Misalignment Risk Factors" (MRFs) influencing the Misalignment Risk. We suggest four steps to deal with MRFs, based on: (i) their classification according to the ERP project stages, (ii) the definition of their mutual influences, (iii) variables detailing them and (iv) related management practices to treat them. The monitoring assesses the evolution of the Misalignment Risk. From an academic point of view, the approach constitutes real progress for alignment problem solving. By managing it as a risk, it guides researchers in the understanding of this major issue. The approach furthermore provides effective support and guidance to companies implementing ERP systems. It is illustrated through the application to the ERP project of a Small and Medium Enterprise. This application shows that it can be used in contexts where the ERP project expertise level is low.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems offer standard functionalities that have to be configured and customised by a specific company depending on its own requirements. A consistent alignment is therefore an essential success factor of ERP projects. To manage this alignment, an 'Operational Model Based' method is proposed. It is based on the design and the matching of models, and conforms to the modelling views and constructs of the ISO 19439 and 19440 enterprise-modelling standards. It is characterised by: (1) a predefined design and matching order of the models; (2) the formalisation, in terms of modelling constructs, of alignment and misalignment situations; and (3) their association with a set of decisions in order to mitigate the misalignment risk. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of the alignment management during ERP projects is given. Unlike existing methods, this one includes decisions related to the organisational changes an ERP system can induce, as well as criteria on which the best decision can be based. In this way, it provides effective support and guidance to companies implementing ERP systems, as the alignment process is detailed and structured. The method is applied on the ERP project of a Small and Medium Enterprise, showing that it can be used even in contexts where the ERP project expertise level is low.
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