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Process excellence the key for digitalisation

Felipe Martinez (Department of Management, University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic)

Business Process Management Journal

ISSN: 1463-7154

Article publication date: 26 April 2019

Issue publication date: 2 October 2019

5382

Abstract

Purpose

The new digital era brings several opportunities and challenges that accelerate the need to implement digital solutions in organisations. This speed of change creates many questions, but unfortunately, references cases to answer them or general guidelines to succeed are still rare. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present four cases that illustrate the procedure followed by companies to introduce digital elements in their operations (automotive industry supplier, toy industry, catering company and circuit trainings company). Each case offers inspiration and knowledge about the procedure to introduce digital elements and facilitates the proposal of a general procedure that aims to become guidance for practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

The research implements comparative analysis in a multi-case design. It sensitises the concept of “digitalisation path” as a research instrument. Projects documentation and informal conversational interviews allow the researchers to describe each organisation and their digitalisation path. The interviewees review, enhance and approve the cases. Furthermore, the research compares the paths and summarises the findings into a digitalisation path model that explains the digitalisation of these organisations and it serves as a guide for other organisations.

Findings

The digitalisation paths evidence the necessity of business process management to develop digitalisation. Technology is not the goal, but the instrument and process excellence is the driver to introduce new technologies in the operations. Furthermore, the four organisations share a similar pattern and activities within their digitalisation paths.

Research limitations/implications

The multi-case methodology lacks generalisation, but it provides detail over the digitalisation paths.

Practical implications

The paper presents a guideline for practitioners to introduce digital elements in the organisation.

Originality/value

The paper presents a practical perspective to introduce digitalisation in organisations, which is currently rare in literature.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This paper is one of the research outputs of the project IGA VŠE F3/87/2017 financially supported by University of Economics, Prague.

Citation

Martinez, F. (2019), "Process excellence the key for digitalisation", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 25 No. 7, pp. 1716-1733. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-08-2018-0237

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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