Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Information & Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/im

Strategy archetypes for digital transformation: Defining meta objectives T

using business process management
Marcus Fischera, Florian Imgrunda, Christian Janiescha,b,*, Axel Winkelmanna
a
University of Würzburg, Sanderring 2, 97070, Würzburg, Germany
b
Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtzstraße 10, 01069, Dresden, Germany

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Digital transformation dominates the practical and scientific discourse. Still, many companies do not have a clear
Digital transformation plan on how to approach it. Particularly, small- and medium-sized enterprises struggle to initiate their digital
Business process management journey as they lack resources and expertise. In response, we examine how five companies use business process
Interview study management (BPM) to implement digital transformation. We perform a qualitative interview study, and analyze
Meta objective
the capabilities of BPM based on six requirements of digital transformation. Thereby, we carve out 17 re-
Strategy archetype
commendations, which must be adapted according to companies’ meta objectives. We derive three strategy
archetypes to serve as implementation blueprints.

1. Approaching digital transformation transformation and were referred to as nondigital [10]. Seeking to learn
from large companies, SMEs are typically overwhelmed by the broad-
Digital transformation changes societies and industries, and is ness of opportunities and challenges offered by digital technology. In
fueled by the convergence of social, mobile, cloud, and smart tech- particular, they fail to transform the implications to a suitable scale, as
nologies as well as the growing need for automation and integration the priorities of large companies are too manifold to derive practical
[1,2]. Despite new opportunities for product and service innovation, it and actionable recommendations (cf. e.g., [11]).
is frequently perceived as a threat to traditional business models, cur- In this article, we report on how the large companies, such as the
rent organizational structures, and well-established business operations Lego Group (LEGO),1 SAP SE (SAP),2 Allianz Global Corporate and
[3–5]. As more and more companies encounter corresponding chal- Specialty SE (AGCS),3 and 1&14 as well as Taifun-Tofu GmbH (Taifun)5,
lenges, they have put digital transformation to the top of their priority prepare for and navigate digital transformation projects. Besides es-
lists [6]. tablishing flexible organizational structures, they achieve adequate re-
However, most companies only have a diffuse understanding about sponsiveness on operational and strategic levels, and use customer
the nature and impact of digital transformation [7]. Consequently, they centricity and process orientation to shape their digital futures. All
struggle to design and implement actionable strategies successfully companies consider business process management (BPM) as a baseline
[8,9]. for digital transformation. They represent different industries, and thus,
This applies especially to small- and medium-sized enterprises help to paint a broad picture of the situation.
(SME), whose ability to change is naturally limited. In 2017, many On the basis of prior research, we first introduce six requirements,
European SMEs still lacked an organizational initiative for digital which need to be addressed for successful digital transformation. We

Corresponding author at: University of Würzburg, Sanderring 2, 97070, Würzburg, Germany.

⁎

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Fischer), [email protected] (F. Imgrund),

[email protected] (C. Janiesch), [email protected] (A. Winkelmann).
1
LEGO is a privately held company based in Denmark, manufacturing plastic construction toys.
2
SAP is a Germany-based multinational software corporation that develops and distributes enterprise software to manage business procedures and customer
relations.
3
AGCS is a subsidiary of the German financial services company Allianz SE, and is the dedicated carrier for corporate and specialty insurance business.
4
1&1 is a brand of United Internet AG that offers broadband and mobile access products for private and commercial customers as well as hosting cloud and e-
business applications for home users and small companies.
5
Taifun is a German company that specializes in the production and distribution of natural and vegan food products. Until 2017, the company was known as Life
Food GmbH/Taifun-Tofuprodukte.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2019.103262
Received 18 May 2018; Received in revised form 17 December 2019; Accepted 21 December 2019
Available online 07 January 2020
0378-7206/ © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

map them to BPM capabilities at our case companies by introducing the The framework builds upon the six dimensions strategic alignment,
established Six Core Elements of the BPM framework [12]. In the fol- governance, methods, IT, people, and culture. In general, strategic align-
lowing, we report on the findings of our interview study, and use the ment suggests that companies must align BPM to their overall strategy.
results to define recommendations for all requirements. We use con- Hence, they are required to connect their organizational priorities and
textual configuration options for some of these recommendations to processes constantly, to realize continuous performance improvements.
flesh out three profiles, representing meta objectives of digital trans- Governance demands a system of roles and responsibilities to ensure
formation. Ultimately, we derive three strategy archetypes, which can transparency and accountability. Furthermore, companies rely on ef-
aid companies to position and plan their digitalization efforts better fective decision-making mechanisms and reward systems that support
based on their objective. and facilitate process-related actions. With regard to methods, they must
provide tools and techniques to enable the various BPM activities per-
2. Understanding the relationship between BPM and digital formed within their organization. Companies further rely on IT for
transformation process analysis, process modeling, and process execution. People
create, enhance, adopt, or refuse organizational change, and are
2.1. From digitization to digital transformation thereby essential for successful BPM. To access and use their process
knowledge and expertise, companies must provide them with adequate
Although often used interchangeably, digitization, digitalization, and incentives and account for individual preferences, needs, and require-
digital transformation account for interdependent but different phe- ments [25]. Ultimately, culture requires them to establish collective
nomena. Digitization describes the transformation of information into a values and beliefs toward a process-centered organization. Hence,
digital representation [13]. As digitization has enabled greater in- successful BPM initiatives rely on a process-oriented environment that
formation accessibility and created new opportunities for communica- fosters communication and collaboration.
tion, it has yielded the emergence of the digitalization paradigm, which
has made information technology (IT) pivotal for competitiveness and 3. Methodology and case companies
customer satisfaction [14]. As a result, companies have increasingly
relied on aligning their structures, operations, and strategies with IT to SMEs, in particular, can be overwhelmed by the opportunities and
realize various benefits, including improvements in costs, performance, challenges of digital transformation, and experience problems deriving
and product and service quality [15–17]. Although this has required clear recommendations for action to guide their digital journeys [23].
companies to sustainably adapt their organizational structures and To overcome this, we analyzed how several large companies initiated
operations, the impact of digitalization has been limited mostly to digital transformation successfully.
controlled business scenarios [18]. However, as digital technologies We performed a qualitative analysis based on semi-structured in-
connect people, things, and locations to generate and analyze large terviews with domain experts [26]. Expert interviews are a naturalistic
amounts of data, digitization and digitalization merge to become digital method to validate theoretical artifacts in real environments and or-
transformation [13], which alters communication and interactions be- ganizational contexts [27].
tween all stakeholders and reshapes the current economic, social, and We have selected AGCS, LEGO, 1&1, SAP, and Taifun as case
political landscape [2,19,20]. companies. Each company is unique in regard to industry, size, and
business focus. In summary, they represent a variety of voices. Thus, we
2.2. Requirements for digital transformation can review digital transformation in different environmental settings.
Table 2 summarizes the key characteristics of the companies.
While companies can manage aspects of digitization and digitali- Data collection involved a series of in-depth interviews conducted in
zation primarily by using information systems, they need to rely on 2017 and 2018 using a multiple informants design, which allowed us to
holistic approaches when coping with digital transformation [21]. As gather information from different individuals or sources, and thus, to
research and practice still lack a clear understanding about its scope adequately assess the current status quo [28]. Using semi-structured
and nature [5,22], we analyzed 19 practice-oriented studies to identify questions, we first asked background questions about the current po-
a consolidated set of requirements for companies that seek to manage sition and work experience. None of the companies or interviewees
digital transformation successfully. In Table 1, we provide a short de- have a formal relationship with the researchers. There had been prior
scription for each requirement. Appendix A contains a full list of the informal contact with 1&1. While all interviewees are experts in the
references and their coding. Cf. also [23] for further details. domain of BPM and involved in digital transformation projects of their
Following Table 1, companies must simultaneously address digital company, they have different backgrounds and positions within their
transformation in multiple dimensions, including their strategies, or- respective companies. All interviews were performed by two research
ganizational structures, operations, and culture. assistants on the phone and averaged 90 min (range, 81–98 min). If
there was not enough time to go through all content in one phone call
2.3. Capabilities for successful initiatives using BPM or if there were further inquiries, a second call was scheduled. The
interviews were transcribed and comprised an average of 4498 words.
Digital transformation generally leads to changes in procedures and We used a two-step coding and analysis process. First, to mitigate bias,
organizational structures. BPM can be regarded as the “art and science one author coded the data into themes. Our second step of analysis
of overseeing how work is performed in an organization, to ensure involved summarizing the data for each theme across all cases. The
consistent outcomes and to take advantage of improvement opportu- intent in this second round was to help detect patterns in the evidence
nities” [24]. related to each construct across organizations. We have validated our
By creating a baseline for communication, BPM can not only enable findings with all interviewees, and they confirmed our observations
the realization of optimization potentials, but also foster process in- regarding meta objectives and strategy archetypes.
novation and creativity. Ultimately, BPM provides an overview of or- Our qualitative approach naturally limits the number of data points
ganizational resources and competencies, and assigns them to tasks and over those as a result of a broader quantitative study. Hence, we draw
activities within the company’s value creation processes. conclusions from fewer cases. Contrariwise, our approach enables us to
In the following, we use established knowledge from the BPM do- delve into topics in greater detail, and also to revisit and confirm de-
main, namely the Six Core Elements of BPM framework [12], as a lens to rivations with the interviewees.
analyze the above requirements. Cf. Fig. 1 for an overview of the cap- This approach permitted a rigorous, cross-organization examination
ability areas. of five instances of digital transformation projects using BPM in

2
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Table 1
Requirements for Digital Transformation.
Requirement Description Source

Digital Strategy To approach digital transformation, companies must formulate a digital strategy that determines goals and actions, but also considers 17 of 19 references1
governance and compliance.
Agility Due to a dynamic environment, companies rely on flexible, adaptable, and responsive organizational structures with adequate 9 of 19 references2
management support.
Digital Expertise As tasks become more complex, companies must establish new IT-related skills and foster specialization. 11 of 19 references3
IT Innovation Companies must continuously align their business structures with new technologies to benefit from standardization and automation. 13 of 19 references4
Collaboration Companies must ready their organizational processes for the use of technology to connect and collaborate with internal and external 13 of 19 references5
stakeholders.
Openness To ensure the transformation’s sustainability, companies rely on an open-minded culture that facilitates creativity and risk-taking. 12 of 19 references6

1
Most authors claim a profound digital strategy to be essential for digital transformation. A total of 17 references were published in outlets such as MIS Quarterly,
Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS), and Business & Information Systems Engineering (BISE). The references include Mithas, et al. [14] and Karimi and
Walter [3].
2
The references demanding increased organizational agility in digitally transformed environments were published in outlets like MIS Quarterly Executive and MIS
Quarterly. They include [18] and Hansen and Sia [19].
3
The references about digital expertise were primarily published in outlets, such as MIS Quarterly Executive. They include Dremel, et al. [16] and Hess, et al. [20].
4
Among the identified studies, IT, and especially its alignment with digital strategies, is one of the key success factors. We identified a total of 13 references that
were published in outlets like MIS Quarterly and BISE. These include Matt, et al. [7] and Drnevich and Croson [22].
5
Following research papers in outlets, such as MIS Quarterly and BISE, the collaboration of key stakeholders is an essential prerequisite for digital transformation.
The references include Bharadwaj, et al. [5] and Maedche [21].
6
Additionally, businesses require an openness in its corporate culture that is aware of the corporate strategy for digital transformation. We identified a total of 12
relevant references that were published in outlets, such as MIS Quarterly Executive. The references include Singh and Hess [6] and Hansen, et al. [15].

and action plans, most of them involve automation in different parts of

the organization. This is why we foster a ‘processes first’ policy, which
views the outcomes of BPM as a requirement for digital transformation.”
This relationship stems mostly from the capability of BPM to di-
rectly or indirectly address the requirements of Table 1. For example, 1
&1 uses BPM to build digital expertise as the company needs to ensure
low time-to-market cycles in an increasingly dynamic market environ-
ment. Driven by standardization and automation, their business struc-
ture enables the efficient implementation and execution of its core ac-
tivities. However, 1&1 quickly realized that embarking digital
transformation is not only subject to technology and its affordances, but
Fig. 1. Six Core Elements of BPM Framework. is also strongly contingent on employee’s commitment. Against this
background, 1&1 leverages BPM to promote a technically driven com-
munication that allows for fast and effective exchange of information
Europe,6 but leaves unanswered questions of how processes unfold
and knowledge. While their approach matured and flourished over
around different kinds of economic environments, such as the U.S. or
years, cross-functional communication and collaboration has become a
Asia. We expect that the model will hold for a range of similar issues in
natural part of their daily business and facilitates the uncovering weak
a comparable context, but ultimately its applicability remains to be
ties and tacit knowledge within the company’s complex organizational
tested.
structure. At AGCS, corresponding activities provide the means to en-
sure an operational backbone that yields high responsiveness, reliable
4. Successful digital transformation with BPM
process outcomes, and customer satisfaction.
The companies in our study faced several concrete practical chal-
4.1. On the relation of BPM and digital transformation
lenges when introducing and managing BPM in their organization, to
meet the requirements of digital transformation systematically. They
Research and practice have highlighted the role of BPM as a pre-
used BPM primarily to reduce costs and to increase customer orienta-
liminary stage of digital transformation because both share similar
tion, transparency, and product and service quality. However, as digital
goals and characteristics [23,29]. In the following, we use the dimen-
transformation demands the realization of socio-technical assets, and
sions of the Six Core Elements of BPM framework (cf. Fig. 1) to struc-
BPM yields adaptations to their social, technological, and operational
ture our discussion of the case companies, and explain how they tackled
setup, each company developed an individual strategy to manage the
the six requirements of digital transformation (cf. Table 1) using BPM.
underlying change processes successfully. To account for market dy-
Marcus Eckhardt, manager for business excellence at AGCS, explains
namics and varying organizational needs, companies perform BPM as a
the relation of BPM for digital transformation in the following way:
sequence of interconnected initiatives that differ in regard to scope,
“If you break down digital transformation into a set of smaller objectives structure, and goals. Troels Hoffmann,7 LEGO, explains this in the fol-
lowing way:

6 “BPM is neither a one-off nor a static project. It is affected by numerous

Some of the companies surveyed are global players with business activities
that span far beyond the borders of the European Union. Established and proven influence factors that imply constant change and adaptations. Therefore,
in their local markets, the global adaptation of local expertise often proves to be
equally effective. At AGCS, for example, BPM services are offered on a global
7
basis without the need of the seconded experts to significantly change their While Troels Hofmann was employed as senior business process consultant
methods or practices to be successful. at LEGO at the time of the interview, he left the company in 2018.

3
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

we continuously reuse the outcomes of BPM to improve our organiza-

tional performance. Sometimes we achieve an objective and the next day

Organic food producer;

we start all over again.”

vegan convenience

management & IT
Manager quality
GmbH (private)
Despite differences, each of the case companies deployed BPM
successfully and used the outcomes to initiate and support their digital

products
transformation projects.
∼ 260
Taifun

Food

4.2. Strategic alignment and governance

The importance of strategic alignment and governance, to establish a

ERP, financials, business intelligence,

digital strategy and to ensure agility, collaboration, and digital ex-

procurement, HCM, SCM, business,
planning, analytics, and reporting

pertise was cited consistently across all companies in our study. Actions
Digital transformation officer

taken to align BPM to the demands of digital transformation ranged

from determining clear project goals to ensuring top management
Societas Europaea (SE)

support. To establish training programs, the companies further high-

light the importance of harmonizing BPM with other organizational
initiatives, and provide process architectures to structure and co-
∼ 99,000

ordinate corresponding activities. Each company defines rules and re-

Software

sponsibilities to govern their projects. At 1&1, BPM draws primarily

SAP

upon the assumption that there are many different objectives to be

maintained by BPM, and that every employee has valuable knowledge
that can contribute to the improvement of the company’s processes and
telecommunications solutions, webhosting, cloud

operations. Martin Petry, 1&1, clarifies:

“We believe that BPM as a whole and process modeling in particular are
Broadband connections, mobile internet,

applications, and e-business solutions

relevant for each member of our organization. Conducting everyday

business, our employees continuously evaluate and refine their work
routines and procedures to meet personal and organizational expecta-
tions.”
Societas Europaea (SE)

He further points out:

Internet Services

“To make use of that ever-changing implicit knowledge, it is central to the

Expert BPM

success of a BPM initiative that it is for everybody at all times. We

∼ 9100

provide each employee willing to participate with the opportunity to

document and analyze her or his procedures individually and, thus, to
1&1

become an active part of the overall initiative. Or in other words: Every

experiences, and digital play experiences

employee is a potential modeler.”

As a result, 1&1 does not focus exclusively on process redesign and
educational concepts, consumer
LEGO bricks, construction toys,

improvement, as this would require a more structured and systematic

approach to BPM. Instead, it deploys BPM as part of a larger initiative
Senior process consultant

for continuous business improvement and seeks to accomplish opera-

tional quality, customer orientation, and digital transformation by fa-
cilitating collaboration and communication among its stakeholders.
Manufacturing

Hence, 1&1 managed to implement a self-regulated and self-organized

∼ 19,000

initiative that primarily builds upon the technique of process modeling

Private

to formalize skills, technologies, and documents necessary for process

LEGO

execution, and to facilitate knowledge management and a common

business understanding. BPM’s operational backbone is reflected by a
insurance, alternative risk transfer, risk

multi-tiered process architecture that connects and organizes corporate

consulting, and claims management

processes. With comprehensive documentations and an interconnected

Manager for business excellence
Corporate insurance, specialty

system of process-aware employees, 1&1 was able to design a holistic

digital strategy and identify the most promising projects that pave the
Societas Europaea (SE)

way toward digital transformation. Furthermore, the company does not

actively check and/ or enforce rules, guidelines, and responsibilities. It
Financial Services
Characteristics of the Case Companies.

rather assumes distributed and continuous optimization efforts by the

users of the corresponding process models, as Petry’s following quote
∼ 4400

emphasizes:
AGCS

“Promoting BPM at 1&1 in its various business contexts, we have always

been aware that governance is only efficient when implemented locally
Number of Employees

and not at company-level. In the latter case, this would rather obstruct
and choke the whole approach’s dynamics, as departments usually have
Interviewee
Legacy Form

quite individual objectives and perspectives that evolve and change over
Focus Areas

Position of

time.”
Industry
Table 2

4
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Table 3
Overview Strategic Alignment and Governance.
AGCS LEGO 1&1 SAP Taifun

Top Management Support High Medium Low High High

Implementation Hybrid Hybrid Distributed Hybrid Central
Hierarchy Functional Functional Organizational Circle Divisional Functional
(Hierarchy) Governance Control

Top-down Top-down Bottom-Up Hybrid Top-down

Governance Approach Restrictive Advising Guiding Restrictive Restrictive

At the beginning, LEGO’s primary aim was to improve commu- determined governance rules and responsibilities. Second, the company
nication. However, once the overall process maturity increased, the performs periodic process audits to assess its organizational maturity,
company began to shift its focus toward process unification and opti- and to identify, prioritize, and improve faulty and/or low-qualitative
mization to realize performance improvements. LEGO performs BPM as processes.
a hybrid initiative, in which distributed and process-aware employees SAP follows a holistic approach that views process orientation as a
actively analyze processes for inconsistencies and/or improvement prerequisite for various applications, including unification, certifica-
potentials during process execution. The company further established a tion, knowledge management, and process monitoring. Because of the
center of excellence to support those distributed efforts. This entails variety of purposes, the company organizes annual BPM events during
that educated process analysts constantly monitor the quality of BPM which it consolidates different initiatives, and establishes a common
outcomes and decide whether a particular process should be included in BPM understanding. The company’s BPM includes centralized and de-
the central process map or not. LEGO has launched multiple improve- centralized elements that apply to different levels of their multitier
ment projects over the years. While some employees shared common process architecture. A central body governs the first three levels, which
goals and resources similar to those of the company’s BPM, others comprise the company’s core and support processes. Multiple dis-
pointed toward different or even opposing directions. Hence, LEGO tributed BPM teams manage the processes below level three containing
relies on continuously aligning those projects to accomplish holistic its operational processes. This also applies to the company’s BPM
performance improvements. Troels Hoffmann explains: governance. Hence, SAP can gradually implement change projects on
all organizational levels, and constantly realign its structures to the
“In a company with a focus on customer satisfaction, opportunities for
requirements of digital transformation.
improvement are everywhere and corresponding initiatives, such as di-
BPM capabilities enabled the companies in our study to align their
gital transformation, are launched throughout the entire organization.
strategic objectives with the requirements of digital transformation and,
However, all initiatives feed on the same resources and can be conflicting
thus, to define a digital strategy, which helped them to embark on their
in parts. At LEGO, BPM is also about aligning all those optimization
respective digital journeys. Furthermore, BPM supported them in ac-
projects to accomplish goals on the company level.”
complishing a process-oriented structure, which fosters employee in-
Initially, AGCS used BPM for documentation purposes only, before tegration and participation, and enables company-wide improvements,
they increasingly focused on unification and optimization. Marcus specifically establishing digital expertise providing relevant and re-
Eckhardt clarifies: quired digital skills for their employees. Table 3 summarizes how the
companies we studied, address these dimensions to foster BPM success.
“During the last decade, BPM at AGCS underwent a sustainable trans-
formation. In the beginning, it focused on process modeling to obtain a
better understanding of our organizational structure. However, as the 4.3. Method and information technology
maturity of our processes increased, we started to use BPM for stan-
dardization, to achieve productivity improvements, and to increase cus- Each company draws upon methods and IT to enable and support
tomer satisfaction. Thus, process modeling became a supporting tech- company-wide BPM activities to not only enable better organizational
nique that is now occasionally used to document complex processes.” agility and IT innovation, but also contribute to their digital strategy
and digital expertise.
The company has implemented a central center of BPM excellence In particular, they use the Business Process Model and Notation
with a team of specialized process analysts responsible for conducting (BPMN)8 as a method, to create an overview of their operations and
and supporting company-wide BPM activities. Besides coordinating, structures. The companies define guidelines and conventions to support
prioritizing, and scheduling the corresponding improvement efforts, the and regulate modeling activities. Integrated BPM environments further
BPM team frequently takes on the role of in-house consultants to ad- provide guidance during the modeling task and automatically check for
dress organizational issues that have been previously discovered by quality issues. In addition, most companies implement variant man-
employees. Nevertheless, AGCS also witnesses local initiatives that are agement systems to monitor organizational changes, and use re-
carried out autonomously by the respective department, and without positories to organize the resulting process models.
any involvement of the central BPM department. Contrary to the hybrid With a primary focus on business services, 1&1 uses ArchiMate9 to
strategy at SAP, however, this does not entail AGCS’ implementation
strategy to be hybrid, too. In fact, AGCS merges its BPM outcomes in an 8
openly available process landscape that connects the company’s pro- BPMN is a modeling notation and ISO/IEC standard used primarily by
business analysts, scientists, and tool vendors. It draws upon a rich set of
cesses to align its functions and departments. Pivotal for coordinating
modeling elements to capture process semantics and it can be used to model,
and communicating BPM activities, processes must undergo a rigorous
simulate, or execute business processes [30].
quality-assurance process to be included in the landscape. 9
ArchiMate is an enterprise architecture modeling language to improve
At Taifun, the BPM strategy followed a different path. Seeking to business efficiency by providing a means to describe and model the construc-
comply with food-market regulations, the company uses BPM to har- tion of organizational structures, processes, technical infrastructures, and IT
monize and later standardize its processes and to prepare for the cer- systems. The standard is provided by The Open Group, ensuring consistent
tification procedure. First, BPM was initiated by a central board that standards, methods, and communication among enterprise architecture

5
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

structure its process modeling activities. While business processes are and publish them on a central platform, which connects to the ARIS
still mapped in a globally available process map, ArchiMate allows the system that is universally available to all employees. To assure a certain
company to embed its process-related communications in an archi- quality of BPM outcomes, LEGO uses conventions that define a baseline
tecture-driven dialogue that puts business services and respective cap- quality controlled by the ARIS toolset. They further defined guidelines
abilities into focus. Martin Petry clarifies as follows: that cover multiple aspects, including the modeling procedure, and the
interconnection of processes and documents. At first, the company
“Instead of the usual procedure of looking at business processes as the
checked process candidates for the process map manually. However,
highest level of business, we take business services and business cap-
once the repository grew, they deployed standardized check mechan-
abilities as the ultimate goal. ArchiMate allows us on the one hand to
isms that now automatically ensure the quality of those models. Troels
represent how business processes realize these services and capabilities
Hofmann explains:
and on the other hand to clarify how our corporate processes integrate
with products and information systems in the sense of a complete en- “At first, we primarily wanted to ensure a certain quality by controlling
terprise architecture. Accordingly, we are not only operating business BPM outcomes centrally and manually. As this was time consuming and
more service-driven and, thus, increase customer-orientation, but also costly, we started to rely more on the ARIS tool support. Simultaneously,
facilitate communication and collaboration at product-level.” BPM became more popular among our employees, who soon started to
check on each other to improve the quality of process models produced.”
To further facilitate communication and collaboration, the mod-
eling task quickly became a central part of the overall BPM initiative. Similar to LEGO, AGCS provides all employees with access to the
Martin Petry adds: modeling environment, ADONIS11 . Hence, departments can model
their processes independently, and share and discuss the results with
“At 1&1, process modeling and BPM can hardly be distinguished. Process
other involved stakeholders. They can also decide whether a certain
modeling serves as a suitable entry point to BPM, as it helps our em-
process should be published within the process landscape, which means
ployees to think actively about their tasks and procedures, while doc-
undergoing a strong quality assurance process by the BPM team.
umenting them in a structured and reproducible way. After storing the
Process modeling at Taifun follows a custom-built approach based
models, we make them centrally available for access by everyone. Once
on define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) and Six Sigma
people start to talk about these processes and collaborate to improve
[34]. The company continuously measures the maturity of its processes,
them, process modeling converts to BPM.”
and uses value stream mapping to define the current and future state of
To facilitate employee participation, the company provides an in- their value creation process. Because of the certification procedure,
tegrated modeling environment and designs conventions to foster uni- process models must comply with high-quality standards. Hence, the
fication, while ensuring understandability and ease of use. Hence, con- company uses strict conventions, guidelines, and narrowly defined roles
ventions provide a basic structure without overcomplicating the task. and responsibilities. To account for changing environmental conditions,
Shortly after the initiative’s introduction, numerous stakeholders joined they further schedule periodic audits to assess the overall modeling
the project to produce a rapidly growing process repository. Although quality, and to collect ideas and change requests from process owners
accomplishing the company’s overall BPM goals seemed feasible, they (cf. also [35]). These rules are also specified within the modeling en-
quickly realized that current guidelines and conventions yielded low- vironment, which controls them and highlights optimization potentials
quality models that lacked comparability and interoperability. To over- at runtime. The resulting process models are stored, organized, con-
come these shortcomings and thereby to improve communication, the nected, and enhanced in a centrally managed repository, which is
company reassessed its initial BPM setup. They realized that guidelines connected to a knowledge management system. While all organiza-
and conventions not only limit the degrees of freedom during the mod- tional stakeholders can use these information management systems,
eling process, but also provide guidance for novice modelers. access to the modeling environment is restricted to trained process
Consequently, the company defined a revised set of conventions to more specialists.
strictly regulate the modeling task. Besides an intuitive drag-and-drop SAP follows a standardized BPM life-cycle approach to organize its
usability, the BPM environment automatically checks for syntactic and BPM. They further draw upon complementary improvement techniques,
semantic modeling issues, and provides recommendations without enfor- such as lean management [36] and Six Sigma, to address specific orga-
cing them. It further provides functionalities for sharing, commenting, and nizational challenges. In line with its hybrid governance approach, spe-
editing process models to enable communication and collaboration. First, cialized process analysts model highly important processes located
they equipped the tool with features to aggregate distributed information within the first three levels of their process architecture. The remaining
and promote current challenges. Hence, modelers can point to issues that processes are addressed by distributed process stakeholders. To monitor
may require cross-functional effort or expert knowledge. Second, they process performance and to select and prioritize processes for BPM, the
implemented a repository and a variant management system to organize company uses an indicator system, which also helps to assess the ma-
and monitor the initiative’s outcomes. Based on BPM methods and tools, 1 turity of their processes. Similar to the other companies, SAP uses an
&1 managed to establish company-wide communication and collaboration agile modeling environment to coordinate and control its BPM activities.
that also fostered skill development. Besides facilitating continuous im- At all of the companies in our study, BPM methods and IT provide
provements to its structures and operations, the company approaches di- employees with means for communication and collaboration. On the
gital transformation by involving all employees (cf. also [23]). basis of a common business understanding and means for commu-
LEGO’s BPM builds upon the Architecture of Integrated Information nication, all companies use BPM methods and IT to prepare for digital
Systems (ARIS) framework, which provides an integrated view of their transformation by using IT innovation to foster not only organizational
organization.10 Specialized process analysts model processes centrally agility, but also digital expertise on the basis of IT innovation. They use
these capabilities to integrate all areas of their organizational structure,
and to initiate a holistic change process for their digital strategy.
(footnote continued) Table 4 summarizes how the companies addressed the dimensions of
professionals [31]. methods and IT.
10
ARIS is a modelling framework based on the division of models into de-
scription views and levels for data, functions, organization, and processes.
11
Software AG provides a family of about 20 products to create, analyze, manage, ADONIS is a BPM and process analysis software by BOC Information
and administer enterprise models from strategy to information architecture, Technologies Consulting GmbH based on the ADONIS business process man-
application landscapes, and services [32]. agement systems framework developed by the University of Vienna [33].

6
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Table 4
Overview Methods and Information Technology.
AGCS LEGO 1&1 SAP Taifun

Methodology Custom-built Custom-built Custom-built Custom-built Custom-built

…based on: (1), (2) (1), (2) (3) (1) (1), (4)
Process Architecture

Four-tiered Four-tiered Five-tiered Multi-tiered Three-tiered

Conventions Restrictive Restrictive Guiding Restrictive Rigid
Guidelines Structuring Structuring Enabling Structuring Regulative

(1) Six Sigma, (2) Lean Management, (3) ArchiMate, and (4) DMAIC.

4.4. People and culture support BPM with easy-to-use tool support and clear structures and
responsibilities.
Finally, all the companies in our study again confirmed the im- Because of the degree of centralization at LEGO and Taifun, em-
portance of adequate educational offerings, to raise process awareness ployee training is not at the top of the management’s priority list.
for successful BPM as a common baseline for digital transformation. Instead, a few highly skilled process analysts identify, analyze, and
Addressing the people involved and creating an inclusive process-or- redesign relevant processes. Although their central initiatives build
iented culture, fostered individual involvement and openness supporting upon an established awareness toward processes and BPM, these com-
creativity and risk-taking in collaborations. Consequently, both factors panies put less effort into promoting process orientation throughout the
also contribute to digital expertise and organizational agility. entire organization as 1&1 does. In fact, active employee participation
Besides training offers to improve digital expertise as already is primarily necessary during the process of information collection,
mentioned, the companies of our study actively ensure an adequate while the BPM teams are in charge of the rest. At AGCS, most processes
ease of using tools and BPM outcomes. Furthermore, most facilitate have been discovered, optimized, and monitored centrally. Because of
stakeholder collaboration, and improve their knowledge management resource constraints and an increased process orientation of its em-
capabilities by putting organizational knowledge into a process context. ployees; however, local process improvements are becoming more fre-
To support the organizational adoption and acceptance of BPM, the five quent. Pursuing a hybrid implementation strategy toward BPM (cf.
companies foster process orientation and stakeholder commitment Section 4.2), the company welcomes and promotes these activities. To
using different knowledge management strategies and elements. As the this end, AGCS provides coaching that is freely accessible to all em-
outcomes of BPM frequently change predominant structures, they ad- ployees to enable its workforce throughout all business departments to
ditionally implement change management initiatives to avoid employee act independently on process improvements, while promoting the
refusal and resistance. quality of outputs at the same time. Eventually, the central team’s
Regarding their knowledge management strategies, we distinguish quality assurance process decides whether local optimizations are fi-
between two strategies, namely push strategy and pull strategy. A push nally included to the company-wide process landscape.
strategy means that an organization actively manages knowledge, i.e., Similar to 1&1, SAP provides a comprehensive education program.
individuals strive to explicitly encode their knowledge in a shared Although less focused, the company offers training courses and online
knowledge repository as well as retrieving knowledge they need that classes on specific challenges and topics. In addition, they provide
other individuals have provided. This strategy also involves interaction participants with cross-functional best practices and guidelines.
and communication based on web 2.0 functionalities such as social Because of the wide range of purposes linked to BPM, ensuring un-
intranets or blogs. Pulling knowledge means that individuals make derstandability is highly important for this company. To summarize the
knowledge requests of experts associated with a particular subject on an outcomes of the hybrid BPM approach, SAP integrates all activities
ad hoc basis (for further information on knowledge management stra- within its multitiered process architecture. Hence, the central BPM
tegies, see [37]). Knowledge management elements include the use of a team refines and connects all process models to create an integrated
shared repository, a collaborative modeling environment, variant system. They further establish a glossary to build a knowledge man-
management (of processes), and version management. agement system that connects to the BPM environment. Ultimately,
Most companies offer training courses to educate their employees they facilitate process awareness by organizing periodic meetings at
on BPM methods and process orientation for digital transformation. 1& which all BPM participants exchange opinions and experiences, to ob-
1 understands training as a key success factor for BPM. Martin Petry at tain a more detailed picture of the overall strategy and progress.
1&1 explains: By addressing the dimensions of people and culture, the companies,
in particular, managed to improve collaboration and foster openness to
“Offering adequate training and education opportunities is always im-
establish process orientation and improve necessary skills. Their em-
portant, but it becomes pivotal for projects that rely on collaboration,
ployees can use these skills and the IT infrastructure to improve and
such as BPM and digital transformation. Besides revealing the benefits
innovate. Table 5 summarizes the companies’ setup of the people and
linked to those projects, it also helps to create a quality baseline for
culture dimension.
distributed efforts. In this context, we greatly benefit from an ongoing
and process-aware dialogue, which is mostly supported by dedicated
employees acting as multipliers as well as social functions, such as blogs 5. Recommendations for the design of digital transformation
or corporate wikis provided by our integrated software environment.” projects using BPM

Hence, 1&1 uses a two-stage education system that is accessible to 5.1. Derivation of recommendations from cases
all employees. The first stage provides courses that establish a basic
understanding of organizational interdependencies, process orienta- So far, we have presented from multiple perspectives, how our case
tion, and BPM methods. In the second stage, the company focuses on companies approach digital transformation using BPM. In the fol-
advanced topics, including its process architecture, conventions and lowing, we use this knowledge to derive generalizable recommenda-
guidelines, and the interoperability of process models. They further tions for companies, and in particular, SME that seek to prepare for

7
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Table 5
Overview People and Culture.
AGCS LEGO 1&1 SAP Taifun

Education Program Differentiated training Restricted to process Differentiated training Differentiated training Restricted to process
courses analysts courses courses analysts
Knowledge management Strategy Pull strategy Push strategy Push strategy Pull & push strategy Pull strategy
Knowledge management (a), (b), (d) (a), (b), (c) (a), (b), (d) (a), (b) (a), (b), (d)
Elements

(a) Shared repository, (b) collaborative modeling environment, (c) variant management (of processes), and (d) version management.

digital transformation using BPM. In doing so, we derive re- While the case companies use different approaches to implement
commendations for the design of digital transformation projects and general and contextual characteristics, we found that they choose from
explore how these can be configured to a company’s context. a fixed set of configuration options. See Table 7 for a summary of the
Initially, companies must carefully analyze their environment and subsequent discussion.
determine their business needs, to effectively address the technological, The companies follow different concepts with regard to governance
organizational, and operational requirements of digital transformation. and compliance. In top-down approaches, a central team is responsible
Naturally, organizational and environmental conditions influence the for the quality of the outcomes, including process models or suggestions
design and implementation of projects. for redesign. By contrast, a bottom-up design builds upon a system of
While the deployed strategies of our case companies covered all mutual control implemented by distributed employees collaborating
capability areas of the Six Core Elements of BPM framework and ad- within a project. Similar to the interaction model, companies can also
dressed the introduced requirements for digital transformation, we conduct hybrid governance control, which is based on local efforts or-
found that companies use unique configurations to accomplish their ganized within a central structure and serves the same recommenda-
individual goals related to their digital transformation projects. tion.
Some of these goals can be supported through generalizable re- As all projects will likely result in organizational change and de-
commendations. However, we have found that the choice of the meta mand for sufficient resources, their success relies on management sup-
objective of the digital transformation project determines the choices port. Although the top management of all companies openly agreed
for those configuration recommendations we observed as contextual. with the deployed endeavors, they adjust their overall commitment to
In Table 6, we consolidate our findings and present recommenda- the corresponding needs of their strategy. Management participation
tions for digital transformation projects using BPM based on the re- ranges from observing, to supporting, to a management that is actively
quirements established in Table 1. While we see general configurations as involved.
universally applicable for each strategy, contextual configurations as- To implement the designated strategy within the different parts of
sociate with the individual recommendations for digital transformation the organization, the companies can generally choose between different
projects previously defined. We italicized some terms in the Description interaction models, namely a top-down and a bottom-up approach. While
column of Table 6, to indicate their linkage to the requirements out- in top-down projects, work is performed by process analysts employed
lined in Table 1. More details on the derivation of the recommendations within a centralized department, bottom-up approaches indicate dis-
from the interviews including interview digests can be found in Ap- tributed optimization efforts at the place of process execution. By
pendix B. Each row corresponds to a recommendation that was inferred combining characteristics of both designs, the hybrid approach entails
from the companies of our study. In addition, we provide a more gen- multiple decentralized projects that are aligned within and coordinated
eral description of each recommendation, which includes a brief mo- by a central instance.
tivation as well as implications for a company’s strategy. We identified three types of educational efforts that differ regarding
their scope and implementation design. Targeted education systems
5.2. Contextual configuration of recommendations focus on a small number of key users or process analysts, who are most
likely responsible for analysis and design activities. Selective education
As mentioned above, not all companies addressed each requirement strategies widen the scope of targeted approaches by including all
and, thus, the recommendation in the same way. In fact, we noticed stakeholders affected by the projects. Ultimately, open approaches en-
that some requirements were similarly met, while responses to others tail the provision of an education system that seeks to enable basic BPM
varied across companies. To account for these general and contextual skills for all organizational stakeholders to establish digital expertise.
components, we included a corresponding column in Table 6. While all companies implement software solutions to support their
While recommendations for both types of configurations are im- activities, the tool support differs according to the degree to which they
portant, they require different approaches for their implementation. facilitate interaction, collaboration, and openness. On the one hand,
General recommendations do not integrally depend on individual individual tools focus on providing support for core activities, such as
characteristics. For example, all companies embarking on digital process modeling or monitoring. On the other hand, collaborative soft-
transformation using BPM developed a communication plan, to provide ware comprises social networking functionalities and, thus, goes be-
their employees with the necessary information about the transforma- yond a pure functional focus. In fact, they are equipped with features
tion project. They further highlighted the importance of an integrated that facilitate communication among employees and provide means to
and easy-to-use IT infrastructure, without linking such characteristics to generate, share, and discuss personal opinions.
a particular goal or initiative. Hence, we consider them as general re- As process modeling is used for a variety of purposes, the companies
commendations. Companies can ensure meeting many of these general in our study support and/or regulate the task with conventions and
recommendations by drawing from existing organizational knowledge guidelines. Depending on their digital strategy and their intended in-
or by using recommendations from research as an implementation volvement, they specify modeling conventions to ensure process model
blueprint. We do not focus on these recommendations in the following. interoperability. In scenarios, for which modeling quality is less re-
By contrast, contextual recommendations demand a situational config- levant, conventions and guidelines are used exclusively to guide the
uration. Consequently, companies must align these recommendations modeling process to reduce complexity rather than to regulate it.
with their environment and with their goals and – more importantly – Generally accepted modeling guidelines can be used to augment them
with their meta objective. with additional specifications Mendling, et al. [38]. For companies

8
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Table 6
Consolidated Findings with Recommendations for the Design of Digital Transformation Projects Using BPM.
Recommendation Description Configuration Type

Digital Strategy Define clear goals for the digital journey BPM can accomplish various goals ranging from improving performance measures to General
increasing agility, flexibility, and responsiveness. While realizing all benefits at once
seems desirable, different goals require different strategies. Hence, it is advantageous
to focus on one set of goals while accomplishing others in subsequent projects.
Define governance and compliance While rules and responsibilities (agility) provide a basic structure, the success of a Contextual
mechanisms digital strategy naturally also depends on the actual implementation. One needs to
establish adequate control mechanisms that consistently follow centralization or
decentralization.
Agility Ensure management support Management commitment is essential for the success of any project. It is, however, Contextual
important to understand what type of management support is actually necessary to
maintain agility based on the digital strategy. One needs to identify, analyze, and
estimate needs for organizational and financial resources.
Establish a suitable interaction model Complex systems require interaction rules to ensure that the right things are done and Contextual
that they are done in the right way. One needs to define and implement a consistent
system of rules, roles, and responsibilities that fosters accountability and decision-
making end enables collaboration.
Provide a process architecture to coordinate Processes can connect to a complex organizational system with numerous General
and integrate distributed efforts interdependencies and weak ties. To improve decision-making and to coordinate all
activities, one must provide a process architecture that comprises at least a strategic, a
business, and an implementation level.
Digital Expertise Provide an education program Having well-trained participants is essential for the quality of a digital transformation Contextual
project. Hence, the project can greatly benefit from the employees’ process awareness
and their understanding of corresponding concepts as defined in the digital strategy.
Establish process-oriented knowledge A major benefit of using BPM is the exposure of implicit process knowledge and weak General
management ties. Using that knowledge can improve the organizational procedures and structures
when integrated with a working knowledge management.
IT Innovation Provide adequate tool support Implementing adequate tool support noticeably improves the effectiveness and Contextual
efficiency of BPM and, thus, digital transformation. However, as different tools can be
used for different purposes, one should consider organizational requirements (agility)
for tool selection.
Integrate the IT infrastructure The outcomes of BPM are helpful for other initiatives as well. Distributed information General
sources and/or distinct dependencies between data and software turn reutilization
into a complex task. To ensure adequate interconnectivity, one should favor a shared
repository that fully integrates with other software solutions.
Collaboration Integrate improvement initiatives Because of operating in a dynamic environment, it is sometimes necessary to launch General
multiple projects at the same time. To avoid opposing objectives and to ensure the
efficient use of resources, one must integrate these initiatives according to the digital
strategy.
Facilitate stakeholder collaboration In process-aware organizations, one must ensure adequate communication and General
collaboration among stakeholders. Thus, implementing a central platform, which is
equipped with some social networking functionalities and universal accessibility can
be beneficial.
Define conventions and guidelines to Process models are critical to successful digital transformation projects using BPM as Contextual
support or regulate process modeling and they provide the basis for analysis and optimization. As modeling can be complex and
process interoperability time-consuming, the resulting models’ quality can greatly benefit from guidelines and
conventions that support or regulate the task ranging from those fostering usability
and creativity to those fostering formal languages and automation.
Manage model versions and variants Analyzing older model versions can help to uncover gradual shifts in stakeholder or General
customer needs. While process models can foster communication, they can also be
used as blueprints for one’s operations. Consequently, one should implement an
adequate version and variant management to trace the mutability of the organization.
Openness Develop a comprehensive communication As organizational improvements take time, some benefits are realized only in the long- General
plan term. To maintain employee motivation, a detailed communication plan should link
the digital transformation project to the digital strategy of the company.
Ensure stakeholder commitment The success of digital transformation projects depends strongly on the stakeholders’ General
willingness to participate. One should constantly highlight the benefits, align
corresponding procedures to organizational requirements (agility), and ensure the
intuitiveness of its outcomes.
Ensure adequate ease of use Outcomes can accomplish multiple objectives, but they must be sufficiently applicable General
and understandable. Hence, one should keep the project’s setup simple, communicate
actions clearly, and ensure tool accessibility and applicability.
Facilitate process orientation. The ability of employees to participate in digital transformation depends on their General
process-awareness. In functional organizations, process orientation does not emerge
naturally. Instead, one must communicate the benefits and provide educational offers
(digital expertise).

seeking to ensure high-quality process models, conventions provide the adequate control mechanisms.
means to restrict the use of corresponding constructs, and to coordinate Table 7 does not only serve as an overview but also represents a
distributed modeling efforts. Ultimately, some purposes require a pro- morphological box that provides decision support for companies –
cess model design that complies with external specifications. Hence, the especially SMEs – that seek to prepare for digital transformation using
companies must determine a rigid set of conventions. The process BPM. Based on our morphological analysis, we have found three meta
modeling repository needs to mirror these decisions by providing objectives the companies in our study followed. These determined major

9
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Table 7
Configuration Options for Contextual Recommendations.
Governance and Compliance Bottom-up Hybrid Top-down
Management Support Observing Supporting Involved
Interaction Model Bottom-up Hybrid Top-down
Education Open Selective Targeted
Tool Support Collaborative Individual
Conventions and Guidelines Guiding Restrictive Rigid
Meta Objective Communication/ Learning Unification/ Optimization Automation/ Certification

parts of the contextual configurations. We discuss them in the following structures to facilitate stakeholder adoption. For example, this strategy
section. beneficially relates to bottom-up managed governance, as centralized
control can evoke resistance and hamper adoption. Strict guidelines and
6. Strategy archetypes for digital transformation meta objectives conventions can further limit the methods’ ease of use, and impede their
using BPM diffusion within the organization.
By contrast, automation/certification strategies demand for a con-
6.1. Overview of the meta objectives sistent system of strict rules, standards, responsibilities, and conven-
tions to allow for IT innovation according to their strategy. By failing to
We have shown that successfully initiating digital transformation align these dimensions, they risk decreasing service levels, and likely
using BPM requires companies to implement a set of general re- need to deploy significant resources to fix errors.
commendations. Moreover, they must configure multiple contextual Ultimately, companies should seek a hybrid approach if they seek
elements depending on their overall meta objective. By analyzing the unification/optimization to advance agility and collaboration with sta-
companies included in our study, we have derived six categories with keholders. This entails that they provide rules and guidelines that en-
seventeen characteristics. sure understandable and applicable outcomes. However, they also de-
Furthermore, we examined how the case companies have designed pend on employee participation to collect the knowledge necessary for
their digital transformation projects to derive configuration profiles. the identification of optimization potentials.
The companies excel in putting these meta objectives into action, al- To some respect, the meta objective can be considered successional
lowing us to derive actionable design patterns for their implementation. in terms of digital maturity forming a cycle where a mature and auto-
This does not imply, however, that BPM in these companies is limited to mated organization has to embark on learning time and again.
this particular meta objective. We summarize our results in Fig. 2.
Based on Fig. 2, we can identify three patterns to approach the meta 6.2. Communication/learning strategy
objectives, each defining a strategy archetype for digital transforma-
tion. Our results indicate that communication/learning and automation/ For companies, and in particular SMEs, seeking communication and
certification strategies require a rather opposite configuration in the learning to prepare for digital transformation, we recommend estab-
contextual components. lishing an approach that builds upon decentralization and collabora-
The communication/learning strategy relies on the openness of em- tion. To foster adoption on operational levels, a company’s top man-
ployees toward acquiring new digital expertise. Hence, companies must agement should openly agree with but not actively intervene in the
provide sufficient degrees of freedom, and easy-to-use tools and project. Yet, the strategy demands a comprehensive communication

Fig. 2. Case Company Profiles of Digital Transformation Projects.

10
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Table 8
Communication/Learning Strategy Archetype.

plan that summarizes the collaborative strategy and highlights potential establish a governance approach that combines top-down and bottom-
benefits for individual stakeholders. As the approach can result in large up aspects. Thus, they can centrally conduct decision-making and en-
process collections, companies should further establish a process ar- sure accountability, while collecting information at the place of process
chitecture that links and integrates their operations. execution. In addition, companies should support process discovery and
To implement this strategy successfully, companies must ensure analysis by defining conventions that facilitate process model applic-
broad employee participation. Hence, they should keep central reg- ability and comparability. However, they should remain agile and not
ulation to a minimum and establish a bottom-up managed governance overregulate the task, and should facilitate adequate model expres-
that delegates decision-making and accountability to a self-regulating siveness. As involved process modelers are typically experienced, sup-
social system. To support process discovery and analysis, companies porting guidelines and methodologies can focus on social and organi-
should use a process modeling language that is easy to understand, and zational aspects, such as interview guidelines or departmental
avoid conventions that complicate and restrict the modeling task. constraints. While the software support should allow stakeholders to
However, they should periodically evaluate the quality of the resulting quickly access necessary information, variants facilitate the modifica-
process models, and intervene if they lack interoperability or applic- tion of standardized processes for individual purposes. In addition, we
ability. As employees are typically new to process orientation, they recommend tool support that guides BPM activities, fosters collabora-
should provide guidelines and best practices. As collaboration and tion, and is integrated with their IT infrastructure.
communication are key to this strategy, companies must implement a The success of this strategy depends on stakeholder participation, as
ubiquitously accessible software tool that guides BPM activities and stakeholders provide the information necessary for optimization.
provides social networking functionalities, such as sharing, com- Hence, companies should facilitate process awareness and commitment.
menting, or voting. They can further provide an education program that is available to all
To ensure process orientation and stakeholder commitment, com- involved stakeholders, and designed to increase its productivity and
panies rely on asset-building training offers that include both courses on effectiveness. Although stakeholders are less involved in BPM activities,
BPM basics and on advanced topics. While participation should remain they typically use its outcomes extensively. Hence, companies must
optional, the courses should be open to all employees and offered ensure the ease of use, intuitiveness, and comparability of BPM results,
periodically. Furthermore, they should ensure that the project’s struc- to facilitate communication and collaboration. Table 9 summarizes the
ture and corresponding outcomes are as easy and manageable as pos- recommended configuration for the unification/optimization strategy
sible, and constantly gather employee feedback to implement optimi- archetype.
zation potentials. We summarize the configuration of the
communication/learning strategy archetype in Table 8.
6.4. Certification/automation strategy

6.3. Unification/ optimization strategy To implement the certification/automation strategy, companies

must ensure top management involvement and high-quality of BPM
As the unification/optimization strategy involves the comprehen- outcomes. Thus, we recommend implementing a top-down managed
sive analysis of a company’s organizational structure, a communication governance, which defines rules, roles, and responsibilities centrally
plan should highlight expected benefits of the project and provide in- and constantly monitors their compliance as part of an explicit strategy.
formation about its scope, procedure, and responsible stakeholders. We further suggest establishing a multistage reviewing process, which
Although corresponding projects are typically less regulated, a sup- should include multidisciplinary stakeholders to cross-check the quality
portive top management can noticeably improve employee acceptance of results before transferring processes to a production environment.
and willingness to participate. To coordinate activities, process archi- For process discovery and analysis, companies should define a set of
tecture can integrate all processes, and provide an operational over- strict conventions that consistently address organizational, technical,
view. and regulative constraints. As the strategy requires high-skilled process
To ensure both high-quality outcomes and a comprehensive un- analysts, guidelines typically have an insignificant impact on modeling
derstanding of organizational necessities, we recommend companies to quality and can be limited to key aspects. Centrally providing best-

Table 9
Unification/Optimization Strategy Archetype.

11
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

Table 10
Certification/Automation Strategy Archetype.

practice models can support the modeling process by serving as reu- capacity to research and test their approach.
sable modeling templates. Companies must also facilitate success by Despite the mentioned limitations, our research makes several
providing tool support that controls modeling quality at runtime and contributions and has important implications for research on digital
deploys corrective actions automatically. In addition, companies rely transformation in organizations. In particular, our archetypes point out
on an IT infrastructure that is integrated seamlessly to increase the that digital transformation projects do not have to focus solely on im-
feasibility and manageability of process automation. mediate monetary gains but can, and should, focus on skill develop-
Companies can limit their education programs to periodic training ment as well by pinpointing learnings rather than failures.
courses on advanced topics, which are typically necessary due to
changing organizational constraints. Ultimately, process-oriented cul- CRediT authorship contribution statement
ture aspects are less relevant, as corresponding projects involve only a
small and controlled number of employees. We summarize the re- Marcus Fischer: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation,
commended configuration for the unification/optimization strategy Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing - original draft,
archetype in Table 10. Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Project administration.
Florian Imgrund: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal
analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing -
7. Concluding remarks review & editing, Visualization, Project administration. Christian
Janiesch: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis,
Notwithstanding its perceived importance for future competitive- Resources, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review &
ness, the phenomenon of digital transformation remains poorly un- editing. Axel Winkelmann: Methodology, Resources, Supervision,
derstood. Both research and practice frequently struggle to provide Writing - review & editing.
actionable guidance for companies. To overcome these shortcomings
and, thereby, provide companies with practicable and actionable re- Appendix A. Supplementary data
commendations, we have described how five companies successfully
approached digital transformation by leveraging BPM to build the Supplementary material related to this article can be found, in the
capabilities and competencies necessary for corresponding projects. online version, at doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2019.103262.
We have found that digital transformation takes place in many
contexts and that companies follow different strategies to become more References
digital. Although digital transformation projects pose significant orga-
nizational, technological, and sociocultural challenges, we found that [1] J.F. Ehmke, Interview with Hanno Schülldorf on "computational challenges in
successfully unfolding the potentials of the digital age can be broken planning of mobility and transportation services, Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 59 (2017)
181–182.
down to several general and contextual recommendations. By in-
[2] F. Holotiuk, D. Beimborn, Critical success factors of digital business strategy, 13,
tegrating our findings from the case analysis, we have derived three International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, St. Gallen, 2017, pp. 991–1005.
digital transformation meta objectives. We found that these meta ob- [3] J. Karimi, Z. Walter, The role of dynamic capabilities in responding to digital dis-
jectives vary between communication/learning, unification/optimization, ruption: a factor-based study of the newspaper industry, J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 32
(2015) 39–81.
and certification/automation. Based on these meta objectives, we provide [4] V. Grover, The information systems field: making a case for maturity and con-
actionable guidance on how companies can set up digital transforma- tribution, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 13 (2012) 254–272.
tion projects, and how these can be configured to their individual re- [5] A. Bharadwaj, O.A. El Sawy, P.A. Pavlou, N.V. Venkatraman, Digital business
strategy: toward a next generation of insights, Mis Q. 37 (2013) 471–482.
quirements. [6] A. Singh, T. Hess, How chief digital officers promote the digital transformation of
Exemplarily, we recommend companies that embark their digital their companies, MIS Q. Executive 16 (2017) 1–17.
journey following the communication/learning strategy archetype to [7] C. Matt, T. Hess, A. Benlian, Digital transformation strategies, Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 57
(2015) 339–343.
build their actions on decentralization and collaboration. In contrast, [8] A. Bharadwaj, O.A. El Sawy, P.A. Pavlou, N.V. Venkatraman, Visions and voices on
the certification/automation strategy archetype suggests implementing emerging challenges in digital business strategy, Mis Q. 37 (2013) 633–661.
a top-down managed governance along a rather authoritarian config- [9] F. Svahn, L. Mathiassen, R. Lindgren, Embracing digital innovation in incumbent
firms: how volvo cars managed competing concerns, Mis Q. 41 (2017) 197–213.
uration. Eventually, companies pursuing the unification/optimization
[10] European Commission, Digital Transformation Scoreboard 2017: Evidence of
strategy archetype fare best when employing a hybrid model. Positive Outcomes and Current Opportunities for EU Businesses, (2017).
By providing both general and contextual recommendations for [11] McKinsey & Company, Cracking the Digital Code: McKinsey Global Survey Results.
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/
each strategy archetype, we consider their application as unique im-
cracking-the-digital-code, 2015 (Accessed 31 May 2019).
plementation blueprints to deploy projects successfully according to a [12] M. Rosemann, J. vom Brocke, The six core elements of business process manage-
company’s distinct meta objective. In doing so, we provide decision ment, in: J. vom Brocke, M. Rosemann (Eds.), Handbook on Business Process
support for leaders who seek to initiate their digital journey. Management 1: Introduction, Methods, and Information Systems, Springer, Berlin,
2015, pp. 105–122.
Finally, we want to emphasize the strategy archetype’s viability and [13] C. Legner, T. Eymann, T. Hess, C. Matt, T. Böhmann, P. Drews, A. Mädche,
usefulness for SMEs, as their individual instantiation provides them N. Urbach, F. Ahlemann, Digitalization: opportunity and challenge for the business
with the means to approach digital transformation goals in a systematic and information systems engineering community, Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 59 (2017)
301–308.
and structured way. Hence, they can avoid a costly trial-and-error [14] S. Mithas, A. Tafti, W. Mitchell, How a firm’s competitive environment and digital
procedure and conserve organizational resources, as they often lack the

12
M. Fischer, et al. Information & Management 57 (2020) 103262

strategic posture influence digital business strategy, Mis Q. 37 (2013) 511–536. Sackgassen, Erfolge, in: A. Komus, R. Hofmann (Eds.), Praxisbuch
[15] A.M. Hansen, P. Kraemmergaard, L. Mathiassen, Rapid adaptation in digital Prozessmanagement: BPM erfolgreich etablieren und nachhaltig verankern 10
transformation: a participatory process for engaging IS and business leaders, MIS Q. ausführliche Beispiele aus der Praxis, Hanser Verlag, München, 2018, pp. 289–294.
Executive 10 (2011) 175–185. [36] O. Cawley, X. Wang, I. Richardson, Lean/Agile Software Development
[16] C. Dremel, J. Wulf, M.M. Herterich, J.-C. Waizmann, W. Brenner, How AUDI AG Methodologies in Regulated Environments – State of the Art, in: Lean Enterprise
established big data analytics in its digital transformation, MIS Q. Executive 16 Software and Systems, Berlin, (2010), pp. 31–36.
(2017). [37] J.N.D. Gupta, S.K. Sharma, Creating Knowledge Based Organizations, Idea Group,
[17] R. Kohli, S. Johnson, Digital transformation in latecomer industries: CIO and CEO Hershey, PA, 2004.
leadership lessons from Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc, MIS Q. Executive 10 (2011) [38] J. Mendling, H.A. Reijers, W.M.P. van der Aalst, Seven process modeling guidelines
141–156. (7PMG), Inf. Softw. Technol. 52 (2010) 127–136.
[18] I.M. Sebastian, J.W. Ross, C. Beath, M. Mocker, K.G. Moloney, N.O. Fonstad, How
big old companies navigate digital transformation, MIS Q. Executive 16 (2017) Marcus Fischer holds a Ph.D. in Business Information System as well as a Bachelor’s and
197–213. Master’s degree in Business & Administration from the Julius-Maximilians-Universität
[19] R. Hansen, S.K. Sia, Hummel’s digital transformation toward omnichannel retailing: Würzburg. He focuses his research on business process management and business soft-
key lessons learned, MIS Q. Executive 14 (2015) 51–66. ware. His work has been published and presented at multiple international conferences,
[20] T. Hess, C. Matt, A. Benlian, F. Wiesböck, Options for formulating a digital trans- including the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), the European
formation strategy, MIS Q. Executive 15 (2016) 123–139. Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), the Human Computer Interaction
[21] A. Maedche, Interview with Michael Nilles on “what makes leaders successful in the International (HCII), and the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS).
age of the digital transformation?”, Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 58 (2016) 287–289.
[22] P.L. Drnevich, D.C. Croson, Information technology and business-level strategy:
toward an integrated theoretical perspective, Mis Q. 37 (2013) 483–510. Florian Imgrund holds a Ph.D. as well as a Master’s degree in Business Information
[23] F. Imgrund, M. Fischer, C. Janiesch, A. Winkelmann, Approaching Digitalization Systems from the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. His research areas include
with Business Process Management, Multikonferenz Wirtschaftsinformatik 2018, business process management and digital transformation. His work appeared in con-
Lüneburg, (2018). ferences such as the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), the
European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), the International Conference on
[24] M. Dumas, M.L. Rosa, J. Mendling, H.A. Reijers, Fundamentals of Business Process
Management, 2nd ed., Springer, Berlin, 2018. Business Process Management, and the International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik
(WI).
[25] S. Dürr, H.-T. Wagner, T. Weitzel, D. Beimborn, Navigating digital innovation: the
complementary effect of organizational and knowledge recombination, 13th
International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, St. Gallen, 2017, pp. Christian Janiesch is acting full professor for Business Information Systems at the
1363–1377. Technische Universität Dresden. He received his Ph.D., M.Sc., and a B.Sc. in Information
[26] M.D. Myers, M. Newman, The qualitative interview in IS research: examining the Systems from the University of Münster. Christian worked full-time at the European
Craft, Inf. Organ. 17 (2007) 2–26. Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) in Münster, at the SAP Research Center
[27] J. Venable, J. Pries-Heje, R. Baskerville, FEDS: a framework for evaluation in design Brisbane at SAP Australia Pty Ltd, and at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
science research, Eur. J. Inf. Syst. 25 (2016) 77–89. before becoming assistant professor at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg,
[28] Y.E. Chan, S.L. Huff, Strategy: an information systems research perspective, J. Germany. His research is at the intersection of business process management and business
Strateg. Inf. Syst. 1 (1992) 191–204. analytics. He is on the Department Editorial Board for BISE. He has authored over 100
[29] M. Höhne, Business Process Management Study 2015: Quantifiable Performance scholarly publications. His work has appeared in JAIS, BISE, EM, FGCS, JDS, BURE, CAIS,
Through Process Management, Frankfurt am Main, 2015. BPMJ as well as various major international conferences including ICIS, ECIS, BPM, and
[30] International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC 19510:2013: Information HICSS and has been registered as U.S. patents.
technology – Object Management Group Business Process Model and Notation 2.0.
1. https://www.iso.org/standard/62652.html, 2013. Axel Winkelmann, Univ. Prof. Dr., holds the chair of business information systems at the
[31] The Open Group, Welcome to the ArchiMate® 3.0.1 Specification, an Open Group Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. He earned his Ph.D. and Diploma at the
Standard. http://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/archimate3-doc/, 2017 University of Münster. Between 2004 and 2009, he was managing director of the
(Accessed 31 May 2019). Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS), before being temporally appointed as
[32] A.G. Software, ARIS Architect & Designer, (2019) (Accessed 31 May 2019), https:// an acting full professor at the universities of Koblenz and Münster. His research interests
www.softwareag.com/de/products/az/default. cover information management, the design of business information systems (e.g. en-
[33] BOC Products & Services AG, Professional BPM With Adonis np, (2019) (Accessed terprise resource planning systems), and network science. His work has been published in
31 May 2019), https://us.boc-group.com/adonis/#c18179. numerous Journals, including BISE, IJPE, EMISA, and JISE, as well as in international
[34] A. Chiarini, From Total Quality Control to Lean Six Sigma: Evolution of the Most conferences, such as ICIS and ECIS. Furthermore, he has successfully founded several
Important Management Systems for the Excellence, Springer, Milan, 2012. companies.
[35] V. Jäger, Taifun-Tofu GmbH: Integriertes Managementsystem - Konzept,

13