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Back to the Roots – Investigating the Theoretical Foundations of Business Process Maturity Models

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Business Process Management (BPM 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13420))

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Abstract

For years, doubts have been raised about the usefulness of business process maturity models (BPMMs). In addition to methodological shortcomings and limited applicability of the models, another frequently voiced critique is a weak theoretical foundation. This conceptual paper analyzes previously released BPMMs and the related literature. It shows that the vast majority of articles do not refer to any theory to clarify the general underlying assumptions of the models. Instead, they resort to other existing models. In addition, the suitability of the few theoretical approaches to which some authors have referred is highly questionable. A further comparison of the theories’ suitability issues with some of the fundamental criticisms of BPMMs reveals remarkable parallels. Against this background, the article at hand creates awareness of the need to consciously select and document the theoretical foundations of future BPMMs. In addition, it contributes to the epistemological discussion on BPMMs, how to evolve and improve the development of maturity models.

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  1. University of Bamberg, Feldkirchenstr. 21, 96050, Bamberg, Germany

    Vanessa Felch & Björn Asdecker

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  1. Vanessa Felch
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  2. Björn Asdecker
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  1. Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Claudio Di Ciccio

  2. Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Remco Dijkman

  3. Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain

    Adela del Río Ortega

  4. Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany

    Stefanie Rinderle-Ma

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Felch, V., Asdecker, B. (2022). Back to the Roots – Investigating the Theoretical Foundations of Business Process Maturity Models. In: Di Ciccio, C., Dijkman, R., del Río Ortega, A., Rinderle-Ma, S. (eds) Business Process Management. BPM 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13420. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16103-2_10

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