Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Exploring the Interplay of the Design and Emergence of Business Processes as Organizational Routines

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Business & Information Systems Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Much of the BPM literature views business process design and implementation as a top-down process that is built on strategic alignment and managerial control. While this view has enabled the design of many IT artifacts for business processes, it is inconsistent with the observation that information infrastructures, including a company’s business process infrastructure, are at drift, a term that refers to the lack of top-down management control. The paper contributes to resolving this inconsistency by developing a meta-framework that conceptualizes business processes as emergent organizational routines that are represented, enabled, and constrained by IT artifacts. IT artifacts are developed in processes of functional-hierarchical decomposition and social design processes. Organizational routines have ostensive and performative aspects, forming a mutually constitutive duality. A literature review demonstrates that the propositions offered by the meta-framework have been insufficiently considered in the BPM field. The paper concludes with an outlook to applying the meta-framework to theorize about the interplay of design projects with the subsequent emergence of business processes in organizations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. A minority of the older papers were available as scanned documents only, restricting an electronic search of the keywords. In these papers, a manual inspection was conducted to assess their relevance for this study.

References

  • Alexander C (1970) Notes on the synthesis of form. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer MS (2010) Morphogenesis versus structuration: on combining structure and action. The British Journal of Sociology 61(1):225–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avison D, Wood-Harper A, Vidgen R, Wood J (1998) A further exploration into information systems development: the evolution of multiview. Information Technology & People 11(2):124–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagayogo F, Beaudry A, Lapointe L (2013) Impacts of IT acceptance and resistance behaviors: a novel framework. In: 34th International conference on information systems, Milan, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • Bala H, Venkatesh V (2007) Assimilation of interorganizational business process standards. Information Systems Research 18(3):340–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker J, Beverungen D, Knackstedt R, Matzner M, Müller O, PöppelbußJ (2013) Designing interaction routines in service networks: a modularity and social construction-based approach. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems 25(1):17–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker MC (2004) Organizational routines: a review of the literature. Industrial and Corporate Change 13(4):643–677

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger PL, Luckmann T (1966) The social construction of reality: a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Doubleday, Garden City

    Google Scholar 

  • Beverungen D (2013) On the design of IT artifacts and the emergence of business processes as organizational routines. In: 34th International conference on information systems, Milan, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • Bijker W (1987) The social construction of bakelite: toward a theory of invention. In: Bijker W, Hughes TP, Pinch T (eds) The social construction of technological systems. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 159–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Boersma K, Kingma S (2005) From means to ends: the transformation of ERP in a manufacturing company. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 14(2):197–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breuker D, Matzner M (2013) Statistical sequence analysis for business process mining and organizational routines. In: 21st European conference on information systems, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Brüggemeier M, Dovifat A, Kubisch D (2005) Analyse von Innovationsprozessen im Kontext von E-Government. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 47(5):347–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Checkland P (1998) Systems thinking. In: Currie WL, Galliers RD (eds) Rethinking management information systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 45–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciborra CU (1997) De profundis? Deconstructing the concept of strategic alignment. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems 9(1):67–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciborra C, Hanseth O (1995) Introduction. In: Ciborra C, Braa K, Cordella A, Dahlbom B, Failla A, Hanseth O, Hepso V, Ljungberg J, Monteiro E, Simon K (eds) From control to drift: the dynamics of corporate information infrastructure. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Coldewey J (2002) Agile Entwicklung Web-basierter Systeme. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 44(3):237–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeSanctis G, Poole MS (1994) Capturing the complexity in advanced technology use: adaptive structuration theory. Organization Science 5(2):121–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman MS, Pentland BT (2003) Reconceptualizing organizational routines as a source of flexibility and change. Administrative Science Quarterly 48(1):94–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferneley EH, Sobreperez P (2006) Resist, comply or workaround? An examination of different facets of user engagement with information systems. European Journal of Information Systems 15(4):345–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer C, Winter R, Wortmann F (2010) Gestaltungstheorie. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 52(6):383–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleischmann A, Schmidt W, Stary C, Obermeier S, Börger E (2012) Subject-oriented business process management. Springer, Heidelberg

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Frei FX, Kalakota R, Leone AJ, Marx LM (1999) Process variation as a determinant of bank performance: evidence from the retail banking study. Management Science 45(9):1210–1220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson J (1979) The ecological approach to perception. Houghton Mifflin, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens A (1984) The constitution of society, vol 20(3). Polity Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens A (1991) The consequences of modernity. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregor S, Jones D (2007) The anatomy of a design theory. Journal of the Association for Information Systems 8(5):312–335

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammer M (2010) What is business process management? In: Vom Brocke J, Rosemann M (eds) Handbook on business process management, vol. 1. Introduction, methods, and information systems. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 3–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Harmon P (2010) The scope and evolution of business process management. In: Handbook on business process management, vol. 1. Introduction, methods, and information systems. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 37–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson GM (2007) Institutions and individuals: interaction and evolution. Organization Studies 28(1):95–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howcroft D, Mitev N, Wilson M (2004) What we may learn from the social shaping of technology approach. In: Mingers J, Willcocks L (eds) Social theory and philosophy for information systems. Wiley, Chichester, pp 329–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Ignatiadis I, Nandhakumar J (2009) The effect of ERP system workarounds on organizational control: an interpretivist case study. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems 21(2):59–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones MR (1998) Information systems and the double mangle: steering a course between the scylla of embedded structure and the charybdis of strong symmetry. In: Larsen TJ, Levione L, DeGross JI (eds) Information systems: current issues and future changes. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 287–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones MR, Karsten H (2008) Giddens’s structuration theory and information systems research. Management Information Systems Quarterly 32(1):127–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones O, Macpherson A (2006) Inter-organizational learning and strategic renewal in SMES. Long Range Planning 39(2):155–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kane GC, Labianca G (2011) IS avoidance in health-care groups: a multilevel investigation. Information Systems Research 22(3):504–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawalek JP (1994) Interpreting business process re-engineering on organization work flow. Journal of Information Technology 9(4):276–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim HW, Kankanhalli A (2009) Investigating user resistance to information systems implementation: a status quo bias perspective. Management Information Systems Quarterly 33(3):567–582

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein A, Krcmar H (2003) Electronic meeting systems paradox. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 45(4):421–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • KLM (2014) KLM meet and seat. http://www.klm.com/travel/gb_en/prepare_for_travel/on_board/your_seat_on_board/. Accessed 2014-01-13

  • Lammers M (2004) Make, buy or share. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 46(3):204–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langlois RN (2002) Modularity in technology and organization. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 49(1):19–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee E (2008) Cyber physical systems: design challenges. In: International symposium on object/component/service-oriented real-time distributed computing (ISORC), Orlando, FL, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyytinen K, Keil T, Fomin V (2008) A framework to build process theories of anticipatory information and communication technology (ICT) standardizing. International Journal of IT Standards and Standardization Research 6(1):543–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marakas G, Hornik S (1996) Passive resistance misuse: overt support and covert recalcitrance in is implementation. European Journal of Information Systems 5(3):208–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • March ST, Smith GF (1995) Design and natural science research on information technology. Decision Support Systems 15(4):251–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayntz R (2011) Emergenz in Philosophie und Sozialtheorie. In: Greve J, Schnabel A (eds) Zur Analyse und Erklärung komplexer Strukturen. Suhrkamp, Berlin, pp 156–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Melão N, Pidd M (2000) A conceptual framework for understanding business processes and business process modelling. Information Systems Journal 10(2):105–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meredith J (1993) Theory building through conceptual methods. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 13(5):3–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mora M, Gelman O, Paradice D, Cervantes F (2008) The case for conceptual research in information systems. In: International conference on information resources management (CONF-IRM-2008), paper 52

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan G (1997) Images of organization, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagasundaram M, Bostrom R (1994) The structuring of creative processes using GSS: a framework for research. Journal of Management Information Systems 11(3):87–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Nandhakumar J, Rossi M, Talvinen J (2005) The dynamics of contextual forces of ERP implementation. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 14(2):221–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R, Winter S (1982) An evolutionary theory of economic change. Belknap Press/Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Newell S, Swan JA, Galliers RD (2000) A knowledge-focused perspective on the diffusion and adoption of complex information technologies: the BPR example. Information Systems Journal 10(3):239–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norman DA (2004) Affordance, conventions, and design. Interactions 6(3):38–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlikowski WJ (1992) The duality of technology: rethinking the concept of technology in organizations. Organization Science 3(3):398–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlikowski WJ (2000) Using technology and constituting structures: a practice lens for studying technology in organizations. Organization Science 11(4):404–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pentland BT, Feldman MS (2008) Designing routines: on the folly of designing artifacts, while hoping for patterns of action. Information and Organization 18(4):235–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pentland BT, Haeram T, Hillison DW (2009) Using workflow data to explore the structure of an organizational routine. In: Becker MC, Lazaric N (eds) Organizational routines: advancing empirical research. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 47–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Poole MS, DeSanctis G (2004) Structuration theory in information systems research: methods and controversies. In: Whitman M, Woszcynski A (eds) Handbook of information systems research. Idea Group Glos, Hershey, pp 206–249

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Richter A, Riemer K (2013) Nutzungsoffene Anwendungssoftware. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 55(3):193–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riemer K, Filius S (2008) Kontextualisierung der Medienwahl mit Hilfe von Kommunikationsgenres. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 51(2):192–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosemann M, Andersson M, Lind M (2011) Digital complementary assets. In: 32nd International conference on information systems, Shanghai, China, pp 1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenkranz C (2011) Information systems development as a social process: a structurational model. In: 32th International conference on information systems, Shanghai, China

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez R, Mahoney JT (1996) Modularity, flexibility, and knowledge management in product and organization design. Management 17(Winter special issue):63–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Saravanamuthu K (2002) Information technology and ideology. Journal of Information Technology 17(2):79–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarker S, Sarker S, Sidorova A (2006) Understanding business process change failure: an actor-network perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems 23(1):51–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schäfermeyer M, Rosenkranz C, Holten R (2012) Der Einfluss der Komplexität auf die Standardisierung von Geschäftsprozessen. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 54(5):251–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sein MK, Henfridsson O, Purao S, Rossi M, Lindgren R (2011) Action design research. Management Information Systems Quarterly 35(1):37–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Selander L, Henfridsson O (2012) Cynicism as user resistance in IT implementation. Information Systems Journal 22(4):289–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw DR, Holland CP (2010) Strategy, networks and systems in the global translation services market. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 19(4):242–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song M, van der Aalst WMP (2008) Towards comprehensive support for organizational mining. Decision Support Systems 46(1):300–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Srivardhana T, Pawlowski S (2007) ERP systems as an enabler of sustained business process innovation: a knowledge-based view. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 16(1):51–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teubner R (2013) Informationssystem-Strategie. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 55(4):239–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Aalst W (2011) Process mining: discovery, conformance and enhancement of business processes. Springer, Heidelberg

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Aalst W, Weijters A (2004) Process mining: a research agenda. Computers in Industry 53(3):231–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Aalst W, van Dongen B, Herbst J, Maruster L, Schimm G, Weijters A (2003) Workflow mining: a survey of issues and approaches. Data & Knowledge Engineering 47(2):237–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vargo SL, Lusch RF (2004) Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of Marketing 68(1):1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vom Brocke J, Rosemann M (2010a) Foreword. In: vom Brocke J, Rosemann M (eds) Handbook on business process management, vol. 1. Introduction, methods, and information systems. Springer, Heidelberg. pp V–IX

    Google Scholar 

  • Vom Brocke J, Rosemann M (eds) (2010b) Handbook on business process management, vol. 1. Introduction, methods, and information systems. Springer, Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  • Vom Brocke J, Rosemann M (eds) (2010c) Handbook on business process management, vol. 2. Strategic alignment, governance, people and culture. Springer, Heidelberg

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang ETG, Tai JCF, Grover V (2013) Examining the relational benefits of improved interfirm information processing capability in buyer–supplier dyads. Management Information Systems Quarterly 37(1):149–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Weick KE (1976) Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. Administrative Science Quarterly 21(1):1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willcocks L, Smith G (1995) IT-enabled business process reengineering: organizational and human resource dimensions. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems 4(3):279–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter R (2008) Design science research in Europe. European Journal of Information Systems 17(5):470–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittmann T, Bruckner T (2007) Agentenbasierte Modellierung urbaner Energiesysteme. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 49(5):352–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu E (2001) Agent orientation as a modelling paradigm. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK 43(2):123–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Research Center for Information Systems, University of Muenster, Leonardo-Campus 3, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Daniel Beverungen

Authors
  1. Daniel Beverungen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Beverungen.

Additional information

Accepted after one revision by Prof. Dr. Martin Bichler.

The current paper is a further development of Beverungen D (2013) On the design of IT artifacts and the emergence of business processes as organizational routines. In: 34th International conference on information systems, Milan, Italy.

This article is also available in German in print and via http://www.wirtschaftsinformatik.de: Beverungen D (2014) Über das Zusammenwirken der Gestaltung und Emergenz von Geschäftsprozessen als Organisationsroutinen. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK. doi: 10.1007/s11576-014-0425-3.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Beverungen, D. Exploring the Interplay of the Design and Emergence of Business Processes as Organizational Routines. Bus Inf Syst Eng 6, 191–202 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-014-0335-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-014-0335-3

Keywords