Business process management in small- and medium-sized enterprises: an empirical study

Abstract

This study aims to focus on the examination of business process management (BPM) maturity levels within small-and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and their relationship with the company's economic success. A further aim is to evaluate the understanding of the term BPM in the field. The findings result from a mixed-method approach combining qualitative and quantitative empirical methods. The qualitative study collected data carrying out 20 interviews in 11 enterprises. On the basis of these findings, a web-questionnaire for the quantitative study was developed. In order to evaluate the maturity levels, an adapted version of Hammers Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) had to be developed. Data collected within quantitative research suggests higher maturity levels in comparison with data collected within qualitative research. A weak statistical connection between maturity level and economic success can be found. However, the data suggest that there is a lack in common understanding of the term business process management in praxis. Due to the reactivity of qualitative interviews a different sample may provide other findings. Whilst accessibility is a considerable advantage of web-surveys, a disadvantage of web-surveys is the lack of regulation of the sample. Hence, the findings of this study are not statistically representative for all SMEs.