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Business Process Management Adoption: A Case Study

of a South African Supermarket Retailer

Wesley Grisdale Information Systems Department

University of Cape Town Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7700

Lisa F Seymour

Information Systems Department University of Cape Town

Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7700 +27-21-6504259

Lisa.Seymour@uct.ac.za

ABSTRACT The management approaches to process change have been

dominated by process-oriented theories and “best practices” and

have been criticized for lacking a theoretical basis. Business

Process Management (BPM) the latest approach is no

exception. While BPM has had significant press, hype status

and high adoption expectations, problems with adoption and

justifying benefits to business exist. To increase understanding

of these adoption concerns, this paper explores BPM in a

leading Southern African supermarket retailer where various

attempts had been made to implement a formal BPM discipline.

The research describes the organisation‟s understanding of

BPM and factors influencing its adoption. Qualitative research

methods were used to collect rich narrative data from interviews

with information systems (IS) and retail professionals. The

BPM adoption themes that emerged focused on the

understanding and education of BPM, cultural limitations,

centralisation as a strategic driver, ERP as an enabler, structural

and people factors. A theoretical model was developed to

explain the themes and their inter-relationships. This empirical

research provides a conceptual understanding of BPM and its

adoption from professionals employed by the retail industry.

Categories and Subject Descriptors

H.1.1 [Information Systems]: Models and Principles – Systems

and Information Theory.

General Terms

Management, Human Factors, Theory.

Keywords

BPM, South Africa, Retail, business process, BPR.

1. INTRODUCTION Business process management (BPM) is still relatively new as a

formalised management discipline; and in its infancy as a field

of research [32]. The lack of frameworks available to support

research projects has resulted in some academics labelling BPM

as lacking a theoretical basis, or being merely a repackaging of

previous process-oriented management theories [32].

However, the importance and growth of a management

approach to business process has been consistently evident in

literature going back over the past two decades [27]. Due to

globalisation and the need for organisations to quickly innovate

and change, technology has been increasingly adapted to

manage business processes with previous manual time-

consuming processes and forms being replaced by more

efficient paperless work-flowed technology solutions [15]. As a

result, the popularity of BPM is growing every year, with IT

research group Gartner predicting 24% compounded annual

growth in business-process management software (BPMS) --

from 2006 to 2011 [8].

Yet, a large number of BPM initiatives fail to launch due to the

inability of the business or IT to build credible business cases

[21]. Research in South Africa within financial services found a

poor understanding of BPM and a real threat of BPM projects

being cancelled as benefits from BPM investment had not yet

been realised [31]. This calls for a need to understand the

factors affecting early adoption and success of BPM projects. A

call this study intended to address.

2. ADOPTING BPM There are two divergent definitions for BPM and subsequently

the relevant literature is polarized. The Gartner or management

definition of BPM used by researchers [5, 36] is adopted for

this paper. BPM is defined as “a way in which key activities are

managed and continuously improved” [11, 20]. The alternate

definition focuses on the technology and defines BPM as “a

generic software system driven by explicit process designs to

enact and manage operational business processes” [33].

Managing business processes and hence BPM has become a top

priority for executives [4]. The increased focus on BPM has

been attributed to environmental factors such as increasing

globalization, the volatility of global economies, and strict

legislation and compliancy requirements [16]. For companies

this has resulted in the need for larger volumes of business-

process execution, eroding of business boundaries, clarity

confusion of roles and responsibilities, fraud prevention and

auditing, fast information transfer, quick information access for

decision making, quick business process turn-around time and

speed to adapt business processes [16; 17]. BPM purports to

support these needs.

Although BPM has attracted significant investments from

organisations and businesses, most review reports indicate a

very high failure rate of 60% to 80% for BPM initiatives [32].

Possible reasons for these failures are a lack of understanding of

BPM, as well as tactical, strategic and operational issues. Yet

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107

this is not clearly understood as there has been limited empirical

research into the critical success factors of BPM or the

evaluation of its success [32]. BPM is dominated by diversity in

terms of adoption and effective outcomes [5, 25]. Bucher &

Winter [5] attempting order in this diversity, have identified

five different realization approaches or project types of business

process management as organization move to different BPM

maturity levels. Hence, there is also ambiguity in terms of types

of BPM adoption and what BPM adoption refers to.

Not only are there adoption concerns, the limited availability of

a theoretical framework has left some researchers labelling

BPM as merely repacking of old ideas to drive growth in the

consulting industry [32]. Hence research is needed to

conceptually understand the adoption environment and its

challenges.

2.1 Supermarket retailing in South Africa The retail sector globally has grown, both in competitive

intensity, as well as in market size [22]. Following this global

trend, there has been a rapid rise in supermarkets in South

Africa [35]. Supermarkets are no longer accessible only to the

wealthier shoppers [9]. This, in addition to the emergence of

new store formats aimed at the poorer customer base, has

further contributed to the growth. By 2003, in the formal sector

of South Africa, there were approximately 70 000 supermarket

stores [35]. Between 1998 and 2008, the wholesale and retail

sector, was the third largest contributor to GDP and the fourth

fastest growing sector of the 10 major sectors [7].

Because of the growth and expansion of supermarket retailers in

South Africa, there has been considerable focus on procurement

systems, merchandise and planning systems, distribution and

logistics and tighter quality and safety standards [35]. This has

resulted in more complex business processes, which have

become increasingly difficult to manage and maintain. The two

larger supermarket retailers Pick „n Pay and Shoprite operate

between four and six distribution centres, receive goods from

thousands of suppliers, distribute to hundreds of stores, and

service millions of customers all over South Africa. Both of the

leading South African supermarket retailers implemented

enterprise-resource planning (ERP) solutions -- in an effort to

consolidate legacy systems, as well as integrate business

processes across areas of the value chain [12]. BPM should

therefore have a natural fit in the growing and transforming

retail environment which has high complexity and severe

business process demands. However the supermarket retailers

are still plagued by problems and constraints to BPM adoption.

2.2 Business process conceptual models Business process change literature is dominated by process-

focused management theories, maturity models or a succession

of prescriptive “best-practices” which need to be followed. Yet

some descriptive conceptual theories do exist. Three of these

are applicable. Firstly Kettinger et al. [14] developed a business

process change model (BPCM). Secondly Alter [1] has

proposed the work systems method (WSM) (illustrated in

Figure 1) to analyse any work system, and thirdly Thompson et

al. [31] proposed a BPM model (illustrated in Figure 2) based

on the Rosemann and de Bruin model [27].

All three models categorise main themes impacting business

processes, processes or process success. These are reviewed in

Table 1 and all themes have been aggregated into five broad

themes. Comparing the theories, the first difference is explicit

separation of Information from Technology as opposed to the

IT term. The second difference is the inclusion of Methods in

the BPM model. Thirdly, Alter [1] includes infrastructure,

which he defines as human, information, and technical

resources used by the work system but managed and controlled

outside the work system. Hence in terms of BPM this factor can

be separated into IT skills, information and technology.

Fourthly, whether the broad Environment theme is used or

whether Governance or Culture are explicit themes. Finally,

there are different approaches to human and organisational

themes.

Table 1. Themes from previous models

Theme BPCM WSM BPM Grouping

Information √ √ Information

and

Technology Technology √ √

IT √

Methods √ Methods

Infrastructure √ Participants,

IT skills,

Management

& Structure Participants √

People √ √

Management √

Structure √

Strategy √ √ √ Strategy

Culture √ Environment

including

Culture and

Governance Environment √ √

Governance √

Figure 1. Work System Framework from Work System

Method (WSM) [1]

.

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3. RESEARCH QUESTION AND

METHOD The primary research question posed is “What are the factors

influencing BPM adoption within a leading South African

supermarket retailer?”

The purpose of the research was both exploratory and

descriptive, following a case study approach. The philosophy

was interpretive as the intent was to understand adoption

concerns as perceived by the organization. Hence a qualitative

approach was considered appropriate [23]. Although previous

models were used to guide the data-collection process, the

purpose of the research was not to test or validate these models.

3.1 Selecting the Retail Mart Case During this research, the single-case study organisation was

referred to as Retail Mart, in order to protect its anonymity.

Retail Mart is a tier-one retailer in South Africa, and is

considered one of the market leaders in supermarket retailing in

the country. Retail Mart has also recently received global

recognition for its growing business model and advances in the

retail industry. Retail Mart was selected as a case study for this

research based on the following reasons:

The large size of the organisation, with over 10,000

employees and over 400 retail stores across the

country.

The volume of business processes in the organisation

which is estimated at over 300 retail business

processes.

The volume of processing which is estimated at 300

million baskets sold annually.

The organisation has previously implemented process

management disciplines.

The organisation has recently implemented a wall-to-

wall enterprise-resource planning system (ERP)

which supports most of the retail process areas.

After getting University ethical clearance, organizational

permission was obtained from Retail Mart for the case study.

3.2 Data Collection Semi-structured interview data was collected following the

Myers and Newman [24] recommendations. The interviewer

made notes of the answers and any significant body language,

and recorded the conversation using a digital recorder. The

recordings were then fully transcribed.

Purposive sampling techniques, as used in this research, are

employed to selected participants, based on their specific roles

in association with the research questions [30]. All respondents

had a vested interest, or a responsibility related to business

processes, or the management thereof. Participants have been

identified using codes; IS for information systems participants,

B for business participants and M for senior management or

executive participants. The code is then followed by a 1, 2 or 3

(for example IS1, B1 or M1) to identify the individual

participants while still keeping their identity anonymous. Table

2 details the research participants and describes their roles and

responsibilities at Retail Mart. All participants signed a

participant-consent form.

Table 2. Participants

Code Job Title Role and Responsibility at

Retail Mart

IS

Supply Chain

Business Process

Owner

Responsible for all business

process and technology changes

in the supply chain business-

process area.

Process

Innovation and

Implementation

Head of

Department

Responsible for all retail

specific business process,

including the implementation,

alignment and optimisation of

process and technology.

Previously BI

Business System

Owner

Was responsible for ownership

of the business intelligence (BI)

system at Retail Mart.

B

Finance General

Manager

Responsible for the operations

of the finance division at Retail

Mart.

Franchise

Operations

General Manager

Responsible for the in-store

operations of the franchise

stores in Retail Mart.

M

Goods Not for

Resale (GNFR)

and Procurement

General Manager

Responsible for reducing

organisational expenses through

GNFR and procurement

management.

IS Applications

Divisional

Director

Responsible for all

development and operation of

all IS applications in the

organisation.

Supply-Chain

General Manager

Responsible for the supply

chain of the organisation, which

includes the operation, and

strategic directing of all

distributions centres across the

country.

IS, Supply Chain

and Sustainability

Executive

Director

Responsible and accountable

for ensuring the implementation

of IS strategy and alignment

with business strategy and

objectives. The executive

responsible for supply chain

and sustainability.

Figure 2. BPM Model [31]

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3.3 Data analysis The grounded theory techniques of open coding, axial coding

and selective coding were used to analyse the data [29].

Matavire & Brown [19] state that in mixed grounded methods

(as was the case in this study); research may commence with a

preconceived a priori theory, and use only the coding

techniques outlined by grounded theory with intent to extend

the initial theory inductively.

Data analysis and coding, as described above, was completed

using open-source qualitative analysis software called Weft

QDA. Transcriptions were imported into the software, and

codes were created using the categories‟ functionality of the

software. A new version of the analysis project was saved for

every level of coding, until the final themes had been

determined. This allowed for a full audit trail of the qualitative

research data analysis.

4. BPM ADOPTION AT RETAIL

MART Gartner Research [20] describes how BPM adoption is a

„journey‟ with most organisations still in an early phase of

maturity. When asking participants if there were specific BPM

strategies adopted or initiatives in place at Retail Mart, there

appeared to be varying responses. Most of the participants felt

that some sort of informal BPM initiatives were in place in the

organisation, but they were not always known, formalised or

communicated.

Participant M2 also referred to the management of processes by

using a “BPMR” (Business-Process Master Register), where

documented business processes could be registered for a

project, signed off, and change controlled. However, the BPMR

was considered to be limited to the project or programme

lifecycle.

“I think its (BPM) something we drive actively, as

part of our project process about making sure that we

have a business-processes master register.”

From the data provided by the participants, it would appear that

Retail Mart is at the beginning phases of maturity, with

participants demonstrating process awareness and an

understanding and acknowledgement of operational

efficiencies.

“With a better management and visibility of how the

process was working, I believe we would do a lot

more process improvement and drive a lot more

efficiency out of the company.” (IS1)

The factors influencing this low level of adoption were

therefore analysed.

4.1 Process Understanding and

Education One of the initial themes that emerged from the data collected

was the perceived lack of understanding in Retail Mart of the

terms business process and BPM. A business process was often

seen as synonymous with a task:

“The defined way and rules of carrying out a

particular task, instruction or activity” (M3).

Business participants were less sure that the business had any

understanding of BPM, and they felt that the store management

and staff probably had no understanding.

“I think in pockets there may be. I think out in stores

they wouldn‟t have a clue.” (B3).

For BPM to be understood by the business, Participant B3 felt

that it needed to be made simple and practical.

“The complexity involved is an issue for certain

levels of employees. So it needs to be as simple as

possible.”

Most of the participants agreed that the lack of understanding

throughout the organisation was a constraining factor, and that

communication to business and board education was required to

drive home any understanding.

“The lack of understanding of Business Process

Management and the benefits thereof, not just

specifically in IT but all the way through the business

I think, is a constraining factor” (IS1).

The findings concur with previous research that has shown that

organisations struggle with a process approach, and often still

think at a task or procedural level [3] and what understanding

there is, often exists only in disparate groups of the organisation

[20]. Bandara et al. [4] highlight the lack of BPM education as

a perennial issue raised consistently by BPM experts.

4.2 Structures and Ownership All officially appointed business process owners at Retail Mart

were IS middle management employees and they were

responsible for much of the process implementation. The

structures in IS were mainly driven by a need to implement

software successfully.

“A lot of the Business Process work that has

happened in the organisation has happened

specifically or been driven specifically by IT. That‟s

because I think the IT element understands that if that

is not in place, there is the possibility or the success

of any implementation of any new systems is likely to

fail” (IS1). “We (IS) often lead the change and

recommend the change in the business, which is

perhaps stretching it a little bit. I think we should be

a partner, but no problem with innovating it, and

driving that” (M2).

However, participant IS2 expressed concerns with IS driving

business-process changes on behalf of the business.

“The downside of that is then; we‟re relied on to do

business work as opposed to IT work, which now

confuses the whole thing.”

The business lacked a formalised structure for business process

management which inhibited Retail Mart‟s ability to execute

strategy. Yet, there were signs that this was starting to change.

“I think senior management have a lot of great ideas,

but I don‟t think we‟ve got the people structures in it

for execution… Do they want to direct the ship? Yes,

I think they do, but again it‟s not a dedicated role,

it‟s just done on top of everything else” (IS2)

“If I take something like finance area where

(Financial Manager) being a business owner of many

of the processes... I see a huge willingness to address

and take ownership of the processes within the area,

and to streamline… But we are beginning to mature

as an organisation, and particularly with looking for

ownership in the business for every business process”

(M2).

Research shows that unclear process ownership and designated

authority to change process were frequently raised as issues by

BPM experts [4]. Trkman [32, p.5] explained that more

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advanced process organisations have appointed process owners

at both the executive level and “supervisory front-line levels”

within the organisation. Retail Mart was described as being

“heavy on positional power” and having a “functionally”

structured organisation, where the general managers had full

authority over their line-managed areas and employees, as

opposed to managing in the recommended process-oriented

matrix structure [10]. In the Retail Mart situation, the process

managers are probably fulfulling little more than a team-

leader‟s role, trying to facilitate problem resolution by means of

persausion [10].

In terms of linkages with other themes, the current functional

structure is, therefore, constraining Retail Mart‟s ability to

effectively own and manage business proceses within the

organisation; and hence this is impacting BPM adoption. In

addition, the structure of process owners in IS had an influence

on the understanding and education of BPM in the organisation.

Board awareness required to drive and own processes requires

education and understanding of business processes and BPM.

4.3 Skills and Resources As with the structure of process owners, the process skills,

expertise and resources to support the BPM lifecycle were

considered to mainly reside in the IS division. In addition to the

defined business process owners in IS, the division had a team

of business and functional analysts who were responsible for

the analysis, design and documentation of business processes.

There appear to be different views in terms the capacity of skills

available in the organisation to support BPM. Some of the

participants felt that although the organisation was not

proactively recruiting or investing in BPM skills, they had

brought in new experience by recruiting from other retailers.

“Some of the new blood we‟ve brought in is about

changing that, as opposed to the old BAs which was:

„Tell me what you want and I'll do that”.

A recruitment embargo at Retail Mart to address high

operational costs had also influenced the organisation‟s ability

to bring in new skills.

“When you're under pressure for head count, then

what are you going to do? You are going to go into

survival mode; and unfortunately, that‟s where we

are.”

There were also different views on whether the BPM skills

should reside in the business or in IS or in-between.

“First prize would be to have a business analysis

department/division outside of IS (M2).” “I don‟t

think you'd ever want to make business and the

entrepreneurs of the business systems people, and I

don‟t think you'd want to make the systems people the

retailers, but there is a definite layer in the middle

that can step the boundaries, and that layer should be

implementation; it should be our continuous business

improvement departments” (IS2).

In most organisations, the process design and analytical skills

are found in IS. However, there is a high degree of

interpersonal skills that are also required [18]. One of the

problems of business-process improvement is that it can often

be reduced to a modelling problem, typically performed by a

process analyst whose experience is limited to the explicit

knowledge expressed by process models [28].

In terms of linkages, the business and functional analysts had

insufficient business knowledge required to support the process;

this caused delays in adopting BPM. In addition, the lack of

business-process skills and resources in the organisation has

also influenced the understanding and education of BPM.

4.4 Retail and organisational culture During the interviews, the participants frequently referenced the

culture of the retail industry and the culture of the case study

organization describing them very differently. Retail was

described by using words like “dynamic”, “entrepreneurial”,

“fast pace” and “competitive”. The culture of the organisation,

in contrast, was described as “informal”, “hierarchical” and

“organically grown”.

The participants felt that the culture of retail meant that Retail

Mart was very task and result focused. By focusing so heavily

on tasks and outcomes, they felt that this manifested in less time

and “head space” available to concentrate on improving

business processes to support the end-result.

“I think there's a culture of often get to market

quickly without thinking about how are we going to

support that end result, or how we‟re going to ensure

that that end result is the result that we want.” (M3).

Some participants felt that the culture of getting solutions to

market quickly would lead to formal process design being

interpreted by the business as “non-essential” and an

“unnecessary administrative chore”, and this would “slow

down” the organisation. There was concern that as long as the

culture remained focused only on productivity, BPM would not

receive the required attention

“Don‟t confuse me with facts and processes and

disciplines, so you‟ve got to make it easy for them.”

(M3). “The pressure on productivity is so high that

it's tough to focus on the airy-fairy stuff” (B3).

Retail Mart has grown as a family business creating an informal

culture of loyalty to the chairman. As a result, corporate

governance was not seen to be a top priority and business

processes had grown organically. A culture of promoting from

within had resulted in skills not being brought in at the right

levels to drive initiatives like process-management.

“Being the family business and everyone being very

loyal to the family to get the job done, as opposed to

a corporation, where the governance and the

corporate governance take over” (IS2). “Grown

organically and the processes having developed over

time, without being designed.” (IS2).

Because of the hierarchical top-down driven culture of the

organisation, most of the participants felt there was very little

process improvement or change being driven upwards from the

staff executing processes. This resulted in few staff members

questioning process execution or management, and in staff not

feeling empowered to recommend changes.

“It‟s a very top-down driven culture, so there is very

little information that can be added and driven

upwards.” (IS2). “ Someone could be performing

their process for 20 years and know of ways to do it

better, but his manager told him 20 years ago that

this is how it‟s done and you know you don‟t question

your manager” (IS1). “If people come up with ideas,

they probably said listen, you've got too much time on

your hands. We need to give you more work” (B3).

Two of the participants, who were in positions of authority, felt

differently and were of the opinion that staff did feel

empowered.

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“I think that business processes are under scrutiny,

and I do believe that people feel empowered to

recommend changes to business processes” (M2). “I

think it‟s allowed to bubble and I think people have

various forums within their divisions for speaking up,

and I think we‟re quite informal” (M3).

Culture is an ambiguous concept that is often difficult to define

[3] and a culture change is often seen as one of the most

difficult aspects to manage in terms of BPM adoption [17].

Culture was seen to influence BPM adoption. One of the key

drivers for BPM identified from the literature was the need for

organisations to adapt processes quickly and to remain

competitive in an environment of increased competition [16].

Therefore, it would appear that a retail culture would more

easily adopt BPM.

“Retail culture is fast moving and quick changing,

hence the reason why business processes are

important” (B2).

Yet the culture of Retail Mart had also driven the behaviour of

employees to become very task- and outcome-focused; and as a

result, very little time has been made available to look

holistically at business processes.

“We‟re an organisation that is driven by task; it‟s as

simple as that. My job is to take this, do this with it

and put it there, that‟s it” (IS2).

A hierarchical and top-down driven culture has also made

proactive continuous process improvement difficult to achieve

at Retail Mart,

“Unfortunately because it‟s a culture where change

doesn‟t get driven from the bottom you need to go

and find that improvement” (IS1).

Trkman [32] recommends that organisations cultivate an

environment of continuous improvement and empower

employees to recommend change. Hence, the culture of the

organisation was seen to be a constraining factor to adoption.

The participants all felt that, for the culture to change and

embrace BPM, the discipline had to be implemented slowly to

prove its value, and to avoid being seen as too theoretical,

admin-intensive, or a tool which would throttle the

entrepreneurs of the organisation. This is achievable because

BPM differentiates itself from other process-oriented

management theories like BPR, in that it focuses on continuous

process improvement and change, and lends itself to

incremental implementation [3].

Retail Mart had also cultivated its very own unique

organisational culture different from that of other retailers. The

informal culture of ‟loyalty‟ to the family and „just get the job

done‟ may have resulted in a lack of new skills in the business

at influential levels to support BPM. Hence cultural factors

were seen to influence skills and process understanding.

4.5 Governance and Legislation Some of the participants felt that the retail industry of the past

had not been well regulated or governed, when compared with

other industries. It was felt that the level of risk needed to

match the level of governance, and that retail should not

necessarily be governed the same as other industries

“It‟s not a regulated industry, like banking whereby if

you apply for a loan you have to do this and then you

have to do that and then the next thing” (M1). “If you

got a bank that is managing my money, I want them

to be sure what they are doing with it. But you know

if you managing it and a can of baked beans falls to

the floor, big deal” (IS3).

Yet new acts and legislation, have emphasised the need for

governance of business processes. Corporate governance was

starting to play more of an influential role at Retail Mart, with

the formation of a group audit and risk division. Both divisional

and board directors of Retail Mart were being held personally

accountable for the adherence to organisational governance.

Attention and time was now being paid to the regular audit

report.

“I think particularly as King 3 and more

commissions have to be activated in our

organisation.” (M2). “I mean you‟ve heard I do all

of the IT audit, so I get about 23 in six months, and

every corporate function gets checked” (M3).

IT governance is high up on the agenda of most organisations

[6] and corporate governance is forcing organisations to follow

their daily activities more closely than ever before [34]. As a

result, governance and legislation are seen to be key business

drivers of BPM [16]. This is consistent with the data provided

by the Retail Mart participants. The introduction of a group

audit division at Retail Mart was placing greater focus on

formal process documentation and governance; and this, in

turn, could drive a more disciplined approach to process

management.

At Retail Mart there appears to be an improved acceptance by

executives that governance was becoming more of their

responsibility -- with real penalties becoming a potential threat

for non-compliance. The importance placed on corporate

governance at Retail Mart has resulted in the organisation‟s

“cowboy” culture being challenged.

“You need to stick to a process, otherwise you‟re

going to get penalized”(M1). “Where the governance

is kicking in, yet the culture of the particular stores in

the regions is,‟ we run our region; we‟ll do it the way

we want, and that will clash over time” (IS2).

The responsibility placed on board members to play an active

role in corporate governance has influenced the need for them

to be educated on their processes, procedures and the

management thereof. Directors and executives are becoming

more exposed to their business processes through the group-

audit process and are being forced to understand them in order

to direct the necessary corrective actions.

4.6 Centralisation and Standardisation Retail Mart is currently on a strategic drive to centralise many

of its business areas and functions. Until recently, Retail Mart

had adopted a more decentralised business model, with each

region run almost as an independent business unit. Most of the

participants felt that this had resulted in each region developing

its own unique business processes, making them, in

consequence, very difficult to manage. The physical location of

the regions and stores made it even more difficult to manage the

business processes

“Because there is no standard way of doing things

these processes have changed and developed

differently in different areas; and that‟s not just in

different areas of the business; that‟s in different

physical locations” (IS1). “I mean we just can't

manage it because of the geographic location of all

the regions” (IS2).

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Most of the participants agreed that with the strategy moving

towards centralisation of business areas and regions,

standardisation and stricter disciplines of business processes

were required. This could result in benefits in a high-volume

business like Retail Mart.

“In a volume business, if you have standard business

processes all done and documented in the same way

and executed in the same way, this can only lead to

efficiency” (M3).

Centralisation refers to the degree in which the right to make

decisions and evaluate activities is consolidated [26]. The move

towards centralisation of business areas has resulted in Retail

Mart needing to redesign its currently decentralised business

processes and to try to standardise them.

In terms of linkages, most of the participants felt that

centralisation was enabling BPM at Retail Mart.

“Yes. I think as we‟re becoming more and more

centralised as a business, we've got to ensure that

everyone‟s doing the same thing” (M3). “So, in terms

of retail and general centralising, it opens up

opportunities for business-process management”

(M1).

Some of the participants felt that centralisation would also

improve the understanding of BPM in the organisation. The

researcher also felt that this was the case when interviewing

participants from the centralised divisions, like finance and the

supply chain.

“I think if you compare companies as well, the more

centralised companies, I think by nature, will

understand this (BPM) better than the more

decentralised” (M1).

4.7 Technology In terms of linkages, firstly the recent ERP implementation at

Retail Mart had been a “catalyst” for new business process

disciplines being adopted at Retail Mart.

“In my view, it's lent credibility to a more structured

way of dealing with processes” (B3). “I think there

was a huge focus on it (business processes) within the

ERP project; the business started getting used to the

concept” (IS1).

Secondly, the implementation of technology, such as ERP,

positively influenced the understanding of business processes

and introduced the concept of process management through

design, documentation and sign-off of business processes.

“So I believe ERP was a catalyst for educating the

business on business processes” (M2).

Thirdly, the ERP implementation facilitated the organisation

staff members in getting exposed to new skills and ways of

working. With new technologies, it is often crucial to acquire

new external skills to assist with a successful implementation

and knowledge transfer [13]. During the ERP implementation,

functional and process consultants were sourced to assist with

the technology implementation. ERP had contributed to new

skill sets in the organisation, through consultants used to

implement the ERP and model-business processes, and the up-

skilling of Retail Mart employees.

“So, I think the sort of ERP team that we worked with

got a lot of exposure over the project, and so are very

used to working in that type of structure or way of

thinking” (M3).

Finally, when referring to the ERP implementation and the

implementation of a new point of sale solution, participant M3

felt that it had enabled the organisation to adopt best-practice

business processes and assist with process standardization. The

implementation of ERP technology has enforced the

standardisation of business processes, and has been an enabler

of the centralisation strategy. One of the major reasons for

companies implementing ERP systems is to reap the benefits of

the standardising business processes [2].

“We've also got the best business practices that are

out there, and business processes to optimise

particular activity” (M3).

There appears to be little doubt from the data analysed that

technology has played a significant role in the organisation‟s

exposure to formal business-process disciplines. Although most

of the participants spoke about the positive impact ERP had on

business process awareness, rarely was the importance of

business processes for the ERP implementation mentioned. It

was understood from the participants‟ answers that the ERP

technology was more important to BPM success, than the other

way around. Yet, BPM is seen as being critical to the success of

an ERP implementation [13].

5. The Resultant Model BPM has been described as being dominated by diversity in

terms of adoption and effective outcomes [25]. In terms of

BPM adoption, Retail Mart is still low in BPM maturity

according to the Gartner six-phase maturity model [20] and a

BPM freshman acording to Bucher and Winter [5].

There were a number of enabling and constraining factors that

influenced the adoption and maturation process. Illustrated in

Figure 3 is the complete research model, showing the factors

influencing the adoption of BPM, and how they link to one

another. The model shows the dominance of understanding and

education on business processes and BPM affecting adoption.

Because of the historically informal and operational nature of

the retail organisation, the understanding appears to have been

influenced by the outcome and task-focused environment.

There appeared to be a lack of understanding, at a business

process level, of the need to link process with business‟s

objectives or strategies. This has resulted in a very limited

understanding of the term business process, which in turn has

naturally limited the understanding of BPM as a broader

concept. For BPM to be successful in the organisation, it needs

to be understood at an executive level through the education of

current and future BPM initiatives.

Technology, and in particular ERP, enabled BPM adoption.

The need to understand the organisation‟s business processes

before the ERP implementation had forced Retail Mart to

formally document, design and publish their business processes

for sign-off. This had created an awareness of business

processes and a formal way of managing them. The ERP

implementation had exposed Retail Mart to new skills through

ERP and retail process consultants.

Following understanding and education of BPM, the existing

culture of the organisation was found to be the next most

constraining factor to BPM adoption. Although the retail

culture, being a dynamic, competitive and innovative one, was

considered an enabling factor, the culture of the case study

organisation was seen to be a constraint.

The lack of business-process ownership and structures was seen

by the participants to be a constraining factor, with most of the

process ownership and structure residing with middle-

113

management IS employees. Business-process structures and the

business ownership need to be formally implemented at the

right levels at Retail Mart to ensure BPM success. The heavy

functional structures in the organisation were found to be less

than optimal for BPM adoption. A strong process-oriented

matrix structure is required to allow the organisation to manage

processes efficiently across functional areas.

The lack of specific BPM skills in the organisation was found

to be a constraining factor in its adoption. Most of the BPM

skills were limited to the IS division and the business and

functional analyst roles. These roles primarily focused on

process analysis, design and modelling.

A heavy focus on corporate and IT governance and legislation

were found to be enabling the BPM adoption, with acts like the

Report for Corporate Governance for South Africa and the

Code of Governance Principles (King III) placing further

emphasis on executives to formally manage IT and business

processes. As illustrated by the model, corporate governance

and legislation also influenced the organisational culture, and in

so doing further enabled BPM‟s adoption.

The case study found that the move towards centralising and

standardising business areas and processes, for example

finance, buying and supply chain, was another key-enabling

factor for BPM‟s adoption at Retail Mart.

The conceptual model has proved its usefulness to Retail Mart.

To improve adoption, it was felt that a proof of concept could

assist in securing buy-in at a board level and improve the

understanding of BPM. Participants felt that this could be

achieved by taking an area of the organisation, known for

process inefficiency and management issues, and actively

manage processes through a formal BPM life-cycle; and in so

doing, prove the benefits.

5.1 Limitations The model was derived from perceptions of staff working at

Retail Mart. BPM adoption is diverse and hence this model

will not be applicable to all Retailers. The distinctive features of

Retail Mart included being early adopters, having a technology

infrastructure dominated by an ERP and their attempts to adopt

BPM bottom-up from the IT Department. Arguably this model

could be useful to other retailers that are early BPM adopters

and have adopted an ERP.

6. CONCLUSION The research focused on the BPM phenomenon at a South

African supermarket retailer, with the aim of exploring the

organisation‟s understanding of BPM, as well as the enabling

and constraining factors to BPM adoption. The research aimed

to add to the currently limited BPM research field and its

practical application in a real-world retail environment.

Through a case study at a leading South African retailer,

qualitative interviews with both IS and retail professionals

found that BPM was considered to be of substantial benefit to

retail, and that, although the organisation had adopted

components of BPM, the organisation showed signs of its

readiness for further formal adoption procedures.

The research identified and proceeded to understand a number

of enabling and constraining factors. Constraining factors

included the understanding and education of BPM, the unique

organisational culture and the lack of business-process

ownership and business structure. Enabling factors identified

from the data collected were centralisation of the organisation‟s

business areas, the increased importance of governance and

legislation enforcement, the technical ERP implementation and

the dynamic, continuously changing and innovative culture of

retail in general. Based on these factors, a research model was

developed to illustrate these factors and their inter-

relationships.

It was the aim of the research to help BPM practitioners

understand what, in the South African retail context, influences

BPM. By understanding these factors and how they influence

each other, the research hopes to provide further guidance on

what contributes to the success or failure of BPM‟s adoption in

retail organisations.

In terms of theoretical contribution, this study has shown that

all three previous models, the BPM model [31], the Alter work

system method [1] and the Kettinger business change model

[14] are useful in understanding BPM in Retail. Most of the

groupings from Table 1 were relevant in this context. In terms

of factors affecting early adoption, this model is a unique

contribution in terms of showing firstly the dominance of

education and understanding with early adopters and secondly

the lesser impact of methods and strategy with early adopters.

As BPM adoption increases and organisations mature in their

adoption, further research into understanding and overcoming

adoption challenges is recommended.

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Figure 3. Model for Early BPM Adoption in Retail.

.

TechnologyTechnology

Centralisation and Standardisation

Centralisation and Standardisation

Structure and ownership

Structure and ownership

Understanding and Education

Understanding and Education

Skills and ResourcesSkills and Resources

Retail and Organisational

Culture

Retail and Organisational

Culture

Governance and Legislation

Governance and Legislation

BPM AdoptionBPM Adoption

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