Towards a Business Process Managment Maturity Model

Business Process Management (BPM) has been identified as the number one business priority by a recent Gartner study (Gartner, 2005). However, BPM has a plethora of facets as its origins are in Business Process Reengineering, Process Innovation, Process Modelling, and Workflow Management to name a few. Organisations increasingly recognize the requirement for an increased process orientation and require appropriate comprehensive frameworks, which help to scope and evaluate their BPM initiative. This research project aims toward the development of a holistic and widely accepted BPM maturity model, which facilitates the assessment of BPM capabilities. This paper provides an overview about the current model with a focus on the actual model development utilizing a series of Delphi studies. The development process includes separate studies that focus on further defining and expanding the six core factors within the model, i.e. strategic alignment, governance, method, Information Technology, people and culture

Environmental surveillance and in vitro activity of antimicrobial agents against Legionella pneumophila isolated from hospital water systems in Campania, South Italy: a 5-year study.

Abstract Background Legionellosis' treatment failures have been recently reported showing the possibility of resistance development to traditional therapy, especially in healthcare related disease cases. Environmental impact of antibiotic residues, especially in hospital waters, may act on the resistome of Legionella resulting in developing resistance mechanisms. Objectives In this study we investigate the antibiotic susceptibility of environmental Legionella pneumophila (Lpn) strains isolated from hospital water systems in Campania, a region located in Southwest Italy. Methods 5321 hospital water samples were investigated for the presence of Lpn. Among positive samples, antibiotic susceptibility was tested for a random subset of 125 Lpn strains (25 Lpn isolates from each of the following serogroups: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8). Susceptibility testing was performed, using the E-test on buffered charcoal yeast extract agar supplemented with α-ketoglutarate, for 10 antimicrobial drugs: azithromycin, cefotaxime, clarithromycin, doxycycline, erythromycin, rifampicin, tigecycline, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and moxifloxacin. Non parametric tests were used to determine and assess the significant differences in susceptibility to the different antimicrobics between the serogroups. Results Among the isolated strains, none showed resistance to the antibiotics tested. Rifampicin was the most active antibiotic against overall Legionella strains, followed by levofloxacin. Between the macrolides the clarithromycin was overall the most active drug, instead the azithromycin was the less active. Analyzing the different serogroups a significant difference was found between serogroup 1 and non-1 serogroup isolates for doxycycline and tigecycline. Conclusions Antibiotic susceptibility of environmental isolates of Legionella spp. might be useful for the early detection of resistance to antibiotics that directly impacts on mortality and length of hospital stay

Towards a Business Process Management Maturity Model

Business Process Management (BPM) has been identified as the number one business priority by a recent Gartner study (Gartner, 2005). However, BPM has a plethora of facets as its origins are in Business Process Reengineering, Process Innovation, Process Modelling, and Workflow Management to name a few. Organisations increasingly recognize the requirement for an increased process orientation and require appropriate comprehensive frameworks, which help to scope and evaluate their BPM initiative. This research project aims toward the development of a holistic and widely accepted BPM maturity model, which facilitates the assessment of BPM capabilities. This paper provides an overview about the current model with a focus on the actual model development utilizing a series of Delphi studies. The development process includes separate studies that focus on further defining and expanding the six core factors within the model, i.e. strategic alignment, governance, method, Information Technology, people and culture

Towards Understanding Strategic Alignment of Business Process Management

There is little doubt that strategic alignment has an important role to play in any organisation – as evidenced by the plethora of models available to assess alignment from various angles. Similarly the importance of Business Process Management (BPM) to organisations and organisational success continues to grow. However, little is known about what constitutes strategic alignment of BPM and how this might be measured. This paper addresses this gap by presenting the top 5 factors of strategic alignment of BPM (so called capability areas) as they have been identified during an international Delphi study. In addition, this paper reports on insights derived from existing literature and an in-depth case study undertaken to empirically explore these capability areas in more depth. The result is an operationalised view of the strategic alignment of BPM

Business process management : theory on progression and maturity

Business Process Management (BPM) is a topic that continues to grow in significance as organisations seek to gain and sustain competitive advantage in an increasingly global environment. Despite anecdotal evidence of organisations improving performance by pursuing a BPM approach, there is little theory that explains and substantiates this relationship. This study provides the first theory on the progression and maturity of BPM Initiatives within organisations and provides a vital starting block upon which future research in this area can build. The Researcher starts by clearly defining three key terms (BPM Initiative, BPM Progression and BPM Maturity), showing the relationship between these three concepts and proposing their relationship with Organisational Performance. The Researcher then combines extant literature and use of the Delphi Technique and the case study method to explore the progression and measurement of the BPM Initiatives within organisations. The study builds upon the principles of general theories including the Punctuated Equilibrium Model and Dynamic Capabilities to present theory on BPM Progression and BPM Maturity. Using the BPM Capability Framework developed through an international Delphi study series, the Researcher shows how the specific organisational context influences which capability areas an organisation chooses to progress. By comparing five separate organisations over an extended time the Researcher is able to show that, despite this disparity, there is some evidence of consistency with regard to the capability areas progressed. This suggests that subsequent identification of progression paths may be possible. The study also shows that the approach and scope taken to BPM within each organisation is a likely predictor of such paths. These outcomes result in the proposal of a formative model for measuring BPM Maturity

Understanding the Main Phases of Developing a Maturity Assessment Model

Practitioners and academics have developed numerous maturity models for many domains in order to measure competency. These initiatives have often been influenced by the Capability Maturity Model. However, an accumulative effort has not been made to generalize the phases of developing a maturity model in any domain. This paper proposes such a methodology and outlines the main phases of generic model development. The proposed methodology is illustrated with the help of examples from two advanced maturity models in the domains of Business Process Management and Knowledge Management

Application of a Holistic Model for Determining BPM Maturity

Business Process Management (BPM), in various forms, has been around for the last 10 to 15 years. During this time BPM has progressed to a holistic management approach that has an inherent level of complexity resulting in part from the myriad of implementation options available. This paper proposes a BPM Maturity model that provides a framework for the detailed evaluation of BPM capabilities and achievements within organisations. The design paradigms of this model and its multi-dimensional structure are discussed. The model has been applied in two case studies and a range of surveys and the findings from these studies are presented. They confirm the understandability, practicality and relevance of the model. Future work in this area seeks the establishment of a global standard for the measurement of BPM maturity, the development of a tool-based assessment kit, the application of this model through international case studies and plans for more comprehensive study into the relationships between (measurable) BPM-related benefits and BPM-maturity

An organizational approach to BPM: The experience of an Australian transport provider

When discussing Business Process Management (BPM), there is an obvious lack of clarity in the use of the term. A consequence of these varying interpretations is confusion among practitioners and an inability to compare and contrast experiences in a meaningful way. To date, there has been no clear articulation of the distinction between these interpretations and how this distinction is reflected in practice. The chapter provides a clear explanation of three interpretations and details how a large Australian transport provider has applied a BPM Capability Framework to guide its BPM Initiative that aims at being an approach to managing the organization

A Model for Business Process Management Maturity

Over the last ten years Business Process Management (BPM) has advanced to one of the most sustainable management approaches. BPM now covers organisational, cultural and IT-related methodologies and solutions leading to a wide variety of BPM adoptions. This paper proposes a BPM Maturity (BPMM) model, which provides a framework for the detailed evaluation of BPM capabilities and achievements. This BPMM model has been applied in two case studies, which confirmed its understandability, relevance and applicability. Future work in this area seeks the establishment of a global standard for the measurement of BPM maturity, the development of a tool-based assessment kit, and the application of this model in international case studies