Abstract

Small and medium sized (SMEs) companies are a pillar of the Bavarian economy. With business process management (BPM) providing an important competitive advantage in the globalized economy, the adap-tion of BPM by SMEs has societal relevance. However, the reasons why, or why not, SMEs implement BPM measures are still not fully understood. Previous research addressed this topic either breadthwise as surveys or in depth as case studies, and thus only has a limited perspective. Therefore, in our work, we carry out a mixed method analysis. We conduct 10 case studies to analyse the current state of adoption as well as the reasons for or against implementing further BPM measures. The insights gained guide the design of the subsequent survey. 114 results allow us to evaluate how widespread a particular reason may be. Lastly, the combined discussion of the results of both the case studies and surveys allow us to identify reasons that hinder or foster BPM adoption in SMEs, which are in-depth as well as generalizable. The study results are analyzed to derive propositions to research and practitioners alike that support SMEs to introduce further measures of BPM and improve their global competitiveness. For example, we could identify that BPM is in some cases enforced by customers, that stricter certifications are nec-essary, and that BPM trainings aligned to the needs of SMEs are desirable.

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