The role of business process management on corporate strategy implementation in a selected organisation in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

This research study explores the role of Business Process Management (BPM) in the implementation of corporate strategy. Most corporate strategies are not fully implemented because business process activities are not systematically managed. Thus, the aim is to explore how BPM can be used as a vehicle to systematically improve business process activities so that the implementation of corporate strategies can be successfully achieved, while consciously managing the socio-technical factors found to be critical to execute business processes by investigating complex interactions among humans and technology within the BPM context. Concepts of bricolage theory are utilised to trace the emergence of socio-technical conditions that should prevail for effective strategy implementation. Bricolage serves as a lens not only to explore how to implement strategy effectively, but to observe the conditions under which it can take place when socio-technical resources are constrained. This is a qualitative study, employing an interpretive case study methodology. Interviews were conducted with fourteen senior managers from a governmental organisation responsible for biodiversity conservation. The population comprised all senior managers from all business functions who are responsible for enabling the strategy of the organisation to be implemented. Semi-structured interviews enabled the factors to be explored inductively, while a conceptual framework enabled deductive guidance of the empirical results. The organisational structure is the most important point of departure, and its influence extends to the key resources that fulfil the strategy. Policy is crucial for providing guidance in structure, and giving people and technology guidelines on how to operate in the organisation. It is a conscious assessment of the status quo, and provides the plan for the resource capacity for achieving the strategy. The most significant and overarching enabler for strategy implementation was found to be conscious and consistent communication. This enabler features as a requisite enabler for each phase of strategy implementation as per the BPM framework. The proposed general framework will guide organisations to anticipate socio-technical factors that influence the phenomenon, and to systematically address these challenges. In addition, the concepts of bricolage provide new insights into how organisations can embark on strategic change within constrained environments.