Successful Business Process Management in Retail

Business process management (BPM) can be seen as a holistic approach to managing business processes and it has been argued to be the best approach in sustaining organization’s competitive advantage. However, how to successfully conduct BPM at the single process level from retailer’s point of view seems to be lacking in the previous research. The primary research objective is to gain understanding about the factors relevant to the success of BPM in retail environment at the single process level. The secondary research objective is to be able to give concrete managerial advice about which actions to conduct to contribute to the successful BPM. The research questions are the following: What are the factors relevant to successful BPM at the single process level in retail environment from retailer’s point of view? What kind of challenges are there related to those success factors? The research is conducted as a qualitative research using case study strategy with a multiple-case design. Three different business processes with similar characteristics within one case company are investigated. The data is collected via semi-structured theme interviews. The interviews are recorded and transcribed, after which the transcribed interviews are analysed and written. The findings show that the success factors relevant to successful BPM in retail at the single process level are IT supporting the process, clear responsibilities of one’s own and others, relevant cross-functional interaction, process participants with relevant skills in relevant roles, supplier performance achieved through supplier discipline if needed, goal setting and leadership. Both the nature and the criticality of the challenges related to different success factors vary depending both on the process and the success factor itself. Based on the findings it is advised for any retailer to ensure the fulfilment of the found success factors, which should contribute to the successful BPM. For the case company action plans are suggested separately for the three business processes under examination to further contribute to the successful management of these specific business processes