Developing a Business Process Reference Model for the Screen Business – A Design Science Research Case Study

Recent technologies such as High Definition Television (HDTV), digital production and new distribution channels such as IPods are having a deep impact on the screen business. Companies in this industry are facing new competition from globalising markets and are forced to combine sound business principles with their classical focus on creativity and flexibility. Reacting to these new demands requires a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s value chain and processes. This research project contributes to this area of knowledge by developing a business process reference model for the screen business and thus aims at converting tacit knowledge into explicit process knowledge. The reference model can serve as a starting point for process improvements and, in a second step, for process automation. Special attention will be paid to the highly agile nature of the processes in this industry and how they may be appropriately modelled. We outline our research method for the development of this process reference model and introduce the set of initial case studies along with first results