Browsing by Subject "Business Process Management"

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    Open Access
    An investigation of Business Process maturity: a case study in a South African parastatal
    (2017) Nteo, Maleho; Shaw, Corrinne
    Business Process Management (BPM) has become one of the management approaches adopted by many organisations that strive to survive in a turbulent and competitive environment. BPM offers the means to manage and optimize business processes with the objective of improved efficiency and effectiveness; thereby improving the potential of business success. However, the extent to which BPM influences business success is a matter of debate with diverse schools of thought finding it difficult to reach consensus regarding the critical success factors of BPM and the extent at which processes and people influence business success. The capability of an organisation or enterprise is the ability to deliver on a desired outcome. In this dissertation, the enterprise capabilities of BPM are investigated. The research sets out to investigate the BPM maturity level of a South African parastatal. The intention is to identify and improve on those factors that influence maturity of the enterprise capabilities and may have negative impact on stakeholders. The approach taken to address the research objectives drew on case study methodology. Fieldwork was conducted using company documents, observation, a questionnaire and in-depth interviews. The questionnaire responses were qualitatively analysed using the categories of Hammer's model of enterprise capability. The research findings identified weaknesses in all categories of enterprise capability though expertise appeared to be thriving. The findings further suggest that weaknesses in leadership and the leadership style in particular impact on the effectiveness of business processes. The leadership style was seen as the major driver to impede process effectiveness. The following themes describing leadership style were derived from interviews: creation of sense of belonging, degree of approachability and extent of collaboration. In order to improve the BPM in the case company, the following recommendations were made: communication sessions, awareness training and process remodelling. The research study also provides the opportunity to understand BPM in a broader context, thus having potential for transferability to other organisations.
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    Open Access
    Towards a disruptive learning model in information systems education: a reflective student-dominant logic perspective
    (2022) Garbutt, Malcolm; Seymour, Lisa; Cronjé, Johannes C
    This thesis describes the research carried out to identify mechanisms as potential causes of action that can lead to improved learning outcomes. Identifying mechanisms requires an exploratory approach because mechanisms are not always directly perceivable. The potential mechanisms in this study were identified by analysing the reflections of students who participated in experiential learning projects during business process management education. The research was necessary due to a persistent need to minimise the gap between learning and practice. The research is unique because it takes a student-dominant approach to review students' reflective practices using a novel pragmatic-critical realist paradigm. Although reflection is central to experiential learning, there is limited understanding of how students reflect and what they consider to influence their learning outcomes. This limitation was explored using action research with mixed methods analysis which combined thematic analysis and partial least squares based structural equation modelling. During four action research cycles, student reflections on business process projects as part of higher education enterprise systems and business process management courses in a South African higher education institution were observed and analysed. Each action research cycle changed one aspect of the students' projects. The first intervention required students to reflect on action, the second required students to reflect in action, and the third required reflection for action. In the fourth cycle, the teaching staff changed. The findings showed that reflection is complex and must be linked to action to improve learning. Reflections were observed to positively influence learning outcomes when students apply effort to assigned tasks. On the basis of the observations, two models were proposed. The first model is a learning influence model embedded in the second disruptive learning model. The models show that reflective practices can improve learning outcomes by recognising that students learn at different levels but are predominantly absolutist. Students need to be inspired to apply effort in completing tasks and overcoming satisficing.