The Necessity of Redefining the Principles of Process Management

Abstract

The rapid development of process management and its practical uses stems from the changing conditions of business, which are the result of overlapping and mutually stimulating changes in business culture, social conventions, the development of information and communication technologies, as well as the process of globalization and changes in the principles of competition themselves. For several years now it has become apparent that practical methodologies and IT systems supporting the implementation and use of process management in organizations are developing at a much more rapid pace than their theoretical underpinnings. The 3rd wave of development of process management, which has been initiated around the year 2003, is becoming increasingly less responsive to the requirements of modern business. The first aim of this article is to stress the need for further theoretical reflection on traditional process management, which due to changes in the paradigms of the knowledge economy may be used in the case of a mere 20%-30% of the processes within the organization. The second aim of the article is to showcase the direction and the characteristics of the 4th wave of process management, which mostly stem from practical solutions. The article presents the development of BPMS and CMS systems and the implementation methodologies which use them, showing how both are becoming closer to one another, or rather, how both are turning in the direction brought about by the needs of the clients. This development has a fundamental significance for practitioners dealing with the preparation of tools and the implementation of methodologies pertaining to process management and knowledge management within organizations, by defining the direction of further development for both their systems and services. At the same time, it allows scholars researching process management to analyze and, if the need arises, introduce corrections to the concept of the 4th wave of BPM, as well as make insights into the effects of the change, which, for all intents and purposes, is ongoing.