A model for improving the role of IT in BPR

Purpose – Extensive literature on business process management suggests that organisations could
enhance their overall performance by adopting a process view of business. However, there is a lack of
empirical research in this field. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the understanding of the
process view and process maturity levels in a transition economy and to test the impact of process
orientation maturity level on organisational performance.
Design/methodology/approach – Empirical investigation combined an exploratory-confirmatory
approach using factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
Findings – The investigation confirms the impact of business process orientation on organisational
performance in a transition economy. The link is even stronger than in the original investigation. The
results show that business process orientation leads to better non-financial performance and indirectly
to better financial performance.
Practical implications – The research confirms that business process orientation is advantageous
for companies since it has a positive influence on organisational performance. The finding that the
impact on financial performance is indirect through non-financial performance suggests that the
companies have to take that view of performance into consideration as well.
Originality/value – The paper is valuable for academics and practitioners because the impact of
business process orientation on organisational performance has been confirmed for a transitional
economy. Its originality is in the measurement of organisational performance, for which a more
detailed specification of organisational performance based on the balanced scorecard concept that
includes non-financial performance measures has been used.