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Process management tasks and barriers: Functional to processes

approach

Article in Business Process Management Journal · September 2012

DOI: 10.1108/14637151211270144

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BPMJ
18,5 Process management tasks and
barriers: functional to processes
approach
762
Lucia Aparecida da Silva, Ieda Pelogia Martins Damian and
Silvia Inês Dallavalle de Pádua
College of Economics, Business and Accounting, University of São Paulo,
Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

Abstract
Purpose – Migration from the traditional management model to the BPM (business process
management) approach results in improved process performance. In order to promote BPM, it is
necessary to have an organizational approach that defines the necessary tasks of the processes’
project, day-to-day execution, and learning-related tasks. In this aspect, there are difficulties and
barriers to be confronted in a different way through organization. The purpose of this paper is to
analyze the importance attributed to the tasks necessary for process management considering the way
the management of these tasks and barriers found in order to change from functional management to
process oriented management.
Design/methodology/approach – A case study was developed on two companies from the
services sector. In-depth interviews with managers from the companies studied were conducted.
Findings – It was identified that these companies found themselves at different levels of transition
from the functional management process to process oriented management and that people and
organizational cultures are presented in both organizations as the main barriers to changes within this
management model.
Research limitations/implications – This research is based on a broad bibliographical base in
opposition to the limited capacity of empirical validation.
Originality/value – The paper describes an empirical case study which refers to BPM tasks and to
the barriers that will be transposed in order to promote business process management. The research
investigates which BPM tasks are executed and the importance of each task and even the barriers
against changing the management.
Keywords Business process management, Business process, Process task,
Barriers in process management, Process management, Change management
Paper type Case study

1. Introduction
Constant changes and growing competition are part of the every company’s reality,
regardless of the productive sector, size or location. There is a tendency for companies to
opt for a process oriented management process instead of the traditional functional
approach due to factors such as: an increase in the frequency of ordered products; the
need for rapid transfer of information; rapid decision-making; the need to adapt to
Business Process Management demand changes and a constantly increasing number of international competitors
Journal (Seethamraju and Marjanovic, 2009).
Vol. 18 No. 5, 2012
pp. 762-776 Neubauer (2009) highlights other challenges that companies have been facing recently,
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1463-7154
such as constant changes in business requirements, shortened product life cycles, and the
DOI 10.1108/14637151211270144 pressure of rising costs.
 In this way, along with internal transparency, in an economically changing market Process
scenario, it is one of the ways of dealing with the challenge of improving the business management
processes of the company in order to optimize performance (Trkman, 2010). In this sense,
Trkman (2010) stated that the organizations’ focus must be the core processes which are tasks
those that deliver value to the customers.
For Neubauer (2009) and McCormack et al. (2009), business process management
(BPM) enables companies to achieve quick organizational adaptation. Liu et al. (2009) 763
reported that BPM allows organizations to create dynamic collaborations and flexibility
to synergistically adapt to changing global market conditions. BPM provides the
development and continuous improvement of organizational strategies and makes
companies focus on generating value for the customer and still improve performance
(McCormack et al., 2009).
Houy et al. (2010) conducted a survey in order to provide an overview of BPM research
evolution and concluded that the increasing number of articles published in journals and
conferences on the subject and the institutionalization of program degrees specializing
in BPM at several universities proves that the BPM is not a fad, but a tendency to evolve
into the science of administration.
In this sense, Paim et al. (2008), argue that BPM is a very broad object of study,
therefore developed a study to define the tasks necessary for process management,
considering a broad conceptual and practical view. The understanding of the tasks
clarifies what your relationship is and why they are necessary to promote the BPM. The
tasks were divided into three groups: those necessary for the processes project, managing
the execution of day-to-day processes and those related to the promotion of learning.
Neubauer (2009) states that, although BPM is among the most important management
issues because it allows companies agile adaptation to changing business requirements,
only a very small number of firms follow a holistic approach and reached the status of an
organization focused on process.
According McCormack et al. (2009), advancing in the management of business
processes, the organization will have better control of their results, better prediction of
goals, cost and performance; become more efficient in achieving set goals and improving
management’s ability to propose innovations. However, on the one hand, the migration
model for the functional management process oriented management results in
improvements in process performance, while on the other hand it promotes an increase
in management complexity. Thus, there may be restrictions or barriers to overcome for
successful implementation of this new management model.
These barriers can be linked to the segment, people or company. The main barriers
are found in the literature: issues related to technology, the same organizational culture,
lack of knowledge of the processes concept, little integration between the methodologies,
techniques and tools employed in various areas of business, lack of basic culture of
process oriented management for the entire organization, lack of leadership and direct
involvement of the executive staff, lack of incentives and rewards to encourage the
adoption of new processes, lack of resources essential to BPM or the mismanagement
of these resources (Antonucci et al., 2009; Bandara et al., 2005, 2007; Trkman, 2010).
According to Jeston and Nelis (2006), Trkman (2010) and Neubauer (2009), the
popularity and significance of BPM leads to the question of how organizations are
performing the tasks of BPM and what barriers are faced in changing the functional
approach to an approach focused on processes.
BPMJ Since there are a lack of empirical studies on how organizations are developing
18,5 BPM tasks (Paim et al., 2008) and there are few studies that show the barriers faced
in processes management, the overall objective of this paper is to analyze the importance
attached to tasks necessary for the management of processes considering how to manage
these tasks and the barriers encountered in the change from functional management to
process oriented management.
764 In order to achieve the objective of this study, initially, a literature review was
performed, a literature review to learn the fundamental concepts and tasks related
to BPM and the barriers faced by companies promoting BPM. In-depth interviews
were conducted with managers of two service companies. After collecting the data,
qualitative analysis was performed this enabled the attainment of those goals.
Given the importance of what was discussed above and due to the lack of studies
that address processes as stated by Trkman (2010), this work aims to bring contributions
to professionals as well as academics, in regards to the transition from functional
management to process oriented management and the transposed barriers to BPM
promotion. The main contribution for project managers promoting BPM is in supplying
basic theory for the BPM tasks and their main barriers. Based on this understanding it will
be possible to create initiatives for eliminating them from the start. For academic
researchers, this study will contribute to emphasize the barriers against the promotion of
BPM and even with respect to the importance of the BPM tasks which are evaluated within
those organizations being studied.

2. Theoretical reference
2.1 Business process management
BPM is not only about designing, developing and executing business processes, but
also considering the interaction between these processes, managing, analyzing and
optimizing them (Kohlbacher, 2010). Jeston and Nelis (2006) add that BPM can be defined
as a holistic practice where factors such as organizational management understanding
and involvement of the top of the organization, clearly defined roles, adequate technical,
well-trained people and a culture receptive to processes business are essential to obtain the
desired result. In different ways, Antonucci and Goeke (2011) argue that there is still no
universally accepted definition of BPM; however, experts generally agree that BPM has
evolved from a systems orientation (technology) to a management practice in which the
company has its process-centric and customer-focused organization, with goals, people
and technology integrated in both the operational and strategic activities. Therefore,
for these authors, BPM is a discipline that integrates information technology (IT) and
knowledge of business processes in order to transform individual efforts into activities
that offer integrated, measurable strategic and operational competitive advantages in
order to obtain a holistic view of planning and management of end-to-end business
processes of the organization. However, Ravesteyn and Batenburg (2010) point out that the
organizations at the start of a project to promote BPM, should realize that this is not an IT
project. In this sense, Trkman (2010) states that BPM can help in implementing a strategic
program, allowing better match between organizational strategy and business processes
of the company. However, changing the approach to operational management of the
company to a process oriented management approach involves defining the
responsibilities for the conduct of the proceedings (Palmberg, 2010), minimize transfers,
thereby reducing errors and time delays, maximize the grouping of activities and reduce Process
the effort (Antonucci and Goeke, 2011; Paim et al., 2008). management
In this context, Paim et al. (2008) claim that there are fully functional management
scenarios, a cross-functional management processes and management processes tasks
horizontal, as shown in Figure 1. These scenarios are classified as management approach.
In the same organization it is possible that some processes are managed on a functional
approach, others in a cross-functional process and some with a horizontal approach. 765
According to Paim et al. (2008), it is possible to visualize the three management
approaches:
(1) Functional. When an organization is structured functionally and only recognizes
processes within organizational departments or units, then functional
management of functional process ensues.
(2) Transversal processes functional. When the organization is structured
functionally, but recognizes cross-functional processes, from demand to delivery
offered or from customer back to customer, there is functional management of
cross-functional processes.
(3) Horizontal processes. When processes come to be the main concept and
dimension guiding management, then there is process management of
cross-functional processes.

According to Paim et al. (2008), in the functional approach, the processes are singly
managed, the organization has the characteristics of low-capacity coordination silos and
there is little orientation for the market. In functional management of transversal
processes, the model prioritizes organizational management based on processes, which
must support the coordination of labor, however, preserving the division of labor centered
on specialization. In horizontal processes management, there are alterations in the member

Functional with
Functional transversal Horizontal
Vertical processes Processe

Traditional Process
Functional Oriented Figure 1.
Management Structure The three management
approaches
Source: Based on Paim et al. (2008)
BPMJ elements of the organizational project aiming for the prioritization of processes like the
18,5 functional axis, guiding decisions by prioritizing based on processes. Figure 2 shows the
organizational decision spectrum in functional logic versus process logic. Take note that in
process oriented management, the decisions and element structuring shown in Figure 2,
are guided by the processes.
In this aspect, to Paim et al. (2008), the logic of process management is conducive to
766 the following management practices:
.
cross-functional processes are recognized and divulged;
.
organizational structures assign units formal responsibility for cross-functional
process management or work groups are organized to conduct processes from
start to finish;
.
customer requirements are applied to improving cross-functional processes;
.
information systems are conceived, developed and introduced building on
cross-functional processes;
.
performance evaluation and recognition systems are oriented to the overall
outcomes of cross-functional processes;
.
budget resources are allocated to cross-functional processes; and
.
pay, benefit and career paths encourage knowledge of cross-functional processes.

The management of organizational change represents, according to Jeston and Nelis

(2006), the most important component of BPM application, because people involvement
is a critical success factor, and the leadership of line managers the key to achieving
desired involvement. Palmberg (2010) showed that when the functional and hierarchical
organization for the new processes, there is a clash between those who prefer to
receive orders and those who prefer greater responsibilities and a way to ease the shock
is to provide the necessary support to this transition. The research also revealed that the

Figure 2.
Organizational decision
spectrum: functional
management versus
process oriented
management
Source: Based on Paim et al. (2008, p. 709)
solution is not to choose between the functional approach and processes, but can apply Process
both in the organization, provided that there is negotiation and collaboration, in which management
managers can communicate and align the organization’s strategy with the process
strategy. tasks
In this sense, a successful BPM project, according to Neubauer (2009), requires a
well-organized team that is able to analyze, design, implement and continuously improve
the processes according to business strategy. Despite the importance of BPM, according to 767
Neubauer (2009), Paim et al. (2008) and McCormack et al. (2009), the transition of the
organization of a functional approach to an approach focused on processes still happens
slowly. BPM is an objective of the significantly broad study and Paim et al. (2008) defined
the tasks that comprise the concept of BPM. And this is what the next item will deal with.

2.2 BPM tasks

Paim et al. (2008) identified the BPM area directly with the professional expertise and an
extensive literature review list of 24 BPM tasks. These tasks are necessary for
organizations to have in-house BPM practice. The task groups are divided into process
projecting, managing day-to-day processes and promoting evolution and learning.
These three task groups consider the elements of organizational functions related to
the management process, i.e. strategy, information and knowledge, innovation and
improvement, IT, people and skills, performance indicators, budget, policies and
procedures, control and audit, coordinating the work and production systems. These
authors also developed a questionnaire base that aimed to assess the importance of
each task within the group, and identify the dominant type of management within the
organization studied. The types of approaches that have been previously defined are:
functional, cross-functional processes and horizontal processes.
In this paper, for the case study development of the companies studied the three task
groups of the developed tool were used as a basis, validated and tested by Paim et al.
(2008). The three groups of tasks are presented and described in Table I.
Jeston and Nelis (2006) stated that it is important for leadership to recognize that there
is no end to business improvement, which is a program that must be continuously
maintained. According to Antonucci et al. (2009), measurement is important, but the
continuity of the measurement, monitoring and process control is even more important.
To define what to measure, one must understand the desired results and observe the
general process in relation to customer satisfaction. However, as stated earlier, on one
hand the migration from the traditional management model to the focus on management
processes results in performance increasing improvements in processes performance
improvement by, on the other, promotes increased responsibility through processes
results and the necessity to monitor processes and constantly improve. In this context,
migrating from the functional management approach to process focused management,
the organization has to overcome barriers in this process of change. Those barriers are
the subject of the next research topic.

2.3 Barriers to BPM advancement

The model of organizational structure based on functional management has limitations
and proves to be restrictive in dealing with the current reality (Paim et al., 2008).
However, most organizations are managed in a functional way and still cannot see, in
fact, the relationship between organizational processes.
BPMJ
Task groups Description
18,5
Projecting process Tasks that involve understanding the external and internal environments of the
organization in relation to business strategy. This strategy is broken down into
objectives and goals and approaches to promote change. Teams must be formed
and processes are necessary to understand, select and prioritize processes.
768 Thus, the following tasks are part of the group: to understand the external and
internal environment, to establish the strategy and approach for change,
ensuring sponsorship for change, to understand, select and prioritize processes
and tools, form teams and teams diagnostic process, to understand and model
processes in the current situation, define and prioritize solutions to current
problems, define management practices and implementation processes, to
understand and model the processes in the future situation, define and
implement process changes
Manage day-to-day Tasks that involve processes and implement changes; promote the realization of
processes the processes, monitor and control the processes execution, and perform short-
term changes
Promote evolution Tasks that involve recording of processes performance, perform the
and learning benchmarking process, record and control evaluation of impact deviations of
the efficiency of processes, and learning about the recording process. It is based
on understanding the process evolution trajectory of the process through
actions that increase process predictability, best understood as the relationship
between promise and performance and achieve and able to deliver what was
promised. This ability depends largely on getting to know the historical basis of
performance
Table I.
BPM tasks Source: Based on Paim et al. (2008)

In this sense, McCormack et al. (2009) stressed that to promote the BPM, you must have
an organizational approach that defines the process and the roles of management
processes and breaking the old functional approach that inhibits the systemic vision of
the organization. Trkman (2010) noted that the company should be carefully aligning
their business processes with the environment and the flexibility and continuous
adaptation of its core processes. Therefore, it must establish that the business processes
are key to contributing to competitive advantage.
Another factor highlighted by Paim et al. (2008) is that much of the available technology
is based on the functional approach; in addition, the acquisition of new technologies
is costly. Another highlighted aspect is the unavailability of professionals with a vision
of business processes since the vast majority of undergraduate courses taught the
departmental approach (ABPMP, Antonucci et al., 2009).
Sentanin et al. (2008) conducted a study on BPM application in a public research center
that administered the challenges of progress throughout the stages and levels of BPM
and emphasized the participation of all members of the research center in a process where
the functional mindset has to be broken and the vision based on continuous processes has
to be built. These are sine-qua-non for overcoming the challenges to BPM consolidation.
A barrier to be highlighted is the same organizational culture itself, as organizations,
for such a long time, have benefitted from the functional coordination of the work. In this
case, according to Palmberg (2010), there is a major concern for people who prefer to
receive the order to assume greater responsibilities. Another difficulty faced is that
the concept of processes is still not widespread in organizations (Trkman, 2010).
 The lack of standardization is highlighted by Jeston and Nelis (2006) reported that Process
often, the areas are working the same logical abstraction of the process, but with management
different names, little integration between the methodologies, techniques and tools used
in various areas, and different visions of the set of activities, products, customers and tasks
other components of the process.
According to ABPMP (Antonucci et al., 2009), the direct involvement of leadership
and executive team, ownership of the process, incentives and rewards for the adoption 769
of new processes, creating cross-functional teams to participate in and cooperate with
the process, development of continuous improvement, commitment to investment and
alignment of business strategy with the customer are essential to the promotion of BPM.
In this context, Bandara et al. (2007) noted the disconnection between strategy and BPM
projects, which have been identified as one of the major flaws.
Bandara et al. (2005) found in their study, the participation of stakeholders, to obtain
information, the expertise of the modeler, project management and support of top
management as success factors in business process modeling. The need for involvement
of top managers, the link between BPM and organizational strategy, careful connection
of IT and business strategy were critical success factors identified by Trkman (2010)
in their study. In this sense, communication, stakeholder involvement, support from
senior management are critical success factors in deploying BPM systems identified by
Ravesteyn and Batenburg (2010), suggesting that large projects should not be developed
without the support of a top-down approach.

3. Research methodology
The research was developed based on multiple case studies. The double case study was
chosen because it builds a qualitative field research and represents the preferred
strategy when asking questions like “how” and “why” (Yin, 2009). This methodology
involves the intensive analysis of a relatively small number of situations. Still, according
to the author, the case study offers the advantage of the wealth of details obtained and
how the research effort, contributes in a unique way to understanding the phenomena
that we have individual, organizational, social and political.
The study was conducted in two companies operating in the services sector in
various regions of Brazil, and the criterion for selecting these companies was the service
sector organizations that have grown and are making major changes in their
management model, the relevant decisions and actions relevant to the proposal of this
work and also for easier access to respondents. The two companies have grown over the
past five years and initiated projects to promote BPM. Thus, the selection of companies
was based on rapid growth, changes in the management of related processes and the
need to manage processes to maintain the level of quality services.
In-depth interviews were conducted with the managing director and manager of
companies directly involved with the processes of organizations. A BPM task roadmap
was used for interview development (Caulliraux and Cardoso, 2008).
Thus, the interview script used was structured in three blocks that corresponded to
three groups of tasks developed by Paim et al. (2008), which are: thinking, which refers to
the tasks of design processes, the act that relates to the management processes on a daily
basis and learning which is to promote development and learning processes, as shown
in Table II. Each task that makes up the groups was evaluated in terms of importance
BPMJ
Projecting processes (first group) Understand the external and internal environment
18,5 Establish the strategy and approach for change
Ensure sponsorship for change
Understand, select and prioritize processes
Understand, select and prioritize tools
Form teams and groups for process diagnostics
770 Understand and model processes to fit the current
situation
Define and prioritize current problems
Define and prioritize solutions for current problems
Define practices for management and the execution
of the processes
Understand and model processes for the future
Define change for processes
Implant new processes
Managing day-to-day processes (second group) Implement processes and changes
Promote process materialization
Accompany the execution of processes
Control the execution of processes
Carry out short-term change
Promoting evolution and learning (third group) Record process performance
Carry out benchmarking processes
Record and control impact deviation
Assess performance of processes
Table II. Record learned material about the processes
Groups of tasks for BPM
and their variables Source: Based on Paim et al. (2008)

for each company studied and how the task was performed on each organization.
The barriers encountered when promoting BPM were identified.
The case study protocol presented in Table III guided the investigative process.

4. Presentation and case analyses

One of the companies studied has been in operation for 40 years and the other is a
relatively young company that has operated in the market for seven years, however,
both are reputable and well known in the segment due to the level of quality work and
dedication to their service. Another interesting aspect concerning the companies studied

Research question How BPM related tasks are developed and what are their barriers?
Unit of analysis Form of management in two service organizations
Time limits Between the May and June 2010
Location Companies A and B
Validity of constructs In contrast to practical theory, based in the theme’s state of the art
Internal validity Observation
Document
Interview with the board and administrative managers as a source of evidence
Elementary questions Are the processes projected functionally or transversally?
about the case studies How are the processes managed day-to-day?
Table III. How is learning evolution assessed?
Case study protocol What are the main barriers to BPM promotion?
refers to changes in management processes that are being implemented, so it became Process
possible to examine the issues relating to the objectives of this study. The presentation
and analysis were summarized into four topics: business description; importance of the
management
tasks and processes for managing a major barrier. tasks
4.1 Business description
The first analyzed company, here called Company A is a provider of legal services in the 771
segment that has branches located in important regions of Brazil. It was founded in
1969 and operates throughout Brazil, Mercosur, Mexico, the USA and Europe in the
areas of tax, civil, commercial and corporate law, labor, criminal, administrative,
environmental and biolaw, cooperatives, sports, and paralegal reports and control.
The second company studied here called Company B, is an institute for teaching and
research in administration, which was established through the teachers union, researchers
and professionals in administration in 2003 and currently has about 200 teachers
and 12 universities. It operates in three complementary areas: education, research and
extension organization (consulting).

4.2 BPM task analysis

Based on the literature review and in accordance with the data obtained in the interviews,
we can infer that Company A has a functional approach to management of the transversal
processes on the set of tasks that are part of the process design, called thinking by
Paim et al. (2008). According to the authors, this management approach is centered on the
idea that the processes should support the coordination of work, but preserve the division
of labor specialization to focus on not creating two lines of authority.
In view of the manager interviewed, concern about the customer is very intense in the
mission and its values. He said that:
If I want to serve my customer well, I have to stay alert to what he wants the entire time: from
when he enters the reception, to the time he pays his bill. I have to involve the internal team to be
aware of this and prepare for our day-to-day to achieve this goal.
In relation to the activities involved with BPM on a daily basis, which are part of the second
group of tasks, the company presents the characteristics of functional management.
Paim et al. (2008) claim that the organization’s functional approach presents characteristics
of silos, with little ability to coordinate. This becomes evident when the manager says these
activities are so isolated and divided, with no defined and transversal processes. For certain
activities, the interviewee believes that the best way to develop them is by department.
The third group of related activities that promotes development and learning are not
yet developed by the Company A. This is because the company is in the early promotion
of BPM, that is, developing tasks for the first and second group.
Since Company B, seeking certification as required by its customers, has evolved
more rapidly than Company A in process oriented management. The company hired
a consulting firm that assisted in obtaining certification in all areas simultaneously,
which also contributes to the implementation of BPM. Therefore, Company B
has a horizontal approach to the process management tasks involved in the first
group – design processes. This company already enjoys the benefits of having BPM
firmly entrenched in its strategy, and moreover, has made changes in its organizational
structure and other elements that make up the organizational design in order prioritizing
processes as an axis of greatest importance that management functional axis.
BPMJ There was also great evolution in Company B in relation to management processes in
18,5 daily life, which, according to the interviewee, was achieved at the expense of much debate.
Currently, activities are implemented in order to improve the chain as a whole.
An important fact to be highlighted is the need for a leading figure of accompanying
indicators of the processes and assists in implementation of processes for which there is no
task alignment. At one point in the BPM promotion, this figure was not clear for the other
772 team members and there was no one monitoring the implementation and evaluation
processes, generating a loss in the deployment efficiency of the new management model.
According to Antonucci et al. (2009), it does not help pointing out mistakes, failures and
have no control. This aspect was highlighted by Company B.
With regard to the achievement of short-term changes, the company points out that if
B does not make these changes, it will affect the future of the organization, which is what
happened in the model of functional management. These short-term changes are
included in the group of day-to-day case management, and according to the interviewee,
these changes are developed in a functional way, but there are changes in process that
involve the whole, covering only a part of the process.
Regarding the performance of processes, the company is in the B phase upgrading
indicators that need to be reviewed periodically because those who do not help in any
important decision will be discarded. Company B makes use of benchmarking by
the consulting firm that passes information on best practices, points out that in
Brazil, which operates in the segment, only two companies have also researched the
company certification. Thus, he prefers benchmarking by the consulting firm which
renders services.
Thus, Company B in relation to the task group “promoting development and
learning,” is the approach to cross-functional process management, as it has indicators
that are being reassessed, getting information about the process improvement consulting
firm but makes no formal records of learning. It does not use reports or systems to
generate information about good aspects and errors in relation to processes.

4.3 Importance of tasks for managing a process

Respondents were asked to explain what the degree of importance assigned to each
activity BPM contained in each of the three task groups.
The company ranked the vast majority of activities related to design processes
(first group) as extremely important. The manager said that the analysis of the
environment is very important to set up processes and to establish the strategy and
approach to change is part of the north established by senior management.
With the exception of the activity to carry out short-term changes, the manager of
Company A considers them important, the rest of the processes managing group in the
day-to-day (second group) were considered of utmost importance. In relation to the tasks
of promoting the development and learning (third group), as activities have not yet been
implemented in the company, being in the early promotion of BPM, were classified as
indifferent.
Company B, in relation to the tasks of the group “process design” sees most of the
tasks as very important. The emphasis was given to the analysis of internal and external
environment was essential to define the model of migration management.
The organization was viewed as a whole and when it decided to certify only the area
of education and ensure all areas of business, it preferred to make the change in all areas,
therefore, one area depends on the other and the lack of quality and standardization of Process
processes in the research may affect the area of education. management
Another task that deserves mention is the understanding, selection and prioritization
tools. According to Company B this task is considered indifferent, therefore, consider tasks
the important tools, but are not a priority. The company concerned has implemented the
new management model with only the tools I had.
Forming teams of diagnosis is extremely important to the Company B, which 773
considers needing to know where you stand and knowing what they want. The
prioritization of solutions to current problems is important, but are taking too long to
find the cause, perhaps by gaps in knowledge of the interrelationship of all the
processes involved for a few.
As regards the second group of tasks – BPM on a daily basis, Company B considers
indifferent to implementing processes and changes, the fact that you have implemented
all processes, but stressed the importance of monitoring the implementation process.
Regarding the group to promote development and learning, Company B considers the
importance of these tasks and proved committed to develop them even though it is
starting this phase, as previously was focused on the tasks of the previous groups.

4.4 Main barriers

Company A is fully aware of the benefits arising from BPM and, therefore, have expended
considerable effort to advance this administration, tried to overcome the barriers
encountered.
The main barriers faced by the Company A are: lack of methodology, involvement
and perceptions of people involved in relation to BPM, a large number of partners with
different perceptions, the diversity profile of customers served, cultural change,
characteristics of specific areas of the company and lack of commitment of top
management. These barriers have been identified in some studies as success factors for
BPM (Bandara et al., 2005). The barriers faced by the company are the consequences of a
fully departmentalized family-run model, in effect for 40 years, with a staff, most of
whom are in business for many years (on average seven years), managers and partners
(20 years of business). The difficulty in implementing any change in processes is very
large due to a previous pattern of business thinking.
The main barriers faced by Company B are: changing organizational culture, lack of
consensus among people, lack of establishment of common goals, lack of planning,
adequate job descriptions, understanding of the problems, lack of investment and the
learning need log, which are identified as success factors in some studies, such as
Bandara et al. (2005, 2007) and Trkman (2010).
Company B has overcome some barriers with the help of the consulting firm it hired,
and thus developed a lot of training, made formal and informal meetings as an incentive to
involve the team in overcoming the barriers as suggested by Antonucci et al. (2009).
A striking feature is that of Company B being innovative in providing in-company courses
according to the needs of the organization. The organizational environment is conducive to
innovation. Psychologists who work in Company B are involved in each stage of change.
Neither Company BPM trained employees. Thus, seminars, courses, presentation of
case studies and visits to companies that have implemented BPM are suggested for
organizational learning, and involve not only the organization’s workforce, but also
customers, suppliers and partners.
BPMJ Note that the main barrier found is related to the organizational culture, or people,
18,5 because of their departmental thinking. In this case, the training of employees in
BPM can help in promoting a focus on process.

5. Conclusion
Based on literature and field research, we can conclude that companies recognize the
774 importance of BPM, but their levels of development are still relatively limited. With
regard to the tasks of BPM, these have arisen in response to increased competition
among companies that have come to seek certifications, causing them to turn their
attention to the process. The tasks identified relate to the design of the project, managing
the day-to-day, and learning.
The migration of one management model to another, or from one paradigm to
another, can be slow because the process of new practices can be restricted by various
barriers. As the overall objective of the study was to analyze the importance assigned to
tasks to implement BPM and raise the principal challenges for migration management
model, one can conclude that companies are committed to promoting a management
focused on understanding the processes by importance of this management model to
improve the quality of its services.
It should be noted that due to specific characteristics of the organizations studied, they
followed different lines of thought regarding the implementation of BPM. While Company
A considers it most appropriate to begin implementing the BPM gradually since the change
of the management model in Company A as a whole could have a large impact on their
culture, Company B, in turn, defined to implement BPM in the enterprise as a whole,
therefore, clearly understood the transversal processes. A striking feature is that of
Company B being innovative in providing in-company courses according to the needs of the
organization. The organizational environment is conducive to innovation. Psychologists
are involved in each stage of change. There is a special attention to managing change.
With regard to the importance of the tasks for businesses, it can be concluded that the
tasks for the most part are very important, although companies are at different levels
of transition management model. Company B considers tasks much more important for
group learning compared to Company A, this task group does not yet apply, due to it
being early in the process of management model change, it will be important when
BPM has a more advanced.
There are barriers related to people, the business segment and the company.
The barriers faced by the companies studied, parts are similar, with regard to people,
organizational culture and others that are specific to the business segment of each, as the
diversity of the company’s customers, the number of employees who work there long
time in the company. Company B has already faced the financial barrier, not identified in
Company A.
Another barrier found in the two companies is the lack of organizational learning
development in this case, seminars, courses, presentation of case studies and visits
to companies that have implemented BPM are suggested, and involve not only the
public organization’s internal but also customers, suppliers and partners.
Based on the analysis developed in this paper, it is suggested that organizations
wishing to promote BPM choose or develop a method that includes all tasks related to
process design, managing the day-to-day and promoting the evolution and learning. The
method chosen should be appropriate to the context of the organization. Another factor
identified is the careful management of change. In Company B employees actively Process
participated in the construction of process models, and constructed a new approach to management
managing end-to-end process. Many formal and informal meetings are a way of
encouraging staff to engage and overcome the barriers. The promotion of BPM is with tasks
the involvement of all interested colleagues.
The paper has several practical applications This work can bring a contribution to
professionals as well as academics, in regards to the transition from functional 775
management to process oriented management and the transposed barriers to BPM
promotion. The understanding of the importance of the BPM tasks and the main barriers
will serve as a guide to improve planning and performing initiatives for promoting BPM.
As a suggestion for future work, it is suggested to identify ways of inhibiting barriers
against the promotion of BPM.
One of the limitations of the present research is due to the fact that it is based on a
broad bibliography in contrast to a limited empirical validation capacity.

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Further reading
Paim, R., Caulliraux, H., Cardoso, V. and Clemente, R. (2009), Gestão de processos: pensar, agir e
aprender, Bookman, Porto Alegre.

Corresponding author
Silvia Inês Dallavalle de Pádua can be contacted at: [email protected]

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