On the Business Value of Declarative Business Process Management

Abstract

The business value of Business Process Management (BPM) systems is a prominent topic for research and practice. Several existing conceptualizations of BPM business value inform on the benefits afforded by BPM systems and their measurements. Most of the knowledge on business value follows the imperative BPM paradigm, since this is the more widely followed process conceptualization. Yet, there are alternative conceptualizations and they afford different business value instances, with the declarative paradigm being one of them. By applying conceptual frameworks built for the imperative paradigm to the declarative applications creates mismatches and misses the unique business value dimensions afforded specifically from the declarative paradigm. We address this problem, by conducting a longitudinal single case study on the business value of a set of declarative BPM systems. We identify themes and measurements for the declarative BPM business value, offering conceptual clarity and actionable measurements that can benefit both researchers and practitioners.