Balancing business process with business practice for organizational advantage

Abstract

Purpose

To provide an argument and a practical approach for achieving a balance between business process optimization and the use of human‐centred business practices.

Design/methodology/approach

The concepts of business process and business practice are positioned in the academic literature with related concepts like tacit and explicit knowledge, routine work, codification and bounded rationality. Process and practice are compared and contrasted prior to the development of a model for their co‐existence and interaction.

Research limitations/implications

This research builds on the separate research streams supporting business process management and business practice development. The argument for their co‐existence still requires further field research to support the organizational advantages claimed.

Practical implications

A framework and approach are presented which can be applied directly as part of new field research or practical application.

Originality/value

This paper makes two original contributions. First, it anchors the modern concepts of business process and business practice to foundation concepts from the academic literature. Second, it provides a practical framework and approach for balancing business process and business practice, that can be practically applied by the reader.

Citation

Lock Lee, L. (2005), "Balancing business process with business practice for organizational advantage", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 29-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/13673270510582947