A Typological Framework of Process Improvement Project Stakeholders

Stakeholder engagement is well established as a critical success factor in Business Process Management (BPM) projects. Yet, guidelines to identify the relevant stakeholder groups and their specific activity is lacking. This study addresses this gap through a typological framework of stakeholder groups in process improvement (PI) projects. The framework is developed inductively from an in-depth case study and contextualized through a synthesis of literature from two different areas; process management and stakeholder research. The resulting framework offers a comprehensive matrix of six diverse stakeholder groups based on their affiliation to a BPM project and their role in the process. The framework differentiates between internal and external stakeholders and identifies three categories of each, namely; those impacted by; a catalyst for; and/or a facilitator of; the process improvement efforts. The framework recognizes the fundamental differences between BPM stakeholders with insight into the origin of those differences and provides a basis for planning and executing engagement activities with different stakeholder groups.