The Strengthened Business Process Matrix – A Novel Approach for Guided Continuous Improvement at Service‐Oriented SMEs

The principle of continuous improvement is widely used at firms when striving for improved business performance. One goal that is typically sought in terms of continuous improvement is the achievement of consistent operations within business processes. Despite the commonness of this approach, firms often face business process-related problems. This paper introduces an approach to improve the quality and the feasibility of business processes at small-sized and medium-sized service-oriented firms. The approach is based on the analysis of observations gathered at four case companies over 25 years. In the study, business processes were grouped into three categories: (i) strategic steering tool-related procedures without business process descriptions; (ii) operative service component-related business processes; and (iii) the business process matrix, including general descriptions for (a) the operative processes of daily activities, special occasions, and life-cycle management and (b) the steering processes of entity management. The feasibility of the business process matrix was strengthened by interrelating the redetermined steering tools, that is, service promise, service portfolio, principles, and organization. The strengthened business process matrix is an example of guided continuous improvement, meaning that the role of the organization is to apply the content of the strengthened business matrix rather than to create it from nothing, by trial and error, or from diverse sources. The main contribution of this study to business process research is in combining a scientific perspective with the actual needs of service-oriented small-sized and medium-sized firms, based on a quarter-century-long insight into their management and working practices. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.