Social Business Process Management: Croatian IT Company Case Study

Background: Social business process management is an integration of social software into the business process management (BPM). Its main goal is to overcome the limitations of classical BPM by applying social software principles within the BPM lifecycle. Since BPM is a holistic discipline it is important to also include cultural and social aspects into BPM studies. Objectives: The main aim of this paper is to examine the link between organizational culture, social software usage and BPM maturity in the observed company. Methods/Approach: A case study methodology has been used for this study. An interview has been conducted in combination with a survey approach. Results: Results of the research revealed a high usage of social BPM within the observed company in combination with a high level of BPM maturity and a clan organizational culture. Conclusions: The observed IT company has knowledge intensive processes and uses social BPM to deal with the process change and optimization. The clan culture is, by its characteristics, a favourable organizational culture for social BPM.