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Critical Success Factors in Business PerformanceManagement—Striving for SuccessThilini R. Ariyachandra a & Mark N. Frolick aa Xavier University , Cincinnati, Ohio, USAPublished online: 07 Apr 2008.

To cite this article: Thilini R. Ariyachandra & Mark N. Frolick (2008) Critical Success Factors in Business PerformanceManagement—Striving for Success, Information Systems Management, 25:2, 113-120, DOI: 10.1080/10580530801941504

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Information Systems Management, 25: 113–120Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1058-0530 print/1934-8703 onlineDOI: 10.1080/10580530801941504UISM

Critical Success Factors in Business Performance Management—Striving for Success

Critical Success Factors in Business Performance Management Thilini R. Ariyachandra and Mark N. FrolickXavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Abstract Today, organizations recognize the value of business performance management (BPM) as away of attaining strategic alignments and as a means of effectively creating and implementing businessstrategy. Yet, many still struggle in implementing a BPM solution that is enterprise focused and thatenables strategic alignment. This article presents a framework for BPM and discusses the major criticalsuccess factors that will influence the success of a BPM initiative.

Keywords Business Performance Management, Critical Success Factors, Strategicalignment, Performance Management Framework

Business performance management (BPM) is a topic inthe BI arena that is receiving a great deal of attention. Infact, it was recently ranked as one of the top ten technol-ogy trends that CIO’s should have on their radar. Accord-ing to AMR Research, North American companies willspend $23.8B in 2007 on BI and BPM (Consultant-News,2007). BPM provides a means of combining business strat-egy and technological structure to direct the entire orga-nization towards accomplishing common organizationalobjectives.

The importance of aligning IT strategy with businessstrategy to successfully face the hypercompetitive marketplace has been well established (Henderson & Venkatra-man, 1992; Luftman, 2003b). However, organizations con-tinue to struggle in their efforts to achieve this strategicalignment. While several methodologies for alignmenthave been proposed, few have actually succeeded. BPM isa methodology that systematically approaches attainingand maintaining this strategic alignment. While BPM isan amazing methodology for the alignment of strategy,many organizations stumble is their quest to properlyimplement BPM. There are a variety of reasons for BPMfailure including, lack of management support, manage-ment resistance, a lack of clearly defined objectives, andinfrastructure issues, to list just a few.

To help ensure BPM success, there are several criticalsuccess factors (CSFs) that should be considered. Whilesome of them pertain to all information systems

development initiatives, others are unique to BPM imple-mentations. The purpose of this article is to provide orga-nizations with an understanding of BPM and itspotential value. First, BPM is introduced and a BPMframework is described. Next, we examine the criticalsuccess factors (CSF’s) that are important to considerwhen striving for a successful BPM implementation

Business Performance Management

Business performance management is one of the hottesttopics in industry today. In fact, Gartner forecasts thatBPM investments will grow to approximately $2 billionby 2010. Forrester Research predicts even more aggres-sive BPM spending. They project that BPM software saleswill be $2.7 billion by 2009 (Whiting, 2006).

There is, however, still much confusion as to whatBPM really is. While some view BPM as a narrow conceptthat applies to planning, scheduling, and budgetingpractices, others discuss it in the context of legislationsuch as Sarbanes-Oxley. The confusion is furthercompounded by the fact that BPM is also known andidentified by other names such as corporate performancemanagement and enterprise performance management.BPM can be described as a series of business processesand applications designed to optimize both the develop-ment and the execution of business strategy (Frolick &Ariyachandra, 2006).

BPM involves two primary tasks. First, it facilitates thecreation of strategic goals. Secondly, it supports the sub-sequent management of the performance to those goals.

Address correspondence to Thilini R. Ariyachandra, 3800 VictoryParkway, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio 45207–3212, USA.E-mail: tariyacha@yahoo.com

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Strategic goals are developed by stipulating specificobjectives and key performance indicators that are mean-ingful to the organization. The objectives and indicatorsare then associated with operational metrics and linkedto performance incentives.

Although many use the terms synonymously, businessperformance management is distinctly different frombusiness intelligence. BI is the technological solutionthat enables a company to consolidate and leverage thevast masses of data in organizations to improve decision-making (Clayton, 2005). BI provides the IT infrastructureand applications required to implement BPM. BPM is abusiness process that leverages BI (Miranda, 2004).

Most BI implementations have a narrow scope limitedto one or more departments, while BPM has a muchbroader scope that is focused on the entire enterprise.While they are two distinct concepts, vendors are blur-ring the lines of solutions that integrate both BI and BPM(Blansfield, 2006). The vendors that are beginning to playin this space conceive of a holistic approach to BPM. TheBPM framework presents this holistic approach in termsof four distinct key processes. The framework, whichdescribes the issues, conditions, and assumptions in BPMimplementations and outlines steps for launching BPMinitiatives is described next.

The BPM Framework

The BPM framework is composed of four core processes(Frolick and Ariyachandra, 2006). They are: (1) strategize,(2) plan, (3) monitor and analyze, and (4) take correctiveaction (Figure 1). The first two steps represent the formu-lation of business strategy while the last two steps definehow to modify and execute strategy. This closed loopprocess captures business strategy, then translated it intostrategically aligned business operations.

Strategize describes a course of action employed toidentify business strategy, to discover key value driversrequired to attain strategy, and to generate metrics to

measure business performance over time. However, gen-erating performance measures that are tied to strategicvalue drivers can be challenging. Organizations oftenstruggle to identify metrics that accurately captureprogress on organizational goals.

By establishing metrics that are linked to businessstrategy, the strategize step shapes the activities in eachstep of the BPM framework that follow. As such, it is byfar the most important step in any BPM initiative.

Planning describes developing a program of actionon how to carry out the business strategy. This stepallows managers within different business units to setgoals, design projects, and develop budgets to supportcorporate strategy.

The business units create plans that target theachievement of the metrics established in step one. Assuch, plans describe how each business unit will contrib-ute to the corporate performance objectives. This requireseach business unit to maintain an enterprise wide focusduring the planning process. Business units must worktogether in areas where there is overlap to ensure thatindividual plans do not contradict.

Monitor and analyze facilitates the monitoring ofperformance results against benchmark metrics. Thisstep helps evaluate individual and business unit perfor-mance. In addition, it enables users to drill down todetailed information so that they can take appropriateaction.

The course of action prescribed in this step issupported by both BI infrastructure and analytics. BIinfrastructure provides broad horizontal scope to raisethe BPM analytical perspective above the narrow view ofseparate data silos by cutting across application domainsand subject data areas. In so doing, BPM analytics gainsthe historic depth as well as the subject area breadthprovided by BI infrastructure.

Taking corrective action constitutes taking timely,appropriate action to make changes in performanceissues that are uncovered during the monitoring andanalysis phase of the framework. In addition to alertingusers about potential problems, activities in this stepprovide users with guidelines and suggestions as to howto deal with problem situations.

The BPM framework presents the four building blocksand an approach by which performance managementcan optimize value to the organization. Yet effectiveperformance management has become a major issue forcompanies striving to achieve a competitive edge. All toooften, performance management initiatives are ineffec-tive in helping the organizational to achieve its strategicgoals. Some fail to maximize on the opportunities forramping up performance management because of inap-propriate tools and methods. Awareness of criticalfactors that influence BPM deployment will help toensure the success of a BPM initiative.Figure 1. The BPM framework.

Strategize

Take CorrectiveAction

Plan

Monitor andAnalyze

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Critical Success Factors in Business Performance Management 115

Critical Success Factors for BPM Success

While BPM is widely recognized as a means of achievingstrategic alignment and an efficient approach to develop-ing and executing strategy, effective deployment ofperformance management solutions is challenging.There are multiple solutions, methodologies, and toolshawked by vendors in the field. In addition, all too oftenorganizations focus on the financial measures of perfor-mance management limiting their ability to gain a com-prehensive view of strategy development and execution(Schiff, 2007).

The trade press provides anecdotes and opinions ofindustry experts that describe factors that are critical tothe successful implementation of a BPM solution. Theacademic literature also points to many factors that mayinfluence the success of BPM. While these outletspresent a plethora of possible issues and critical successfactors that an organization should consider whenembarking on a BPM effort, they offer limited guidanceon which factors are most significant for a BPM effort.Table 1 presents the results of a comprehensive assess-ment of the practitioner and academic literature toidentify the most salient critical success factors for busi-ness performance management. Each of the factorspresented in the table describes a unique criterion orstrategy that would help successfully launch anddevelop a BPM solution.

Champion

One of the first essential factors touted by industryauthorities and stressed in the academic literature isthe presence of a committed, energetic project cham-pion. The project champion actively supports andpromotes the BPM project often providing information,material resources, and political support (Jensen &Sage, 2000). Generally, a visionary and politically savvyexecutive, the champion often evangelizes the BPMsolution selling its value to the entire organization. Heor she especially builds support among key seniorexecutives and CXOs to secure funds needed for theproject.

Management of Resistance

Management of resistance to BPM is another factor thatis critical to a BPM project. An effective BPM solutionallows no one within the organization to hide his or herperformance or maintain silo’s of proprietary informa-tion. It gives various stakeholders across divisions anddifferent organizational levels access to the same

metrics and information at the same time without anyreport massaging. As a result, accessing the right dataand metrics to achieve true transparency through aBPM implementation can require navigating difficultpolitical issues. Because a successful BPM solution canexpose internal problems, it can be torpedoed by inter-nal politics and resistance (Gruman, 2004). Variousorganizational groups may resist the implementationof true transparency and attempt to protect their ownturfs of interest. Awareness of such resistance wouldenable the organization to take corrective action earlyand deter a major obstacle to implementation. A strongteam of management support is often required toimpose a culture of sharing across the organization(Hartlen, 2004).

Management Support

Widespread support for the project from the upper man-agement team is essential for the life of a BPM project(Griffin, 2004). Gaining consensus and buy-in from seniormanagement early on in the effort can help establishlegitimacy and visibility for the project. Leadership andstrong support from the C-level executive team can helpsubdue resistance and build a firm wide shared vision forthe BPM solution. Their commitment and support canhelp sustain funding for the entirety of the project aswell as help in the creation and communication of criti-cal metrics of interest to assess performance manage-ment (Politano, 2007).

Sufficient Resources

Resources required for a BPM effort include monetaryresources, people, and time. Effective BPM solutions spanthe entire organization and require the implementationof integrated data management infrastructure suchas data warehouses. Such infrastructure projects canbe very expensive, time consuming and resource inten-sive (Wixom & Watson, 2001). Past studies indicate a neg-ative effect between the lack of sufficient resources andsystem development projects.

However, the availability of abundant resources suchas plentiful monetary resources does not directly trans-late to greater project success. A recent study suggeststhat a small team of business and technical people whoare highly motivated and charged with the mission ofdelivering quick wins operating on a shoestring budgetcan be more effective than BPM projects that enjoy boun-tiful resources (Eckerson, 2006). As such, managing theBPM project with the right balance of sufficientresources is essential to its success.

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Table 1. Critical Success Factors for Business Performance Management

Critical Success Factor References

1. Champion Eckerson, W. Performance dashboards: Measuring, monitoring, and managing your business. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2006.

Fui-Hoon, F., Nah. K., and Zuckweiler, M. “ERP Implementation: Chief Information Officers’ Perceptions of Critical Success Factors” International Journal of Human Computer Interactions. 16(1), 5–22, 2002.

Jensen, A., Sage, A., “A Systems Management Approach for Improvement of Organizational Performance Measurement Systems.” Information Knowledge Systems Management, 2(1), 2000.

Nah, F., Lau, J., and Kuang, J. “Critical factors for successful implementation of enterprise systems.” Business Process Management Journal, 7, 285–296, 2001.

Reich, B., and Benbasat, I., “An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing the Success of Customer-Oriented Strategic Systems” Information Systems Research, 1(3), 2000.

Wixom, B. and Watson, H. “An Empirical Investigation of the Factors Affecting Data Warehousing Success” MIS Quarterly, 25(1) 17–41, 2001.

2. Management of Resistance

Frolick, M. and Ariyachandra, T.R. “Business performance management: One truth.” Information Systems Management, 23(1), 41–48, 2006.

Gruman, G. “CPM software: an elegant way to measure business indicators.” InfoWorld, October 08, 2004.Hartlen, B. “Playing politics: debunking the myths that block a successful BPM implementation,”

Business Performance Management, June 2004.Poon, P., and Wagner, C. “Critical success factors revisited: success and failure cases of information

systems for senior executives” Decision Support Systems 30(1), 393–418, 2001.

3. Management Support

Biehl, M. “Success Factors for Implementing Global Information Systems” Communications of the ACM, 50(1), 2007.Eckerson, W. Performance dashboards: Measuring, monitoring, and managing your business. New Jersey:

John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2006.Fui-Hoon, F., Nah. K., and Zuckweiler, M. “ERP Implementation: Chief Information Officers’ Perceptions of Critical

Success Factors” International Journal of Human Computer Interactions. 16(1), 5–22, 2002.Guimaraes, T., Igbaria, M., and Lu, M., “The Determinants of DSS Success: An Integrated Model”,

Decision Sciences, 23(2), 1992.Havenstein, H. “Data governance, Exec buy-in are keys to BI adoption.” Computerworld, 40(40), 2006.Korogodsky, A. “Moving toward alignment,” Best’s Review, 104(9), 67, 2004.Politano, T. “Master data management: A key enabler for CPM.” February 18, 2007, http://www.tdwi.org/

info.aspx?id=33659.Nah, F., Lau, J., and Kuang, J. “Critical factors for successful implementation of enterprise systems.”

Business Process Management Journal, 7, 285–296, 2001.

4. Sufficient Resources

Biehl, “M.Success Factors for Implementing Global Information Systems” Communications of the ACM, 50(1), 2007.

Eckerson, W. Performance dashboards: Measuring, monitoring, and managing your business. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2006.

Ein-Dor, P., Segev, E. “Organizational context and the success of management information systems” Management Science, 24(10), 1978.

Wixom, B. and Watson, H. “An Empirical Investigation of the Factors Affecting Data Warehousing Success” MIS Quarterly, 25(1) 17–41, 2001.

5. Team Skills Fui-Hoon, F., Nah. K., and Zuckweiler, M. “ERP Implementation: Chief Information Officers’ Perceptions of Critical Success Factors” International Journal of Human Computer Interactions. 16(1), 5–22, 2002.

Wixom, B. and Watson, H. “An Empirical Investigation of the Factors Affecting Data Warehousing Success” MIS Quarterly, 25(1) 17–41, 2001.

6. User Support Biehl, M. “Success Factors for Implementing Global Information Systems” Communications of the ACM, 50(1), 2007.Eckerson, W. Performance dashboards: Measuring, monitoring, and managing your business. New Jersey:

John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2006.Guimaraes, T., Igbaria, M., and Lu, M. “The Determinants of DSS Success:An Integrated Model”,

Decision Sciences, 23(2), 1992.Guggenheim, R. and Wadhwa, S. “Sophisticated analytical tools help fuel successful disease

management.” Managed Health Executive, 16(2), 62–63, 2006.Shin, B. “An exploratory investigation of system success factors in data warehousing,” Journal of the

Association for Information Systems, 4, 141–168, 2003.Wixom, B. and Watson, H. “An Empirical Investigation of the Factors Affecting Data Warehousing

Success” MIS Quarterly, 25(1) 17–41, 2001.

(Continued)

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Critical Success Factors in Business Performance Management 117

Team Skills

Teams with both strong process skills and technical skillsare required for BPM project success. While mostorganizations possess individuals with strong technicalexperience and skills, they often lack individuals withbusiness-process analysis skills.

Process Skills

In order to understand and assess the key business pro-cesses within the organization and translate them intomeaningful metrics, a BPM project requires a team ofindividuals skilled in business process analysis. Theseindividuals possess interpersonal and critical analysis

Table 1. (Continued)

Critical Success Factor References

7. Effective Communication

Biehl, M. “Success Factors for Implementing Global Information Systems” Communications of the ACM, 50(1), 2007.

Chan, Y., Sabherwal, R., and Thatcher, J. “Antecedents and Outcomes of Strategic IS Alignment: An Empirical Investigation,” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 53(1), 2006.

Eckerson, W. Performance dashboards: Measuring, monitoring, and managing your business. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2006.

Fui-Hoon, F., Nah. K., and Zuckweiler, M. “ERP Implementation: Chief Information Officers’ Perceptions of Critical Success Factors” International Journal of Human Computer Interactions. 16(1), 5–22, 2002.

Lee, G. and Pai, J. “Effects of organizational context and inter-group behavior on the success of strategic information systems planning: an empirical study” Behavioral and Information Technology, 22(4), 2003.

Hirschheim, R. and Sabherwal, R. “Detours in the path to strategic information systems alignment,” California Management Review, 44(1), 87–108, 2001.

Jensen, A., Sage, A. “A Systems Management Approach for Improvement of Organizational Performance Measurement Systems.” Information Knowledge Systems Management, 2(1), 33, 2000.

Nah, F., Lau, J., and Kuang, J. “Critical factors for successful implementation of enterprise systems,” Business Process Management Journal, 7, 285–296, 2001.

Politano, T. “Master data management: A key enabler for CPM,” February 18, 2007, www.tdwi.org/info.aspx?id=33659.

8. Clear Link to Business Strategy

Biehl, M. “Success Factors for Implementing Global Information Systems” Communications of the ACM, 50(1), 2007.Frolick, M. and Ariyachandra, T.R. “Business performance management: One truth.“ Information Systems

Management, 23(1), 41–48, 2006.Fui-Hoon, F., Nah. K., and Zuckweiler, M. “ERP Implementation: Chief Information Officers’ Perceptions

of Critical Success Factors “International Journal of Human Computer Interactions. 16(1), 5–22, 2002.Poon, P., and Wagner, C. “Critical success factors revisited: success and failure cases of information

systems for senior executives” Decision Support Systems 30(1), 393–418, 2001.Stiffler, M.A. “Move from managing to driving performance.” Performance Improvement, 45(9), 17–20, 2006.Watson, H.J. “Three targets for data warehousing.” Business Intelligence Journal, 11(4), 4–7, 2006.Zeid, A. “Your BI competency center: A blueprint for successful deployment.” Business Intelligence Journal,

11(3), 14–20, 2006.

9. State of Existing Data ManagementInfrastructure

Ariyachandra, T. and Watson, H.J. “Which data warehouse architecture is most successful?” Business Intelligence Journal, 11(1), 4–6, 2006.

Barrett, D. and Barton, N. “Best practices in building a data warehouse quickly.” Business Intelligence Journal, 11(4), 37–44, 2006.

Biehl, M. “Success Factors for Implementing Global Information Systems” Communications of the ACM, 50(1), 2007.Eckerson, W. Performance dashboards: Measuring, monitoring, and managing your business. New Jersey:

John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 2006.Hwang, M.I. and Xu, H. “A survey of data warehousing success issues.” Business Intelligence Journal,

10(4), 7–13, 2005.MacDonald, M. “Beat the odds.” CMA Magazine, 72(5), 16–18, 1998.Politano, T. “Master data management: A key enabler for CPM,” February 18, 2007, http://www.tdwi.org/

info.aspx?id=33659.Poon, P., and Wagner, C. “Critical success factors revisited: success and failure cases of information

systems for senior executives” Decision Support Systems 30(1), 393–418, 2001.Reich, B., and Benbasat, I. “An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing the Success of

Customer-Oriented Strategic Systems” Information Systems Research, 1(3), 2000.Wixom, B. and Watson, H. “An Empirical Investigation of the Factors Affecting Data Warehousing

Success” MIS Quarterly, 25(1) 17–41, 2001.

10. Evolutionary Development Methodology

Poon, P., and Wagner, C. “Critical success factors revisited: success and failure cases of information systems for senior executives” Decision Support Systems 30(1), 393–418, 2001.

Vessel, D. “Bridging the IT and business needs gap.” InfoWorld, 27(22), 27–30, 2005.

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skills required to interview various business areas andthen translate business activities into meaningfulmetrics (Biehl, 2007) that accurately portray and predictperformance. They have skills in building strategy mapsand developing key performance indicators. While someorganizations create dedicated KPI teams composed ofbusiness area experts to acquire the required processskills, others assign business analysts who are familiarwith organizational business processes to this team(Eckerson, 2006).

Technical Skills

In addition to a process skills team, the project requires ateam with sound technical skills that can translate themetrics into a working application. The process skillsteam works closely with the technical development teamto develop metric applications.

It is essential that these two teams work closelytogether in developing a BPM solution. For instance,strong partnership is necessary between process andtechnical skills teams for data discovery and analysis. Thelack of close collaboration can lead to data discovery andanalysis taking up to 60–80 percent of deployment time(Gruman, 2004). It may also lead the technical develop-ment team to use existing metrics that may notaccurately reflect the predictive metrics needed for theBPM solution.

User Support

BPM project success is also affected by the extent towhich users are involved in the development of a BPMsolution and engage in specific responsibilities and tasksrelated to the BPM effort. User participation and supportensures that user requirements are accurately capturedand communicated to the development team (Guimaraes,Igbaria, & Lu,1992). It also enables users to be part of thedevelopment process and gain a better understandingand appreciation for the BPM solution. Consequently,user support can lead to a solution that meets theirrequirements which in turn leads to greater user satisfac-tion with the BPM solution (Biehl, 2007).

Effective Communication

Facilitation of communication between business and ITfunctions leads to a mutual understanding of the organi-zation’s strategic direction and goals. In so doing, IT isbetter able to understand and gather businessrequirements and metrics, which can then be capturedin a BPM solution. Successful application of IT to a BPM

implementation depends on the interactions andexchanges that bind IT with business goals. Thus, facilita-tion of effective communication between business and ITinfluences BPM success.

Past empirical studies also suggest that greater com-munication leads to a convergence in understandingbetween business and IT (Lind & Zmud, 1991). Effectivecommunication ensures that business and IT capabilitiesare integrated effectively within the organization (Rockart,Earl, &Ross, 1996). It also promotes greater alignmentbetween business and IT leading to a more effectivedevelopment and execution of organizational strategy(Luftman, 2003a) through the BPM implementation.

Clear Link to Business Strategy

To be successful, a BPM initiative must have a clear linkto business strategy. The purpose of a BPM implementa-tion is to effectively formulate, modify and execute strategyin a continuous cycle (Frolick & Ariyachandra, 2006). Often,organizations may implement metrics that are conve-nient or easily accessible. Such metrics may not be tied tobusiness strategy. An organization with such a BPM solu-tion may not be monitoring its true performance, bemaking effective decisions and actions, or be modifyingstrategy to its best advantage. As a result, it is imperativethat the requirements and metrics that are translated tothe BPM solution have a direct strong link to businessstrategy.

Shared domain knowledge between business and ITexecutives can facilitate a strong link to business strategy.The greater the level of shared domain knowledge, themore likely that business and IT will develop a sharedunderstanding and vision. This in turn would lead toimproved linkages between business objectives andsystem implementation (Reich & Benbasat, 2000).

Effective communication and clear link to businessstrategy are two closely related critical factors that influ-ence BPM success. Having a shared domain knowledgebetween business and IT establishes a clear link to busi-ness strategy and promotes effective communication ofthat strategy to the BPM initiative. Correspondingly,effective communication between business and IT execu-tives can lead to a shared understanding and a clear linkto business strategy (Reich & Benbasat, 2000).

State of Existing Data Management Infrastructure

The nature of the existing data management infrastruc-ture plays a crucial role in the successful deployment of aBPM initiative. In many organizations, performance datatends to exist in various user Excel spreadsheets (Gruman,

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2004). Typically, a BPM deployment builds on existingdata repositories, data integration efforts, and depart-mental systems such as ERP, CRM, and SCM. Consolida-tion of these dispersed silos of data is by far the mostdifficult undertaking to deploying a successful BPM. Todeploy a BPM solution, organizations need an integrateddata repository or BI infrastructure that can be used as atrusted, audited source of truth. When considering thenature of the existing data management infrastructure,the development team must assess the state of organiza-tional data as well as the existing data managementtechnology.

Data

The nature and quality of data within source systemsaffects data integration efforts necessary to build a BPMsolution. The greater the extent to which data definitionsand structures are standardized across organizationaldata sources, the more likely an integrated data reposi-tory can be constructed to support a BPM solution(Politano, 2007). This ensures the validity and legitimacyof the BPM solution as the only information source forperformance management within the organization.

Technology

In addition to the nature of data within the sourcesystems, the compatibility of the BI infrastructure toolset and BPM application technologies with existing toolsand server technologies also influence the BPM imple-mentation. Greater compatibility with existing technolo-gies and vendor tools enables greater integration of theBPM solution to the existing data management architec-ture within the organization.

Evolutionary Development Methodology

The development methodology used for system imple-mentation influences the effectiveness of a systems devel-opment effort (Wixom& Watson, 2001). An evolutionarydevelopment methodology is widely acknowledged as akey factor for system success (Houdeshel & Watson,1987). According to industry experts, implementing aBPM solution should involve the use of an evolutionarydevelopment methodology in several stages. Typically,most organizations start with financial performancemanagement, as most of the required financial data andmetrics are readily available (Gruman, 2004). Iteratively,organizations may then move to operational perfor-mance data and other areas that are more easily quantifi-able (Schiff, 2006). Implementing a BPM solution

iteratively in stages enables an organization to gainquick wins and greater legitimacy for the overall BPMproject.

Awareness of each critical factor presented enablesthe BPM development team to more readily face thechallenges and issues that arise during a BPM project.While some of the factors are applicable to the develop-ment of any system implementation, certain factors aremore unique to BPM deployment as they also help ensurestrategic alignment between business and IT. In additionto influencing BPM success, critical factors such as cham-pion, management support, effective communication,and clear link to business strategy also enables greaterstrategic alignment.

Conclusion

Organizations have recognized the value of BPM to helpachieve strategic objectives. Currently, companies aremore conscientious of the importance of tracking howwell the organization is proceeding towards strategyaccomplishment. As a result, the importance and inter-est in BPM keeps expanding and growing in the industry(Schiff, 2007).

BPM helps organizations achieve strategic objectives byproviding directions and motivation to all its members toengage in tasks and activities that lead companies in theright direction. The BPM infrastructure helps create met-rics that accurately measure strategy execution and pro-vides all stakeholders with the necessary knowledge andinformation to succeed. To do so, BPM implementationprojects often take the form of enterprise wide implemen-tation efforts that require support from all levels of theorganization as well as strong business and IT alignment.

Identifying the CSF’s that influence BPM implementa-tions helps an organization focus on the contextual vari-ables that affect implementation success. Some of thesefactors ensure BPM success by encouraging strong IT andbusiness alignment while others focus on effective ITinfrastructure development. By highlighting and payingattention to these key factors during BPM deployment,an organization can discover how these factors affectBPM success. For example, the shortage of monetaryresources for the life of the project, a critical successfactor of BPM, will affect the successful BPM implementa-tion. Similarly, the lack of a strong link to business strat-egy will hinder the creation of metrics that effectivelyassess organizational action and performance leading tostrategy accomplishment. Using and paying attention tocritical success factors enables an organization to com-prehend the reasons why a particular BPM effort mayfail. By observing CSF’s, companies can effectively man-aged key contextual variables that influence the successor failure of a BPM effort.

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120 Ariyachandra and Frolick

Author Bios

Thilini Ariyachandra is an Assistant professor of MIS in theWilliams College of Business at Xavier University. Hermain research area is BI and data warehousing. She haspublished in Decision Support Systems, Information SystemsManagement, Business Intelligence Journal and the DM Review.

Mark N. Frolick is a Professor of MIS in the Williams Col-lege of Business at Xavier University and the holder ofthe Western & Southern Chair in Management Infor-mation Systems. Dr. Frolick has authored over 100 arti-cles. His research has appeared in such prestigiousjournals as MIS Quarterly, Decision Sciences, Journal of Man-agement Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, andInformation & Management.

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