A Systematic Mapping Study on Business Process Variability

Abstract

Business Process Management aligns organisational strategy and business operation. The dynamic environment within which organisations operate promotes changes in business processes, in a phenomenon known as business process variability. The goal of this research is reviewing business process variability literature to comprehend this phenomenon and analyse its theoretical foundation. Through a systematic mapping study, 80 primary studies acted as sources of evidence to answer three research questions. By summarizing this theoretical background, we establish a conceptual synthesis of business process variability. We equally describe business process variability approaches and observe whether these were empirically assessed. Finally, we discuss research opportunities in the field. Our study shows that concepts in business process variability domain are used in an inconsistent manner, demanding a common vocabulary. A significant number of approaches is available, but most of them lack empirical studies. Additionally, our findings provide a diagnosis of the major challenges in the field.