Improving business processes and process organization from the Industry 4.0 perspective

Abstract

The aim of the article is to recognize the popularity and dynamics of research on improving business processes and process organization in enterprises, institutions, and other organizations. Bibliometric research was conducted to identify research gaps and developing research areas. The research used the resources of the Web of Science Core Collection database. As a result of the research, it was found that the popularity and dynamics of research work in the field of process improvement are emerging. Research to date conducted in the field of measuring performance mainly refers to functionally oriented organizations. The often-postulated direction of a comprehensive approach to process improvement and process orientation of the organization is still not gaining significant interest among researchers, as indicated by the number of publications. The conducted analyses showed an increase in interest in process issues in management and business sciences with the dominant activity of researchers representing IT disciplines. The majority share of IT environments in research on process improvement indicates the dominant role of digital technologies in Business Process Management, which seems understandable in the era of Industry 4.0. The growing share of researchers in management sciences is a positive symptom. However, the share of research devoted to process organizations creating favorable conditions for the digital transformation of processes may still be insufficient or even inhibitory.