Abstract
This note provides statistical updates to a previous note, “Class Notes: Where to Study Business Process Management – A global perspective based on EDUglopedia.org,” published in BPTrends (vom Brocke, 2017). This note investigates the current status of business process management (BPM) education and lists where to find BPM study programs, courses, and resources. After updating the statistical results from the previous note and retrieving new data on May 7, 2018, we list the BPM programs, courses, resources, and institutions that provide the BPM-related content that can be found on the EDUglopedia.org platform. We also show updated statistics and some of the resources in more detail. We find 323 such assets, an impressive number of BPM educational resources, although we know that more resources are still to be added to the EDUglopedia.org platform. The dynamic development of the BPM field makes clear the need to continue to develop BPM-related educational material, which we encourage all our colleagues to do.
Introduction
BPM is a matured discipline (vom Brocke et al., 2014a) that has been defined and explained by many researchers. For instance, it is described comprehensively in textbooks (e.g., Dumas et al., 2013) and handbooks (e.g., vom Brocke and Rosemann, 2015). In addition, resources that demonstrate the role of BPM in its various dimensions and illustrate its application in practice include references to the contribution of BPM in driving digital innovation (vom Brocke and Schmiedel, 2015) and the recently published book, Business Process Management Cases, which shows the role of BPM in enabling digital innovation and business transformation in practice (vom Brocke and Mendling, 2018).
The literature and practice have both demonstrated the role of BPM in the success of business processes (Thompson, Seymour, and O'Donovan, 2009). BPM is an important field for experts in both practice and academia, so it is necessary to pay attention to the availability of BPM education and training. For this purpose, this note updates the statistics presented in vom Brocke (2017) based on the EDUglopedia.org platform. Preparation for this note began with a keyword search on May 7, 2018, for “Business Process Management,” “BPM,” “Process Management,” and “Business Process” on EDUglopedia.org, which provides a list of BPM education resources that are available for teaching the BPM discipline.
BPM Programs
We found sixty-two BPM-related programs on EDUglopedia, 68 percent of which are offered by European countries, while North America offers 11 percent of these programs, and Australia and Oceania offer 10 percent programs (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Number of BPM programs based on region
In more detail, the highest number of programs are in Germany, which offers fourteen programs, followed by the US, which offers seven programs, and Australia with five programs. Figure 2 shows the top ten countries in terms of the number of BPM educational programs offered.
Figure 2. Top 10 Countries in terms of the number of BPM programs
According to vom Brocke (2017), “Certain 'spikes' in BPM education occur where there is a comparatively high density of BPM education programs (number of BPM programs per country/population per country).” These “spikes” remained as in the previous note, including in smaller countries, such as Liechtenstein, Estonia, Slovenia, and the Netherlands.
Figure 3 summarizes the levels of programs (bachelor's, master's, Ph.D.) based on region. For instance, 33 percent of the BPM programs in Europe provide education at the bachelor's level, 60 percent at the master's level, and 7 percent at the Ph.D. level. Figure 4, which summarizes the levels of study programs overall, shows that 34 percent of BPM programs are at the bachelor's level, 50 percent are at the master's level, and 6 percent are at the Ph.D. level.
Figure 3. % of BPM programs in terms of study levels by region
Figure 4. Overall % of BPM programs in terms of study level
Figure 5 summarizes the program schedules (i.e., full-time, part-time, and mixed) by region. For instance, 67 percent of the programs in Europe are scheduled as full-time, while 23 percent of the programs in North America are full-time, and 50 percent of those in Asia are full-time. Figure 6 summarizes the program schedules overall, showing that 63 percent of all programs are scheduled as full-time, while 27 percent of them are scheduled as part-time.
Figure 5. % of BPM program schedules by region
Figure 6. Overall % of BPM programs by schedule
The distribution of BPM programs can also be described based on the languages in which they are offered. Figure 7 shows the top five languages in which BPM programs are offered. The database allows to filter the search among programs according to their language. For instance, English-language programs are offered by institutions in North America (e.g., the University of Georgia and Stevens Institute of Technology), Europe (e.g., The University of Liechtenstein and Vienna University of Economics and Business), and Australia and Oceania (e.g., The Queensland University of Technology and the University of Sydney).
Figure 7. Top five languages for BPM programs
BPM Resources
The various types of BPM-related resources, such as books, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and slides, were introduced in vom Brocke (2017). The number of current BPM-related resources is reported in Figure 8 based on the keywords “Business Process Management” (51 resources), “Business Process” (61 resources), “Process Management” (86 resources), and “Process” (51 resources).
Figure 8. BPM-related resources based on keywords
Examples of BPM resources based on type include:
BPM Books
- iBPMS: Intelligent BPM Systems (https://eduglopedia.org/ibpms-intelligent-bpm-systems-book)
- Fundamentals of Business Intelligence (https://eduglopedia.org/fundamentals-of-business-intelligence-book)
- Managing Enterprise Information (https://eduglopedia.org/managing-enterprise-information-book)
BPM Teaching Cases:
- “The NESTT – Rapid process redesign at Queensland University of Technology” (https://eduglopedia.org/the-nestt-rapid-process-redesign-at-queensland-university-of-technology-teaching-case)
- “Business process modeling of a quality system in a petroleum industry company” (https://eduglopedia.org/business-process-modeling-of-quality-system-in-a-petroleum-industry-company-teaching-case)
- “Supporting process implementation with the help of tangible process models” (https://eduglopedia.org/supporting-process-implementation-with-the-help-of-tangible-process-models-teaching-case)
- “Exploring the influence of organizational culture on BPM success – The experience of the PERNAMBUCO court accounts”(https://eduglopedia.org/exploring-the-influence-of-organizational-culture-on-bpm-success-the-experience-of-the-pernambuco-court-of-accounts-teaching-case)
BPM MOOCs:
- “Fundamentals of Business Process Management” (https://eduglopedia.org/fundamentals-of-business-process-management-mooc)
- “Process Mining: Data science in action” (https://eduglopedia.org/process-mining-data-science-in-action-mooc).
Figure 9 provides an example of a MOOC registered in EDUglopedia.org.
According to vom Brocke (2017), sharing does not require the resource to be uploaded; instead, links to the original sources (e.g., the MOOC or a book) can be placed. The usual terms apply to accessing the resource (e.g., access to digital libraries or online shops), and each resource shared is given a unique identifier, the EDUglopedia ID (EID). Further, a time stamp and a reference to the member who shared the resource is provided, as is a recommended citation for using the resource. Such mechanisms support intellectual rights and create a culture of recognizing the contributions of others.
Figure 9. Example of a MOOC registered in EDUglopedia.org as a resource
Reflections on the current status of BPM Education
This note uses the EDUglopedia.org platform to characterize the BPM educational sphere. Assets include 62 programs, 38 institutions, 87 resources, and 136 courses related to BPM. Since the publication of the previous note (vom Brocke, 2017), new assets found on the EDUglopedia platform include new institutions, such as Ghent University and Moscow's Higher School of Economics.
Universities' and institutions' approaches to BPM vary. In some universities, such as the University of Liechtenstein and Queensland University of Technology, BPM is considered a program in itself. In others, such as the University of Ljubljana, the University of Tartu, Eindhoven University of Technology, Portugal's University of Minho, and Moscow's National Research University Higher School of Economics, BPM is considered a compulsory course or lecture within other programs, including Business Informatics, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science. In some universities, such as Stevens Institute of Technology, the University of Groningen, and the University of Bremen, BPM is considered an optional course within various programs.
BPM requires a broad set of skills that range from technical to managerial (Müller et al., 2016; Weske et al., 2018). In an earlier note, we pointed to the importance of developing the field to emphasize more explorative skills to support innovation processes in organizations and digital innovation and transformation in particular (vom Brocke, Seidel, and Tumbas, 2015). Most of the contributions are still predominantly focused on exploitative BPM, which should not be surprising since few extant methods and tools support explorative BPM. In order to bring some examples from studies that worked on explorative BPM, we can point to Kerpedzhiev, König, Röglinger, and Rosemann (2017) presented results from a Delphi Study on capabilities that are supportive of digital innovation, and in the Business Process Management Cases Book (vom Brocke and Mendling, 2018), seven of thirty-one cases focus on exploration through BPM, and one focuses on both exploration and exploitation. We hope to see more contributions to exploration in the future.
This note uses the EDUglopedia.org platform to derive information on the current status of BPM education around the world. Clearly, more BPM educational resources are yet to be registered and presented to the wider educational community, but the platform also contains a plethora of educational assets that contribute to the BPM body of knowledge, even though they not labeled BPM. These educational assets include those related to supply chain management, customer relationship management, digital innovation and transformation, the internet of things, and data science, to name a few. It would be useful to see how these assets relate to and contribute to BPM.
References
vom Brocke, J. (2017) Class Notes: Where to Study Business Process Management? – A Global Perspective Based on EDUglopedia.org. BPTrends, 2017.
vom Brocke, J., Schmiedel, T., Recker, J. C., Trkman, P., Mertens, W., & Viaene, S. (2014a). Class Notes: 10 Principles of Good BPM. BPTrends, 12(10), 1–12. Retrieved from https://www.bptrends.com/10-principles-of-good-bpm/
Dumas, M., La Rosa, M., Mendling, J., and Reijers, A. H. (2013). Fundamentals of Business Process Management: Springer.
vom Brocke, J., and Rosemann, M. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook on Business Process Management 1 – Introduction, Methods, and Information Systems. International: Springer.
vom Brocke, J., & Mendling, J. (2018). Business process management cases. Digital innovation and business transformation in practice. Cham, Switzerland: Springer (Management for Professionals). Online verfügbar unter http://www. springer.com.
Thompson, G., Seymour, L. F., & O'Donovan, B. (2009). Towards a BPM success model: An analysis in South African financial services organisations. In Enterprise, business-process and information systems modeling (pp. 1-13). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
vom Brocke, J., Schmiedel, T., Recker, J., Trkman, P., Mertens, W., and Viaene, S. (2014b). Ten Principles of Good Business Process Management. Business Process Management Journal, 20(4), 530-548.
Rosemann, M., & vom Brocke, J. (ed.) 2015. The six core elements of business process management. In Handbook on Business Process Management 1: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Müller, O., Schmiedel, T., Gorbacheva, E., & Vom Brocke, J. (2016). Towards a typology of business process management professionals: identifying patterns of competences through latent semantic analysis. Enterprise Information Systems, 10(1), 50-80.
Weske, M., Montali, M., Weber, I., & vom Brocke, J. (2018, September). BPM: Foundations, Engineering, Management. In International Conference on Business Process Management (pp. 3-11). Springer, Cham.
vom Brocke, J., Seidel, S., & Tumbas, S. (2015). The BPM curriculum revisited. BPTrends (April 2015).
Kerpedzhiev, G., König, U., Röglinger, M., & Rosemann, M. (2017). Business Process Management in the Digital Age, BPTrends. BPM Analysis, Opinion and Insight.
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