Title: Requirements of German micro-sized entrepreneurial companies regarding the management of business processes

Authors: Michael Leyer; Kirill Ivchenkov; Tony Kirschner

Addresses: Institute of Business Administration, University of Rostock, Ulmenstrasse 69, 18051 Rostock, Germany ' Institute of Business Administration, University of Rostock, Ulmenstrasse 69, 18051 Rostock, Germany ' Institute of Business Administration, University of Rostock, Ulmenstrasse 69, 18051 Rostock, Germany

Abstract: Well-defined processes and their execution are of high importance for micro-sized entrepreneurial companies. Such companies have limited resources requiring an efficient management of processes and a tendency to change their processes more often. While micro-sized companies are considered as differently mainly due to limited resources, prior literature on process management offers little, how processes are managed in micro-sized organisations. Hence, it is necessary to find out requirements regarding process management from micro-sized companies. We conduct expert interviews with 20 company leaders from micro-sized entrepreneurial companies in Germany. The results reveal that here is a great need in the design and measurement of processes, while the modelling, analysis and improvement phases are of less importance. As such, this research is first in describing specifically evidence from this target group and highlighting how process management is conducted in micro-sized companies. The results can serve as a guideline for adapting tools and techniques to such requirements and guide owners of such companies in understanding needs for managing processes better.

Keywords: micro-sized companies; Germany; process management; requirements.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2018.088681

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2018 Vol.33 No.1, pp.72 - 87

Received: 15 Jul 2016
Accepted: 06 Feb 2017
Published online: 14 Dec 2017 *

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