A business process management lifecycle framework for continuous improvement towards operational excellence: lessons learned from a longitudinal study in a Brazilian organisation

Purpose The purpose of this study is to offer a business process management (BPM) framework with information and insights on designing, implementing, using and assessing business processes for continuous improvement towards operational excellence. Design/methodology/approach An action research is carried out over two and a half years on the BPM evolution of a Brazilian entertainment organisation. Findings Research provides a novel procedural framework towards improving the understanding of how a complete lifecycle approach for BPM can be implemented for continuous improvement, embracing the critical success factors for each lifecycle phase to achieve operational excellence. Information technology and project management are critical success factors resulting in project barriers. Strategic alignment, top management support, collaborative environment, methods and methodology, and focus on users and culture are acknowledged as main enablers. Findings reinforce the importance of an organisation analysis phase to begin the BPM development and highlight the assessment and improvement phase to respond to organisational environment dynamism. Practical implications Practitioners can benefit from the lessons learnt and the proposed framework, which serves as a rigorous methodology to achieve operational excellence in their real-world settings. Originality/value This paper goes beyond the well-known design and analysis phases of BPM development, generally studied with an individual focus, offering a complete lifecycle approach for continuous improvement, analysing each phase, from the drawing board to its use and evaluation. It counts on an original longitudinal study rather than a single-time assessment study.