Unravelling the definition of business process innovation: a systematic literature review

Purpose Business process innovation (BPI) is an emerging field that has captured the interest of both academics and policymakers. However, the term is often fraught with ambiguity and inconsistencies in the literature, lacking a comprehensive understanding. The purpose of this paper is to explore what lies behind and determine the definition of BPI as well as to provide a deeper understanding of its key components and antecedents. Design/methodology/approach The study reviews the literature by applying Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003) method. A systematic approach was adopted to gather pertinent scholarly articles from the Scopus database, resulting in 516 potential articles, of which 32 relevant articles were included for analysis. Findings BPI encompasses innovations in processes, organizational structures and marketing. These components of innovation, along with crucial antecedents such as business process re-engineering, improvement and redesign, provide a comprehensive, end-to-end framework for defining BPI. These results demonstrate BPI as an internal change, modification or improvement of business processes and functions that should consolidate at least a type of innovation that is used in the organization and creates an output that is a value to the organization, customers and/or stakeholders. Research limitations/implications An important limitation of this study pertains to the inclusion criteria, which restricted to the “definitions”. Consequently, there is a possibility of overlooking some relevant literature. Furthermore, the framework is purely conceptual. Although grounded in the existing literature, the authors focused on examining the definitions and conceptual frameworks. The authors did not engage in empirical analysis or evaluate the methodologies of the selected papers. Furthermore, this study exclusively includes research articles published in academic journals, intentionally excluding books, conference proceedings and other forms of literature that could have been relevant. Another limitation of the study is the exclusive use of the Scopus database for article selection. This approach potentially overlooks relevant papers available in other databases, such as Web of Science, which offers a distinct collection of high-impact journals that are curated differently. Practical implications The research contributions of this study remain relevant, as it consolidates existing literature on a relatively underexplored concept and offers a comprehensive overview of BPI, which can serve as a valuable reference for future scholarly work. This paper is also crucial for practitioners, as it provides a clear understanding of BPI, empowering them to make more informed decisions. By defining BPI more precisely, it can improve communication with stakeholders, promoting collaboration and innovation. With a shared understanding of the concept, teams are better positioned to drive projects forward successfully. Moreover, the study emphasizes that company leadership should view both incremental progress and breakthrough innovations as essential components of a successful BPI strategy. BPI facilitates small, incremental changes that offer quick wins with limited disruption to existing processes. Simultaneously, it promotes a flexible approach, allowing innovations to be scaled and adapted across different areas of the organization. In this way, BPI not only streamlines operations but also aligns processes with customer needs, ensuring that improvements are both operationally efficient and value-driven. Originality/value By synthesizing a comprehensive selection of literature spanning the years 1990–2022, this paper represents a unique contribution to the conceptualization of BPI through its components and antecedents.